Chapter 7 - The Frame Job
The sheer audacity of my brother's lie paralyzed me on the suburban sidewalk.
David was using the full, terrifying power of the police force to frame me for the chaos the cartel had caused.
Several heavily armed SWAT officers broke away from the main group, rushing toward me with their weapons raised.
I clutched the baby tightly, knowing that if they took me into custody, David would hand this child straight to Silas.
I had to run, completely abandoning the life I had built here to protect the innocent life in my arms.
I jumped into Eleanor's black sedan, throwing the car into drive before the doors were even fully closed.
The engine roared as I slammed the gas pedal to the floor, aggressively swerving around the approaching tactical officers.
Gunfire erupted behind me, the bullets shattering the rear windshield and showering the backseat with broken glass.
I ducked low over the steering wheel, turning sharply down a narrow alleyway to break their line of sight.
My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear the police sirens echoing through the neighborhood behind me.
I had left James inside the house, completely at the mercy of Silas and a heavily corrupt police squad.
Tears blinded my vision, but I forced myself to focus on the road, knowing I had to survive to save my family.
I drove recklessly toward the industrial district on the edge of town, seeking the safety of the abandoned warehouses.
I pulled the damaged sedan into a rusted shipping container, cutting the engine and plunging us into total darkness.
The baby began to cry, her tiny voice piercing the silence as she finally woke up from the chaos.
I held her close, gently rocking her and whispering soothing promises I wasn't entirely sure I could keep.
I needed a plan to expose David, rescue James, and find out where they were hiding my three boys.
I began searching Eleanor's car for anything useful, digging through the glove compartment and the center console.
Hidden beneath a stack of maintenance receipts, I found a burner phone and a small black leather notebook.
I opened the notebook, using the faint light of the moon filtering through the container doors to read the pages.
It was Eleanor's personal ledger, detailing a decade of illegal bribes, money laundering, and human trafficking operations.
She had documented every single payment made to David, Silas, and dozens of other corrupt officials in the city.
This small book contained enough hard evidence to dismantle the entire syndicate and completely clear our names.
I turned the phone on, intending to call the FBI field office directly and bypass the corrupt local police entirely.
Before I could dial a single number, the burner phone rang loudly in my hand, startling me so badly I nearly dropped it.
The caller ID simply displayed a single, ominous letter: "E".
I answered the call, refusing to speak as I listened to the heavy breathing on the other end of the line.
"I know you have the ledger, Sarah, and I know exactly where you are," a woman's voice whispered softly.
May you like
It wasn't Eleanor, and it certainly wasn't the police.
"I have your three boys, and if you ever want to see them alive, you will bring my daughter back to me," Elena, James's supposedly dead sister, demanded.
