He Found His 6-Year-Old Son Scrubbing a Glass Roof—Then Realized His Wife Had Been Torturing Him All Along / Chapter 10 / 20

Chapter 10 - CheckmateEvelyn spun around and sprinted toward the kitchen. Her heels clicked frantically on the hardwood floor. She was heading for the side door—the only door that didn't have a hurricane shutter.

David let her run.

She slammed her shoulder into the heavy oak door, frantically twisting the handle. It was locked. She fumbled with the deadbolt, her pristine facade completely shattered. She was a rat trapped in a cage.

She finally managed to yank the door open, gasping for the cold, rainy air outside.

"Help!" she screamed into the night.

But she froze.

Standing in the driveway, completely surrounding the estate, were a dozen police cruisers. Their red and blue lights sliced through the heavy rain, casting an eerie glow over the manicured lawn.

Standing in front of the cruisers, holding an umbrella and flanked by two FBI agents, was Sarah Vance.

Evelyn stared in shock.

David walked slowly out of the shadows of the kitchen, stopping right behind her.

"Did you really think I just set up audio recorders to get a confession?" David asked, his voice a low, mocking whisper in her ear. "I'm a tech guy, Evelyn. I livestreamed everything. The entire conversation. Your admission to the Oregon murder. Your plan to kill my son. It broadcast directly to Sarah, and she walked it right into the FBI field office."

Evelyn’s entire body went rigid. The color drained from her face, leaving her looking like a porcelain doll about to shatter.

"Evelyn Thorne!" a voice boomed over a police megaphone. "Step out of the house with your hands in the air! You are surrounded!"

Evelyn slowly turned to look at David. The hatred in her eyes was toxic, a poisonous venom that had finally run out of victims.

"You ruined everything," she hissed, her face contorting into an ugly, desperate snarl.

Suddenly, she lunged at him, her manicured nails aiming for his eyes like claws.

David didn't even flinch. He easily caught her wrists, twisting her arms behind her back with a swift, brutal motion. He shoved her face-first into the doorframe.

"No," David said coldly, binding her wrists tightly with a thick plastic zip-tie he pulled from his pocket. "I fixed everything."

He marched her out into the pouring rain, shoving her toward the waiting FBI agents. They immediately swarmed her, reading her rights as they pushed her into the back of a heavily armored vehicle. She was screaming, cursing David’s name, her perfect hair plastered to her face in a wet, pathetic mess.

David stood on the porch, watching the taillights of the police cruisers fade down the driveway. The rain washed the blood and dirt from his hands.

Sarah jogged up the steps, bypassing the crime scene tape. She threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"It's over," Sarah breathed, crying into his shoulder. "They're going to put her away forever, David. And Marcus too. It's really over."

David closed his eyes, letting out a breath he felt like he had been holding for two years. The adrenaline crashed out of his system, leaving his legs shaking and his chest aching. But beneath the exhaustion, there was something else.

Peace.

"Where is he?" David asked, opening his eyes.

"He's safe. He's at the field office with my sister, coloring," Sarah smiled, wiping her eyes. "He asked if his dad beat the monster."