Chapter 18 - NIGHT AT THE RED RIVER
Night fell over the Red River cottage, cool and serene.
The front door had been temporarily repaired with heavy plywood, and the smell of fresh cedar and warm herbal tea once again filled the small living room.
Julian sat on the floor by the fireplace, going through old photo albums with Elowen. For the first time in his adult life, he wasn't looking at spreadsheets, stock valuations, or corporate acquisitions. He was looking at yellowed pictures of his first steps, his mother’s hand-written recipes, and birthday cards that had been written every year for twenty-five years—and kept sealed in a wooden memory box.
"I wrote one every September 14th," Elowen murmured, her hand resting gently on his shoulder as she pointed to a stack of sealed envelopes tied with blue ribbon. "I couldn't mail them, but I needed to talk to you."
Julian picked up the top envelope, marked For Julian - Age 10. Before he could unseal it, the faint, sharp crack of a dry pine branch snapping outside the kitchen window cut through the quiet room.
Julian’s eyes instantly sharpened. The executive had vanished; the instincts of a man who had survived a midnight assault hours ago took over.
May you like
He reached out, catching Elowen’s wrist, and made a silent gesture toward the root cellar hatch.
"They're here," Julian whispered into her ear.
