Chapter 2 - The Secret File
The black SUV tore blindly down the treacherous mountain backroads without any headlights.
Vance drove with terrifying precision, relying entirely on his memory of the winding gravel paths.
My shattered leg throbbed with a blinding, relentless agony every time we hit a deep pothole.
I kept my hands pressed tightly against my bleeding ribs to keep myself from screaming.
"There is a first aid kit in the glove compartment," Vance instructed calmly.
I reached forward with violently trembling fingers and popped the small latch open.
Inside the compartment was a heavy medical bag and a thick manila folder labeled with David's handwriting.
"Your husband asked me to compile a complete background check on his own son," Vance explained.
I pulled the heavy folder onto my lap, completely ignoring the sterile bandages.
"David adopted Evan when the boy was supposedly just four years old."
"But the orphanage records from Romania were entirely fabricated by a highly sophisticated smuggling ring."
I flipped open the folder and stared at a series of old, faded medical documents.
"Evan is not seventeen years old, Sarah."
"According to the dental records I uncovered, he is actually a twenty-five-year-old man."
The horrifying truth hit my exhausted brain like a physical blow.
I had spent the last decade raising a highly dangerous, grown adult who was pretending to be a child.
"He suffers from a rare genetic condition that completely halted his physical aging," Vance continued.
"He uses his innocent appearance to gain access to wealthy, vulnerable families."
Vance aggressively spun the steering wheel, turning the heavy SUV onto a completely hidden dirt trail.
"Once he gets himself adopted, he systematically murders the parents to inherit their accumulated wealth."
Tears of pure betrayal and terror streamed hotly down my freezing cheeks.
I remembered every time I had tucked Evan into bed or packed his school lunches.
He had been secretly plotting my brutal murder the entire time.
Vance finally parked the vehicle outside a dilapidated, abandoned hunting cabin deep in the woods.
He helped me hobble inside the dusty structure and laid me on an old, rusted cot.
He quickly went to work setting my broken leg with a pair of wooden splints and tight bandages.
The sharp pain made me briefly lose consciousness for a few terrifying seconds.
When I opened my eyes again, Vance was staring grimly at a small portable television on the table.
The local news channel was broadcasting an emergency breaking bulletin across the screen.
Evan was standing in front of the police station, weeping hysterically for the flashing cameras.
He looked exactly like a traumatized, heartbroken teenage boy who had just lost everything.
"My stepmother completely lost her mind and tried to drive us both off the cliff," Evan sobbed perfectly.
"She confessed to murdering my father right before she cut the brake lines herself."
The news anchor gravely announced that a massive statewide manhunt was now underway for me.
My face was plastered across the screen with a stark warning that I was armed and extremely dangerous.
Then, Vance's secure burner phone suddenly vibrated loudly in his pocket.
He pulled it out, read the incoming text message, and his rugged face turned completely pale.
"Evan just sent me a message," Vance whispered in sheer disbelief.
May you like
He slowly turned the glowing screen around so I could read the terrifying words.
The message read: "I know you are at the hunting cabin, Vance, and I just locked the front door from the outside."
