Chapter 7 - THE SHADOW OF THE RAVENS
The tension in the front of the store reached a boiling point. Store security guards in yellow high-visibility vests were beginning to move down the main aisle, but Jack was already moving.
He slipped the tiny photograph carefully into the zipped interior pocket of his leather vest, right over his heart. He looked down at Emma one last time.
"Stay right here, kiddo," Jack said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying calm. "Don't move until I come back for you."
Emma nodded silently, pulling her knees up to her chest behind the heavy toy display.
Jack stood up and began walking down the central aisle toward the automatic exit doors. His long, heavy strides were deliberate, his steel-toed boots striking the floor with rhythmic, metallic thuds.
The Stranger saw the massive biker approaching and panicked. He pulled his hand out from beneath his shirt, revealing a small black metallic device—not a firearm, but an encrypted electronic key fob—and slammed his shoulder against the glass exit door, pushing past incoming shoppers into the bright afternoon sunlight of the parking lot.
"Stop that man!" a security guard yelled, but Jack had already passed him, moving like a freight train.
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Jack burst through the sliding doors, the humid summer air hitting his face as his eyes scanned the sprawling asphalt parking lot.
Fifty yards away, near a row of parked delivery vans, a silver sedan was idling, its engine running softly. The Stranger was sprinting toward the passenger side, clutching the purple backpack tightly against his ribs.
