Chapter 4 - The Golden Cage
The black SUV idled aggressively, headlights pinning Clara and Leo against the white wall of falling snow.
The driver’s side door slammed open. Richard Vance stepped out into the freezing storm wearing his charcoal three-piece suit, looking every bit the wealthy real estate magnate who bought judges for breakfast.
"Clara?" Richard shouted, his face twisting into disgust before he even saw the state of his son. "What the hell did you do to my gate? Are you out of your mind?!"
"Richard, shut up and look at him!" Clara screamed back, clutching Leo tighter. The boy had stopped crying; he was dangerously quiet now, his breathing rattling in his tiny chest. "He’s in hypothermia! Evelyn threw him outside!"
Richard scoffed, walking forward with his hands in his trench coat pockets. "Don't be ridiculous. Evelyn loves that boy. You’re violating a court order right now, Clara. You touch foot on this property, you spend six months in county. Hand him over."
"Did you hear what I just said?!" Clara’s voice cracked with desperate agony. "Feel his hands, Richard! Feel his face! He was locked outside on the patio! The glass is smashed! Ask your trophy wife why she locked the deadbolt!"
Just then, Evelyn stumbled out of the front entrance, dramatically limping, tears streaming down her carefully made-up face.
"Richard! Oh god, Richard, she attacked me!" Evelyn wailed, running into his arms. "She smashed the patio! She had a crowbar! She threatened to murder me in our own home! Leo was just playing outside for five minutes and she lost her mind!"
Richard’s expression instantly darkened. He wrapped an arm around Evelyn and glared at Clara with pure venom.
"You’re done, Clara," Richard said, his voice deadly cold. "I’m calling Judge Harrison right now. You won’t even get supervised visitation until the kid is eighteen. Hand Leo to me. Now."
He lunged forward to grab the boy’s arm.
Leo let out a weak, hoarse shriek, burrowing deeper into Clara's neck. "No! Daddy, no! Don't let her touch me! She hit me! She hit me with her ring!"
Richard paused, his hand inches from Leo’s coat.
"He’s lying," Evelyn said immediately, her voice sharp as an ice pick. "He’s four, Richard! His mother brainwashed him to say that!"
Richard hesitated for a second, then his face hardened again. Ego won over fatherhood. "Give me my son, Clara. If you run, you’re an active kidnapper. Every cop in Colorado will hunt you down."
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Clara backed up slowly toward her crumpled Subaru. The radiator was hissing steam, but the engine block hadn't cracked. The engine was still ticking, warm and alive.
Cliffhanger: "You’d better tell them to shoot straight, Richard," Clara whispered, jumped into the driver's seat with Leo, slammed the broken door shut, and hit reverse.
