He Found His 6-Year-Old Son Scrubbing a Glass Roof—Then Realized His Wife Had Been Torturing Him All Along / Chapter 12 / 20

Chapter 12 - Shadows in the SunPanic was a luxury David could no longer afford.

He didn't scream. He didn't throw things. He simply walked to his bedroom, pulled a heavy canvas duffel bag from the top of the closet, and began throwing clothes into it.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, following him into the room.

"We're leaving," David stated, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "I promised Ethan she would never hurt him again. I'm not going to sit in this apartment and wait for her to send another hitter."

"David, you can't just run! You're the state's star witness. If you skip town, Sterling will use it to get the entire case dismissed."

"I don't care about the case, Sarah!" David snapped, spinning around to face her. "I care about my son! Evelyn is a sociopath with millions of dollars and a bruised ego. She's not going to flee the country. She's going to come for me. She's going to come for Ethan. To prove she can."

Sarah opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her throat. She knew he was right. Evelyn Thorne was a predator, and predators didn't like it when their prey fought back.

"Okay," Sarah said, swallowing hard. "Okay, we go. But where?"

"A public place first. Somewhere crowded. We need to see if we're being watched."

Thirty minutes later, David, Sarah, and Ethan were sitting on a bench in the middle of Centennial Park. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Children were laughing on the swings, dogs were catching frisbees, and couples were strolling along the paved paths. It was a picture of perfect, normal life.

It felt entirely alien to David.

He sat with his arm wrapped tightly around Ethan, his eyes scanning the crowd with relentless intensity. He was looking for anyone standing too still, anyone wearing clothes too heavy for the weather, anyone avoiding eye contact.

"Dad, can I go on the slide?" Ethan asked, pointing to the brightly colored plastic structure twenty yards away.

"Not right now, buddy," David said gently. "Just sit with us a little longer."

"You're making him paranoid," Sarah whispered, pretending to check her phone. "We've been sitting here for an hour. Nobody followed us from the apartment. Maybe Evelyn is just focused on her legal defense."

"No," David muttered, his eyes locking onto something in the distance.

"David?"

"Don't look up," David commanded, his voice tight. "At your two o'clock. About fifty feet in the air, hovering near the oak tree."

Sarah slowly shifted her gaze, keeping her head perfectly still.

There, camouflaged against the dark green leaves of the ancient oak, was a small, high-end commercial drone. Its camera lens was pointed directly at their bench.

"A drone?" Sarah breathed. "Could it just be a kid playing?"

"Kids fly drones in the open to do tricks," David said, his mind racing. "That thing has been hovering in the exact same spot for five minutes, using the branches for cover. It's a surveillance model."

David stood up abruptly. He didn't care about looking natural anymore. He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a heavy, steel-cased pen he carried for self-defense.

"Stay here with Ethan," David ordered.

Before Sarah could protest, David jogged toward the oak tree. The moment he moved, the drone reacted. It immediately ascended, trying to gain altitude to avoid him.

But David was faster. He sprinted the last ten yards, using a nearby park bench as a springboard. He launched himself into the air, his arm fully extended. He threw the steel pen with the precision of a baseball pitcher.

The heavy metal struck the drone's rear propeller with a loud CRACK.

The machine sputtered, lost its balance, and crashed into the thick bushes below.

David scrambled into the dirt, ignoring the thorns tearing at his jacket. He found the crushed drone. It was entirely black, lacking any serial numbers or manufacturer logos. He pried open the battery compartment and ripped out the memory card.

He jogged back to the bench, his face grim.

"What is it?" Sarah asked, pulling Ethan closer to her.

"It's a live-feed transmitter," David said, crushing the drone's memory card beneath the heel of his boot. "They aren't just watching us, Sarah. They know exactly where we are, right now. Evelyn didn't just hire a lawyer. she hired a hunting party."