Chapter 8 - THE TRAP SNAPS
The black SUV surged across the street, blocking Evelyn’s car.
Vanessa flung the passenger door open, jumping out before the vehicle had even fully stopped. "Give me the
baby, Evelyn!" she screamed, lunging forward.
Daniel jumped out of the driver's seat, his face twisted in a desperate, manic grin. "It's over, Evelyn! I'm taking
my daughter! You’re going to drop the charges, or you'll never see her again!"
Evelyn stood frozen by her car door, her eyes wide with what looked like pure terror. She clutched the baby
carrier tightly against her chest. "Daniel, please! Don't do this! She's just a baby!"
"I don't care!" Daniel roared, reaching out and grabbing her arm, violently pulling her away from the car. "Give
her to me!"
He snatched the handle of the baby carrier from her grip, laughing triumphantly as Vanessa scrambled back into
the SUV. "We got her! Let's go!"
But as Daniel looked down into the baby carrier to see his crying daughter, his laughter died in his throat.
There was no baby inside.
Sitting in the plush, pink carrier was a weighted, lifelike silicone doll, its glass eyes staring blankly up at him.
Daniel froze, his mind struggling to process the image. "What... what is this?"
Evelyn slowly stood up straight. The terror on her face vanished, replaced by a cold, victorious expression. She
reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small, sleek black device.
"It's a trap, Daniel," Evelyn said, her voice calm and steady in the rain. "Again."
Suddenly, the side doors of three delivery vans parked along the street burst open. Dozens of heavily armed
SWAT officers poured out, their rifles raised, red laser dots instantly painting Daniel’s chest and forehead.
"F.B.I.! Drop the weapon! Get on the ground now!" a voice boomed through a megaphone.
Daniel dropped the baby carrier, the plastic doll clattering against the wet asphalt. He raised his hands, shaking
violently as Vanessa let out a shrill, piercing scream of terror from inside the SUV.
From behind the SWAT line, Charles Sterling walked out, holding my real daughter, baby Lily, safely wrapped
in a dry, warm blanket under a massive golf umbrella held by his chief of security.
Evelyn walked over to her father, taking Lily into her arms and kissing her soft cheek. She then looked down at
Daniel, who was being violently slammed onto the wet pavement by two FBI agents, his face pressed into the very
same mud he had forced her into three weeks ago.
16
"You really should have read the custody laws, Daniel," Evelyn said, looking down at him with quiet contempt.
May you like
"But I suppose you'll have plenty of time to read them in federal prison."
17
