Chapter 3 - THE MARK OF THREE CIRCLES
The metal duct was freezing, smelling of rust and decades of stagnant air. Emma crawled on her elbows and knees, ignoring the sharp pain where the sheet metal tore through her tights. Every few seconds, the deep rumble of Vance’s footsteps vibrated through the floorboards above her.
She reached the exhaust vent that opened behind the school’s cafeteria dumpsters. Using the corner of her metal box, Emma shoved the loose aluminum slats open, slipped out into the freezing Chicago rain, and tumbled onto the wet asphalt.
Lightning fractured the sky over the city skyline, illuminating the dark alleyway. She was drenched in seconds, her white school blouse clinging to her skin, her lone shoe slapping against the puddle-strewn pavement. She didn't dare go to the main street where Vance’s black SUVs were undoubtedly patrolling. Instead, she bolted down the service alley behind the commercial district.
Her father was at Hayes Tower on Wacker Drive—three miles away. She had no phone, no money, and no vehicle. But she remembered something her father had taught her when she was five: “If you are ever lost, Emma, never go to the crowd. Go to the infrastructure. The people who maintain the city see everything.”
Ten minutes later, shivering uncontrollably with blue lips, Emma stumbled into the back door of the Old Town Transit Substation.
An elderly man in a high-visibility orange vest looked up from his thermos of coffee. His name tag read Arthur. He dropped his mug when he saw the little girl standing in the torrential rain, covered in dust, clutching a lockbox, blood trickling down her bare ankle.
“Lord have mercy! Child, what happened to you?” Arthur rushed over, throwing his heavy wool work jacket around her shoulders.
“Please,” Emma choked out, her teeth chattering so violently she could barely form the words. “Please don't call the police. They have police radios. Call my father’s direct line. 312-555-0199. Tell him... tell him Emma found the three circles.”
Arthur’s eyes widened at the terror in her face. Without hesitating, he picked up the landline on his workbench and dialed. He waited three rings before his voice turned solemn. “Mr. Hayes? Sir, you don't know me, but your little girl is sitting in the North Halsted rail substation. She says she has a metal box and something about three circles.”
There was a deafening silence on the other end, followed by the sound of glass shattering and Richard Hayes screaming orders to his drivers.
“Keep her inside!” Richard’s voice roared through the receiver so loudly Emma could hear it from five feet away. “Do not open the door for anyone! Not even marked squad cars! I am coming with my personal security detail!”
Arthur hung up and locked the heavy reinforced steel door of the substation. He turned to Emma, pulling a warm bottle of water from his locker. “Your dad’s coming, little one. You’re safe here.”
Emma sat on the wooden bench, clutching her box. But as she stared through the small wire-mesh window of the substation, she saw something that made her heart stop.
Two black Suburbans had just turned the corner without their headlights on.
They parked fifty yards away, blocking both ends of the alley. The driver’s side door opened, and Detective Vance stepped out into the rain, holding a heavy electronic breaching device. Behind him, three men in dark tactical gear stepped out, each wearing the silver lapel pin of three interlocking circles.
May you like
They hadn't tracked Emma through her phone.
They had tracked Arthur’s landline call through the municipal telecom grid.
