Chapter 54 I'm Done Running
Lara's pov
The first week at the safe house felt like a year.
Every day was the same. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Stare at the walls. Wait for news that never came.
Ethan was getting worse.
He couldn't go outside. Couldn't play with friends. Couldn't do anything normal.
"Mommy, I'm bored."
"I know, baby. Me too."
"Can we at least go for a walk?"
I looked at the agent standing by the door. He shook his head.
"Not today, sweetheart."
Ethan threw his toy across the room. "I hate this place!"
He ran to his bedroom and slammed the door.
I didn't blame him. I hated it too.
Damien was trying to work on his laptop but I could tell he was frustrated.
Internet here was terrible. Kept cutting out.
"Any luck?" I asked.
"No. I can't even open my emails properly."
He slammed the laptop shut.
"This is ridiculous. We're prisoners."
"We're protected."
"Same thing."
He got up and started pacing.
I'd never seen him like this. So restless. So angry.
"Maybe we should just leave," he said suddenly.
"What?"
"Leave the country. Change our names. Start over somewhere Lucas can't find us."
"We can't run forever."
"Why not? People do it all the time."
"Because Ethan deserves a normal life. School. Friends. A home."
Damien sat back down. Put his head in his hands.
"I just want this to be over."
"Me too."
That afternoon, the lead agent came in with news.
"We got another tip. Lucas was spotted at a motel about fifty miles from here."
My heart stopped. "When?"
"Two days ago. We just got the security footage."
"Two days? Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"We wanted to confirm it was really him first."
He showed us a grainy video on his phone.
A man checking into a motel. Paying cash. Face partially covered by a hat.
But I recognized him immediately.
The way he walked. The way he stood.
It was Lucas.
"Did you search the motel?"
"By the time we got there, he was gone. Checked out after one night."
"So he's moving around. Not staying in one place."
"Exactly. Makes him harder to track."
Damien looked at the video again. "Was he alone?"
"As far as we can tell, yes."
That surprised me. I thought his sisters would be helping him.
"What about Veronica and Natasha? Are they still being watched?"
"Around the clock. They haven't left their hotel since the escape."
So maybe they weren't involved. Or maybe they were just being careful.
That night, I couldn't stop thinking about the motel footage.
Fifty miles away. That was close. Too close.
What if he was getting closer each day?
What if he already knew where we were?
I got up around midnight. Couldn't sleep.
Went to the kitchen for water.
Found one of the agents sitting at the table.
"Can't sleep either?" he asked.
"No."
"Understandable. This is a tough situation."
I sat down across from him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you think they'll catch him?"
He was quiet for a moment.
"Honestly? I don't know. He's smart. Has resources. Knows how to stay hidden."
"That's not very reassuring."
"I'm not going to lie to you, Mrs. Montgomery. This could take a while."
"How long is a while?"
"Weeks. Maybe months."
Months. I couldn't do this for months.
"What happens if they don't catch him?"
"We keep you safe until they do."
"And if that never happens?"
He didn't answer.
The next morning, Damien got a phone call from Marcus.
"It's about the company," he said after hanging up.
"What about it?"
"The board is getting nervous. I've been gone for two weeks. They need decisions made."
"Can't Marcus handle it?"
"Some things require my signature. My presence."
"So what are you going to do?"
He looked at me. "I don't know. I can't leave you and Ethan here alone."
"We're not alone. We have a dozen agents."
"That's not the same."
But I could see in his eyes he was torn.
His company was his life's work. And it was suffering because of Lucas.
"Go," I said. "Just for a day. Handle what you need to handle."
"I'm not leaving you."
"You have to. The company needs you."
"You need me."
"I'll be fine. We'll be fine."
He didn't look convinced.
That afternoon, Margaret called.
"I have an update on the divorce."
"What kind of update?"
"The judge agreed to proceed without Lucas present. Since he's a fugitive."
"So I can get divorced even though he's not there?"
"Yes. It'll take another few months to finalize but the process is moving forward."
Finally. Some good news.
"What about his parental rights?"
"Terminated. The court ruled he has no legal claim to Ethan."
I felt a weight lift off my chest.
"So even if he's caught, he can't fight for custody?"
"Correct. He has zero rights."
That was something at least.
Three weeks into hiding, Ethan stopped eating properly.
He'd push his food around his plate but barely take a bite.
"Baby, you need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten all day."
"I don't care."
I looked at Damien. He looked just as worried as I felt.
That night, I sat on Ethan's bed.
"Talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Everything."
"I know this is hard—"
"I miss my friends. I miss school. I miss our house."
