Chapter 2: Going Dark
The highway stretched out like a gray ribbon under the fading afternoon sun. Adrenaline pumped through Sarah’s veins, making her hands shake on the steering wheel. Zoe had finally cried herself to sleep, her tiny breaths hitching every few minutes.
Sarah’s phone lit up in the cup holder. David.
Then, a text from him: Mom said you went crazy and left. Come back right now. Don't make me freeze your cards.
They didn't understand. She wasn't throwing a tantrum; she was running for her child's life. Eleanor’s family had the best lawyers in the state. If they took this to court, they would twist the narrative. They would say Sarah was unstable. They would take Zoe.
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I need to disappear, Sarah thought.
She pulled over at a deserted rest stop just off Interstate 95. She took her iPhone from the cup holder, popped out the SIM card, and snapped it in half. She tossed the pieces into a storm drain, then walked to a nearby trash can and buried the phone under a pile of discarded fast-food bags. The digital leash was cut. From now on, she was a ghost.
