Chapter 7 - CORNERED RATS
Adrenaline, cold and sharp, flooded Daniel’s veins. He shoved Evelyn and Sarah behind him, using his broad body as a human shield against the blinding headlights of the SUV.
"Get in the truck, both of you," Daniel hissed over his shoulder. "Lock the doors."
"Daniel, no!" Evelyn cried, grabbing his arm. "They'll kill you!"
"Go!" Daniel roared, turning and physically pushing them toward the cab of his rusted pickup.
The scarred man laughed, a harsh, grating sound over the torrential rain. "Noble. But stupid. We aren't here to kill you, Harper. A dead mechanic is a martyr. Marcus wants you discredited, not dead."
Before Daniel could react, two of the men lunged forward. Daniel swung a heavy, grease-stained fist, connecting solidly with the jaw of the first attacker. The man went down hard in the mud, but the second tackled Daniel around the waist, driving him into the side of the truck. The air left Daniel's lungs in a rush.
He fought back with the desperate ferocity of a father protecting his world, landing brutal elbows and knees, but he was outnumbered. A heavy flashlight connected with the back of his skull. The world exploded into white-hot pain, then faded to a muddy, spinning gray.
Daniel collapsed into the freezing mud, blood pouring from his scalp, mixing with the rain.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Sarah screaming. He heard Evelyn yelling his name. He forced his eyes open, fighting the darkness, just in time to see the scarred man dragging Sarah Jenkins by her hair toward the black SUV.
"No!" Evelyn charged forward, leaping onto the back of the scarred man, clawing at his face.
The man grunted in surprise, dropping Sarah to violently throw Evelyn off him. Evelyn hit the ground hard, gasping for air.
"Leave her alone!" Daniel croaked, trying to push himself up on shaking arms.
The scarred man walked over to Daniel, kicking him viciously in the ribs. Daniel collapsed again, coughing up blood. The man leaned down, grabbing Daniel by the collar of his wet jacket.
"Listen closely, grease monkey," the man whispered, his breath smelling of stale smoke. "This is your only warning. You drop the custody fight. You hand the girl over to the state, and Marcus will make sure she gets placed in a nice, quiet facility. If you show your face in court again... the next visit won't be a warning. It will be an execution. For you, and the CEO bitch."
The man stood up, signaling to his crew. They hauled a sobbing, terrified Sarah Jenkins into the back of their SUV, slammed the doors, and sped off into the night, leaving Daniel and Evelyn alone in the freezing rain.
Evelyn crawled through the mud, ignoring her ruined clothes, and pulled Daniel’s head into her lap. "Daniel! Oh my god, you're bleeding. Stay with me. I'm calling an ambulance."
"No ambulance," Daniel groaned, gripping her wrist to stop her from pulling out her phone. "Police... police are in Marcus's pocket. They'll just finish the job."
With Evelyn's help, Daniel managed to drag himself into the passenger seat of his truck. Evelyn climbed behind the wheel, her hands shaking violently as she started the engine.
"They took her, Daniel," Evelyn cried, slamming her hands against the steering wheel. "They took our only witness. We have nothing. My father won."
"No," Daniel gritted out, pressing a rag to his bleeding head. His ribs felt shattered, and his vision was blurry, but a cold, lethal clarity was settling over his mind. "They didn't kill us. That was Marcus's mistake. He thinks fear works on a man who has already lost everything once. He's wrong."
"What are we going to do?" Evelyn asked, putting the truck in gear and tearing out of the trailer park.
"You said you triggered an internal audit at Carter Mobility," Daniel said, his voice gaining strength. "Does Marcus know?"
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"Not yet. The board is meeting tomorrow morning to review my resignation and the allegations."
"Good," Daniel said, staring out at the dark highway. "Because tomorrow morning, we aren't going to a courtroom to fight for custody. We're going to a boardroom to burn his empire to the ground."
