Chapter 7 - CORNERED BEAST
The police presence around my father’s house increased, but a patrol car driving by every hour wasn't enough to stop the suffocating dread. The walls of the house felt like a cage.
Evan’s debts were closing in on him. The detectives informed us that his former employer was officially pressing federal charges based on the ledger I had provided. Warrants were issued. Evan’s face was on the local evening news. He was a fugitive.
“He’s running out of places to hide,” Detective Ramirez told me over the phone. “People he owes money to are looking for him, and so are we. Keep your doors locked. He’s desperate, and desperate men make reckless mistakes.”
That night, a storm rolled in off the Puget Sound. Rain lashed against the windows of my father’s house, and the wind howled through the old cedar trees in the yard.
At 11:00 PM, the power went out.
The house plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness. It wasn't a neighborhood outage—I could see the glow of streetlights down the block through the living room window.
Someone had cut the main breaker outside.
May you like
“Dad,” I whispered, creeping into the hallway.
My father emerged from his bedroom, a heavy flashlight in one hand and his handgun in the other. His eyes were wide but focused. “Stay here with Noah. Lock the bedroom door. Do not come out unless I tell you.”
