夜晚是逃亡者最好的偽裝.
按照薇薇安的計劃,卡特在下次去買啤酒時,「不小心」碰倒了一瓶廉價威士忌.酒灑在油膩的木地板上,散發出刺鼻的氣味.男人們粗聲粗氣地咒罵著,哄堂大笑,他「慌慌張張」地拿來一瓶幾乎滿的煤油,說是可以幫忙清理.混亂之中,沒人注意到那個膽小的奴隸正偷偷地把煤油瓶塞進後門邊一堆廢棄木材的縫隙裡.
夜深了,賭博的喧囂聲漸漸消失,取而代之的是斷斷續續的鼾聲和偶爾的含糊不清的低語.連值班的男人也打起了盹,頭微微低垂著酒瓶.
時機已到.
薇薇安用從椅子上撬下來的鐵管和木楔,一點一點地撬開了那扇老舊木門上不太牢固的鎖.同時,卡特身手敏捷,像貓一樣溜到後門,把煤油澆在事先堆放好的乾柴和垃圾上,然後劃著火柴點燃了門邊.
「咻!」火焰竄起,在夜風中迅速蔓延,濃煙滾滾.
「著火了!後院著火了!」卡特用盡全力尖叫起來,然後立刻縮回了陰影裡.
鼾聲戛然而止.樓下傳來驚慌的咒罵聲,家具翻倒的劈啪聲和混亂的腳步聲. "快!水!該死!出什麼事了?!"
趁著混亂,薇薇安抓住卡特,從被撬開的門溜了出去,沿著黑暗的走廊衝向一扇幾乎被藤蔓吞噬的破舊側窗.她用鐵管砸碎了剩下的玻璃,不顧手腳上的割傷,先將卡特抱了出去,然後自己才艱難地擠了出去.
他們跌倒在外面潮濕的草地上.他們沒有喘息,掙扎著爬起來,頭也不回地朝著不遠處黑暗的森林跑去.
身後,男人的咆哮聲,水花飛濺聲和火焰劈啪聲交織在一起,漸漸遠去.直到森林的寂靜完全吞噬了這些聲音,他們才敢停在一棵巨大的橡樹後,倚靠著樹幹,大口喘著氣,心臟在胸腔裡劇烈跳動.
他們成功了!他們出局了!
森林危機四伏－黑暗濃厚,地面上鋪滿了厚厚的落葉和盤根錯節的樹根,隨時可能絆倒他們.但自由的空氣卻清新怡人,瀰漫著泥土和植物的芬芳,比囚籠般的霉味甜美千倍.他們互相扶著,跌跌撞撞地向前走去,希望這方向能遠離那棟房子.
「我...我的名字是艾文...艾文布萊克,」卡特——現在是艾文了——在黑暗中低語,彷彿說出這個名字就能找回一部分被奪走的自我.
「艾文.這是個好名字,」薇薇安說著,握緊了他冰冷的小手. 「我的名字是艾米莉亞.」
「艾米莉亞姐姐,」艾文順從地補充道,語氣中充滿了依賴和信任.
走了一個多小時後,他們透過樹叢瞥見前方道路微弱的燈光.艾文的眼睛亮了起來,他疲憊的小臉上也綻放出笑容,幾乎是在呼救.
薇薇安一把摀住他的嘴,把他拉到一叢茂密的灌木叢後面. 「安靜!」她厲聲警告道,目光銳利地盯著路面.
一輛破舊的皮卡車緩緩駛過,車燈掃過林邊.在燈光下,薇薇安看清了司機的臉──正是之前那個嗓音沙啞的男人!他一手握著方向盤,另一手拿著手機貼在耳邊,車燈照在他臉上,他顯得怒氣沖沖,驚慌失措,顯然是被人狠狠訓了一頓.
卡車遠去後,薇薇安和艾文才猛然感到一陣恐懼.好險!如果他們當時喊出來…
他們不敢再靠近公路,繼續沿著森林邊緣的陰影艱難跋涉.他們筋疲力盡,口渴難耐,雙腳磨出了水泡,夜風凜冽刺骨,但倖存的喜悅和重獲自由的快樂,如同頑強的小火苗般溫暖著他們.
