Chapter 4 – The Truth My Daughter Heard
We killed every light inside the hidden room.
The footsteps stopped directly above us.
Silence.
Then...
Bang.
Someone slammed the basement door.
Another bang.
Whoever it was knew exactly where we were.
My daughter buried her face against my shoulder.
"It's him."
"No."
I listened carefully.
Wrong rhythm.
Wrong footsteps.
Too heavy.
Too deliberate.
Not Ethan.
Someone he'd hired.
My eyes scanned the room desperately.
Then I noticed a service tunnel leading beneath the foundation.
An emergency escape.
We crawled through nearly fifty feet of dirt and concrete before emerging behind the detached garage.
Fresh air hit my lungs like freedom.
Almost.
Because parked beside the road sat a black SUV.
Engine running.
Waiting.
A man stepped out.
Suit.
Earpiece.
No expression.
"Mrs. Carter."
He smiled politely.
"Your husband would appreciate it if you came back inside."
I grabbed the shovel leaning against the garage before he finished speaking.
He reached toward me.
Big mistake.
I swung with everything I had.
The metal edge caught his shoulder.
He collapsed.
We ran.
Barefoot.
Across three neighboring yards.
Straight into the path of a sheriff's patrol vehicle.
I didn't wave.
I screamed.
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By the time Ethan landed at the airport eight hundred miles away...
Federal agents were already waiting.
