Chapter 7 - No Safe Haven
The flashing red and blue lights painted the underside of the overpass in a terrifying strobe effect.
"They tracked the burner phone," I realized, crushing the cheap plastic device beneath my heel.
I grabbed Sophie's hand and pushed Grace toward the steep, wooded embankment on the other side of the highway.
"Move, now!" I barked, ignoring the throbbing pain radiating from my bleeding shoulder.
We scrambled up the muddy slope, sliding and stumbling as police cruisers slammed on their brakes on the road below.
Searchlights swept across the trees, narrowly missing us as we dove behind a massive fallen oak tree.
"Suspect is armed and dangerous, shoot on sight," a megaphone blared through the cool night air.
I pulled my children tight against my chest, feeling their rapid heartbeats mirroring my own.
They were hunting me like an animal, and they fully intended to execute me right in front of my kids.
Grace crawled closer, tearing a strip of fabric from her apron and tying it tightly around my bleeding shoulder.
"We need shelter, you're losing way too much blood," she whispered, her hands steady despite the total chaos.
I racked my brain, trying to think of a single place in this county that Vanessa and the Romeros didn't know about.
"There's an old, abandoned hunting cabin a mile north of here," I gasped, the world spinning slightly around me.
We waited for the searchlights to pass before slipping deeper into the dark, unforgiving woods.
The journey felt like an eternity, every step sending a fresh wave of blinding agony through my body.
By the time the dilapidated wooden cabin came into view, I was running on pure willpower alone.
I kicked the rotten door open, sweeping the dusty interior with my pistol before letting my family inside.
I collapsed into a broken wooden chair, my vision blurring at the edges as extreme blood loss took its toll.
Grace immediately sprang into action, blocking the windows with old tarps and settling the children in a corner.
I closed my eyes just for a second, intending to catch my breath and gather my strength.
When I opened them again, the bright morning sun was streaming through the cracks in the walls.
I jolted awake in a complete panic, reaching for the gun I had set on the table.
The gun was gone, and so was Grace.
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On the table lay a single sheet of paper with a hastily handwritten note.
"I'm sorry, Evan, but I have to finish what my sister started."
