Chapter 6 - The Unspoken Pact
Daniel was already standing near the kitchen table, holding his heavy coat. His face was pale, but his jaw was set like granite.
"I have to leave," he said immediately. "If they find me here, they’ll burn this cabin to the ground with you in it. I won't let you pay for my nightmare."
"You're not going anywhere in this weather," Evelyn snapped, grabbing his arm. "Look outside! It's twenty degrees and dropping. You'll die in the woods before you reach the highway."
"It's better than dragging you into a federal murder investigation!" Daniel shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "You saved my life, Evelyn! You gave me a month of peace I didn't deserve! I won't let Owen Mercer take your safety too!"
"They already took my safety five years ago!" Evelyn shouted back, her eyes burning with angry tears. "When the paper mill lied about Tom, I stayed silent. I let them control the story. I packed my bags and ran away to hide in these woods like a beaten dog. I am done letting powerful liars win!"
Daniel stared at her, caught completely off guard by the raw fury in her voice. "Evelyn..."
"We fight them," she said, her voice dropping to a fierce, steady whisper. "We don't run. We use what you have on that drive, and we hit them before they find this cabin."
Daniel looked down at her hand still clutching his jacket sleeve. Slowly, he reached up and covered her fingers with his own. "You don't even know if that drive is fully readable," he said gently.
"Then let's plug it in and find out," she replied.
That night, using an old, un-networked laptop Evelyn kept in her trunk, they plugged in the metal drive. The screen flickered to life, displaying hundreds of encrypted folders, bank routing records, and voice recordings.
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"This is it," Daniel whispered, his breathing heavy. "This is Mercer’s death warrant. But we need a lawyer who can't be bought."
"I know someone," Evelyn said, looking out at the falling snow. "A woman in town who hates the mill management as much as I do."
