Chapter 6: The unseen Threats

I stood so still like a statue staring at my phone and the content of the message with fear all over my body, my heart pounding in my chest, each word of the message burning into my mind. A reminder that danger still lumbers. I never expected Vanessa to reach out so soon it was faster than we anticipated. And her determination to destroy our lives was unending.

“What is wrong Clara ?”, “Are you ok?” Ethan’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts as he asked with a concerned look on his face as he sat beside me with his hand placed on my arm.

I sighed deeply as I handed him the phone unable to speak, it was as if my voice seized for a second.

His expression clouded as he read the message, I could sense from his look that he was scared and angry.

“Who sent this?” He asked in a shaky voice.

“We need to call Michael Asap,” he said.

He picked up his phone and dialed Michael’s number.

“Hey, Michael we have a small problem,”

”Please come to the safe house as fast as possible.”

Michael arrived within a few minutes,he looked so determined and fearless. He took the phone, and read the message out loud with a fearless voice.

“She is teasing us,” he said. “ She wants to keep us on edge and make us live with fears.”

“What should we do?” I asked, my voice shuddering.

Michael looked at both of us, with a determined expression. “ We need to stay vigilant,” “I’ve already tightened the security measures around the house.”

“We’ll monitor and look into every communication and try to trace where it’s coming from, but the most important thing right now is to prevent her from getting to you, we have to keep calm and lay low as we can.”

The next few days were a whirl of increased security and repeated warnings. Michael and his crew worked tirelessly following any leads that could take us closer to Vanessa.

Ethan and I did our best to maintain a good outward appearance acting like everything was fine for Ella, but the tension was noticeable in every action, talk, and fake smile that we put on our faces.

One evening as I was putting Ella to bed, she rose and sat on the bed with her back leaning against the wall,

“Mummy, can I ask a question?” She said with innocent eyes.

“Yes baby, you are free to ask me any question.” I said without hesitating or thinking about what her question could be.”

“When are we going out to have fun? and why are there so many people looking after us?”

“Why do you look so worried lately too.” She asked curiously.

Her question caught me off guard, and I felt a lump form in my throat.

What made her ask such questions? I said to myself.

“Soon dear we haven’t settled down yet and we are still looking for a nice and fun activity we could do here,” “Those people are making sure we are safe.” I paused not knowing what to say to her last question.

“I’m just tired, sweetheart. But everything is going to be okay. I promise.” I said after a few seconds of silence in the room.

She nodded, accepting my answer with the simple trust only a child could give. “Okay. I love you, Mummy.”

“I love you too, Ella,” I whispered, kissed her forehead, and tucked her into bed, I sat beside her with my heart filled with worry as I patted her back till she fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, after ensuring Ella was sound asleep, Ethan and I sat in the living room, the weight of the recent days pressing heavily on us.

“I’m scared Ethan, We can’t keep living in fear of hiding like this,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “We need to find a way to end this.”

Ethan sighed and nodded in approval. “We will, We’ll find her and make sure she can’t hurt us anymore.” He said in a calm voice.

It was getting late so we went to bed.

The next morning, Michael called with a lead. "We traced the message back to a burner phone. It's in the city, close to one of Vanessa's former hideouts. This may be our opportunity to catch her off guard."

Ethan and I exchanged a brief look of grim resolve. “ What do we need to do now?” Ethan asked.

"We will set a trap," Michael said. "We'll lure her out, make her think she has the upper hand, and then we'll take her down."

The idea was put into action right away. Michael's crew set up surveillance, and we were ready for the encounter. We planned to stage a public family outing to capture Vanessa's attention and offer her a false sense of security.