Chapter 3 - The Cornered Beast
The gavel’s echo hadn’t even faded from the room before chaos swallowed the courtroom whole. Jonathan Reed, the untouchable titan of Chicago real estate, was suddenly drowning.
"You can't do this!" Jonathan shouted, his voice cracking with a frantic desperation that Olivia had never heard in the twelve years she’d known him. He shoved his own attorney, Sterling, who was desperately trying to get him to sit down and shut up. "I'm Jonathan Reed! I pay half the taxes in this city!"
"Then you can afford a good criminal defense attorney," Judge Harrison replied coldly. "Bailiff, detain him."
Two armed court officers moved quickly down the aisle. As they grabbed Jonathan’s arms to cuff him, Savannah, his twenty-four-year-old girlfriend, let out a piercing shriek. "Don't touch him! Jonathan, what is happening? What about our trip to Milan?!"
Jonathan ignored her, locking his furious, bloodshot eyes on Olivia. As the bailiffs dragged him backward, he thrashed violently. "You're dead, Olivia! Do you hear me?! You won't get away with this! I'll burn you to the ground!"
"Get him out of here!" the judge roared.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind Jonathan, sealing his threats outside.
Olivia sat frozen, her entire body shaking. She couldn't believe it was over. For years, she had lived under the crushing weight of his power, constantly told she was crazy, worthless, and weak. Yet, the very empire he used to crush her had been toppled by a nine-year-old boy.
She turned to Ethan, cupping his face in her shaking hands. "Ethan... how did you get that?"
Ethan looked up, his expression far too mature for his age. "When he locked us in the playroom last month during his meetings, I took the spare tablet from his desk. He thought I was playing games. But I figured out his master password. It was our birthdays. He didn't think I was smart enough to know what a cloud drive was."
Sarah, the exhausted legal aid attorney, let out a breath that was half-laugh, half-sob. "Your son is a genius, Olivia. He just handed the FBI a golden ticket."
But the victory was short-lived.
An hour later, as Olivia was escorted out the back entrance of the courthouse to avoid the swarm of media that had magically appeared, her phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.
She opened the text message, and her blood ran cold.
Did you really think a local judge could hold me? I’m already out on bail. You took my sons. I'm going to take your life. Check your cousin's apartment.
Panic seized Olivia’s throat. She was staying with her cousin, Maria, on the South Side. Maria was at work, but all of Olivia and the boys' meager belongings were there.
"Sarah!" Olivia gasped, showing the lawyer the phone.
"Get in the car. Now," Sarah ordered, pushing the boys into the backseat of her beat-up Honda Civic.
They sped across the city, the Chicago skyline blurring past them. When they arrived at the apartment complex, Olivia’s worst fears were realized. The front door of the apartment was kicked off its hinges.
Olivia told the boys to stay in the car with Sarah and ran inside. The place was destroyed. Furniture slashed. Dishes shattered. And spray-painted across the living room wall in bright red letters were three words:
NOWHERE TO HIDE.
Olivia collapsed against the doorframe, gasping for air. Jonathan wasn't in jail. His lawyers had likely pulled strings with a corrupt magistrate to get an emergency bail hearing. He was out, and he was hunting her.
May you like
As she stood in the wreckage, her phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn't Jonathan. It was an encrypted number.
Mrs. Carter. You don't know me. I am the former CFO of Reed Enterprises. The drive your son found was only the tip of the iceberg. Jonathan is planning to flee the country with his offshore funds by midnight tonight, and he plans to take the boys with him by force. Meet me at Navy Pier in one hour. If we don't finish him tonight, you will never see your children again.
