Chapter 7 - The Light in the Cellar
I dropped to my knees on the cold concrete floor, sliding the last three feet until my arms wrapped around his small, frail body.
"Yes, baby!" I sobbed hysterically, pulling him against my chest so hard I thought I might break him. "Yes, it's Christmas! Mommy's here! Daddy's here! You're safe! You're safe!"
David dropped down beside us, throwing his large arms around both of us, burying his face in Theo’s hair, weeping openly with loud, ragged gasps.
Theo’s small arms slowly crept out from beneath the wool blanket. He wrapped them around my neck, holding on with a desperate, terrifying strength that shook his entire body.
"I tried to stay brave, Mommy," Theo sobbed into my shoulder, his tears wetting my coat. "I drew the pictures... I wrote the note... I asked Aunt Megan to bring it to Maisie..."
I pulled back slightly, my hands framing his thin, dirty face, wiping his tears away with my thumbs. "Aunt Megan came here?"
"She came every week," Theo whispered, shivering violently. "She said... she said you and Daddy didn't have enough money to keep me anymore. She said I had to stay here until the court gave her the trust money so she could buy us a big house..."
A fresh wave of sickening fury washed over me, but I pushed it down, focusing entirely on my boy.
"She lied to you, Theo," David said, his voice deep and fierce as he kissed Theo’s forehead over and over again. "She lied. We never stopped looking for you. Not for one second. We love you more than life itself."
"I want to go home," Theo whimpered, leaning his head against my neck. "I want to see Maisie."
"We're going home right now, baby," I promised him.
Paramedics descended the cellar stairs with a warm emergency blanket and a stretcher. They wrapped Theo up like a small cocoon, lifting him carefully into their arms.
As we walked up out of the cellar and stepped out through the front porch of the cabin, the storm outside seemed to have lost its violence. The heavy snow was falling in quiet, peaceful flakes.
Marcus Kane was loaded into the back of a police van in heavy chains. He would face federal kidnapping charges that guaranteed he would never see the outside of a prison wall again.
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Detective Vance stood by the ambulance as David and I climbed into the back beside Theo. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and gave a tight, solemn nod.
"We got him, Clara," Vance said softly. "Go home."
