Chapter 3 - The Corrupt Badge
Alexander slammed the phone down and cursed under his breath.
He turned to me and whispered that the local police had just breached the front doors of the restaurant.
Eleanor let out a wicked laugh, adjusting her pearl necklace with trembling hands.
She proudly announced that the Chief of Police was a personal friend of her family.
She had called him an hour ago to report a deranged waitress holding a baby hostage in a basement.
I panicked, knowing that a corrupt police force would never bother to look at Alexander’s security footage.
Heavy boots pounded against the steel door at the top of the stairs, demanding immediate entry.
Alexander grabbed my arm and pulled me toward a hidden wooden panel behind his massive bookshelf.
He pushed the panel open, revealing a dark, narrow maintenance tunnel that smelled of damp earth.
He told me to take my baby and run to the alleyway, promising he would handle the police.
I refused to leave him behind to face Eleanor’s wrath alone.
Alexander looked into my eyes with an intensity that made my heart race, begging me to trust him.
I wrapped Paige tightly in her blanket and stepped into the pitch-black tunnel.
I ran through the darkness for what felt like hours, my lungs burning and my arms aching.
I finally reached a rusted iron grate and pushed it open, stepping out into a freezing, rain-soaked alleyway.
I let out a sigh of relief, thinking we had finally escaped the nightmare.
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Then, the blinding beam of a police flashlight hit me directly in the face.
A towering police officer aimed his weapon at my chest and ordered me to drop the child.
