I couldn’t be here when the cops arrived. I had the baby. I had the evidence and I had their money, but I wasn’t done with the man. I retreated into the deep woods, pushing the card along an old logging trail I had scouted on the map. I moved 2 mi away to a safe house, an old hunting cabin that belonged to a buddy of mine who was deployed overseas.
It was off the grid. Solar power, well, water, no internet. I got the baby settled. I warmed up a bottle of formula I found in the medical supplies on the cart. Feeding my son for the first time, it changed me. Watching his tiny hands grip the bottle, seeing his eyes open and look at me blue just like mine. It washed away the blood on my hands.
I’m going to call you Leo, I whispered. Because you’re a little lion. You survived the den. Leo fell asleep. I checked the news on my phone. Breaking news. Fire at prominent businessman’s estate reveals illegal medical lab. Police discovered two bodies in basement. Massive arms trafficking ring exposed. They found Dominic and Evan.
