Chapter 9 - The Anonymous Source Inside The District Court
By morning, light filtered through the thick cabin pines, illuminating the mountain mist surrounding their hideout.
Chloe had finally fallen asleep on a small cot, her arm draped protectively around baby Liam.
John stood at the kitchen counter, sipping stale black coffee while going over Sam’s military map of the county.
"We need hard evidence that connects Vance directly to the altered medical records," John stated firmly.
"I know a girl who works in the county clerk's office," Sam replied, pulling out an old burner phone.
"Her name is Sarah; your dad helped her family out of a bad mortgage crisis ten years ago."
Sam dialed the number, putting the phone on speaker as the dial tone rang three times before connecting.
"Sam? Is that you?" a panicked female voice whispered over the speaker. "They're searching everyone's phones!"
"Take a breath, Sarah," Sam commanded calmly. "Is John’s file still in the active registry system?"
"Vance’s office came in at 7:00 AM and wiped the digital logs for the land rights trust!" Sarah revealed frantically.
"They're destroying the original deeds right now in the basement vault of the county courthouse!" she added.
"If those physical documents are incinerated, Martha’s corporate Shell company takes total ownership by default."
John grabbed the burner phone from the table, his knuckles turning pure white with fury.
"Sarah, this is John Miller. Is there any way to stop the incineration sequence?"
"The vault locks automatically at noon for maintenance," Sarah explained, her breath hitching with fear.
"You have three hours before those papers turn into ash, John. But the building is swarming with state troopers."
Chloe sat up on her cot, her messy blonde hair falling over her eyes as she heard the terrifying deadline.
"You can't go to the courthouse, John," she cried out. "It’s a trap! They know you need those papers!"
"If I don't get those papers, Chloe, we lose Liam forever, and we spend the rest of our lives on the run," John said.
He looked up at his father's old military dog tags hanging from the cabin wall near the stone mantle.
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"Sam, do you still have access to the old utility tunnels beneath Main Street?" John asked with a dark smile.
Sam slowly smirked, pulling a set of heavy steel keys from his jacket pocket. "I built those tunnels, kid."
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