Two days later, Madison’s grandmother got emergency custody. The lawyer Marcus knew filed a restraining order against the stepdad. The evidence we’d documented—combined with Madison’s testimony—was overwhelming. The stepdad was arrested. The mother lost custody. The kids stayed with their grandmother.
Three months later, Madison called me. “Rick? It’s Madison. From the highway.”
“Good. Really good. We’re in school now. Tyler’s playing baseball. Mason’s in art class. Lily’s talking again—she even laughed yesterday. And I…” She paused. “I got my learner’s permit. I’m learning to drive the right way this time. Not the running-for-my-life way.”
I laughed. “That’s good to hear.”
“I wanted to thank you again. For stopping. For helping. For not thinking I was crazy.” She took a breath. “You could have just called the police and kept riding. But you didn’t. You listened. You believed me. You saved us.”
“Madison, you saved yourselves. I just helped.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You did more than help. You showed me that there are good people in the world. That not all men are like my stepdad. That someone would stop for a scared kid on a dark highway.”Continue reading…
