Chapter 13 - The Roof Escape
"I'm not leaving without you!" Elena shouted, grabbing David by the shoulders as the heavy footsteps reached the second-floor hallway just outside the attic door.
"You have to! If they take us both, nobody will ever find what's buried under that tree!" David insisted, shoving the heavy metal lockbox into Elena’s trembling arms. He grabbed Mia by her small waist and lifted her up toward the low attic window that opened onto the back roof. "Climb out onto the shingles, stay low, and head down the rain gutter to the backyard shed. Do not stop for anything!"
"Dad, I'm scared!" Mia cried out, tears streaming down her face as she scrambled through the open window into the cool night air.
"I'm right behind you, sweetie. Go!" David commanded.
Elena gave David one last, desperate look filled with a lifetime of unspoken grief and renewed love before she crawled through the window after Mia, pulling the heavy metal lockbox tight against her chest.
Just as David turned back toward the attic ladder, the wooden door was kicked off its hinges with a tremendous crash. Two armed men in black tactical gear and federal windbreakers swarmed into the attic, their tactical flashlights cutting blinding beams through the dust-filled air.
"Hands on your head! Do not move an inch!" the lead agent barked, leveling a non-lethal tactical rifle directly at David's chest.
David slowly raised his hands, keeping his body positioned squarely in front of the open attic window to block their view of the roof outside. "You're too late," David said, a grim, triumphant smile touching the corners of his mouth. "The files are already out. The federal task force received everything."
"You think a few leaked files are going to stop Arthur's network?" a cold, familiar voice echoed from the hallway below.
Slowly, Arthur stepped up into the attic, leaning heavily on his polished wooden cane. His face was twisted into an ugly, mask-like sneer. He gestured casually to the two armed agents, who immediately lowered their weapons and stepped aside.
"You always were an idealistic fool, David," Arthur said, walking slowly across the dusty floorboards. "You thought you could outsmart a system that has been running this country's corporate infrastructure for decades. Where is the woman and the child?"
David didn't answer. He simply stared at Arthur with unyielding defiance, keeping his footing firmly planted near the edge of the roof exit.
"Search the perimeter!" Arthur snapped at the agents. "They couldn't have gotten far in the dark."
As the agents rushed toward the attic window to check the roof, David made his move. With a sudden, explosive burst of energy, he lunged sideways, tackling Arthur hard against the brick chimney and sending the older man crashing heavily to the dusty floor.
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"Get off me, you idiot!" Arthur screamed, dropping his cane as David scrambled backward toward the open window, slipping out onto the slippery shingles of the roof into the cold night air.
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