Chapter 13 - Follow the Red Marks
The first mark appeared on a concrete barrier near Interstate 94.
A red line.
Small.
Easy to miss.
A patrol officer almost drove past it.
Then he remembered the alert.
Lucas Brooks carried a red emergency marker.
They found another mark eleven minutes later.
An arrow on a service station wall.
Then another.
A circle on a guardrail.
Daniel stared at the photographs.
“My son did this?”
Natalie nodded.
“He listened.”
Something close to pride fought through his fear.
The trail ended near an abandoned elementary school outside the city.
Federal teams surrounded it.
Daniel wanted inside.
They refused.
Natalie refused too.
“You go in angry, Adrian wins.”
“He has my son.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel paced.
Inside the building, Lucas sat in an old classroom.
Dr. Hale stood near the door.
Adrian had not arrived yet.
Lucas watched him carefully.
“You gave me shots when I was little.”
Hale looked uncomfortable.
“Yes.”
“Daddy trusted you.”
Hale said nothing.
Lucas hugged Arthur.
“Are you bad?”
The question surprised him.
Hale looked away.
“I owe money.”
Lucas frowned.
“So?”
Hale laughed bitterly.
“So adults make mistakes.”
“Natalie says making mistakes doesn't mean you keep making them.”
Hale looked at the child.
Lucas continued.
“You can take me home.”
Hale's hands trembled.
“It isn't that simple.”
“It is for me.”
Outside, agents prepared to breach.
Then the school doors opened.
Dr. Hale walked out with both hands raised.
Lucas followed.
Daniel ran before anyone could stop him.
Lucas saw him.
“Daddy!”
Daniel lifted him from the ground.
For several seconds there was no criminal investigation.
No guns.
No agents.
Only a father holding his son.
Natalie reached them.
Lucas stretched one hand toward her without leaving Daniel's arms.
Natalie took it.
A strange triangle formed beneath the flashing lights.
Daniel.
Lucas.
Natalie.
Lucas looked at both.
“You came.”
Daniel pressed his forehead against his son's.
“Always.”
Hale provided Adrian's next location.
A private airstrip near the Wisconsin border.
But when authorities arrived, Adrian was gone.
Only one message remained.
Daniel found it painted across a hangar wall.
You can take the boy out of your world.
You cannot take your world out of the boy.
Daniel stared at it for a long time.
May you like
Then he turned away.
For once, he refused to let Adrian define his son.
