Once the overhead door is high enough I can get underneath it, I do and head straight for the door into my house. I race to the kitchen and grab a notepad from a realtor named Remy, and I pen a quick note to Rick.
Rick,
I know where Rachel is. She’s being kept in a house over by Amber’s house. They called me, and I heard her car in the background. I think I can get them to exchange her for me. I knew you would try to stop me, so I didn’t tell you, but if something happens, I need you to make sure our daughter is safe. Give her a beautiful life.
-Cara
I leave the note stuck to the pad of paper and the pen with it on the kitchen counter of the island. I can only hope Rick will see it. Rachel knows where Becky’s house is. If I can get her out, I’ll send her to Amber and have her call Rick.
And then I realize I left my phone upstairs, on the bedside table in Rick’s master bedroom. I close my eyes as my frustration with myself mounts higher and higher. How could I have been so careless? I can’t risk going back, so I’m going to have to leave without it and hope for the best.
I grab my keys off the hook by the door to the garage and head out. I beep the locks and climb in as fast as I can. I buckle my seat belt and look over my shoulder like I’m some kind of bank robber on the run. It takes me three tries to get the key in the ignition, because my hands are shaking so badly, but as soon as I do, I turn the key.
I back out of my driveway and head out to get my kid back. I can’t believe I finally got the break I needed so badly. Here’s hoping I can find her and get her out.
The drive to Amber and Aaron’s neighborhood is a short one; it’s really only a few blocks away. I park a few houses down on a side street and try to catch my breath.
Am I making a huge mistake?
I should have told Rick the minute I got off the phone with the kidnapper and realized I knew where she was being held. I should have trusted him, and I didn’t. But then again, he didn’t trust me either.
Regret burns in my belly, and I’m just about to turn the car back on and drive back to Rick’s. I need to confess everything I did wrong. I can only hope Rick forgives me.
But you know what they say about hope? You can shit in one hand and hope in the other and see which fills up faster. That old saying rings through my head as there is a knock on my window. I roll it down to Amber’s smiling face.
“Hey, girl,” she says. “What are you doing here?”
I don’t know how to answer here. I don’t feel like I can say the truth. But at the same time, I might need her help. Still, I feel out the situation and do what comes naturally to me. I lie.
“I just needed to go for a drive and get some fresh air.”
“Why don’t you come in for a cup of coffee?” she suggests, and I know I need to get rid of her. I need to find Rachel and get her out of here.
“Oh no, thank you,” I say with a smile. “I’m heading out now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” she says.
And that’s when she lifts her hand.
A hand that’s holding a small gun, which is aimed at me.
“I think I’ll take that cup of coffee after all,” I say, my eyes on the gun.
“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
She pulls open the door to my car, and I unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the car. I walk side by side with Amber, her gun digging into the side of my ribs.
“Why, Amber?” I ask. “I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” she says, and I can hear her voice waiver. This is not of her doing. “She’s said she’d kill Aaron if I didn’t help her.”
“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Amber,” I tell her with all the feeling I can put into it. Her family would be safe if she’d never met me.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you too, Cara.”
“I know, honey.”
“Now get into the house.”
The door swings shut behind us, and Ashley Jeffries steps around the corner with another gun pointed at me.
“Surprise, bitch.” She laughs just before clubbing me over the head, and as the pain blossoms out from the back of my skull, everything goes black.
