Chapter 9 - The Decoy
The sharp crack of the branch echoed across the ravine like a gunshot.
Daniel froze. His head snapped toward the sound. "Who's there?"
Melissa didn't answer. She turned on the owl flashlight, shone the beam directly into Daniel’s eyes for half a second, and then hurled the flashlight through the trees toward the riverbank.
"It’s her!" Daniel screamed, his voice wild with mania. "Dad! She’s alive! Over by the creek!"
"Stop her!" Richard bellowed, dropping his thermos into the dirt.
Daniel sprinted into the woods, rifle raised, crashing through the brush toward the bouncing light near the river.
Melissa moved in the opposite direction, limping heavily toward the access road, putting herself directly between the men and the culvert where Sophie was crawling to safety. Every step sent lightning through her broken ribs, but she kept moving, propelled by pure maternal fury.
She reached the back of Daniel’s idling truck.
Richard Hale was hurrying along the tree line, panting heavily, clutching his chest. He turned the corner of the vehicle and stopped dead in his tracks.
Melissa stood five feet away, leaning against the tailgate, covered in mud, dried blood, and coal dust, her eyes burning like cold steel.
"Melissa?" Richard staggered backward, his face turning an ashen gray. "You... you're..."
"Disappointed, Dad?" Melissa’s voice was dead, steady, and terrifyingly calm.
"Melissa, listen to me," Richard raised his trembling hands, his voice slipping instantly into pathetic manipulation. "It was Daniel. It was all Daniel! He lost his mind over the debts. He forced me—he said he’d ruin us all if I didn't help him!"
"You watched him push me," Melissa stepped toward him, brandishing the heavy iron lug wrench she had just pulled from the open bed of the truck. "You stood at the edge and said I hit hard. You told him it was good."
"I was terrified of him!" Richard pleaded, backing away until his spine hit the truck door. "Where’s Sophie? Where’s my granddaughter? Let me help you, Melissa. We can fix this!"
"You don't get to say her name," Melissa snarled.
From the woods behind them, a frantic shout broke out. "Dad! It was a decoy! It was just a damn toy!"
Daniel broke through the brush, breathing hard, his rifle swinging around.
He saw Melissa. His eyes widened in sheer panic, and he raised the barrel directly at her chest. "You should have stayed in the hole, Mel!"
*BEEP-BEEP!*
A deafening siren split the freezing morning air.
Blinding red and blue strobe lights flashed across the highway overpass above them. A San Juan County Sheriff cruiser tore down the access road at fifty miles per hour, tires spraying gravel, followed immediately by an unmarked Colorado State Patrol SUV.
Behind the cruiser’s steel push-bumper, visible through the windshield, sat Sophie, pointing directly out the window at Daniel and Richard.
"DROP THE WEAPON!" a voice boomed over a loudspeaker. "DROP THE RIFLE NOW! HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Daniel panicked. His eyes darted between the approaching police car and Melissa. For a split second, his finger tightened on the trigger.
Melissa didn't hesitate. With every ounce of strength remaining in her shattered body, she swung the heavy iron lug wrench, smashing it across Daniel’s hands and the rifle’s stock.
The gun fired harmlessly into the dirt as Daniel shrieked, clutching his broken fingers.
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Within seconds, four deputies were out of their vehicles, weapons drawn, tackling Daniel to the frozen ground and forcing Richard against the hood of the truck in handcuffs.
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