最後,他們找到了一個由樹根形成的相對乾燥,隱密的樹洞,便擠在一起取暖.艾文筋疲力盡,多年來第一次感到如此安全,很快就沉沉睡去,頭枕在薇薇安的肩膀上,呼吸平穩.三年來,他第一次睡得如此安穩,眉頭舒展,嘴角甚至浮現出一絲微笑,彷彿夢見了母親.
薇薇安不敢睡覺.她警覺地傾聽周圍的聲音,看著天空從漆黑一片漸漸變成灰白色.
天亮了.
晨光喚醒了森林,鳥鳴清脆悅耳.艾文揉了揉眼睛,神清氣爽了一些. "艾米莉亞姐姐,我們去找電話報警吧!他們會送我們回家的!"
薇薇安搖了搖頭,神情凝重. 「不,埃文.他們會在附近搜捕我們.他們逍遙法外這麼久,可能在當地有關係.我們不知道該相信誰.現在,我們只能靠自己.我們需要前往紐約市."
雖然埃文不太明白,但他信任這個無條件釋放他的姊姊.
They drank dew from leaves and continued their arduous journey, keeping parallel to the road within the forest's edge, heading east (their presumed direction toward New York). Near noon, through a gap in the trees, they saw traffic backed up on the road ahead. A police car, lights flashing, was parked on the shoulder.
"Police!" Evan whispered excitedly.
Vivian pulled him down, observing carefully. A small pickup had collided with a deer that had somehow wandered onto the road. The truck's front end was crumpled, the deer lay in a pool of blood, and the shaken driver was talking to two police officers. It looked like an ordinary accident.
"They're not looking for us," Vivian sighed in relief. But looking at the police car and the uniformed officers, a plan solidified.
Perhaps… this was an opportunity. Revealing their identity in a relatively public setting, to officers dealing with a routine accident, was far safer than walking into an unknown police station or trusting a stranger.
She took a deep breath, smoothed her torn clothes as best she could, wiped the grime from her face, then, holding Evan's hand, stepped out of the forest.
Winters Mansion.
On the surface, worry and tension still reigned, but undercurrents swirled.
Theodore lounged in his chaotic studio, several covert photos and a snippet of fuzzy audio spread before him—the fruits of Anna and Lillian's risky, secret investigations over the past few days, done with his guidance. The photos showed Bella furtively slipping a business card and a magazine clipping of Hamilton Jr. into a hidden compartment in Amelia's desk drawer (a compartment Theodore had discovered during past mischief, unknown even to Amelia). The audio captured Bella whispering in the laundry room with another of Margaret's trusted maids, mentioning "the task Madam ordered is done," and "those things should be enough to convince anyone."
Ironclad evidence.
"That traitorous wretch!" Lillian seethed, eyes red, fists clenched. "The young miss was so kind to her! She helped outsiders frame her!"
Anna bit her lip, fighting tears. "Young Master Theodore, we must give this to the Master! We can't let Madam slander the young miss anymore!"
"What's the rush?" Theodore drawled, carefully storing the evidence in a fire-and-waterproof folder, a cold smirk on his lips. "Handing it over now would only take down Bella. It wouldn't touch Margaret. She could even turn it around and accuse us of framing her. This stuff… needs to be thrown down at the perfect moment, with the biggest impact. That's the way to do it."
He looked at the two anxious maids. "You two, go back and keep acting. Be worried, cry if you need to. Don't let Bella or the others catch on. Amelia… she's smarter than we think. She'll find a way back. When she does, that's when the real show starts."
Though frantic with worry, Anna and Lillian saw his point. Swallowing their anger, they nodded.
Meanwhile, Ryan received a more detailed report from his men.
