Chapter 4 - The Father's Choice
My father stood in the dim light of the parking garage, his hands buried deep in his trench coat pockets.
I tightened my grip on Eli and took a slow, terrified step backward into the elevator.
"Do not run from me, Hannah," my father said, his voice cracking with an emotion I could not identify.
"You let them hurt my baby!" I screamed at him, my voice echoing off the concrete walls.
He closed his eyes, a single tear rolling down his weathered face.
"I tried to call the police, but your mother always finds a way to stop me," he whispered.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets, and I braced myself for a weapon.
Instead, he held out a set of keys with a silver keychain attached to them.
"The ambulance is tracked by GPS, so you will not make it three miles before they find you," my father explained.
He pointed to a dusty, unregistered sedan parked in the darkest corner of the garage.
"Take my old car, it has no tracking software and a full tank of gas," he offered.
I stared at the keys in his outstretched hand, desperately trying to determine if this was another elaborate trap.
"Why are you helping me now?" I demanded, refusing to step closer to him.
My father let out a ragged, heartbreaking sigh.
"Because Ryan is not my biological son, and he is not your brother," my father confessed.
The entire world seemed to stop spinning as his words hung heavily in the cold air.
"Your mother had an affair thirty-five years ago with a very powerful, very dangerous man," he revealed.
"Ryan's real father is the head of the largest organized crime syndicate in this city."
I felt a wave of nausea wash over me as the absolute truth finally made sense.
The corrupt police officers, the bought judges, and the endless stream of money were all provided by Ryan's biological father.
My mother had been protecting a monster because she was terrified of the man who created him.
I stepped forward and snatched the keys from my father's trembling hand.
"If you ever loved me, you will stay here and block that elevator," I commanded him.
He nodded fiercely, turning his back to me and planting his feet squarely in front of the metal doors.
I ran to the dusty sedan, placed Eli gently in the back seat, and secured his seatbelt.
I jumped into the driver's seat, started the engine, and tore out of the parking garage into the freezing night.
I grabbed the burner phone and put it on speaker while I navigated the empty city streets.
"Sarah, I have a car, where do I go?" I asked the lawyer urgently.
"Drive to the abandoned church on 5th Avenue, I have a safe house established in the crypt," Sarah instructed.
I pressed the gas pedal harder, watching the snow begin to fall rapidly against my windshield.
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I thought I was finally breaking free from the suffocating nightmare of my family.
Then, out of the darkness of an intersection, a massive black SUV ran a red light and slammed violently into the side of my car.
