Four Babies and a Billion Dollar Lie.

oing in the midd

senger seat of the dented pickup truck. Her lips trembled as she tried to form words, her che

hoarse, her body trembling. "Please, sir, my babies...t

she hadn't spoken at all. His silence pressed down on her, heavy, unsettling.

ow I'm gone. My children-they're just infants. Four of them. I

ade the night seem even darker. Tessa twisted in her seat, panic clawing at her insides. Her gaz

ng, struggling. She squinted, leaning forward, her heart

me

ed into the open back of the truck like livestock. Their eyes gl

h turned. Her

h. She whirled toward the driver, horror etched across her face.

is jaw set, his grip on th

ssa shrieked, fumbling for the door han

but it wouldn't budge. The truck roared down the gravel

ny fists curling, soft cries echoing, their faces angelic and he

king. "You don't have to do this. Le

yes catching hers for the first time. Th

ed in that cabin,"

eart near

cratched the glass, leaving faint streaks, her breath fogging it as she trie

himpered, thrashing

ed against the door. Pain shot through her arm, but she ignored it, eyes

dle again, this time pushing with everything she had. The l

soared..

t slammed into th

ody crumpled back into the seat. She barely registered the dr

irl?" he hissed. "You thin

rwhelming. He ripped a coarse rope from the floorboard, looping it around her wrists with bruta

he side of the lonely road. The driver yanked open the door, dragging Tessa out like a

e! Help me! So

o the night, swallow

swer. He did

d. Her eyes darted to the women already there-their faces pale, streaked with dirt

t her words ended in a sharp cry as the

inst the cold metal floor, her bound wrists digging into her skin. Th

oor. The engine roared to life again, the truck hurtli

sank in. She was no longer running toward freedom. She wa

heir tiny mouths crying for her, their little bodi

ough the gag, her voice broken, "d

*

ght, confusion clouding her features. She reached out instinctively tow

space wa

ancing around the dark cabin. "Tessa?" sh

le

cross the walls, eerie and long. Chloe stood, her bare feet padd

she muttered, her voice t

lingering in the air. The memory of Tessa collapsing there earlier, sob

g the darkness, calling again into t

ave nothing bac

ed. Something was wro

*

e other captives. The rope bit into her skin, the gag muffling her sobs as the vehicle r

Tessa's ear. Through her gag, she managed a muf

hey'll hurt you m

he couldn't accept that. She couldn't surrender. N

with one thought, o

d to s

th

er ba

rrying Tessa further from freedom and closer

h, the stars above Pinewood stood witness t