"Boss, the gray sedan's plates were forged, cloned from a vehicle scrapped long ago. But piecing together fragments from a few traffic cameras and the general trajectory, it last disappeared in the direction of the rural parts of Bourne County, north of NYC. Also, about that Hamilton kid…"
The man paused, lowering his voice. "We found that about ten days ago, his account received a transfer from an offshore shell company. Not a huge sum, but not small either. Also, his recent bragging at private parties shows clear signs of being coached. Someone… is deliberately steering the narrative of a 'mysterious legal heiress girlfriend' toward Miss Amelia Winters."
Ryan's eyes turned icy. Just as he thought. A premeditated smear campaign against Amelia Winters, running parallel to her "disappearance."
"Understood," his voice was calm. "Continue surveillance. Don't spook them. Let the playboy… enjoy his moment a little longer." He paused, then added, "Finding Miss Amelia is the top priority. Increase manpower. Focus the search on the Bourne County area, especially abandoned buildings, farms, woodlots."
Hanging up, Ryan walked to the window. Hamilton Jr. was just a foolish pawn. The real target was the player moving the pieces. And how to deal with this pawn… he thought the girl herself should decide, once found.
On the road, Officers Tom and Jason were preparing to clear the accident scene and have the damaged pickup towed. Looking up, they saw two bedraggled figures emerge from the trees by the roadside.
一位年輕女子,衣衫襤褸,臉和手臂上滿是抓痕,卻依然筆直地站著,目光沉穩.她緊緊地抱著一個同樣衣衫襤褸,面容憔悴的小男孩,他那雙大大的眼睛裡滿是絕望的希望.
「警官們,」薇薇安——也就是阿米莉亞——走到他們面前,聲音沙啞卻清晰. 「我是溫特斯家的阿米莉亞·溫特斯.昨天下午我在紐約上東區被綁架,然後被帶到了這裡.我逃了出來.和我在一起的這個孩子是埃文·布萊克,市議員卡爾森·布萊克失踪的小兒子.他已經失踪三年了."
兩名警官愣住了,一時語塞.溫特斯一家?被綁架了?失蹤了?是那位黑人議員「去世」的兒子嗎?
年長的警官湯姆最先回過神來.他打量眼前的女子──衣衫不整卻依然端莊──以及她身旁的男孩,男孩瘦削的模樣隱約與舊尋人啟事上模糊的照片有些相似.他的表情變得異常嚴肅.
「溫特斯小姐...您是說您被綁架了?這位是...埃文·布萊克?」他的聲音不由自主地提高了.他與搭檔傑森交換了一個震驚的眼神.溫特斯家女繼承人的消息已經在內部傳開了,但布萊克的案子...那可是三年前的重大事件!官方結論是孩子溺斃!
「是的,」薇薇安堅定地點了點頭,輕輕推了推艾文.
埃文抬頭望著警服.三年來的恐懼和渴望瞬間湧上心頭.淚水湧上眼眶,但他強忍著,用清晰的聲音說道:「我是埃文·布萊克...我父親是卡爾森·布萊克...我母親是莉蓮...我住在...」他準確地背誦出了自己的家庭住址,電話號碼,甚至連臥室裡那隻舊泰迪熊的名字都記得清清楚楚——這可是只有家人才知道的細節.
細節完全吻合!孩子眼中的情感也毫無疑問是真實的!
湯姆警官倒吸了一口氣.他的職業本能告訴他,這絕非惡作劇或小事.他示意傑森立即通知上級和紐約警察局,然後極其謹慎而恭敬地對薇薇安說道:"溫特斯小姐,布萊克——埃文,請上車!這裡不安全.我們必須立即帶你們回警局,並通知你們的家人和相關部門!請放心,你們現在安全了."
警笛長鳴,警車疾駛向最近的鎮警局.後座上,埃文緊緊握著薇薇安的手,終於放鬆下來,一遍又一遍地低聲說:"我們得救了...姐姐,我們得救了...我們可以回家了..."
薇薇安看著窗外飛馳而過的樹木,心中的重擔終於卸了下來.她回來了.而且,她帶著意想不到的強大籌碼重返這片戰場.
風暴或許會更加猛烈,但這次,她不再只是被動的接受者.
她緊緊握住艾文的小手,以及現在所掌握的足以改變戰局的沉重權力.