Chapter 4: The Trap is Sprung
I didn't panic. The fear that had paralyzed me three weeks ago had hardened into iron. I locked the balcony doors, grabbed Addie from her room, and secured us inside the master bathroom, locking the heavy deadbolt.
"Mommy? Is Daddy outside?" Addie asked, her big brown eyes filling with tears as she clutched her teddy bear.
"He can't hurt us anymore, baby," I whispered, kissing her forehead as I dialed Detective Marcus. "He's here. He's outside my building. He just called me."
"We're two minutes away, Elena! Keep the doors locked! Do not open for anyone!" Marcus shouted over the sound of blaring sirens in the background.
Outside the bathroom door, I heard the sudden, sharp sound of shattering glass from the living room balcony. Luke had climbed the fire escape. He was inside the apartment.
"Elena..." his voice echoed through the dark apartment, heavy footsteps thudding against the hardwood floor. "Come out, sweetie. Let's talk like adults. You're making a scene again, just like the night the ambulance came."
Addie began to wheeze, panic tightening her small chest. I reached into my pocket, pulling out her rescue inhaler, and gently pressed it to her lips. "Breathe, baby. Breathe with Mommy. Quietly."
The footsteps stopped right outside the bathroom door. The handle jiggled violently.
"I know you're in there," Luke said, his voice dropping to a harsh, aggressive growl. He began to kick the door, the wood groaning under his weight. "You think you can hide my daughter from me? I made her! I controlled her! You are nothing without me!"
With a loud CRACK, the door frame began to splinter. I grabbed a heavy brass towel bar from the wall, standing in front of Addie, ready to kill him if he stepped through that door.
But before the door could give way, the main apartment entrance was smashed open with a thunderous boom.
"Police! Drop your weapon! Hands in the air!" Marcus’s voice roared through the apartment.
Shouts, scuffling sounds, and the heavy thud of bodies hitting the floor echoed from the living room. I heard Luke screaming in rage as he was slammed against the wall.
"Suspect is down! Secure the handcuffs!" an officer yelled.
The bathroom door was gently knocked on. "Elena? It's Detective Marcus. It's safe. You can come out now."
I unlocked the door, stepping out into the living room. Luke was pinned to the floor, his face pressed against the rug, his hands securely cuffed behind his back. As the officers pulled him up, he glared at me with pure, unadulterated venom.
I walked straight up to him, not flinching an inch. I reached into his front pocket, pulled out Addie’s blue inhaler that he had stolen, and looked him dead in the eye.
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"The lesson is over, Lucas," I said calmly.
As they dragged him away into the flashing red lights of the police cruisers, he looked small, pathetic, and broken. The ghost had finally been caught.
