Chapter 6 - The Railyard Run
The rain returned by mid-morning, washing over the vast expanse of the Norfolk Southern railyard like a grey curtain.
We moved in two non-descript delivery vans, leaving the fortified lakefront compound thirty minutes before three black armored SUVs arrived at its front gates.
Inside the rear of the second van, I sat on a crate of medical supplies with the twins secured in specialized, padded travel carriers strap-bound to my seat. Dr. Aris sat across from me, keeping a continuous monitor on Ethan, who was being transported in an ambulance van five minutes ahead of us.
"We have three hours before the court injunction goes public," Evelyn said, leaning against the driver's partition with a satellite receiver in her hand. "Once it hits the news networks, every airport, train station, and highway checkpoint in Illinois will be monitored."
"We aren't taking an airport or a highway," I said, looking out the tinted window at the towering rows of rusted shipping containers lining the tracks. "My uncle—Clara’s brother—worked the freight lines for twenty years before he died. He told me the freight trains heading south toward Memphis don't use digital passenger manifests. They use paper manifests logged at the central yard."
"You want us to put two three-week-old infants and a critically injured billionaire on a freight train?" Dr. Aris asked, her eyes wide with shock.
"I want us to put them in a private climate-controlled corporate container owned by a subsidiary that Vanguard doesn't know about yet," I corrected, pulling a small silver key fob from my hoodie pocket—a key I had found inside the silver-edged card Ethan had handed me in the alley.
Evelyn leaned closer, examining the key fob.
Stamped on the side in faded white letters was a corporate logo: Vance Cold-Storage Logistics.
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"Vance..." Evelyn breathed softly. "That was your mother’s maiden name before she met Ethan. She owned a private freight siding near 63rd Street."
"It’s not on the Grant corporate registry," I said. "It’s been inactive for ten years. But the power lines are still running."
