Chapter 2 - No Way Out
"You always were too predictable, little brother," David said with a twisted smile.
He tossed the wire cutters onto the concrete floor, where they landed with a heavy metallic clang.
"I disabled the battery an hour ago," he explained, walking slowly toward the hood of my car.
Panic gripped my throat as I frantically looked around for another weapon.
The garage door leading back to the kitchen began to rattle violently.
Vanessa was kicking the wood, trying to break the deadbolt.
"Open this door right now, David!" she screamed from the other side.
I reached under the driver's seat and pulled out a heavy steel flashlight.
"Get out of the car, Marcus," David warned, pulling a long hunting knife from his belt.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, keeping my body positioned between him and my children.
"Lily's biological mother left her a trust fund worth twenty million dollars," he sneered.
"Once you are out of the picture, Vanessa becomes her legal guardian, and we control the money."
He lunged forward with the knife aimed directly at my stomach.
I swung the steel flashlight with all my strength, striking his wrist with a sickening crack.
David howled in pain and dropped the blade.
I didn't hesitate for a single second.
I kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him crashing into a stack of metal toolboxes.
"Ethan, unbuckle your sister right now!" I yelled over the chaotic noise.
I grabbed the heavy metal tire iron from the wall rack and smashed it into the side window of the garage.
Glass shattered outward into the rainy night.
I carefully lifted Lily through the broken window frame, setting her on the wet grass outside.
Ethan quickly followed, landing safely beside his sister.
Just as I started to climb through, the kitchen door finally splintered open.
Vanessa rushed into the garage, raising her gun.
I threw myself out of the window as a bullet whizzed past my ear, embedding itself in the wooden frame.
I grabbed my children by their hands and sprinted into the dark, pouring rain.
We ran down the street, our shoes splashing wildly through the deep puddles.
"We need to get to Mrs. Gable's house," I panted, pointing toward our elderly neighbor's porch lights.
We reached her front door and I pounded on the wood with my fists.
Mrs. Gable opened the door, wearing a warm robe and looking deeply concerned.
"Marcus, what on earth is happening?" she asked, ushering us out of the cold storm.
"My wife and brother are trying to kill us, I need to use your phone to call 911!" I begged.
Mrs. Gable closed the heavy front door and locked the deadbolt.
May you like
She turned to face me, and her grandmotherly smile vanished completely.
"I am so sorry, Marcus, but David pays very well," she whispered, pulling a loaded syringe from her pocket.
