Chapter 6 - The Betrayal in the RainDaniel froze, his hand dropping slowly toward the holster at his hip. Rain poured off the brim of his tactical cap, streaming down his face as he stared at his fellow officer.
Officer Peters stood beside his truck, the barrel of the 12-gauge shotgun trained directly on Daniel’s chest. His police rain slicker was unbuttoned, revealing a crisp navy uniform underneath.
“Peters?” Daniel said, his voice deadly low. “What are you doing here?”
Peters’ face was pale, his jaw clenched tight. The hand holding the fore-end of the shotgun was trembling slightly, but the barrel remained rock steady.
“You shouldn't have come out here, Daniel,” Peters said, his voice raspy over the sound of the falling rain. “I told you to let CPS handle it. I told you to stay at the precinct.”
Sarah let out a whimpering scream, attempting to crawl behind Daniel’s legs, digging her fingers into the wet earth.
“He’s one of them...” Sarah sobbed, her body shaking hysterically. “He... he came to the cabin three months ago... he brought the lock... he helped Travis set up the air pipe...”
Daniel felt a cold, sickening weight drop into his stomach.
The flawless court documents. The speed with which Travis’s attorney had filed the emergency habeas corpus writ. The inside knowledge of state database entries.
It hadn't just been Travis Cole acting alone.
“How much, Peters?” Daniel asked, his eyes locking onto Peters’ face. “How much was your cut to help him kidnap a mother and child and fake a death certificate?”
“It wasn't about money, Daniel!” Peters shouted, his voice cracking against the thunder. “You don't know who Travis works for! You don't know what these people do! Travis’s brother is a State Circuit Judge in Duval County! They control the registries, the probate courts, everything! If I didn't help them clear Sarah’s estate and hide the boy, they were going to put my family in the ground!”
“He locked a woman in a wooden box under a cabin, Peters!” Daniel roared, taking a slow step forward. “He chained a three-year-old child to a wall! Look at her!”
“Don't take another step!” Peters barked, pumping the shotgun with a loud, metallic CLACK. “I mean it, Daniel! Drop your sidearm in the mud! Do it now!”
Daniel stared at the barrel of the shotgun. He was twenty feet away—too far for an accurate quick-draw against a spread-pattern shotgun in the blinding rain.
Sarah pulled at Daniel’s pant leg. “Don't let him take me back...” she wept. “Please... don't let them take Eli...”
“Nobody is taking you anywhere,” Daniel whispered.
Daniel slowly reached down with his right hand, unsnapping the leather retention strap on his holster.
“Keep your hands where I can see them!” Peters screamed, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Suddenly, a loud, high-pitched screech echoed from the access road behind Peters’ truck.
A white hospital transport van burst through the trees, its tires spinning wildly in the mud. The van smashed directly into the rear quarter-panel of Peters’ pickup truck with a violent crunch of metal and glass.
The impact threw Peters off balance. His foot slipped in the mud, and his shot fired harmlessly into the tree canopy with a deafening BOOM.
Daniel didn't hesitate.
He lunged forward, closing the distance in two strides, and drove his shoulder directly into Peters’ ribs. Both men crashed onto the muddy ground.
Daniel slammed his elbow into Peters’ jaw, disarming the shotgun and flinging it into the deep brush. He twisted Peters’ arm behind his back, pulled his own spare set of cuffs, and snapped them onto Peters’ wrists.
The door of the white hospital van slid open.
Nurse Claire Morgan jumped out into the pouring rain, holding an iron tire iron in her hand.
“Daniel!” Claire yelled, her eyes wide with adrenaline. “Are you okay?!”
Daniel stood up, wiping mud and blood from his cheek, looking at the hospital van in utter shock. “Claire?! What are you doing here?! Where is Eli?!”
“Eli is in the front seat under a blanket!” Claire gasped, pointing toward the van. “After you left the hospital, Travis Cole was released on bail! He walked right up to the pediatric floor with two armed security guards claiming he had a court order! I knew you were right... so I loaded Eli into the supply van and followed the GPS tracker on your patrol phone!”
Sarah pulled herself up against the bumper of the truck, looking toward the front seat of the van.
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A small face pressed against the rain-streaked window.
“Mommy...?” a tiny voice called out through the glass.
