Chapter 11 - The Call From the Bathroom
Rachel called Abigail while the files uploaded.
Abigail answered immediately from a rental car two hours outside the city.
“Where is Hunter?”
Rachel could barely speak.
“I’m sorry.”
Abigail’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“Where is my son?”
“In the room behind the garage.”
“What happened?”
“Mason hurt him.”
The world seemed to disappear around Abigail.
“Is he breathing?”
“Yes, but he hit his head. He’s been vomiting. He has a fever.”
Abigail pulled onto the shoulder.
“How long?”
Rachel began crying.
“Since last night.”
Abigail closed her eyes.
For one second, rage overwhelmed her.
Then the nurse inside her took control.
“Call 911 right now.”
“Mason is outside the door.”
“Lock it.”
“He’s trying to move Hunter.”
“Rachel, listen carefully. Scream the address. Leave the line open.”
The bathroom door splintered.
Rachel screamed the address.
Mason forced his way inside.
He seized the phone.
Abigail heard his breathing.
“Mason,” she said.
Silence.
“If Hunter dies, there is nowhere you can hide.”
Mason ended the call.
But Abigail had already merged Detective Richards into the conversation.
Richards heard everything.
Officers moved toward the house.
Mason ran downstairs.
Diane was standing beside the back door.
“Police are coming.”
“Get the car.”
Rachel followed him.
“No one is moving Hunter.”
Mason shoved past her and ran toward the garage.
Richards entered the yard through the side gate.
“Mason Cole! Stop!”
Mason changed direction and jumped the rear fence.
Officers chased him into the neighboring streets.
Rachel reached the storage room.
Her hands shook so badly she dropped the key twice.
When the door opened, Hunter was curled on the cot.
His lips looked gray.
His breathing came in short, wet gasps.
Rachel screamed for help.
Richards abandoned the pursuit and ran toward the child.
He lifted Hunter carefully and carried him into the rain.
An ambulance was already approaching.
As paramedics placed Hunter onto a stretcher, Diane stood beneath the porch roof.
She kept repeating the same sentence.
“It was an accident.”
Richards looked at the locked door behind the garage.
“No,” he said. “Leaving him there was a choice.”
Mason escaped before officers could surround the block.
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But he left his SUV, phone charger, and dark jacket behind.
👉 Hunter was finally on his way to the hospital, while the man who hurt him vanished into the city before Abigail could reach her son.
