Chapter 9 - The Rescue
The abandoned rail yard was a graveyard of rusted boxcars, broken glass, and overgrown weeds. Rain poured down in heavy sheets as Gavin dragged Maya out of the car by her arm, kicking open the door to an old corrugated metal warehouse.
"Let me go!" Maya screamed, fighting with all her strength, biting his wrist.
"Shut up!" Gavin yelled, striking her across the cheek, sending her sprawling onto the cold concrete floor.
Maya gasped, touching her bruised face, her vision swimming with tears. But she stayed strong, glaring up at him with unyielding defiance. "Julian will find you! He won't let you get away with this!"
"Julian Mercer doesn't care about you!" Gavin laughed hysterically, pacing back and forth with a metal pipe in his hands. "You're nothing to him! Just a charity project to make himself look good on the news!"
CRASH!
The heavy metal doors of the warehouse were smashed inward as a massive armored black SUV tore through the wooden barricades, skidding across the concrete floor and kicking up a cloud of dust and sparks.
The driver's door burst open.
Julian Mercer stepped out into the dark warehouse, flanked by Gabe and four armed tactical security officers.
Gavin froze, raising the metal pipe in panic. "Stay back! Stay back or I'll—"
Julian didn't wait for him to finish speaking. He moved with a speed and ferocity that shocked everyone in the room. He closed the distance in three long strides, snatched the metal pipe right out of Gavin's hand, and delivered a powerful blow straight to Gavin's chest, sending the corrupt man crashing backward into a stack of wooden pallets.
Gabe and the officers immediately tackled Gavin to the floor, pinning him under heavy boots and clicking steel handcuffs onto his wrists.
Julian didn't even look down at the groaning man. He dropped the pipe and rushed over to Maya, dropping onto his knees in the dust.
"Maya!" Julian gasped, his hands trembling as he lifted her head, seeing the red mark on her cheek. "Maya, look at me. Are you okay? Did he hurt you anywhere else?"
Maya threw her arms around Julian’s neck, weeping loudly into his shoulder. "I knew you'd come! I knew you'd get me!"
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Julian wrapped his arms around the twelve-year-old girl, holding her close against his coat, his own tears slipping down his face into her dark hair.
"I'm here," Julian whispered, his voice choking with raw emotion. "I'm right here, sweetie. You're safe. I promise you, nobody will ever hurt you again."
