{"id":23617,"date":"2026-09-28T13:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=23617"},"modified":"2026-09-28T13:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:07:14","slug":"part-13-the-farmhouse-called-the-beginning-contained-aarons-trail-and-evidence-that-judge-price-had-been-choosing-children-for-decades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=23617","title":{"rendered":"PART 13 \u2013 The Farmhouse Called the Beginning Contained Aaron\u2019s Trail and Evidence That Judge Price Had Been Choosing Children for Decades"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The address Lieutenant Mark Ellis gave them led to a road that barely deserved the name.<\/p>\n<p>Two miles beyond the last paved intersection, the asphalt narrowed into broken gravel. Trees crowded both sides, their branches knitting overhead until the morning light turned green and dim beneath them. There were no neighboring houses, no mailboxes, no signs pointing toward anything worth finding.<\/p>\n<p>Then the farmhouse appeared.<\/p>\n<p>It stood behind a field gone wild with waist-high grass.<\/p>\n<p>White paint had peeled from the clapboards in long strips. Half the porch sagged toward the earth. A rusted windmill leaned behind the barn, motionless despite the breeze moving through the trees.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel studied the property through binoculars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter stood beside him at the tactical command point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo visible movement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary looked at the aerial map spread across the hood of an SUV.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe parcel is bigger than it looks from here. House, barn, two sheds, old well, and something marked as a root cellar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter looked toward the farmhouse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrice called this the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel lowered the binoculars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe because nobody would look twice at it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tactical commander approached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThermal scan is inconclusive. House is cold. Barn shows a small heat source near the rear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould be an animal. Could be equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTreat it as occupied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Teams moved toward both structures simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>The farmhouse door surrendered with one strike.<\/p>\n<p>Officers entered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolice!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No response.<\/p>\n<p>Room by room, they cleared the ground floor.<\/p>\n<p>Dust lay thick over most furniture.<\/p>\n<p>The kitchen appeared unused.<\/p>\n<p>Cupboards were empty except for cracked plates and mouse droppings.<\/p>\n<p>But the upstairs hallway told a different story.<\/p>\n<p>One bedroom had been cleaned.<\/p>\n<p>A narrow mattress lay on the floor.<\/p>\n<p>A bottle of water sat beside it.<\/p>\n<p>So did a green plastic toothbrush.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel crouched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary touched the bottle with a gloved hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill half full.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A small indentation remained in the mattress.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had slept there.<\/p>\n<p>On the wall above it, a child had drawn lines with a pencil.<\/p>\n<p>Not pictures.<\/p>\n<p>Days.<\/p>\n<p>Groups of five.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel counted.<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-seven marks.<\/p>\n<p>Then he noticed a final mark separated from the others.<\/p>\n<p>Beside it was one letter.<\/p>\n<p>A.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel photographed it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A tactical officer called from downstairs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMovement in the barn!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone stiffened.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the next transmission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnimal. Dog secured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>Carter did not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep searching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The barn contained more than a dog.<\/p>\n<p>Behind stacked hay bales, officers discovered a false wall.<\/p>\n<p>A narrow passage led downward.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Thomas\u2019s basement or Victor\u2019s church rooms, this space was old.<\/p>\n<p>Very old.<\/p>\n<p>The concrete had cracked.<\/p>\n<p>Metal hooks remained in the ceiling from whatever agricultural purpose the room once served.<\/p>\n<p>But electrical wiring was new.<\/p>\n<p>So were the cameras.<\/p>\n<p>Six small lenses covered every corner.<\/p>\n<p>Mary stared at them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObservation room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel noticed a table against one wall.<\/p>\n<p>Several children\u2019s puzzles lay on it.<\/p>\n<p>Beside them sat flash cards.<\/p>\n<p>Colors.<\/p>\n<p>Numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Family relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Mother.<\/p>\n<p>Father.<\/p>\n<p>Sister.<\/p>\n<p>Brother.<\/p>\n<p>A folder contained evaluation sheets.<\/p>\n<p>Each page scored a child.<\/p>\n<p>Compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Attachment.<\/p>\n<p>Memory.<\/p>\n<p>Verbal ability.<\/p>\n<p>Likelihood of disclosure.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel read the final category twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey evaluated how likely children were to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd whether adults would believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some pages dated back twenty-seven years.