Chapter 7 - The Hostage Trap
We stared at the dark screen, the heavy weight of Wade's brutal ultimatum crushing the air from the car.
"We cannot let an innocent woman die because of our terrible family," I said firmly and without hesitation.
David nodded grimly and turned the SUV around aggressively toward the industrial side of the small town.
Wade's main construction site was a massive, half-built concrete shopping mall entirely surrounded by chain-link fences.
We pulled up to the dark, abandoned lot, the only light coming from a single halogen work lamp.
"You stay here safely with your mother," David ordered, pulling a spare handgun from his hidden ankle holster.
"I am going with you," I insisted, absolutely refusing to be left behind while he risked his own life.
I grabbed a heavy steel crowbar from the backseat, gripping the cold metal in my sweating hands.
Lucy promised to lock the car doors and guard Mom with her life while we attempted to negotiate.
David and I crept quietly through the muddy terrain, hiding carefully behind towering stacks of gray cinder blocks.
In the center of the unfinished concrete foundation, Wade was standing near a massive diesel fuel tank.
He was holding Clara violently by her collar, pressing his weapon against her trembling back.
"Step out into the light, Claire!" Wade shouted, his voice echoing loudly off the bare concrete walls.
David stepped out first, his gun raised high and his aim perfectly steady on his target.
"Let the innocent woman go, Wade, this fight is just between us," David called out authoritatively.
Wade laughed, a cold and hollow sound that made my skin crawl with pure disgust.
"Nothing is just between us anymore," Wade sneered with unmatched arrogance.
He shoved Clara violently to the muddy ground and kicked her far away from him.
As Clara scrambled desperately to safety, a dozen heavily armed men stepped out from the shadows of the construction equipment.
They were Watkins' corrupt deputies, and they had us completely and hopelessly surrounded.
Sheriff Watkins himself stepped forward into the light, grinning exactly like a predator cornering its prey.
"Drop the weapon right now, Miller, or we light up this entire pit," the Sheriff commanded loudly.
David slowly placed his gun on the dirt, raising his hands in a gesture of total defeat.
Wade walked confidently over to me, grabbing my hair and forcing me roughly to my knees in the mud.
"I told you not to cause any trouble, little sister," Wade whispered venomously into my ear.
He reached into his expensive jacket and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear, deadly liquid.
"This will make your heart stop, and Watkins will gladly write it up as a tragic overdose," Wade explained.
He grabbed my bare arm, searching for a visible vein with the sharp, terrifying needle.
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Suddenly, the deafening roar of a heavy engine shattered the silence of the construction site.
Lucy rammed the stolen SUV straight through the chain-link fence at absolutely full speed.
