***
Brooke blew past the speed limit sign well over its suggested speed. She wove in and out of the congested Charlotte traffic at dangerously high speeds. Every once in a while, she would glance down at the phone giving her directions.
Brooke turned a hard left at one of the traffic lights just as it flashed red. She narrowly missed scraping against another car, whose driver responded by a long wail of the horn and shouts from the window.
Brooke didn’t let up on the gas. Charlotte General was only a few more miles down the road. She kept waiting for a policeman to pull her over, but the officers she passed had their hands full with growing crowds outside restaurants, bars, and other buildings. People were screaming, cheering in the streets. For what, she didn’t know.
All Brooke could think about was her sister and niece in the hands of that maniac that had taken them. She knew both of them were scared. The world of life and death was new to Amy. She hadn’t experienced anything like this in her entire life. She was sheltered. Safe. Comfortable.
Brooke knew about this world. She had known about it long before the exile. She had gone through it months at a time, watching the news, hearing about all the carnage happening in the Middle East. Even when Jason was home, she still felt it, lingering, gnawing at her like an itch she could never scratch.
Signs for Charlotte General glowed up ahead, and she turned the navigation on the phone off. She checked the messages to make sure she hadn’t missed any calls. She hadn’t. She set the phone to silent, then shoved it into her pocket in exchange for the revolver.
Brooke stopped the cruiser on the side of the road at some empty street parking just before the hospital entrance. She squinted into the parking lot, trying to find Amy’s car, but the lot was too big. She’d have to get out and search on foot.
The sidewalks were busy. The big crowds Brooke had seen on her way here weren’t as prevalent by the hospital, but the scene was busy enough to cause her to conceal the gun in her pocket. Her shoulder bumped against the pedestrians too drunk to get out of her way.
The hospital parking lot was packed. Rows of cars stretched for at least two hundred yards, then continued to layer on the different floors of a parking garage.
Brooke figured the bounty hunter would wait for Daniel in the lot. She didn’t think he’d risk trying to bring Amy and Gabby into the hospital, but then again, there wasn’t a better place to hide than in plain sight. She scoured the lot, keeping her body low, hand in her pocket, clutching the gun.
Then, next to a white van, Brooke could see Amy’s car. The seats were empty. The hood’s engine was still warm. They had to be close. She eyed the sliding glass doors of the hospital entrance then looked up at the massive building. The bounty hunter could have taken them anywhere in there, but why would he? Why would he risk exposing himself in a crowded hospital?
He wouldn’t. Brooke looked at the buildings next to the hospital. On the left was a hotel, and on the right was a convenience store. Again, crowded areas. She looked across the street, and there she saw an old two-story building. It was dark, abandoned, and provided an excellent view of the hospital for anyone who wanted to take a shot with a rifle.