CHAPTER 5: Olivia Knew She Was Being Hunted
No one moved.
Not me.
Not Sarah.
Not the twins.
The footsteps above us stopped directly over the hatch.
The old wooden ceiling creaked under the weight of several men.
Emma buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
Ella squeezed my hand so tightly it hurt.
Sarah's lips barely moved.
"Don't make a sound."
The room fell completely silent.
Even the wood stove had gone cold.
A man's voice echoed from above.
"The fresh footprints end here."
Another answered,
"They couldn't have disappeared."
A third voice laughed.
"Unless the mountain swallowed them."
Boots scraped across the stone covering the hatch.
My pulse hammered so loudly I was certain they could hear it.
One more push...
And they'd find us.
Then, somewhere deeper in the forest...
A loud whistle echoed through the trees.
Three short blasts.
Every man above us froze.
"What was that?"
"No idea."
Their leader cursed.
"Two of you go check it out."
The footsteps split apart.
Half the men disappeared into the woods.
The others stayed.
Still guarding the hatch.
Whoever had made that whistle...
Had just saved our lives.
At least for the moment.
Sarah slowly exhaled.
"They're getting closer every day."
I looked at her.
"How long have they been looking?"
"Since Olivia died."
The answer hit me like a punch.
"They've been searching this mountain for three years?"
She nodded.
"They never stopped."
I looked down at Olivia's journal still resting in my hands.
"I need to know everything."
Sarah hesitated.
"You may not like the answers."
"I don't care."
"I do."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because your wife died trying to protect us."
I opened the journal again.
The next entry was written only four days before Olivia's death.
Victor offered me money today.
He said if I told him where Sarah and the girls were hiding, no one would ever know.
When I refused, he smiled.
That frightened me more than if he had threatened me.
I felt my chest tighten.
Olivia had never mentioned any of this.
Not once.
Another page.
The handwriting became shakier.
Ethan asked why I've been locking the doors every night.
I lied.
He deserves better than lies.
But if he knows, he'll try to protect me.
And then they'll kill him too.
I couldn't stop staring at those words.
For three years...
I'd blamed myself for not saving Olivia.
Now I realized...
She had been protecting me until her very last day.
Tears blurred the ink.
Sarah quietly handed me a folded tissue.
"She talked about you every day."
I looked up.
"What did she say?"
A faint smile crossed Sarah's face.
"That she married the kindest man she'd ever met."
I laughed bitterly.
"I wasn't kind enough."
"You loved her."
"That wasn't enough."
Sarah gently shook her head.
"It was everything."
Suddenly...
Emma tugged on my sleeve.
"Mr. Ethan?"
"What is it?"
She pointed to the last page of the journal.
"There."
I hadn't even noticed.
Something was tucked into the back cover.
A folded photograph.
I carefully pulled it free.
My breath caught.
It was a picture of Olivia.
Standing beside Sarah.
Emma and Ella sat on a picnic blanket between them.
The twins looked younger.
Maybe four years old.
All four of them were smiling.
The photograph had been taken right behind the cottage.
Which meant...
Olivia had hidden this entire part of her life from me.
Not because she didn't trust me.
Because she was trying to keep me alive.
I turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
In Olivia's handwriting.
If Victor reaches the cottage before Ethan does...
Tell Ethan to find the Shepherd.
I frowned.
"The Shepherd?"
Sarah's face changed instantly.
"You've never heard that name?"
"No."
She looked stunned.
"I thought Olivia would've told you."
"Told me what?"
"The Shepherd isn't a place."
She lowered her voice.
"It's a person."
Before I could ask another question...
A deafening crack echoed above us.
The hatch shook violently.
Someone had hit it with an axe.
Again.
CRACK!
Splinters rained from the ceiling.
Emma screamed.
The men had found the entrance.
The leader shouted from above.
"I know you're down there!"
Silence.
Then—
"Mr. Dawson says Ethan Brooks gets one chance."
Another axe strike.
The wood groaned.
"Hand over Sarah and the girls..."
"...and we'll let you walk away."
I looked at Sarah.
Then at Emma and Ella.
Three frightened faces.
Three lives Olivia had died protecting.
I already knew my answer.
I stepped beneath the hatch and raised my voice.
"If Victor wants them..."
"...he can come get them himself."
A long silence followed.
Then laughter.
Cold.
Cruel.
The leader spoke one final sentence.
"Wrong answer."
The sound of gasoline splashing across the wooden hatch echoed through the shelter.
Someone struck a match.
Above our heads...
Orange light began to seep through the cracks.
They weren't trying to break in anymore.
May you like
They were going to burn us alive.
TO BE CONTINUED...
