Chapter 118
Chapter 118:
June was too exhausted to notice.
She leaned her head against the cold window and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed as she tried to rest.
Less than fifty yards behind the Camry, parked in the shadows beside a closed bank, a silver Aston Martin purred to life.
Declan Hayes sat behind the wheel, one hand resting on the leather rim, his blue eyes locked onto the Camry’s taillights. He had not wasted his evening after her rejection. He had spent it on an encrypted conference call from the driver’s seat, negotiating a hostile takeover, while his executive security team quietly monitored the Apex Bio exit. The moment his head of security texted that she was stepping out alone into the cold, he had eased the car smoothly out of the shadows.
The Camry merged onto the Brooklyn Bridge.
June’s apartment was in Midtown Manhattan. The driver should have taken the FDR Drive.
Instead, as the car came off the bridge, he wrenched the steering wheel hard to the left. The tires shrieked as the car plunged into Brooklyn.
The violent swerve threw June against the door panel.
Her eyes snapped open. Her heart slammed against her ribs.
She looked out the window. The bright lights of Manhattan were gone, replaced by dark, decaying brick warehouses and rusted chain-link fences.
June sat up straight. The exhaustion evaporated, replaced by a hard, cold spike of adrenaline.
𝖠ddіc𝗍i𝘷𝗲 s𝗍oriеѕ 𝘰𝗇
“Excuse me,” she said, her voice steady and controlled. “You missed the turn. Take me back to the correct route right now p>
The driver let out a low, raspy laugh that raised the hair on June’s arms. “Main road’s closed for construction, sweetheart,” he said smoothly. “GPS rerouted us p>
June opened her map application.
The blue dot showed the car accelerating toward Red Hook — the most desolate, abandoned section of the Brooklyn shipping district. They were miles from any main highway.
Ice flooded her veins. Her breathing turned shallow.
She did not scream. She kept her face completely blank.
She reached out and pulled the chrome door handle.
Click.
The dull, metallic sound of the child safety lock engaging echoed in the cabin. The door did not move.
The driver watched her in the rearview mirror. His smile stretched into something ugly. “Relax back there,” he said, his voice dropping into a filthy register. “We’re just gonna find a quiet spot. Have a little fun p>
June’s mind shifted into pure survival mode.
She slid her right hand slowly into the deep pocket of her trench coat. Without looking, her fingers found the side buttons of her phone and pressed the emergency SOS sequence. She felt the vibration as it connected to 911. She eased the phone into the crack between the leather seats, screen down, so the dispatcher could hear everything.
“If you stop this car right now,” June said, projecting her voice clearly and deliberately, “I will get out and I will not press charges. This vehicle has GPS tracking. You will go to federal prison p>