Chapter 4: The Trap
Thomas knew Elena was desperate. She was already attempting to flee the country, burning through the last of the stolen funds. He set the trap, not with guns, but with greed.
He leaked information through a compromised associate that he was willing to settle for a payout—a "hush money" agreement that would see the charges dropped and the kids surrendered to state care, provided she met him at a secure location to sign the documents.
Elena, blinded by the promise of finality and a clean escape, fell for it. She arrived at the meeting—a nondescript private airstrip on the outskirts of the city—wearing a disguise, ready to sign away the lives of the children she had held captive.
But there was no settlement. As she stepped into the hangar, she found not Thomas, but a phalanx of federal agents and the very coroner she had bribed three years ago, now turned state’s witness.
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"The game is over, Elena," Thomas’s voice echoed from the darkness of the hangar.
She turned to run, but the doors slammed shut. The flashing red and blue lights of the police cars illuminated the hangar, casting long, accusing shadows against the corrugated metal walls. She was handcuffed not by Thomas, but by the weight of her own hubris.
