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She paled further. “You think their father did it?”
“Yes, and he’s disappeared. I can't get in touch with Andrew, and Aggie has run off somewhere to get away from me because she’s scared that one more kiss is going to get her forgiving me.”
“You kissed her again?”
“Yes, but that’s not important. Summer, do you know where she is?”
She hesitated, clearly unsure about whether or not she should betray her best friend and give up Aggie’s location.
“I've been working all day on trying to find where Sebastian has been keeping Emily Hadden, but I haven’t been able to find anything. He could be anywhere, and Aggie is out there somewhere, alone, unaware that she’s in danger. I need a break, Summer, something to point me in the right direction.”
“You honestly think that Sebastian is a killer?”
“I know it for a fact. He killed Selene and Claudia. He took Emily. He tried to kill Clara and Naomi. And there is some indication that he may have hurt Aggie’s mother too.”
“And you honestly think that he might go after Aggie? That she’s in danger?”
“Yes. Sebastian has gone after everyone else. If he’s on the run, he might think that he succeeded in killing two of his daughters. That only leaves Aggie and Andrew. I need to warn her, Summer, but I don’t know where she is, and her phone seems to be turned off. She’s alone and she’s in danger, and I have to protect her. Even if she never takes me back, I have to know that she’s safe. I can't let anything happen to her. She’s in danger because of me. I put this in motion, if I hadn’t then Sebastian might not have escalated this quickly and gone after his children. And she ran away because I wouldn’t do as she asked and leave her alone. Please.” He dropped to his knees in front of Summer’s chair and took her hands. “Please, Summer, tell me where she is.”
“There’s a cabin. A secluded cabin. In the woods. It used to belong to Aggie’s mother’s parents. They left it to Andrew when they died. He doesn’t use it often. There’re no phones there, and she gave her phone to Andrew so you couldn’t call her. That’s where she is. Their father knows about it. That could be where he’s keeping Emily. Aggie is there by herself, she doesn’t even have a car because Andrew took her there. If her father finds her there, he’ll kill her.” Her hands clutched his, panic flushed her cheeks bright red. “Don’t let him kill her.”
* * * * *
10:26 P.M.
This was taking too long.
Every second that they stayed here they were in danger.
Aggie wasn't good in these sorts of stressful situations. Her heart was rocketing in her chest so fast it literally hurt, her pulse flooded her ears so loudly she wouldn’t have a hope of hearing anyone sneaking up on them, and panic had her brain so foggy it could barely function. Okay, she had fought back against Nick’s partner when she’d thought he was going to kill her, but that wasn't acting, that had simply been reacting. Then she hadn’t had time to think, everything had happened so quickly.
Emily was no help. The woman was lying in a heap, seemingly without enough strength to move. She gave the occasional moan, but any time Aggie asked her something she didn’t respond. She’d thrown down a bottle of water and a box of crackers, but they still lay, untouched, where they'd landed.
She was a hairsbreadth away from a full-blown panic attack. The only thing keeping it at bay was that she had been frantically busy. Once she had found Emily, her priority had been getting the woman out so they could flee to safety together. Only she wasn't sure how to get Emily out. They needed something for her to climb up.
After promising Emily that she wouldn’t leave until she got her free, Aggie had run around in a frenzy trying to find something to use to achieve that. The small shed around the back of the cabin was virtually empty but for a hose and an old, rusty lawnmower. Then she had moved on to the house, checking every room, searching for a rope of any sort that would help her get Emily out of the pool. She had come up empty. There was nothing here. Nothing at all that she could use. She had been about to give up hope when she had an idea.
Sheets.
The cabin had three bedrooms, all of the beds were made up, which meant she had at least six sheets to use to build her own ladder.
Aggie lost track of time as she attempted to tie the sheets together firmly enough that they wouldn’t pull apart while supporting Emily’s weight. By the time she had found Emily, searched frantically for a way to get her out, and thought of the sheets, it was dark out. She could have stayed in the house to work on her sheet ladder, but she wanted to stay near Emily. And not entirely so she could keep an eye on the woman, but because she felt safer when she wasn't alone. Not that Emily would be any good helping fight off her father if he should come back, but safety in numbers and all that.
Her cast made the task even more difficult than the lack of light. Add to that, what little movement she did have was further hampered by the shock-induced trembling in her fingers.
She just wanted to go home.
She wished she had never even come here, that she had been strong enough to rebuff Nick without having to be a coward and run away.
No, she disagreed with herself. She couldn’t wish that she’d never been here because if she hadn’t come then Emily would surely die. As it was, both of them still might, but at least her ex-stepmother stood a chance.
Achance, nothing more, nothing less. Aggie wasn't sure that she could get the woman out. Emily didn’t appear to be strong enough to stand let alone use a sheet rope to climb the wall of the empty pool. She could try and go down and help, but realistically with her arm in a cast she would struggle to get just herself up let alone Emily too.
It might turn out that she had no other choice but to leave Emily here and try to go and get help. The thought terrified her. She didn’t want to go traipsing through the woods in the dark. A leisurely stroll was one thing, but this would be a panicked trek. Every step of the way she would be anticipating her father coming leaping out of the shadow to get her.
Although she wasn't really sure what would happen once she got Emily out, she was positive that Emily wasn't strong enough to walk to safety. She couldn’t leave her behind, but she couldn’t drag her along either.
Tears welled up in her eyes, Aggie didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what the right thing to do was. And if she got it wrong then Emily could die. Or both of them could die.
