Escape Attempt

Escape Attempt
Emma's POV

"Dad?" Emma whispered, staring at the man who was meant to be dead.
David Martinez looked older than she remembered. Gray hair, lines around his eyes, scars on his hands. But it was him. Her father. Alive.
"We don't have time for reunions," Grandma Rose said sharply. "Vincent's men are coming. We need to go right now."
Emma's brain felt like it was breaking. Her father was living. Her grandma had faked her own death. Williams was dead on the building floor. Nothing made sense anymore.
"Emma," her father said gently. "I know this is shocking. But Rose is right. We have to move."
"You've been alive for fifteen years," Emma said, rage mixing with joy. "Fifteen years! Do you know what I went through?"
"Every single day," David said, his eyes full of pain. "But if Vincent knew I was alive, he would have killed you to hurt me. I had to stay dead to keep you safe."
Marcus stepped forward. "Sir, we need to get out of the city. Vincent has men everywhere."
"Already taken care of," Rose said, pulling keys from her pocket. "I have a car waiting."
They ran from the building into the cold night. Emma's head was spinning with questions, but her legs kept moving. Her father was living. Her grandmother had fooled everyone. But they were still in danger.
The car was an old blue sedan parked in the alley. Rose got behind the wheel while David took backup. Emma and Marcus climbed in back.
"Grand Central Station," David told Rose. "We catch the first train out of the city."
As they drove through empty streets, Emma finally found her voice. "How long have you two been planning this?"
"Since the night Williams killed your mother," David said softly. "We knew he'd come for you eventually."
Emma felt tears starting again. Her mother was really dead. But her father... "Mom's actually gone?"
David nodded sadly. "Williams shot her when she tried to protect our files. I barely escaped. Rose helped me hide, and we've been watching you ever since."
"Watching me?" Emma felt angry again. "I thought I was alone. I thought everyone I loved was dead."
"We couldn't contact you," Rose explained, turning a corner fast. "Williams had FBI agents watching you for years. One bad move and you'd be dead."
Marcus was looking out the back window. "I think we're being followed."
Emma turned around. Three black cars were behind them, getting closer.
"How did they find us so fast?" Rose asked, pushing harder on the gas.
"Vincent must have had the warehouse surrounded," David said. "He was probably waiting to see who showed up."
The black cars were coming up. Emma could see guys with guns leaning out the windows.
"Hold on!" Rose yelled.
She turned the wheel hard, and their car skidded around a bend. The tires screamed against the road. One of the black cars crashed into a streetlight trying to follow them.
But two cars were still coming.
"There!" David pointed ahead. "Grand Central!"
The train station looked huge and busy even at night. Perfect to hide in, if they could get inside.
Rose parked right in front of the building. "Run! Don't wait for us!"
Emma and Marcus jumped out and ran toward the station doors. Emma looked back and saw her father and grandmother right behind them.
Then she heard gunshots.
David stumbled and fell to his knees. Blood was spreading across his shirt.
"Dad!" Emma screamed.
"Keep running!" David yelled back. "Don't stop!"
Rose was helping David get back up, but the guys from the cars were getting closer. Emma wanted to go back, but Marcus grabbed her arm.
"He's right," Marcus said. "We have to keep moving."
They ran into Grand Central Station. Even at midnight, the place was full of people. Late trains, night workers, people sleeping on chairs. Emma and Marcus pushed through the crowd.
"Train to Boston leaves in ten minutes," Marcus said, looking at the board. "Platform seven."
Emma kept looking back for her father and grandma. Where were they?
That's when she saw Vincent walking through the crowd. He wasn't trying to hide anymore. He had a gun in his hand, and people were screaming and running away from him.
"Emma!" Vincent called out. "I know you're here. Come out now, and I won't hurt anyone else."
"This way," Marcus whispered, pulling Emma toward station seven.
But as they moved through the crowd, Emma realized something terrible. Vincent wasn't alone. His men were spread throughout the station. Every exit was blocked.
"It's a trap," Emma whispered.
That's when the lights went out.
Emergency lights kicked in, but the station was mostly dark now. People were yelling and running in all directions. Emma felt Marcus's hand in hers, but in the chaos, someone slammed into them.
Emma fell hard on the floor. When she got up, Marcus was gone.
"Marcus!" she called out, but her voice was lost in the shouting crowd.
A hand grabbed her shoulder. Emma spun around, hoping it was Marcus.
It was Vincent.
"Hello, Emma," he said with his cold smile. "Time to go."
Emma tried to run, but Vincent's grip was too strong. He started pulling her toward one of the platforms.
"Let me go!" Emma screamed, but everyone was too busy running to help her.
"Your father and grandmother are already dead," Vincent said in her ear. "Williams is dead too. That means you're the only person alive who knows where those files are hidden."
"I don't know where they are!"
"Oh, but you do," Vincent said. "You just don't remember yet."
They reached an empty stage. Vincent's men were waiting there with a black car.
Emma's heart was breaking. Her father, alive for five minutes and then killed again. Her grandmother, who'd protected her for so long, gone. Marcus, lost somewhere in the chaos.
She was alone again. Just like she'd been for fifteen years.
But then Emma remembered something her father had said in the car. The files weren't just hidden somewhere random. They were hidden somewhere that meant something to her family.
"The fairy," Emma whispered.
Vincent stopped walking. "What did you say?"
Emma's mind was racing. The text Marcus had gotten said "where the fairy lives." Her parents used to read her fairy tales when she was little. There was one special place...
"I know where the files are," Emma said.
Vincent smiled wide. "I knew you'd remember. Where?"
Emma looked him right in the eyes. "I'll show you. But first, I want proof that Marcus is alive."
"Marcus is dead," Vincent lied.
But Emma had seen Vincent lie before. She was getting good at reading his face.
"Then you'll never find the files," Emma said.
Vincent's smile disappeared. He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Bring the FBI agent to the van."
A few minutes later, two guys dragged Marcus over. He was beaten up and bleeding, but living. Emma felt relief rush through her.
"Now," Vincent said. "Where are the files?"
Emma took a deep breath. She was about to risk everything on a guess.
"My childhood treehouse," she said. "But not where you think. There's a secret room my father built underneath it. That's where the fairy lives."
Vincent's eyes lit up with greed. "Get them in the van. We're going back to Brooklyn."
As they pushed Emma and Marcus into the car, Emma caught Marcus's eye. She tried to tell him with her look that she had a plan.
But what Emma didn't know was that someone had been listening to every word.
Someone who was very much living.
Someone who had been waiting fifteen years for this moment.
As the van pulled away from Grand Central, a person stepped out of the shadows on the platform.
David Martinez wasn't dead after all.
And he was holding something in his hand that was going to change everything.
The real files his daughter was looking for.
But these files held a secret that even Emma didn't know.
A secret that would destroy not just Vincent's group, but the entire FBI.
A secret about Emma herself.
David smiled sadly and pulled out his phone.
"Rebecca," he said into the phone. "It's time. Follow the van. And remember – Emma can never know the truth about who she really is."