Chapter 53

She owed a big thank you to every workout and gym session she'd ever endured because right now, her legs were giving her a stern warning: stop, and they'd make her pay dearly. Mentally bargaining with her limbs, she promised a massage, a sauna session, and a week of rest if they could hold out for just another ten minutes. Her legs countered with five, she pushed for eight, and they settled on a compromise of seven minutes and 30 seconds. Passing beneath the Lincoln Highway and crossing 11th Avenue, she felt dirt kicking up around her. Then it happened again. Bullets whizzed past, but she couldn't hear the shots, couldn't shield herself from an invisible assailant. Approaching the Hudson River Greenway, the dock area lay straight ahead. With shots still raining down, her options became clear. Piers stretched to her left and right, but they were too far. Straight ahead, the water beckoned, a mere 200 feet away. The decision was made for her when more gunfire erupt