Chapter 4 - The Escape
David contorted his body painfully in the heavy leather chair, stretching his bound legs as far as physically possible.
His polished dress shoe finally scraped against the jagged shard of broken glass resting on the hardwood floor.
He carefully dragged the sharp piece closer until he could awkwardly reach it with his taped fingertips.
He gripped the glass tightly, ignoring the sharp pain as it sliced deeply into his own palm.
He began sawing frantically at the thick silver duct tape binding his wrists together behind his back.
He could hear Vanessa loudly sloshing heavy cans of gasoline in the adjacent kitchen.
Time was running out rapidly before they returned to execute their twisted, fiery murder plot.
With one final, desperate pull, the thick tape finally gave way and his hands sprang free.
He quickly sliced through the bindings on his ankles and quietly stood up from the heavy chair.
He crept silently across the living room, entirely avoiding the areas of the floor he knew would creak.
David grabbed a heavy, solid bronze fireplace poker from the hearth to use as a makeshift weapon.
He slipped silently into the dark hallway leading toward the basement door where Marcus had taken Sophie.
He could hear his daughter quietly sobbing at the bottom of the long wooden staircase.
David slowly opened the basement door and descended the steps with the stealth of a hunting predator.
Marcus was standing near the wine cellar, casually checking the ammunition magazine in his pistol.
David raised the heavy bronze poker and swung it with absolutely every ounce of furious strength he possessed.
The heavy metal violently struck the back of Marcus's skull with a sickening, hollow thud.
The corrupt lawyer collapsed instantly to the concrete floor, completely unconscious before he even realized he was under attack.
David aggressively snatched the fallen pistol from the floor and scooped his crying daughter securely into his arms.
"We are leaving right now, sweetie, keep your eyes tightly closed," David whispered into her ear.
He sprinted up the stairs and bypassed the living room, heading directly for the interior garage access door.
He frantically punched his security code into the keypad, and the heavy steel door clicked open.
David burst into the massive garage, fully expecting to load Sophie into his fastest sports car and escape the estate.
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Instead, he found the brake lines of every single vehicle completely severed, pooling dark fluid across the concrete floor.
Vanessa was standing by the main garage door, holding a heavy silver lighter over a massive puddle of highly flammable gasoline.