"I know."
"When is this going to end?"
"Soon."
"You keep saying soon! But it's been forever!"
He was right. I kept lying to him. Kept telling him it would be over soon when I had no idea if that was true.
"I'm sorry, baby. I wish I had better answers."
He turned away from me. "Can you leave? I want to be alone."
My heart broke. But I left.
Four weeks in, the FBI finally got a solid lead.
Lucas had used a credit card. Just once. At a hardware store.
"He bought supplies," the agent told us. "Rope. Duct tape. A knife."
I felt sick. "What is he planning?"
"We don't know. But we're tracking the purchase. Checking nearby security cameras."
"Where was the store?"
"Thirty miles from here."
Closer. He was getting closer.
"We need to move you again," the agent said.
"What? No. We just got settled here."
"It's not safe anymore. He's too close."
Damien stood up. "Fine. Where are we going this time?"
"I'll let you know once we're on the road."
Two hours later, we were packing again.
Ethan was crying. "I don't want to move again!"
"I know, baby. But we have to."
"This is stupid! I hate Lucas! I hate all of this!"
He threw his stuffed elephant across the room.
I'd never seen him this angry before.
Damien picked up the elephant and gave it back to him.
"I know you're mad. We're all mad. But we're going to get through this."
"How? We just keep running and running and Lucas keeps finding us!"
Out of the mouths of children. He was right.
This wasn't working.
The new safe house was even more remote than the first.
No neighbors for miles. Just forest and mountains.
It felt like the end of the world.
"How long this time?" I asked the agent.
"As long as it takes."
That night, I stood by the window looking out at the dark trees.
Damien came up behind me.
"What are you thinking?"
"That this can't go on forever. Something has to change."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. But running isn't working. Lucas is always one step behind us."
"So what do you want to do?"
I turned to look at him.
"I want to stop running. I want to face him."
"That's suicide."
"Maybe. Or maybe it's the only way this ends."
Damien grabbed my shoulders. "Don't talk like that. We're going to be okay."
But I wasn't sure anymore.
The next morning, I made a decision.
I called the lead agent into the kitchen.
"I want to set a trap."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
"For Lucas. Use me as bait. Let him find me."
"Mrs. Montgomery, that's—"
"The only way this ends. He's hunting me anyway. Let's control when and where it happens."
Damien walked in. "What's going on?"
"Lara wants to use herself as bait."
"Absolutely not."
"Hear me out," I said. "We leak my location. Let Lucas come to us. But we'll be ready. Agents everywhere. He walks into our trap instead of us running from his."
The agent shook his head. "Too risky."
"Everything is risky! At least this way we end it."
Damien looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"You could die."
"I could die running too. At least this way I'm fighting back."
The agent sighed. "I'll have to run it by my superiors. But I don't think they'll approve."
"Try. Please. I can't live like this anymore."
After he left, Damien pulled me aside.
"What are you doing?"
"What I should have done weeks ago. Taking control."
"This is insane."
"Maybe. But I'm done being afraid."
Three days later, the FBI approved the plan.
But with conditions.
"We do this our way," the lead agent said. "You follow our instructions exactly. No deviations."
"Okay."
"We'll leak your location through a controlled source. Make it look accidental. Then we wait."
"How long?"
"Could be days. Could be a week. Lucas will want to verify it's real before he moves."
"And when he comes?"
"We'll be ready. Snipers. Tactical team. He won't get within a hundred yards of you."
I hoped they were right.
They leaked my location through one of the sisters' phones.
Made it look like Veronica accidentally shared a photo with location data.
Now we just had to wait.
Damien was against it from the start.
"This is the worst idea you've ever had."
"Do you have a better one?"
He didn't.
So we waited.
Day one. Nothing.
Day two. Still nothing.
Day three. A car drove by slowly. Agents checked it out. Just a lost tourist.
Day four.
That's when everything changed.
One of the perimeter agents spotted movement in the trees.
"Possible target. East side. Two hundred yards."
Everyone went on high alert.
I was in the house with Damien and Ethan.
"Stay down," an agent ordered. "Away from windows."
My heart was racing.
Was it Lucas? Was he really here?
Gunfire suddenly erupted outside.
Ethan screamed.
Damien pulled us both to the floor.
More gunshots. Shouting. Chaos.
Then silence.
My ears were ringing.
"Clear!" someone yelled outside.
The lead agent came inside.
"It was him. Lucas Ward. He's been shot."
I couldn't breathe. "Is he dead?"
"No. Wounded. We're taking him into custody now."
It was over.
After all this time.
It was finally over.