Chapter 10 - The Evacuation
"We have to move! Right now!" Elena shouted into her cell phone, pacing the length of the safe house kitchen like a caged animal. She had immediately barricaded the front door, pulling the heavy blinds shut across every window in the house. Maya, sensing her mother's sudden, overwhelming panic, had retreated to the bedroom, clutching her original stuffed rabbit tightly against her chest.
Detective Jenkins arrived less than ten minutes later, pulling her unmarked cruiser onto the lawn and bursting through the front door with her weapon drawn, flanked by two heavily armed tactical officers.
"Where is it?" Jenkins demanded, scanning the room for immediate threats.
Elena silently pointed to the cardboard box on the kitchen island. Jenkins walked over, reading the elegant, threatening note pinned to the replica rabbit. The detective’s jaw clenched in profound anger, a cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.
"This address is classified at the highest state level," Jenkins muttered, her voice thick with disbelief. "Only four people in the entire department know this location. Eleanor Vance either has a mole deep inside the prosecutor's office, or she managed to hack our secure grid."
"I warned you, Detective," Elena said, her voice shaking but laced with a fierce, protective anger. "Marcus was arrogant, but his mother is a phantom. She has unlimited resources and absolutely zero moral boundaries. If she knows we are here, it means her private security team is already watching the house. We are sitting ducks."
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"Pack your bags. Just the essentials," Jenkins ordered immediately, signaling to the tactical officers. "We are moving you to a federal witness protection holding facility. It’s an active military base. Eleanor won't be able to get within ten miles of the perimeter without triggering a federal response."
Elena rushed into the bedroom, hurriedly throwing clothes and Maya’s toys into a small duffel bag. She scooped her daughter up, holding her fiercely against her chest. As they rushed out of the house under the heavy guard of the tactical officers, Elena looked up at the tree line across the street. For a brief, terrifying second, she saw the glint of binoculars reflecting the morning sun. Eleanor’s shadow was already there, watching them run. The psychological warfare had officially begun.
