Chapter 5 - ALONE IN THE STORM
I scrambled out the broken window and bolted.
Snow stung my face. The wind howled around me. Behind me, I heard shouting—Emily’s voice, then the man’s deeper tones. I didn’t look back. I just ran, my little legs pumping as fast as they could through the deep drifts.
"Noah! Stop!" Emily called out. But then her voice was cut off.
I glanced over my shoulder. The man had grabbed her arm. She was fighting him, struggling, but he was too strong. He pulled her toward his car. She twisted and kicked, but he shoved her inside.
Then he looked up. Straight at me.
He said something I couldn’t hear through the wind. Then he started walking—no, running—toward me.
Panic exploded in my chest. I turned and ran harder, plunging into the deeper snow beside the road. Branches whipped at my face. My breath came in ragged gasps. I was small. I was five. And I was wearing only thin pajamas beneath a thin blanket.
My legs burned. My lungs ached. But I kept running.
Behind me, I heard the man’s voice again. Closer this time.
"There’s nowhere to go, little boy! Come back!"
I didn’t stop. I pushed through the trees, stumbling, falling, scrambling back up. The snow was getting deeper. The trees thicker. I had no idea where I was going. I only knew I had to get away.
Eventually, my legs gave out. I collapsed behind a large evergreen, gasping for air. I pressed myself flat against the cold earth, pulling the blanket up over my head.
Footsteps crunched through the snow. Coming closer.
I held my breath.
The footsteps stopped not far from where I lay.
"He can’t have gone far," the man muttered to himself. His voice was irritated. "Freezing out here. Kid will turn blue in ten minutes."
Silence stretched. Long, terrible minutes. I could hear him moving around, kicking at bushes, calling my name.
I stayed perfectly still. My hands were numb. My face burned with cold. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on.
Then, in the distance, a sound rose above the wind. A siren.
The man froze.
Sirens grew louder. Red and blue lights began flashing through the trees.
The man swore sharply. Then his footsteps hurried away—back toward the road.
I stayed where I was until the lights grew bright and voices began calling out. Until I heard Emily’s voice, calling my name in desperation.
"Noah! Where are you? Answer me, baby!"
I pushed myself up, shivering so hard I could barely stand.
"Mommy!" I cried out.
She came running. Moments later, she burst through the trees, saw me, and fell to her knees, catching me as I stumbled forward. She wrapped her arms around me so tightly it hurt.
"I thought I lost you," she sobbed into my hair. "I thought I lost you."
"Is the bad man gone?" I whispered.
"Yes," she said, holding me. "He’s gone. Police are here. We’re safe now."
But as she held me, I looked past her, toward the road. The stranger’s car was gone. The police were there, and an ambulance, and people asking questions. But the man had escaped.
And I knew—with absolute certainty—that he would come back.
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Because he worked for Daniel. And Daniel had waited a very long time to get what he wanted. He wouldn’t let a little thing like a car crash or a few police officers stop him.
I pressed my face into Emily’s shoulder and held on tight. She was all I had. And someone wanted to take her away from me.
