Chapter 4 - The Cabin in the Woods
The rain had turned into a sleet storm by the time the fleet of black SUVs pulled up to the dirt road leading to the secluded property in upstate New York.
Located three miles outside a sleepy mountain town, the property was surrounded by dense pine forests and a high, chain-link fence topped with razor wire. To the casual observer, it looked like a private hunting lodge. To Lena, it had been a living hell for two years.
Inside the main cabin, a man named Marcus sat at a wooden table, cleaning a semi-automatic pistol.
He was a large, muscular man with a scarred jaw and cold, dead eyes. He had served as Evelyn Ashford’s personal driver and enforcer for over fifteen years, handling the dirty work that the high-society matriarch couldn't afford to get her hands on.
His phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up.
"Speak," he said.
"Marcus," Evelyn’s voice came through the speaker, tight with an undercurrent of panic. "The girl is gone."
Marcus stood up so fast his chair scraped violently against the floorboards. "What do you mean she's gone? The guards checked her room at noon."
"She’s not in the cabin, you idiot!" Evelyn hissed. "She escaped. I don't know how, but she’s gone. And Daniel... Daniel is acting strange. He signed the documents, but there’s something in his eyes. I think he knows."
"If she escaped, she couldn't have gone far," Marcus said, his voice hardening as he grabbed his coat. "She’s weak, and she has the kid with her. She doesn't have any money or a phone. I’ll track her down. She won't make it to the highway."
"If you find her, Marcus," Evelyn said, her voice dropping into a chilling, remorseless whisper, "do not bring her back. Do you understand me? The inheritance is secure. I have the proxy votes. We don't need her alive anymore. Eliminate the problem. Both of them."
"Understood," Marcus said.
He hung up the phone and turned to the two guards standing by the door. "Get the dogs. The bitch ran. We track her, we find her, and we bury her in the woods."
As they opened the front door of the cabin, the forest suddenly erupted in white light.
Massive searchlights from three different directions illuminated the clearing, turning the falling sleet into a blinding, shimmering wall.
"FBI! Federal agents! Drop your weapons and get on the ground!"
A voice amplified by a megaphone boomed through the trees.
Marcus didn't hesitate. He raised his pistol and fired three rapid shots toward the nearest searchlight, the glass shattering in a shower of sparks.
The forest erupted into a deafening exchange of gunfire. Tactical agents in heavy body armor moved through the trees with military precision, returning fire with non-lethal flashbangs and tear gas canisters that filled the clearing with thick, white smoke.
"Clear the cabin!" Agent Miller shouted, leading a team through the side entrance. "Secure the perimeter! Don't let Marcus get to his vehicle!"
Marcus ran toward the back of the property, his boots slipping on the wet mud. He reached his black SUV and threw himself into the driver's seat, revving the engine as the tires spun wildly in the gravel.
Before he could put the vehicle in drive, a flashbang exploded directly on his windshield, the blinding light and deafening crack disorienting him.
The driver's side window shattered as two tactical agents dragged him out of the vehicle, slamming him onto the hood and securing his wrists in heavy zip-ties.
"It’s over, Marcus," Agent Miller said, stepping into the light, her weapon lowered but ready. "Your boss just sold you out. Dr. Mercer gave us everything. You’re going away for kidnapping, attempted murder, and federal conspiracy."
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Marcus spat blood onto the hood of the car, his eyes glaring at her with venomous hatred. "You think you can touch Evelyn Ashford? She owns half the judges in this state. She’ll be out of this before sunrise."
"Not this time," Miller said, turning to her team. "Search the house. Find the logbook. I want every single piece of evidence that connects the mother to this location."