<\/p>\n<p>Long before Thomas married Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>Long before Benton became an assistant district attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Long before Victor\u2019s recent network of warehouses and clinics.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom of the earliest sheets appeared a handwritten initial.<\/p>\n<p>EP.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor Price.<\/p>\n<p>Mary turned several pages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wasn\u2019t a judge then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter checked Price\u2019s employment history.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-seven years earlier, Price had been a county child-services attorney.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe had access to dependency cases.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked around the underground room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd this is where she tested children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter disliked the word but could not improve it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The farmhouse was not simply another holding site.<\/p>\n<p>It was where the system had been designed.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators found photographs from the early years.<\/p>\n<p>Price appeared in several.<\/p>\n<p>Younger.<\/p>\n<p>Smiling.<\/p>\n<p>Standing beside Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Another man appeared repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>Tall, narrow-faced, with wire-framed glasses.<\/p>\n<p>No one recognized him.<\/p>\n<p>On the back of one photograph, someone had written:<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor, Victor, Samuel \u2014 first placement.<\/p>\n<p>Carter photographed it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name surfaced quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Price.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n<p>Former director of a private adoption agency.<\/p>\n<p>Officially dead for seventeen years.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at Carter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich means this started inside her family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Records showed Samuel Price had operated Haven Family Services, a private adoption organization that closed after allegations of financial misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>No criminal charges were ever filed.<\/p>\n<p>Several files had been lost in a courthouse flood.<\/p>\n<p>Mary gave Carter a look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConvenient flood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tactical search continued.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the observation room, officers found another door.<\/p>\n<p>This one had no lock.<\/p>\n<p>It opened into a tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>The passage extended toward the woods.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel followed with the search team.<\/p>\n<p>After approximately sixty yards, the tunnel emerged inside the root cellar marked on the property map.<\/p>\n<p>The cellar contained old shelves and broken jars.<\/p>\n<p>It also contained tire tracks.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh ones.<\/p>\n<p>A hidden exterior ramp allowed vehicles to reach the cellar from a dirt path behind the trees.<\/p>\n<p>Someone could move people in and out without approaching the farmhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Mary found a piece of blue fabric caught on a splinter.<\/p>\n<p>A child\u2019s jacket.<\/p>\n<p>Photographs of Aaron showed him wearing blue in one of Victor\u2019s church images.<\/p>\n<p>Not proof.<\/p>\n<p>But enough to keep hope alive.<\/p>\n<p>Search dogs picked up a human scent.<\/p>\n<p>They followed it from the cellar ramp to the dirt road.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Vehicle transfer.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron had been moved again.<\/p>\n<p>Carter stared at the tire impressions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow recently?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The technician examined the edges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRain was two nights ago. These are on top.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLess than forty-eight hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked toward the road.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrice was arrested yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen somebody moved him after the arrests started.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That meant the network still had an active participant.<\/p>\n<p>Someone not yet identified.<\/p>\n<p>Someone receiving information quickly enough to relocate a child while police dismantled Victor\u2019s known sites.<\/p>\n<p>Carter thought of Rachel\u2019s warning.<\/p>\n<p>He has people. Still.<\/p>\n<p>Back in the farmhouse, Mary found a small office behind the upstairs bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>A ledger sat inside a floor compartment.<\/p>\n<p>This one differed from Victor\u2019s financial book.<\/p>\n<p>It contained names.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds.<\/p>\n<p>Some crossed out.<\/p>\n<p>Some circled.<\/p>\n<p>Some marked with symbols.<\/p>\n<p>Children.<\/p>\n<p>Parents.<\/p>\n<p>Prospective adoptive families.<\/p>\n<p>Employees.<\/p>\n<p>Judges.<\/p>\n<p>Social workers.<\/p>\n<p>Police officers.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors.<\/p>\n<p>The network\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Near the front, an entry from twenty-six years earlier caught Carter\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p>Victor Hale \u2014 transport\/security.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Price \u2014 placement.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor Price \u2014 screening\/legal.<\/p>\n<p>The structure had been simple at first.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel found paying families.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor identified children whose legal circumstances could be manipulated.