Chapter 10 - CLUES FROM THE CRASH“Get back!” I yelled, raising the revolver.
The intruder paused for a second, seeing the steel barrel pointed at his chest, but before he could retreat, Mark charged forward with a heavy wooden dining chair, slamming it against the man’s shoulders with all his weight. The man tumbled backward out the window, crashing onto the porch deck outside.
“Thomas! The back door!” Helen screamed from the hallway.
I spun around just as the second henchman kicked through the thin wooden frame of the rear utility door. He lunged at me, grabbing my wrist and forcing my gun hand upward.
BANG!
A shot fired harmlessly into the ceiling rafters, plaster dust raining down on us. The man was younger and heavier, wrestling me down onto my knees. I struck him across the cheek with my left elbow, but his grip on my right wrist remained like an iron vise.
“Dad!” Mark leaped onto the man’s back, wrapping his arms around the attacker's neck in a chokehold.
The two younger men crashed to the floor in a flurry of blows and curses. I scrambled backward, regained my footing, and brought the heavy butt of my revolver down on the henchman’s temple. The man went limp, slumping onto the hardwood floor.
Outside, a car engine roared to life.
I sprinted toward the broken front door, gun in hand. Out in the driveway, Vanessa was behind the wheel of a black SUV. Seeing her henchman defeated, she slammed the vehicle into reverse, tires spinning wildly on the gravel, sending rocks flying against the cabin walls.
“Vanessa!” Mark screamed, running out onto the porch, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.
Vanessa paused the vehicle for a fraction of a second. She rolled down the driver-side window, her face contorted in a mask of pure, murderous venom.
“You ruined everything, Mark!” she screamed over the roar of the engine. “You and your pathetic old father-in-law! But it doesn't matter—Dr. Harrison has the original signed death certificates! You’ll never prove a thing!”
She stomped on the gas pedal. The SUV surged backward, turned sharply on the dirt road, and sped off into the darkening forest, her taillights disappearing into the dusk.
Silence returned to the hill, broken only by the heavy breathing of Mark and myself.
Mark fell to his knees on the gravel, clutching his chest, sobbing uncontrollably as the adrenaline left his body. I walked over, placing a steady hand on his shoulder.
“Is it over?” Mark sobbed, looking up at me. “Did she get away?”
“No,” I said, staring down the dark road where her tire tracks were etched into the dirt. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, which was slowly regaining a faint bar of cellular service. “Ray just sent me an address. Dr. Harrison’s private clinic in downtown Dallas.”
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I looked back at the cabin, where Helen was slowly opening the door, holding a frightened but unharmed Lily in her arms.
“She thinks Dr. Harrison can destroy the original medical records before we get there,” I said, checking the cylinder of my revolver. “Get up, Mark. We’re going to Dallas.”
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