Chapter 9: The Mill
We waited at the old abandoned lumber mill through the night. No sign of Jude. No texts. No calls.
By dawn, Lucas was pacing the rotting floorboards like a caged animal. “I should have gone with him.”
“He knew what he was doing,” I said, though my stomach was twisted in knots. “He bought us time.”
“Time for what?” Lucas slammed his fist against the wall. “To run forever? To hide while they kill everyone who helps us?”
Ethan sat quiet in the corner, scrolling through the files he’d copied. “Dad… look at this.”
He held up the screen. A list of names. Dates. Payments going back fifteen years.
“David wasn’t just working with them,” Ethan said. “He’s been running their books this whole time. Your father knew. He paid them off for decades.”
Lucas sank onto a crate, face pale. “My dad?”
“He knew about Jude too,” Ethan went on. “There’s a note here: Pay the adoption fee. Make sure he never comes back.”
Lucas buried his face in his hands. “All that talk about family… all those lies.”
Just then, a car door slammed outside. We all froze. Footsteps approached slow and heavy.
