Chapter 3: The Drive into the Unknown
The inside of the laundry truck smelled of bleach and damp cotton. Sarah sat behind the massive steering wheel, shivering in her soaked hospital gown, while Leo huddled in the passenger seat, wrapping the crying baby in a pile of clean, warm towels.
"Mom, do you even know how to drive a truck like this?" Leo asked, his voice trembling as Sarah ground the gears, the truck lurching forward onto the wet highway.
"Your grandfather was a trucker, Leo. It's in the blood," Sarah lied, gripping the wheel until her knuckles turned white. "Just keep your sister warm. And read me the directions from the tablet."
"It says to take the I-95 North for seventy miles, then exit onto County Road 4," Leo read, his face illuminated by the harsh blue light of the screen. "Mom... why would Dad lie to us?"
Sarah kept her eyes fixed on the wipers violently sweeping the rain away. "I don't know, honey. Sometimes adults think lying is the only way to protect the people they love."
"But he said his past caught up with him. What past? We've lived in the same house since I was born."
"I know," Sarah murmured. She thought back to the man she married. Mark Evans. Mild-mannered, quiet, loved doing crossword puzzles. He didn't even like driving over the speed limit. The man in that video—the panicked, hunted man—was a stranger.
"Wait," Leo said, tapping the screen of the tablet. "There's a secondary file here. It's password protected."
"What kind of file?"
"It looks like an audio recording. It's titled 'If I don't make it to the cabin'."
Sarah's blood ran cold. "He has a cabin?"
"Mom, what's the password?" Leo asked, his fingers hovering over the digital keyboard. "I tried his birthday, your birthday, my birthday... nothing."
"Try the day we closed on the house," Sarah suggested.
"Incorrect password," Leo read. "It says we have two attempts left before the tablet wipes itself."
Sarah slammed her hand against the steering wheel. "Think, Mark, think. What would you use?"
She glanced over at Leo, who was gently rocking the bundled baby.
"Leo," Sarah said slowly. "Try the baby's name. Try Lily."
Leo typed it in. The tablet chimed, a soft, mechanical sound that pierced the roar of the rain.
May you like
"It opened," Leo whispered.
"Play it," Sarah commanded, her heart leaping into her throat.
