Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Red Clay
The searchers moved past our hiding spot, their flashlights fading into the thick woods further down the ridge. I waited until the sound of their footsteps was entirely swallowed by the roar of the creek before I pulled the girls back to their feet.
"We have to move fast," I whispered. "They’re looking for us downstairs. We’re going to cross the creek here and head for the old mill ruins."
The water was freezing, rising up to my knees as I carried the twins across one by one. The current pulled at my legs, but the adrenaline surging through my veins gave me a strength I didn't know I possessed. Once across, we scrambled up the opposite bank, our hands and knees coated in the thick, red mountain clay Olivia had written about.
As we reached the crest of the bank, I spotted a dark shape huddled beneath a collapsed timber beam of the old, abandoned textile mill.
I held up a hand, telling the girls to stay back, and slowly approached with the tire iron raised. The beam of my flashlight caught a flash of tangled brown hair, a torn denim jacket, and a pair of boots caked in the same red clay.
"Clara?" I called out softly.
The figure stirred, lifting a pale, exhausted face. Her eyes were wide with terror, her lip cut and bleeding. In her hand, she held a jagged piece of broken glass, ready to fight to the death.
"Don't come any closer," she rasped, her voice raw.
"Mom!" Emma’s voice broke the silence.
The glass dropped from Clara’s hand, shattering against the stones as Emma and Ella burst past me, throwing themselves into their mother's arms. The three of them collapsed into a sobbing heap, a tangled knot of mud, tears, and desperate relief.
I stood guard, scanning the dark woods as the family reunited. When Clara finally looked up at me, her eyes were swimming with tears. "You're Ethan," she breathed. "Olivia's husband. She... she told me you were a good man. She said if things ever went completely dark, you would be the light."
"I'm here," I said, kneeling down beside her. "But we aren't safe yet. Miller and his men are hunting us, and they have orders to make sure none of us leave this mountain alive. Olivia's letter said there was evidence buried here. Where is it?"
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Clara pointed a trembling finger toward the center of the ruins, where a massive iron water wheel sat half-submerged in the rushing creek. "Inside the hollow axle of the wheel. Olivia and I hid it there three years ago, right before she went into the hospital. It contains the financial records, the recorded wiretaps, and the identities of every official involved in the syndicate."
"Stay here," I said, pulling the flashlight from my pocket. "I'm going to get it. Then we get off this mountain."
