Chapter 5 - The Trap Springs Shut"David..." Elena stammered, taking a desperate step backward. Her hands trembled, dropping the car keys onto the hardwood floor with a sharp clatter. "David, listen to me. Marcus tricked me! He threatened me! He said if I didn't help him frame you, he would hurt Sophie! I was just trying to protect our family!"
David walked toward her slowly, his footsteps heavy and deliberate. The sound echoed like a death knell through the quiet kitchen.
"You fractured our daughter's spine, Elena," David said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You watched her cry in the dark. You plotted my ruin, sold out my company, and tried to frame me for child abuse."
"I'm your wife!" Elena shrieked, her mask completely disintegrating into hysterical tears as she backed up against the sliding glass door. "We've been together for ten years! You can't do this to me!"
"You stopped being my wife the moment you laid a hand on my little girl," David replied.
Before Elena could lunge for the patio door, heavy footsteps pounded up the basement stairs behind David. Tom emerged, dragging a cursing, bleeding Marcus Vance by the collar of his expensive suit and slamming him face-first against the kitchen counter.
"Stay down, you piece of garbage," Tom growled, slapping a pair of cold steel handcuffs onto Marcus's wrists with practiced efficiency.
Tom then pulled out a second pair of cuffs, walked over to Elena, and grabbed her arm before she could move.
"Elena Reynolds, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit corporate espionage, domestic abuse, child endangerment, and attempted framing of a federal witness," Tom recited coldly as he ratcheted the cuffs tight around her wrists. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Elena didn't scream anymore. She just stared blankly at the floor, her carefully constructed empire of lies crumbling into dust around her. As Tom hauled her and Marcus toward the front door, the flashing red and blue lights of half a dozen squad cars painted the living room walls in an erratic, blinding dance.
David didn't watch them leave.
He turned around and walked back down the hallway, following the soft, familiar sniffles coming from the master bedroom.
Sophie was sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching her gray stuffed rabbit so tightly her knuckles were white. When she saw David appear in the doorway, she slowly lowered her arms.
May you like
David walked over, dropped to his knees right in front of her, and gently reached out. This time, Sophie didn't flinch. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder, sobbing the tears she had held back for two agonizing days.
"I've got you, sweetheart," David whispered, his own tears finally breaking free as he held her close against his heart. "Daddy's home. And nobody is ever, ever going to hurt you again."
