Chapter 3: The Ghost in the Shadows
Three weeks passed. Addie was discharged from the hospital, her lungs fully recovered, but her psychological scars were deep. She refused to sleep without the lights on, and every time she heard a floorboard creak, she would hide behind my legs, trembling.
I moved us out of our suburban house immediately. I couldn't bear to stand in the living room where my daughter had fought for her life while her stepfather smiled. We moved into a secure, gated apartment complex uptown, paid for by the emergency funds my late mother had left me.
I spent my days working from home and reviewing old bank statements for the police. That’s when I noticed it.
Every second Tuesday of the month, Luke had made a cash withdrawal of exactly $500 from a specific ATM located near an abandoned warehouse district on the edge of the city. Even after he went on the run, the withdrawals hadn't stopped. Someone was still accessing that joint account using a secondary debit card I didn't know existed.
"Detective Marcus, he’s still here," I said over the phone, my heart racing as I stared at the digital banking screen. "He withdrew money three hours ago from the downtown branch near the old railyard."
"Don't move, Elena," Marcus ordered urgently. "We are sending a surveillance team to that location right now. Do not go near that area."
But as I hung up the phone, a sudden chill ran down my spine. The apartment was completely silent. Addie was in her bedroom, coloring with her purple markers.
Then, my cell phone buzzed with an unknown number.
I hesitantly pressed answer, bringing the phone to my ear. For a few seconds, there was only the sound of heavy, rhythmic breathing on the other end.
"You shouldn't have called the police, Elena," Luke's voice whispered, cold and smooth like silk. "I built a beautiful life for us. I taught your daughter how to be disciplined, how to stop crying like a weak little brat. And this is how you repay me?"
"You are a monster, Luke!" I screamed, my voice shaking with pure fury. "The police know who you are! They are going to catch you!"
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"They won't catch anything," he chuckled darkly. "But I'm coming back for what's mine. Addie still needs to finish her lesson. Look out your window, Elena."
My blood turned to ice. I ran to the living room window, pulling back the blinds. Across the street, standing beneath a flickering streetlamp in the pouring rain, was a figure in a gray hoodie. He raised his hand, holding a blue plastic inhaler—Addie's inhaler—and smiled directly up at my apartment.
