Chapter 5 - The River Bridge Confrontation
The snow was falling heavily now, coating County Road 12 in a slick, white blanket that disguised the deep ruts and potholes of the gravel trail.
Hannah drove Rita’s heavy, lifted Chevy 4x4 through the dark woods without her high beams on, using only her fog lights to navigate the twisting turns. Three miles ahead, the road narrowed into a single-lane wooden bridge that crossed the black, freezing waters of the Sangamon River.
As she rounded a sharp bend half a mile from the bridge, the glare of bright red and white lights blinded her.
Julian’s heavy black Expedition was stalled near the edge of the road, its front bumper crumpled against a concrete barrier. A hundred yards ahead, at the entrance of the wooden bridge, the Moretti family's black sedan was parked sideways, blocking the narrow crossing completely.
The scarred man and his three enforcers were advancing on foot toward Julian’s vehicle, their handguns raised, their boots crunching loudly in the frozen snow.
"Come out, Julian!" the scarred man shouted over the howling wind. "It's over! Marcus Moretti sends his regards!"
Inside the stalled Expedition, Julian sat behind the wheel. His forehead was bleeding from where he had hit the steering wheel during the crash, but his arms were wrapped tightly around little Leo, shielding the child with his own body. His hand gun was empty—he had fired his last two rounds through the rear window to disable their high beams.
He was trapped.
"I'm sorry, Leo," Julian whispered, kissing the crying child’s forehead as the shadow of the scarred man approached his driver’s side window. "I tried, buddy. I tried."
Suddenly, the roaring scream of a V8 engine echoed through the dark trees behind them.
Out of the snowy darkness, Rita’s massive Chevy 4x4 slammed through the brush, its heavy steel snowplow attachment lowered straight toward the ground.
Hannah didn't step on the brakes. She slammed her foot flat onto the accelerator.
"What the—!" the scarred man screamed, turning around just in time to see forty thousand pounds of American steel roaring straight toward them.
The Chevy’s heavy snowplow smashed directly into the side of the Moretti sedan, sending the multi-ton vehicle spinning across the icy road like a toy, crashing through the wooden guardrail and plunging sixty feet down into the roaring, icy waters of the Sangamon River below.
The two enforcers standing near the sedan scrambled back in sheer panic, slipping on the black ice and falling into the snowbank as the Chevy roared past them, coming to a sliding halt sideways across the road, creating an impenetrable steel wall between the attackers and Julian’s vehicle.
Hannah threw the truck into park, kicked open the driver’s door, and leaned out, holding a flare gun she had pulled from Rita’s emergency kit.
"Get in!" Hannah screamed at Julian over the roaring wind. "Get in the truck now!"
Julian didn't ask questions. He threw open his door, clutched little Leo tightly to his chest, and sprinted through the deep snow, leaping into the passenger side of the Chevy 4x4.
The scarred man, scrambling up from the snowbank, pulled his weapon and pointed it directly at Hannah’s windshield.
Hannah fired the flare gun point-blank through the open driver’s window.
The bright red, burning phosphorus flare struck the scarred man squarely in the chest, igniting his heavy wool overcoat into a shower of sparks and flame. He shrieked in terror, dropping his weapon and throwing himself into the deep snowbank to put out the fire.
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Hannah slammed the Chevy into reverse, spun the steering wheel, and stomped on the gas.
The heavy 4x4 roared backward down County Road 12, its massive tires tearing through the snow, leaving the burning wreckage and the defeated enforcers far behind in the freezing darkness.
