Chapter 4 - The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
Paranoia became my shadow. I checked the deadbolts five times a night. I bought a firearm and spent hours at the range until the recoil felt like a natural extension of my arm.
The psychological warfare started on a Tuesday. I found a dead crow on the hood of my car. On Thursday, a bouquet of black roses was delivered to my office with a card that simply read: “Custody is a temporary arrangement.”
The police couldn't trace the deliveries. "It’s circumstantial, David," Vance told me over the phone. "Don't let him bait you. If you attack him, you go to jail, and Lily goes into the foster system."
Marcus wanted me to lose my mind. He wanted me to make a mistake.
That night, while packing Lily's backpack for her new, secure school, my fingers brushed against a strange lump in the front pocket. I unzipped it and pulled out a cheap burner phone. It was powered off. My blood turned to ice. How did this get in here?
I turned it on. There was only one unread text message, sent hours before I found her in the cage.
May you like
“Tell your dad to look at the pool. Or I’ll put you in it next.”
He hadn't just tortured her physically. He had systematically terrorized her mind. He was a sadist. And I knew, with absolute certainty, that he was hunting us right now.
