The Race

Elena backed up until her spine hit the cold metal of the server rack. The progress bar on the tablet was frozen at 52%. Not enough. Not nearly enough.

"You can't do this," she said, her voice shaking. "I'm not delusional. I have the files. I know about the identity farm. I know what you did to Isabel."

Constance didn't flinch. She just sighed, a sound of weary patience. "Isabel was a tragedy. She had a chemical imbalance. Just like you."

Dr. Thorne stepped forward, opening his medical bag on the console next to the tablet. He uncapped a syringe. The needle glinted in the blue light of the servers.

"This will help you rest, Elena," he said, his tone professional, soothing. "It's just a mild sedative to calm the hysteria."

"It's not hysteria!" Elena shouted. She grabbed the tablet, ripping the cord from the wall. The screen went black instantly. "It's evidence!"

"It's a stolen device," Seraphina corrected, stepping closer. "And you're trespassing in a secure facility. If we call the police now, you go to jail. If you come with the doctor, you go to a nice, quiet clinic by the sea."

"Where you can drug me until I forget my own name?"

"Where you can get the help you need," Constance said.

Elena looked around the room. There was only one door. And three people blocking it.

She looked at the tablet in her hand. It was dead weight now. Useless.

But she still had the pepper spray Leo gave her.

She slid her hand into her pocket.

"Don't make this difficult, Elena," Julian said from the doorway. He had followed them. He stood behind his mother, looking pale and sick.

"Difficult?" Elena laughed, a harsh, jagged sound. "You forged my signature on a twenty-million-dollar loan. You stole my reproductive rights. You murdered your first wife. I think we're past difficult."

Constance’s eyes narrowed. "Restrain her."

Seraphina lunged.

Elena pulled the canister and sprayed.

A cloud of orange mist filled the air. Seraphina screamed, clawing at her eyes. Constance gasped, stumbling back, coughing.

Elena didn't wait. She used the tablet like a battering ram, shoving past the doctor. He grabbed her arm, but his grip was weak. She swung the heavy device, connecting with his shoulder. He grunted and let go.

She sprinted for the door. Julian was there. He didn't move to stop her. He just stood there, staring at his mother gasping on the floor.

"Run," he whispered.

She didn't need to be told twice.

She burst out of the Annex into the blinding afternoon sun. The air was thick with humidity and the smell of cut grass. She ran toward the tree line, toward the wall that separated the estate from the marsh.

She could hear shouting behind her. The security team.

She didn't look back. She hit the tree line, brambles tearing at her clothes. She scrambled over the old stone wall, dropping into the mud on the other side.

She was in the marsh now. Tall grass. pluff mud. Alligators.

She kept running, her feet sinking into the muck. She needed to get to the road. She needed to get to a phone that wasn't tracked.

Her pocket buzzed.

She stopped, panting, hidden by the reeds. She pulled out the burner phone.

A notification.

**New Device Detected on Network: "Isabel's iPad".**
**Location: Annex Server Room.**

They had plugged it back in. They were accessing it.

Another notification popped up.

**Remote Wipe Initiated.**

They were deleting the evidence.

But then, a third message. From an unknown number.

**"I see you. Go to the boathouse. I have a boat."**

Elena stared at the screen. Who?

Then she remembered the notification she had seen on the tablet right before it died. The one she thought was a system error.

*Files Synced to: L. Gardner.*

Leo.

He hadn't just given her the drive. He was monitoring the network.

She looked toward the river. The boathouse was a mile away, through the thickest part of the swamp.

She shoved the phone into her bra and started to run. Behind her, the sound of dogs barking cut through the humid air.

Constance had released the hounds.