Chapter 14 - The Cabin
Mitchell moved fast.
“Back in the car.”
Aubrey did not.
“Why?”
“Now.”
Dylan squeezed her hand.
Aubrey looked toward the windows.
Darkness.
No lights yet.
No police.
Maybe Daniel’s warning was wrong.
Maybe it was early enough to help.
She needed time.
“Dylan has to use the bathroom.”
Mitchell stared.
“No.”
“He’s seven.”
“I said no.”
Dylan’s face crumpled.
Aubrey felt anger rise.
“You wanted custody.”
Mitchell looked at her.
“Then act like a father.”
Silence.
For one second, the words seemed to reach him.
Then his expression hardened.
“Bathroom. One minute.”
Dylan ran.
Mitchell grabbed Aubrey’s wrist.
“Where is the camera card?”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
“The old camera had no card.”
He pulled her closer.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You took it.”
Aubrey’s fear showed.
Mitchell saw.
“Where?”
She stayed silent.
He understood.
“The gas station.”
Aubrey looked away.
Mitchell released her.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You think Rachel will protect that money for you?”
“I don’t care about the money!”
Mitchell laughed.
“That’s because you’ve never been without it.”
Aubrey stared.
“We were selling candy for Ronald.”
The sentence stopped him.
“For cash.”
She continued.
“He hit us when we didn’t bring enough.”
Mitchell’s face shifted.
“He was an animal.”
“And you locked Dylan in a room.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I never hit you.”
Aubrey’s eyes filled.
“You made me choose whether my brother got locked up.”
Mitchell said nothing.
“That hurts too.”
Dylan returned.
Mitchell looked toward the road.
“We’re leaving.”
Headlights appeared between the trees.
Mitchell froze.
A vehicle.
Then another.
He turned off the cabin lights.
Aubrey’s heart pounded.
Police?
Mitchell pulled the children away from the windows.
“Stay quiet.”
Someone knocked.
“Mitchell Monroe?”
A male voice.
“Sheriff’s office.”
Dylan gasped.
Mitchell covered his own mouth with one finger.
Aubrey stared at him.
Another knock.
“We need to confirm the children are safe.”
Mitchell whispered:
“If you say anything, they will separate you.”
Aubrey’s stomach dropped.
“Forever.”
He knew exactly what fear to use.
Dylan looked at Aubrey.
“Is that true?”
Aubrey did not know.
Mitchell whispered:
“Foster homes. Different families. Different schools.”
Aubrey remembered Ronald saying similar things whenever she threatened to tell a teacher.
Nobody wants kids like you.
Aubrey looked at Mitchell.
Both men used the same weapon.
Fear of losing each other.
The deputy knocked harder.
“Mitchell, open the door.”
Mitchell’s phone buzzed.
He looked.
A message from his attorney.
Do not obstruct. Cooperate.
His shoulders lowered slightly.
He could still pretend.
Still explain.
Still control the story.
Mitchell opened the door.
Two deputies stood outside with Lena Brooks.
Mitchell immediately smiled.
“Sorry. The kids were exhausted.”
Lena looked past him.
“Aubrey?”
Aubrey stood frozen.
Mitchell moved slightly aside.
“She’s right here.”
Lena entered.
“Dylan?”
He appeared behind Aubrey.
Both alive.
No visible injuries.
Mitchell started talking.
“This is ridiculous. We came here because the children needed quiet after Rachel began manipulating them.”
Lena looked at Aubrey.
“Did you want to come here?”
Mitchell answered.
“They’re minors.”
Lena did not look at him.
“Aubrey?”
Mitchell’s warning echoed.
Separate you forever.
Aubrey looked at Dylan.
He whispered:
“Tell.”
One word.
She stared at her little brother.
For years Aubrey had believed she had to protect him by taking every consequence herself.
Now Dylan was telling her protection could mean speaking.
“No.”
Aubrey said.
“I didn’t want to come.”
Mitchell’s face tightened.
Lena crouched.
“Do you feel safe leaving with me?”
Aubrey nodded.
Mitchell stepped forward.
“You cannot remove them without authority.”
One deputy raised a document.
“Emergency protective order.”
Mitchell froze.
Signed by an on-call judge after the gas-station evidence, the confinement allegations and Mitchell’s unscheduled flight from the placement home.
The deputy continued:
“You are required to surrender the children pending a hearing.”
Mitchell looked at Aubrey.
Not angry.
Betrayed.
As though she had broken an agreement they never made.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Aubrey looked back.
“No.”
Dylan reached for her.
They walked toward Lena.
Mitchell called:
“Aubrey.”
She stopped.
For one dangerous second, old instinct returned.
Turn around.
Explain.
Make the adult less angry.
She did not.
Mitchell’s voice hardened.
“You still don’t know what Rachel wants.”
Aubrey faced the door.
“Maybe.”
Then she walked outside.
“But Mom did.”
As the children entered Lena’s vehicle, deputies remained with Mitchell.
He had not yet been arrested.
The emergency order removed the children.
The financial investigation would determine the rest.
Aubrey watched the cabin disappear.
Dylan leaned against her.
“Are we going to different houses?”
Lena looked in the mirror.
“No.”
“Promise?”
Lena hesitated.
She had learned something from Aubrey.
Never promise what the system had not guaranteed.
“I am going to fight very hard to keep you together.”
Dylan looked at Aubrey.
Aubrey nodded.
It was not certainty.
May you like
But it was honest.
For the first time, honest felt safer than a promise.
