Page 31 of A Sister's Secret

"We need to protect this evidence," he said, his voice low. "Make copies and store them somewhere safe."

"Already did," Lisa replied, her voice steely with conviction, showing him the recording device that he had given to her. She had come too far to falter now. “And I uploaded everything to the cloud on my phone, so it’s still there if anything happens to my phone or me.”

As Travis set to work securing the digital files in multiple locations on his laptop as well, Lisa sat by the cold fireplace, her thoughts drifting to her family. Ethan, Abigail, Julia, and Daniel—her reason for being, her reason for fighting. She couldn't let the shadows of this small town snuff out their light.

She thought of Oliver's sister, of the life brutally cut short, and of the son left motherless by a man sworn to protect. Her jaw clenched at the thought of Sheriff Jim's betrayal, the corruption festering beneath his badge. No, she wouldn't stand idly by while injustice reigned.

"Lisa," Travis said, pulling her from her reverie. "It's done. What's our next move?"

"Expose him," Lisa answered without hesitation, her eyes hardening with resolve. "We take everything we have to the authorities outside this town."

"Risky," Travis cautioned, "but I'm with you."

"Good," Lisa said, a small, determined smile tugging at her lips. "Because I'm not stopping until justice is served—for her, this town, and my family."

Travis nodded, understanding the unspoken words that hung in the air between them. This was more than a quest for justice; this was a mother, a survivor, standing against the darkness, refusing to yield.

And so, with the evidence secured and a plan taking shape, Lisa readied herself for what lay ahead. There would be trials and dangers untold, but the flame of truth burned brightly within her.

Chapter Thirteen

The heels of Lisa Thompson's boots clicked against the damp asphalt with an urgent rhythm, breaking the silence of the dimly lit street as she got out of the car and rushed toward her home. Her breath formed misty clouds that trailed behind her, much like the unsettling sensation that someone was tailing her every step. She wrapped her coat tighter around her slender frame, a feeble barrier against the chilling autumn air and the rising dread gnawing at her insides.

Lisa's heart pounded, a frantic drumbeat syncing with her brisk footsteps. Memories of her violent past flashed in her hazel eyes, igniting a familiar flame of determination. She had fought too hard for her family's sanctuary to let darkness encroach upon it now. With Ethan, Abigail, Julia, and Daniel at home, worlds away from this creeping menace, her maternal instincts were a force fiercer than any fear.

Glancing over her shoulder, she searched the shadows for the source of her unease. The quaint storefronts of the town offered no clues, their windows dark and serene. The street was an empty canvas, undisturbed but for the occasional swirl of newly fallen snow twirling across her path. Yet, the absence of evidence did nothing to calm the prickling on the back of her neck; if anything, it amplified the silent alarm blaring inside her.

Quickening her pace, Lisa's mind raced as fast as her steps. She could almost hear Oliver's soothing voice telling her it was just her imagination, but the conviction in her gut told her otherwise. In a place where everyone knew each other's secrets, Lisa's recent meddling in matters long buried made her far too conspicuous. And now, it seemed, those secrets were shadowing her through the town. Sheriff Coleman had many friends here; he was right about that. It felt as if eyes from every building were leering down at her.

Her thoughts flickered to the cozy café she co-owned with Oliver. It was their haven, a symbol of the resilience and warmth that shielded their family. But even the thought of the café's welcoming glow couldn't dispel the icy tendrils of fear that slithered up her spine.

Lisa veered off the main road, her boots slick on the icy cobblestone as she slipped into the shadowed embrace of an alley, the newly fallen snow crunching under her feet. The alley was a labyrinthine network of passages sprawled behind the town's quaint facades, and she knew them well; they were the arteries that connected the lifeblood of the community. Now, they offered a slim chance at anonymity and escape.

She ducked behind weathered crates stacked haphazardly by the back door of Mr. Henley's antique shop, her chest tight with alarm. The scent of mildew and old wood filled her nostrils as she crouched low, her fingers grazing the rough surface of the crate's edges. Lisa's breaths came in jagged bursts, each exhale forming fleeting clouds in the chill air.

Although strained to their limit, her ears picked up the subtle encroachment of footsteps, deliberate and steady. They reverberated off the close walls, a sinister drumbeat heralding an unseen threat. The sound seemed to draw nearer with every thump of her racing heart.

She thought of Ethan's laughter, Abigail's curious eyes, Julia's tender grip, and Daniel's earnest attempts to fit into their patchwork family. For them, she'd walk through fire—or hide in alleys. Their faces etched into her resolve, she fumbled for her phone, its screen a beacon of hope.

Her thumb hovered over the emergency call button with practiced swiftness, ready to summon aid with a single press. The footsteps grew louder, echoing like a warning chime. Lisa’s grip on the device was a lifeline, the weight of it both a comfort and a burden. She would defend her children and her sanctuary with every fiber of her being. Oliver had given her strength, but it was love that honed it to a point sharper than any fear.

The alley held its breath, the silence between footfalls stretching thin and taut. Lisa waited, every muscle coiled, a mother lioness concealed in the urban underbrush. The shadows around her felt alive, pulsating with the tension of the chase. This small town, with its picturesque charm and hidden rot, was a chessboard, and Lisa was done being a pawn.

The footsteps stopped, and for a heartbeat, the world stilled—then the pursuit resumed, the sound growing ever closer, a crescendo of impending confrontation.

The stillness shattered as a figure materialized. The sheriff stood there, the familiar sternness of his visage twisted into a sinister smile that didn't reach his cold eyes. Lisa's heart, already racing, skipped a beat at the sight of him—Sheriff Coleman, a pillar of their small community, now the harbinger of her deepest fears.

"Lisa," he drawled, the warmth he once offered during town hall meetings gone, replaced with a chilling timbre that seemed to crawl along the alley's brick walls. "You can’t escape me."

A shiver raced down Lisa's spine as she clutched the phone like a shield. She could see it now—the malice in his gaze, the gleam of knowing.

His voice cut through the silence again, each word a venomous drop into the cold air.

"You should have stayed out of things that don't concern you." The threat hung between them, stark and unyielding.

Her mind screamed for action, for escape, but her body resisted, momentarily paralyzed by the gravity of the situation. This was no longer a simple game of cat and mouse; this was survival. Oliver’s blue eyes, the warmth of her children's embraces, the love that filled their home—that was what she needed to protect and the reason she had to find a way out of this tightening snare.

Sheriff Coleman's approach was methodical, a predator confident in his impending victory. However, Lisa Thompson was not prey to be cornered and devoured without a fight. Her resolve hardened; the love for her family was a flame that fear could not extinguish.

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