Cooper:That can be arranged. Ma offered to keep Lily tonight but I told her I’m sure you’d want to see her.
Me:Thank you. I definitely do. I owe her some Mommy time.
Cooper:She’s ready for it. She misses you.
Me:Hopefully she didn’t run you too ragged.
Cooper:How dare you speak of my princess that way. She was perfect.
Me:>
Cooper:Blasphemy. What time do you land?
Me:Still on time for five. Is she awake yet?
Cooper:No. Liam tired her right out last night making her help him brush the horses. She was thrilled to do it, but crashed as soon as we got home and is still soundly sleeping.
Me:Okay. Tell her I love her, I’m about to board. Text you when I land in Portland. >
Cooper:Of course. Have a safe flight. >
Pocketing my phone in the side of my bag, I stand with my boarding pass in hand, ready to get home.
The plane jolts, waking me up when my head slams into the window. We must be hitting some turbulence.
“Nice of you to finally wake up.”
Every muscle in my body tenses up. There was no one next to me when we took off, and that voice, that very familiar voice, has my blood running cold.
“Jack. Wh-what are you? How?”
“While you stammer and try to figure it out, let me just lay all this out for you, darling wife.” His smirk is cold and evil, not the man that charmed me all those years ago, but the man he was before he died.
Or didn’t die.
“You’re alive?” I sputter like some idiot who can’t see what’s right in front of her.
“Obviously, Aubrey.” He snickers. “You are going to act like we’re a happily married couple, coming back from vacation together. Then we’re going to go pick up our daughter and you’re going to follow the directions I give.”
“It’s you. You’ve been the one doing all this.”
“Glad to see you’re catching up,” he says sarcastically.
“I’m not… no. No. I’m not doing anything with you. How dare you show up like this and demand… what? You need money?” I move back as far as I can until my back is flush with the wall of the plane. I’m cornered and have nowhere to go.
“Oh, but you will.” He grabs his phone, showing me a video. It appears to be a live feed of my house, Cooper and Lily are walking toward the barns. “You see, I have someone ready, someone close, to take care of both of them if you don’t agree to do what I say.”
I study him for a moment. He looks nothing like the man I knew. His face is gaunt, skin wrinkled, hair thinning and scraggly looking. Track marks line his arm and suddenly I’m hit with a wave of understanding. He won’t stop. He has nothing to lose. Whatever he’s getting from this is more important than Lily or I ever were to him.
I believe him. I believe all that he’s saying and if I don’t get Lily, Cooper will pay the price. If I can get Lily with me, we have a chance to get away.
“What are you getting out of this? Why are you torturing me?”
I need all the information I can get before I get off this plane and put my daughter in danger.
“If your little boyfriend would have listened, I never would have been found. But he was selfish. Even last week when you moved into that hidden cabin. I’ll admit it took me a couple days to find you. But I did eventually. I let you think I was gone while he had the opportunity to stop all of this. But he didn’t. He chose himself.” Jack settles back into the seat.
“What is Nolan giving you? What is the plan here?” I cross my arms over my chest.
