Chapter 3 - The Corrupt Badge
I slowly sank to my knees on the cold basement floor.
The police officers did not read me my rights or ask what had happened.
They simply handed Marcus a heavy zip-tie and stepped back.
I realized with absolute horror that my father’s criminal reach extended straight into the local precinct.
Marcus walked toward me with the plastic restraint ready in his bloody hands.
He whispered that I was going to disappear tonight and Eli would be raised by a real family.
The mention of my son sent a massive jolt of pure adrenaline straight through my veins.
I grabbed a heavy glass bottle of liquid detergent resting on the floor beside my knee.
I hurled it with all my strength directly at the bare lightbulb hanging above the stairs.
The bulb shattered instantly, plunging the basement back into total darkness.
The officers shouted in confusion and blindly fired two deafening shots into the walls.
I crawled desperately across the floor toward the broken laundry room window.
Glass tore through my shirt and sliced into my shoulder as I forced myself through the tight opening.
I fell hard into the wet grass outside just as flashlights began sweeping across the basement ceiling.
I scrambled to my feet and ran frantically into the dense woods behind the neighborhood.
Branches whipped against my face as I sprinted completely blind through the dark trees.
I did not stop running until I reached the safety of a brightly lit gas station two miles away.
I leaned against the brick wall of the building and gasped for air.
My hands shook violently as I pulled my cell phone from my pocket to call the FBI tip line.
The screen lit up with a new, terrifying notification.
I had received a single text message from my father.
May you like
The message contained a live video feed of Eli sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed.
A shadow moved across the screen, and my father’s voice whispered that he was right there with him.
