Chapter 4 - The River's Rage
Ethan kicked open the small trapdoor in the kitchen floor that led to the cabin’s lower crawlspace.
“Go! Now!” Ethan ordered, guiding Elena, Rosa, and little Lily down the wooden ladder into the dark, soil-scented space beneath the house.
Ethan followed last, holding Sofia tightly against his chest inside his suit jacket, zipping it halfway up to shield her entirely from the rain and wind.
Above them, the front door of the cabin blew off its hinges with a deafening EXPLOSION. Flashbang grenades detonated inside the living room, filling the structure above with blinding white light and thick smoke.
“Clear the rooms!” a tactical commander shouted from above. “Find the baby!”
Ethan didn't wait to hear more. He led the small group through the muddy crawlspace toward the rear access hatch that opened directly onto the riverbank slope.
They burst out into the roaring rain. The slope was steep, slick with mud and rotting leaves.
“Hold onto the rope line!” Ethan yelled over the roaring wind, grabbing the thick hemp guide rope attached to the dock post.
They slid down the embankment. Mud caked Ethan’s trousers, but his left arm remained locked around Sofia like a steel cage, keeping her completely elevated above the ground.
Behind them, at the top of the ridge, a flashlight beam cut through the darkness.
“There they are! On the dock!” a guard yelled.
POP! POP!
Suppressed gunshots echoed through the night, chipping wood off the dock railing.
“Get in!” Ethan roared, shoving Elena and Rosa into the stern of the twenty-foot aluminum motorboat tied to the wooden pilings.
Ethan jumped aboard, unhooking the heavy mooring lines with his bare hands. He slid into the captain’s chair, holding Sofia with his left hand, and slammed his right hand onto the ignition switch.
The twin 150-horsepower outboard engines roared to life, spitting water and exhaust into the dark river.
“Stop them!” Marcus’s voice bellowed from the top of the bank.
Ethan jammed the throttle full forward.
The motorboat lurched violently, its hull rising out of the water as it rocketed out into the dark, turbulent currents of the swollen Cumberland River, leaving Marcus’s armed guards screaming in vain on the retreating shoreline.
The river was a monster. High winds whipped six-foot swells across the water, slamming heavy floating debris against the metal hull. Rain pelted Ethan’s face, blinding him as he navigated by the faint glow of the boat's depth sounder.
“Ethan!” Rosa screamed from the covered cabin enclosure. “We’re taking on water from the waves!”
“Keep the bilge pump running!” Ethan shouted back, his eyes glued to the dark horizon ahead. “We just need ten minutes!”
Above the sound of the roaring engines and the storm, a deep, heavy chopping noise began to echo from the clouds above.
Searchlights sliced down through the rainstorm, illuminating the foaming water around the boat in brilliant, blinding white light.
Ethan braced himself, preparing to steer the boat into the dark tree line along the riverbank—until a booming voice rattled through a military-grade loudspeaker from the sky.
“UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL! THIS IS THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION AND THE TENNESSEE NATIONAL GUARD!”
Ethan looked up.
Three massive, dark-green Black Hawk helicopters hovered directly above the river, their searchlights locking onto the boat. Below them, fast-assault riverine boats belonging to the FBI Hostage Rescue Team cut through the water, flanking Ethan’s vessel on both sides.
A tactical vessel pulled alongside, and a commander in full body armor stepped to the railing, holding a megaphone.
“MR. ETHAN COLE! GENERAL VANCE SENT US! YOU ARE SAFE! I REPEAT, YOU ARE SAFE!”
Ethan let out a long, shuddering breath, the tension that had held his body together finally snapping.
He looked down into his jacket. Sofia had woken up, her wide, hazel eyes looking up at him through the storm, completely unharmed, completely safe.
Ethan steered the boat gently alongside the federal vessel.
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As heavy hands reached down to secure the lines, Ethan stepped across the gunwale, holding his daughter close to his heart.
The nightmare on the river was over. The war for the truth had just begun.
