Chapter 9 - THE CITY TURNS AGAINST THEM
By morning, Colleen’s face was everywhere.
News vans parked outside Maya’s house.
Police searched her apartment.
Her former coworkers received calls from reporters.
Someone leaked an old photo of Colleen being arrested at eighteen after defending her mother during a domestic dispute.
The charge had been dismissed.
That part didn’t make the headlines.
Jessica watched the coverage in a motel room.
“They’re destroying you because of me.”
Colleen shut off the television.
“No.”
“They’re destroying me because Robert needs people to stop asking what happened in that hotel room.”
Ethan entered carrying coffee.
“And it’s working.”
He dropped a newspaper onto the table.
“Public opinion is brutal.”
Daniel looked at Jessica.
“We need you on camera.”
Jessica immediately stiffened.
“No.”
“You said you wanted out.”
“I do.”
“Then tell the truth.”
“You don’t understand what he’ll do.”
Colleen snapped.
“I think we all understand exactly what he’ll do.”
Jessica stared at her.
Colleen softened.
“But hiding isn’t stopping him.”
Jessica looked down.
“What if nobody believes me?”
Colleen sat beside her.
“I believed you before I knew your name.”
That did it.
Two hours later, Ethan arranged a live stream through an independent news platform.
Jessica sat in front of the camera without makeup.
No stylist.
No luxury clothes.
She showed bruises along her scalp.
A scar beneath her jaw.
Medical records Ethan had obtained.
Then she spoke.
“My husband has controlled, threatened, and assaulted me for years.”
Viewer numbers exploded.
Fifty thousand.
Two hundred thousand.
Half a million.
Jessica continued.
“I was not kidnapped by Colleen Hayes.”
“She saved my life.”
Comments poured across the screen.
Then Jessica described the hotel.
The safe.
The forged inheritance records.
Robert’s threats.
At the fifteen-minute mark, Ethan smiled.
“They can’t bury this now.”
Suddenly the motel’s power died.
Darkness.
Daniel stood instantly.
“Down!”
The window shattered.
A bullet punched through the wall.
Colleen dragged Jessica behind the bed.
More shots.
Ethan crawled toward the bathroom.
“Back exit!”
Daniel returned fire through the window.
“GO!”
They rushed into the bathroom.
Colleen kicked open a small window.
Jessica climbed out first.
Ethan followed.
Colleen was halfway through when she heard Daniel shout.
Then one gunshot.
Then silence.
“DANIEL!”
She turned back.
A man in black stepped into the motel room.
Daniel lay beside the desk.
Not moving.
The gunman raised his weapon toward Colleen.
Before he could fire, Jessica appeared behind him with a tire iron.
She swung.
The man dropped.
Jessica stared at Colleen, breathing hard.
“What?”
Colleen blinked.
Jessica lifted the tire iron.
“You’re not the only woman who can swing cleaning equipment.”
Then Daniel coughed.
Alive.
May you like
But as Colleen reached him, he whispered four words.
“Robert has your sister.”
