Chapter 6 - The Midnight Raid
The rain picked up, hammering against the windshield of David’s truck like a thousand urgent warnings. David looked at Lily, who was already nodding off against the passenger headrest, emotionally exhausted.
"A psychotic break?" David’s voice was lethal. "She abuses my daughter, and she tries to steal her from me?"
"Eleanor operates with backroom judges and police commissioners she’s funded for thirty years," Marcus said, resting his hands on the truck door. "If they serve an emergency custody order tonight, the state troopers will take Lily to a child reception facility until a hearing next week. By then, Eleanor’s lawyers will have built a wall of lies you can't tear down."
"Where do I go?" David asked directly.
"My private cabin up in Pine Ridge," Marcus said, tossing a set of keys and a GPS transponder through the window. "There are no cameras, no paper trail, and it’s off the county registry. You take Lily there right now. I’ll go straight to the precinct with the full, unedited video footage and force the district attorney to issue a warrant for Victoria before Eleanor can grease any palms."
David grabbed the keys. "Thank you, Marcus."
"Don't thank me yet," Marcus warned grimly. "Eleanor has private security teams that operate like hounds. If they realize you’ve skipped town, they will hunt you down before I can get the DA out of bed. Keep your phone off. Don't use your credit cards."
Twenty minutes later, David was navigating the dark backroads leading out of the county. The storm worsened, lightning illuminating the sprawling pine forests in sudden, ghostly flashes.
In the rearview mirror, two sets of high-beam headlights suddenly crested the hill behind him.
David checked his speedometer. The black SUVs behind him weren't slowing down. They were closing the gap with aggressive speed.
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Lily stirred in her seat, opening her heavy eyes. "Daddy? Are those the bad people?"
"Close your eyes and hold onto your seatbelt, Lily," David said calmly, shifting the old truck into fourth gear. His engine roared, the tires gripping the slick asphalt as he prepared to fight for his child by any means necessary.