<\/p>\n<p>Victor moved them.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, the network expanded.<\/p>\n<p>Benton handled legal problems.<\/p>\n<p>Reeves altered medical records.<\/p>\n<p>Hall buried investigations.<\/p>\n<p>Ellis leaked police information.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas provided property and transport.<\/p>\n<p>Janet supplied medical access.<\/p>\n<p>Each person had entered for a different reason.<\/p>\n<p>Money.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Power.<\/p>\n<p>Blackmail.<\/p>\n<p>Convenience.<\/p>\n<p>But the architecture came from the Price family.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned toward the most recent pages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Blake\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>Beside it:<\/p>\n<p>RETURN \/ BEGINNING \/ HOLD FOR S.<\/p>\n<p>Carter stared at the final letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary thought of Samuel Price.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Samuel\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOfficially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel immediately requested the death record.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Price had supposedly died in a boating accident seventeen years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Body recovered?<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>Declared dead after extensive search.<\/p>\n<p>Carter looked at the old photograph again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe Victor learned the value of disappearing people from Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>She answered.<\/p>\n<p>The hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel was awake and asking urgently to speak with investigators.<\/p>\n<p>They drove back immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked stronger than the previous day, though exhaustion remained carved into her face.<\/p>\n<p>Emily had been allowed a brief reunion earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Mary knew because a child\u2019s drawing now rested beside Rachel\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n<p>Two figures holding hands beneath an orange sun.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel touched the paper when Carter entered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou found the farmhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was not a question.<\/p>\n<p>Carter stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor talked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever go there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you know Samuel Price?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe died seventeen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re certain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt Riverside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary felt cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow recently?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast winter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel stared.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Price had been legally dead for nearly two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor called him Mr. Price. I didn\u2019t know he was Eleanor\u2019s brother until later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe visited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVisited whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor. Eleanor. Sometimes people being held.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he make decisions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked toward Carter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone listened when he spoke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was never second.<\/p>\n<p>Because Thomas had never been near the top.<\/p>\n<p>Even Victor might not have been.<\/p>\n<p>Carter showed Rachel the old farmhouse photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Her finger stopped on Samuel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOlder now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter immediately ordered Samuel Price added to every alert.<\/p>\n<p>A legally dead man had operated beyond ordinary databases for seventeen years.<\/p>\n<p>No current driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n<p>No tax filings.<\/p>\n<p>No property records.<\/p>\n<p>No obvious bank accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly the kind of person who could move through a criminal network without appearing in routine searches.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked Rachel, \u201cWould Samuel know about Aaron?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever hear him talk about children?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t call them children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he call them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlacements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe talked like everything was paperwork. People were files. Families were destinations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter asked, \u201cDid he ever mention the beginning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hated that place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Eleanor became sentimental about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSentimental?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wanted to keep records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter thought of the farmhouse ledger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel wanted them destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he destroy them himself?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Eleanor kept something on him too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Price siblings had apparently practiced the same mutual-blackmail system Victor later perfected.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone held evidence against everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>Loyalty built from fear.<\/p>\n<p>Carter\u2019s phone vibrated.<\/p>\n<p>Forensics had processed fingerprints from the farmhouse.