Chapter 13 - Secure the Perimeter
Within fifteen minutes, the house was crawling with law enforcement officers, crime scene investigators, and private security personnel. The two hired thugs were handcuffed and loaded into the back of police vans, while K-9 units swept the surrounding woods in search of Julian.
I hurried back upstairs, my hands still trembling from the rush of adrenaline.
"Elise! It's me, open up!" I called out, knocking gently on the master bedroom door.
The heavy deadbolt clicked, and the door swung open. Elise threw her arms around my neck, sobbing silently as she pulled me tight against her. Behind her, standing near the edge of the bed, were eight-year-old Maisie and six-year-old Rosie, holding each other's hands, their wide eyes filled with confusion and fear.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Elise cried, pulling back to check my face and hands.
"I'm okay, sweetheart. Everyone is safe," I assured her, turning to open my arms to the girls. They ran to me, burying their faces in my robe. I held them close, kissing the tops of their heads. "It's alright, girls. The police are here. Nobody can hurt us."
From the nursery next door, Leo began to cry—the loud noise and flashing lights outside finally disturbing his infant sleep. Elise went to retrieve him while I ushered the girls into our bed, wrapping them in heavy blankets.
An hour later, Detective Miller, a lead investigator with the county sheriff's department, stood in my study, taking notes.
"Julian escaped from the federal transit facility near Rockford thirty-six hours ago," Detective Miller explained, closing his notepad. "He had inside help. A former corrections officer was paid off to disable the tracking transport. We believe he connected with local criminal elements to retrieve funds he thought you had hidden away."
"He threatened my family, Detective," I said, sitting behind my desk, my eyes fixed on the security monitors. "He stood in my foyer and threatened my wife and children."
"We have set up a multi-agency perimeter within a ten-mile radius," Miller assured me. "He has no money, no vehicle, and his face is on every news broadcast in the state. He won't get far. But until he is in custody, I strongly recommend you take your family somewhere secure."
Elise stepped into the study, holding Leo in her arms. "We aren't running away," she said firmly. Her voice was devoid of the fear she had shown earlier; in its place was a fierce, motherly resolve. "We spent years building this home. We built this life out of the wreckage of the past. We are not letting a ghost drive us out."
I looked at my wife, feeling a deep wave of admiration. She was right. We had spent too long playing the victims of other people's malice.
"We stay," I agreed, looking Detective Miller in the eye. "But I want full private security around the perimeter twenty-four hours a day until Julian is behind bars."
May you like
"Consider it done," Miller said with a firm nod. "I'll leave two patrol cars at the gate as well."
As the detective left, I walked over to Elise, wrapping my arms around her and our son. The sun was beginning to peak over the eastern horizon, casting faint golden light through the window. The immediate danger had passed, but deep down, I knew Julian was not the type to surrender easily. He had lost everything, and a man with nothing left to lose was the most dangerous creature alive.
