Chapter 4 - The Escape in the Dark
The quiet in the room was deafening after Eleanor walked out.
"Five million dollars..." Melissa choked out. "Ryan... we could start over..."
"Melissa, shut up!" I yelled. "You're talking about selling your daughter!"
"She's NOT our daughter!" Melissa screamed. "Look at who these people are! If we fight them, they will crush us!"
"Ryan," I said, looking at my twin brother. "Tell me you aren't going to sign those papers."
Ryan stared out the window at a sleek black SUV idling below. "They took Clara, Maya. Dad fought them for seven years, and in the end... his brakes failed on a straight road. We can't win against them. If we take her... they will destroy Leo. They will destroy you."
"Then let them try," I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed despite the white-hot pain tearing through my body. I wrapped the baby tightly against my chest inside my wool coat. "If you won't fight for your daughter, Ryan... I am taking her."
Suddenly, the door swung open again. Two large men in dark grey suits stepped inside. "Ms. Vance, surrender the infant to us calmly."
"Ryan... NOW!" I shouted.
Something inside Ryan snapped. The cowardice that had paralyzed him vanished. With a roar of rage, Ryan grabbed the heavy metal IV pole and swung it with all his strength, striking the lead guard squarely across the chest and knocking both men into the hallway.
"RUN, MAYA!" Ryan screamed, slamming the door shut and barricading it with the heavy supply cart. "TAKE THE SERVICE ELEVATOR!"
I sprinted down the utility corridor, throwing myself down the concrete stairwell toward the basement garage. Hope began to cry—a sharp, piercing newborn wail.
"Shh, baby girl," I frantically whispered. "Auntie’s got you."
I reached Level B and burst through the heavy steel doors. Fifty yards away sat my silver Subaru Outback. I hit the unlock button just as two guards spotted me from the elevator bank.
"STOP THE CAR!" one screamed, slamming his fist against my driver’s side window as I jumped inside and started the engine.
I stomped on the gas pedal, screeching in reverse, throwing the guard off balance. I slammed the shifter into drive and smashed through the wooden barrier gate, bursting out into the blinding, torrential rain of the city night.
My phone lit up in the cup holder. It was my seven-year-old son, Leo.
May you like
"Leo?" I choked out.
"Mom?" Leo whispered. "There are three men in black suits standing outside our front porch. They keep ringing the doorbell..."
