Chapter 12 - The Midnight EscapeThe people hunting my daughters had planned for every door except the one I chose.The hospital descended into chaos.
Doctors shouted.
Security guards ran through the corridors.
Someone pulled an emergency alarm.
Brandon grabbed my arm.
“Come with me.”
I pulled away.
“You're the reason we're here.”
“I know.”
“I don't trust you.”
“I know.”
“Then why should I follow you?”
He looked straight into my eyes.
“Because I've spent six months being a coward.”
He swallowed.
“And I don't want my daughters paying for it.”
For the first time, he sounded like the man I had married.
Not the arrogant husband who told me to act like a mother.
Not the businessman hiding accounts.
Just a frightened father.
Claire led us through a service corridor.
The official exits were compromised.
We reached a loading area.
Then a security guard blocked us.
“Stop.”
Brandon stepped forward.
The guard raised his weapon.
“Kids down.”
My heart stopped.
Then the guard whispered,
“Mrs. Calloway?”
“Yes.”
He lowered the weapon.
“Claire sent me.”
He opened a side door.
“Go.”
We ran.
Outside, rain hammered the pavement.
We got into an unmarked vehicle.
The twins were crying.
I held them tightly.
Brandon sat beside me.
He didn't say a word.
For nearly twenty minutes, we drove.
Then Claire received a call.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
Then said,
“Are you certain?”
She hung up.
“What's wrong?”
“The fake custody order was only phase one.”
“What's phase two?”
She looked at Brandon.
He answered.
“They're going to accuse Huy of kidnapping the children.”
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
“Marcus has forged evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Travel records.”
“Why?”
“To make it look like you took the girls out of state.”
“But I didn't.”
“I know.”
“Then why would anyone believe it?”
“Because they already have a signed statement.”
“From who?”
Brandon looked at me.
“Me.”
Silence filled the car.
I stared at him.
“You signed a statement saying I was unstable?”
“Yes.”
I felt something break inside me.
“Why?”
“To protect myself.”
“From what?”
“My mother.”
“And the money?”
“And Marcus.”
“And now?”
He lowered his head.
“Now I know they were going to kill me too.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He looked up.
“I'm not the one they need anymore.”
“Then who?”
He stared at the twins.
“They need the baby.”
“The one with Daniel's DNA.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Her genetic profile.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“They want to sell it.”
Brandon nodded.
“Marcus already has a buyer.”
My hands tightened around Emma.
“Who?”
Brandon hesitated.
“An international pharmaceutical company.”
Claire's face hardened.
“Do they know the baby is a minor?”
“That doesn't matter to them.”
A silence.
Then Daniel spoke.
“Where is Marcus?”
Brandon answered.
“I think I know.”
“Where?”
He looked toward the window.
“The cabin.”
The fishing cabin.
North River Retreats.
The place he had supposedly visited for fun.
The place our money had helped finance.
The place where the entire plan had been built.
Claire looked at me.
“We go there.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
“We don't go there.”
“Why?” Daniel asked.
“Because that's exactly where they expect us to go.”
Brandon frowned.
“Then where?”
I looked at him.
“We make them come to us.”
“How?”
I smiled for the first time in days.
“With the one thing they think I don't have.”
“What?”
“Control.”
I opened my phone.
I had one final recording.
A recording of Brandon admitting everything.
I sent it.
Not to Claire.
Not to the police.
To Marcus.
The message contained six words.
Come get what you think is yours.
Then I turned off the phone.
Brandon stared at me.
“What did you just do?”
May you like
I looked at my daughters.
“I started the trap.”
Related Stories
