Chapter 7 - The Trap at the Park
The police put a trace on my phone, but Jason was smart. He was using burner phones and moving constantly through the industrial districts of the city. The tension in our lives reached a fever pitch. I stopped going to work, taking a leave of absence to ensure Emily was never out of my sight for a single frame of the day.
Two days later, Dr. Avery suggested we try an outdoor session—a neutral, open space to help Emily overcome her fear of public environments. We chose a quiet park with a small playground, surrounded by unmarked police vehicles hidden in plain sight.
Emily stood by the swings, her hands gripping the chains. She wasn't swinging; she was just looking at the other kids playing.
"Go ahead, sweetie," I encouraged her from a bench ten feet away. "I'm right here."
She took a hesitant step forward. But then, a man in a grey hoodie and a medical mask walked past the perimeter of the park. He didn't look at the playground, but as he passed a trash can near our bench, he dropped a small, pink object into it.
Emily saw it first. She gasped, dropping to her knees, covering her ears. "Daddy! It's Barnaby! It's Barnaby!"
Barnaby was her favorite childhood stuffed rabbit—the one Jason had supposedly thrown into the pool.
I bolted from the bench toward the trash can, grabbing the toy. It was damp, smelling of stagnation, but taped to its chest was a typed note: 'The cage is still open, Emily.'
"Vance! He's here!" I screamed, looking wildly around the park.
Suddenly, the man in the grey hoodie began to sprint toward the tree line. Unmarked police doors flew open, and detectives flooded the park with weapons drawn. "Stop! Police!"
The man tripped over a root, crashing hard into the dirt. Officers piled on top of him, pinning him down and ripping the mask from his face.
But it wasn't Jason. It was a scruffy, terrified young man.
May you like
"I don't know anything!" the kid screamed as handcuffs clicked around his wrists. "A guy in a black truck paid me fifty bucks to drop the rabbit and run if anyone noticed! He said it was a prank!"
Jason hadn't come to the park. He had used a pawn to test our security, to show us that he could touch us whenever he wanted. He was playing a psychological game, and we were losing our minds.
