Chapter 6
Mayor Thomas Henderson crouched down beside the wooden chair, his expensive custom-tailored suit covered in forest dust. He reached out with a manicured hand and casually peeled the duct tape off Clara’s mouth. Clara let out a sharp gasp, her head lolling to the side as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her scalp showed stark, raw patches where the hair had been hacked away down to the skin.
"There now, that's much better, isn't it?" Mayor Henderson said smoothly, his voice dripping with false paternal warmth. "Your father is a very stubborn man, Clara. He thinks he can dig up old secrets that were meant to stay buried forever."
Outside the window, David’s fingers dug into the rotting wood of the cabin wall until his nails splintered. Every instinct screamed at him to burst through the door and tear the mayor apart with his bare hands, but reason held him back. There were two other men standing in the shadows of the room, both holding heavy-duty shotguns. If he rushed in now, they would execute Clara without a second thought.
"Leave her alone!" Clara managed to choke out, her voice raw and shaking. "You're... you're monsters."
"We're protectors, my dear," Mayor Henderson replied, standing up and brushing off his knees. He pulled a folded manila folder from his jacket pocket and tossed it onto Clara’s lap. "Tell your father when he arrives that all he has to do is sign the retraction papers on my desk at the town hall. The moment he signs away his exposé, you walk out of these woods completely free. Simple as that."
David’s heart skipped a beat. The entire conspiracy—the corrupt funding, the rigged school boards, the psychological torture—wasn't just about financial embezzlement. It was a calculated extortion scheme using their own children as leverage to control the local press.
May you like
Henderson turned toward the heavy wooden door, walking directly toward the spot where David was hiding.
Panic surged through David’s veins. He backed away into the shadows of the porch just as the heavy iron latch began to lift, the squeak of the hinges cutting through the silent forest air.
