Chapter 6 - The Ambush at the Cliff
“Hang on!” Adam roared.
He slammed his foot on the brakes, turning the steering wheel violently against the skid. Rubber screeched against wet asphalt, sending smoke filling the cabin. Our sedan spun 180 degrees, the rear tires catching the muddy edge of the ravine before pulling back onto the narrow road.
The black SUV overshot us, skidding to a halt fifty yards ahead, blocking the single-lane road completely.
“Adam, turn around!” I yelled, clutching the leather journal tightly against my chest.
Adam threw the car into reverse, but before he could step on the gas, a second vehicle—a dark van—pulled up behind us, trapping our sedan in a deadly metal sandwich.
We were completely blocked.
The driver’s side door of the front SUV swung open. Two large men in raincoats stepped out into the pouring rain. Then, the rear door opened.
Evelyn Vance stepped out under a black umbrella held by her driver. She wore leather gloves and a dark trench coat, her face illuminated by the harsh red glow of our car's taillights.
“Adam, stay in the car!” I gasped, my heart slamming violently against my ribs.
“Stay here,” Adam ordered, his jaw set like granite. He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached under his seat, pulling out a heavy iron tire iron he kept in the emergency kit.
“Adam, no!”
“They aren't getting this journal, Nora,” Adam said coldly. He looked at me, kissed my forehead deeply, and whispered, “Lock the doors.”
Adam opened the car door and stepped out into the howling storm.
I scrambled to hit the master lock button, watching through the rain-streaked windshield.
“Mother!” Adam screamed over the roar of the rain, holding the tire iron at his side. “Have you completely lost your mind?!”
Evelyn walked slowly down the center of the road, stopping ten feet away from him, protected under her umbrella.
“I told you, Adam,” Evelyn said, her voice echoing coldly over the thunder. “Everything you have belongs to me. That includes your loyalty. Hand over Dr. Pendelton’s journal.”
Adam stared at her in utter disbelief. “You tracked us to the nursing home?”
“I have kept Dr. Pendelton on a monthly retainer for thirty-five years to ensure he kept his mouth shut,” Evelyn sneered. “The moment his nurse reported two visitors matching your description, I knew where you were. You really thought you could outsmart me?”
“You murdered my sister!” Adam shouted, tears mixing with the rain pouring down his face. “She was three months old, Evelyn! You beat her to death!”
Evelyn’s face twitched, a sudden, wild rage breaking through her polished composure.
“She was a defective child!” Evelyn shrieked, her voice turning high-pitched and hysterical. “She wouldn't stop crying! She was weak! Just like this orphan girl you married! I built an empire with your father! I sacrificed everything for this family, and I will not let a three-month-old infant’s death ruin my legacy!”
“You’re sick,” Adam said, taking a step toward her. “You belong in a prison cell for the rest of your life.”
“Take it from him,” Evelyn commanded flatly, stepping back behind her two security guards.
The two massive men moved instantly. One grabbed Adam’s arm, knocking the tire iron from his grip, while the second struck Adam across the face with a heavy flashlight.
“ADAM!” I screamed inside the locked car, pounding my fists against the glass.
Adam fought back like a madman, landing a solid punch on the first man's jaw, but he was outnumbered and outmatched. The second guard swept Adam’s legs out from under him, slamming him violently onto the wet pavement and pinning his arms behind his back.
Evelyn walked past her guards, stepping right up to the driver's side window of our car.
She tapped on my glass with the heavy diamond ring on her finger. Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Open the door, Nora,” Evelyn said calmly through the glass. “Or my men will break Adam’s legs right here on the pavement.”
I looked at Adam. He was pinned to the road, blood trickling from his lip, screaming at me: “Don't do it, Nora! Keep the doors locked! Drive!”
The security guard pulled a heavy metal baton from his belt and aimed it directly at Adam’s knee.
“I’m counting to three, Nora,” Evelyn said softly, her cold eyes staring through the window. “One…”
Tears poured down my face. My hand trembled over the unlock button. I had no choice.
CLICK.
I unlocked the doors.
Evelyn pulled the car door open, letting the freezing rain whip inside the cabin. She reached down and snatched the leather journal right out of my lap.
She flipped through the yellowed pages, looking at the polaroid photos and Dr. Pendelton’s signature. A cold, victorious smile spread across her red lips.
“Tragic,” Evelyn murmured. She pulled a silver sleek lighter out of her coat pocket.
With a flick of her thumb, a bright orange flame erupted into the dark night. She held the flame to the edge of the thirty-five-year-old forensic notes.
The dry, yellowed paper caught fire instantly.
“NO!” I screamed, reaching out to stop her, but Evelyn shoved me back into the seat with surprising force.
She dropped the burning journal onto the wet asphalt, watching as the flames consumed the dark history of her past, reducing the only physical evidence of her crime to black, useless ash washed away by the rain.
“Now,” Evelyn said, stepping back and smoothing her trench coat. “The past is dead. And as for the present...”
She looked down at Adam, who was staring at the burning ashes in total despair.
“The family court hearing for legal guardianship of baby Evelyn Grace is tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM,” Evelyn said softly. “If either of you shows up to contest my petition, I will have Adam arrested for embezzlement from the family firm. I’ve already planted the digital footprint on his office computer.”
She turned around, got back into her SUV, and her guards released Adam, rushing back to their vehicles.
The two SUVs sped off into the darkness, leaving us alone on the stormy mountain road beside a pile of wet, floating ash.
Adam crawled back into the car, sobbing hysterically, wrapping his arms around me.
“I lost it,” Adam wept into my neck. “Nora, I lost the evidence. I couldn't save it.”
I held him tight, feeling the cold rain dripping off his hair. But as I looked out at the dark road, a strange, deadly calm washed over me.
Evelyn thought she had destroyed everything. She thought she had stripped us naked and left us defenseless.
She didn't know one thing.
I reached slowly into the deep inner pocket of my winter coat—the hidden pocket where I had stashed my smartphone before opening the car door.
I hit the red button on the screen.
RECORDING SAVED: 08:42 AUDIO/VIDEO FILE.
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I looked down at the screen. The entire conversation—Evelyn confessing to murdering her first baby, calling her a "defective child," and ordering her guards to break Adam's legs—had been captured in crystal-clear high-definition video from my phone tucked into my breast pocket.
“She burned the paper, Adam,” I whispered, a slow, cold smile spreading across my face. “But she forgot we live in the digital age.”
