Chapter 5 - The Whistleblower
The text message contained only an address for a rundown trailer park two towns over.
I borrowed a rental car and drove to the location under the cover of darkness.
I knocked on the rusted metal door of trailer number forty-two and waited patiently.
The door creaked open to reveal a terrified, pale woman with deep bags under her eyes.
She introduced herself as Sarah, the woman who used to be married to Wade.
I stepped inside her cramped home and told her that my son was currently living with her ex-husband.
Sarah began to sob uncontrollably and collapsed into a cheap kitchen chair.
“They are going to kill your boy, Mark, just like they killed my precious Leo,” she wept.
She confessed that she had found a hidden camera in Wade’s workshop a week before her son died.
The camera contained video proof that Wade enjoyed torturing small children for sick entertainment.
Sarah had confronted Wade, and the very next day, her son tragically drowned on a trip she was not allowed to attend.
She knew the corrupt police would never believe her, so she took the evidence and ran for her life.
She reached behind a loose floorboard and pulled out a small, encrypted hard drive.
“This drive contains the videos, the financial bribes to the police, and the judge’s blackmail files,” she whispered.
She handed me the drive and begged me to save my son before it was too late.
I thanked her and promised that Wade would never hurt another child again.
I walked back to my rental car feeling like I finally held the weapon to end this war.
Before I could even start the engine, my phone rang with a restricted caller ID.
I answered it and heard the panicked, breathless voice of my daughter.
“Daddy, please help us, they are taking Tommy away!” Ava cried into the receiver.
She told me she was hiding in a closet while Wade’s father dragged Tommy out the back door.
Ava said they threw him into a black van and were driving toward the old marshlands.
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I ordered her to stay perfectly quiet and promised I was coming for her next.
I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped dangerously toward the desolate swamps.
