Chapter 7 - The Threat Returns
A week passed. The judge fast-tracked the emergency foster placement, citing my medical expertise as essential for Leo's recovery. The transition to my house went better than I could have hoped. Barnaby, my golden retriever, instantly appointed himself Leo's shadow, sleeping at the foot of his bed and resting his heavy head on Leo’s lap whenever the boy looked anxious.
But our fragile peace was shattered on a Tuesday afternoon.
I was at the hospital finishing a shift while Leo was safely at home with Sarah, my nurse, who had graciously offered to babysit. My phone buzzed with an incoming call from Officer Ramirez.
"Doc, you need to listen to me carefully," Ramirez’s voice was tense, stripped of its usual easygoing tone. "Greg made bail."
My blood ran cold. "How? He was denied bail at the arraignment!"
"His scumbag brother hired a high-priced defense attorney. They argued procedural errors regarding the search of the shed without a warrant. The judge set bail at a hundred grand, and his brother posted it an hour ago. We're fighting it, but right now, he's out."
Panic, primal and terrifying, seized my chest. "Where is he?"
"We don't know. He skipped out of the courthouse before we could put a tracker on him. We have squad cars heading to his house, but Doc... you're listed as the boy's foster parent on the public court docket. He knows where you live."
"Sarah is at my house with Leo," I shouted, already sprinting down the hospital corridor toward the parking garage.
"I'm dispatching two units to your address right now. Get there, but let us clear the house. Do not engage him if you see him."
I threw myself into my car, tires squealing against the concrete as I sped out of the garage. The drive from the hospital to my coastal house usually took twenty minutes. I made it in ten, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
As I turned onto my street, the sight ahead made my breath catch.
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Sarah's car was in the driveway. But parked illegally across the street, half on the curb, was a rusted, dark green pickup truck. Greg's truck.
The front door of my house was hanging wide open.