<\/p>\n<p>Most were old or partial.<\/p>\n<p>One recent print matched no active criminal database.<\/p>\n<p>But a second print had been found on Aaron\u2019s water bottle.<\/p>\n<p>The analyst had matched it to an old immigration file.<\/p>\n<p>Name: Samuel Price.<\/p>\n<p>Carter stared at the result.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel had been at the farmhouse recently.<\/p>\n<p>With Aaron.<\/p>\n<p>She showed Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>His expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen Aaron may still be with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Samuel knows every location we\u2019ve uncovered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary asked the obvious question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere would a dead man live?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel answered before Carter could.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomewhere nobody thinks belongs to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel struggled to sit higher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a place Victor mentioned once. Samuel called it his retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never heard an address.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter waited.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said you could see three states from there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree states and water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd bells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat bells?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel complained about them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel closed her eyes, searching memory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said every Sunday morning the bells ruined the silence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary began searching maps.<\/p>\n<p>Three-state viewpoints.<\/p>\n<p>Rivers.<\/p>\n<p>Lakes.<\/p>\n<p>Churches nearby.<\/p>\n<p>Too broad.<\/p>\n<p>Then Daniel\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>Farmhouse team.<\/p>\n<p>They had opened a locked cabinet beneath the stairs.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were maps.<\/p>\n<p>One showed the tri-state region northwest of Springfield.<\/p>\n<p>A red circle surrounded a ridge overlooking the confluence of two rivers.<\/p>\n<p>Beside it, written in faded ink:<\/p>\n<p>RETIREMENT.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel sent the image to Carter.<\/p>\n<p>She enlarged it.<\/p>\n<p>The circled area contained only six properties.<\/p>\n<p>One belonged to a church.<\/p>\n<p>Two were public land.<\/p>\n<p>Two were occupied homes.<\/p>\n<p>The sixth belonged to a trust established eighteen years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>One year before Samuel Price supposedly died.<\/p>\n<p>Trustee name:<\/p>\n<p>Haven Legacy Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>Carter recognized the word immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Haven Family Services.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s old adoption agency.<\/p>\n<p>The property contained a stone house overlooking the rivers.<\/p>\n<p>Less than half a mile away stood St. Andrew\u2019s Chapel.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday bells.<\/p>\n<p>Carter was already calling the tactical commander.<\/p>\n<p>At the farmhouse, another discovery came simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>Forensic technicians found a photograph beneath Aaron\u2019s mattress.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron stood beside the stone house.<\/p>\n<p>The picture appeared recent.<\/p>\n<p>Behind him was an older man with white hair.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel Price.<\/p>\n<p>On the back, Aaron had written three words in pencil.<\/p>\n<p>HE KNOWS GRANDPA.<\/p>\n<p>Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron knew Mark Ellis was his biological grandfather.<\/p>\n<p>Carter felt the case shift again.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel had not merely taken Aaron because Price ordered a permanent move.<\/p>\n<p>He knew exactly who Aaron was connected to.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron was leverage against Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>The same method used with Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>The same method used with Hannah\u2019s father.<\/p>\n<p>The same method used throughout the network.<\/p>\n<p>Children were not only commodities.<\/p>\n<p>They were control.<\/p>\n<p>Carter looked toward Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel understood who she meant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found where he may be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s relief lasted less than a second.<\/p>\n<p>Then fear replaced it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t let him know you\u2019re coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll move Aaron.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be careful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou still don\u2019t understand Samuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter waited.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel looked at Emily\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor wants control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel would rather destroy what he owns than let anyone else take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=23618\">Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Samuel Price\u2019s Stone House Became a Rescue Mission When Aaron\u2019s Signal Appeared Where No Child Was Supposed to Survive<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The address Lieutenant Mark Ellis gave them led to a road that barely deserved the name. Two miles beyond the last paved intersection, the asphalt narrowed into broken gravel. Trees &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23617"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23652,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23617\/revisions\/23652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}