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“There’s nowhere to go now.”
We were only inches apart, and she yanked her gun out of her pocket and waved it in my face before shoving it in my chest. “That’s what you think. You think that either of you have outsmarted me?” Her eyes held danger now, desperate danger. “We’re leaving now. Get the brat. Now.”
Panic instantly hit me. I hoped that Mary had gone into a secure hiding spot. When I didn’t make a move, Kate took off running toward the back of the house, and I sprinted after her, making sure that she never caught my girl.
Kate headed to the bathroom and pushed open the door. “Where is she? Where did she go?” Her eyes turned wide as she stormed through the house, and I heard the closets opening and slamming shut. A few seconds later, she stalked toward me. “Where did she go?”
I raised both hands as relief flooded me. “I have no idea.”
That was when Kate raised her gun from her side and pointed it directly in between my eyes.
I blinked. In a flash, my life played like scenes from a movie in front of me.
This was it. This was how I would die.
I hadn’t experienced true happiness before Charles and this family that I’d grown to love. In every sense of the word, I loved them. Each of them individually—the children, Mary and Sarah, and Charles.
Tears lined my eyes. Because this was the story of my life. I should have known better. For me, happiness always was temporary. It never lasted. It was never in my cards to live without fear, without violence, without hating myself.
My only regret would be that I was never allowed a chance to tell him. There was no amount of time or measurement for when or how long it took for a person to fall in love. I knew that now because looking in the face of my death sentence, I knew that I loved him. And I wanted to thank him. Thank him for showing me what true, unconditional love was. Thank him for giving me the experience of being a mother, even for a short while. Thank him for making me feel important and worthy and valued.
For that, I would be forever grateful.
“Where did she go?” my mother seethed.
Her words broke me from this trance, and I straightened. An internal shift happened—one where the sadness and fear was overtaken by determination.
Mary was still not in the clear. The threat was here, present, in this house, pointing a gun at me that could be pointed at Mary next.
What I needed to do was take Kate far away from Mary, and then I could think through my next course of action, which would get her permanently in jail.
“I have no idea where she went.” All my muscles tensed with fire and fight because I wasn’t going down without one. “But I have what you are looking for. I can get you the ten thousand dollars you need.” My voice was even, exuding a confidence I didn’t feel.
“Liar.” She saw right through me, but I didn’t care.
I lifted my hands to the ceiling and then slowly motioned to my purse, so she wouldn’t feel threatened. Then, I plucked out an ATM card.
“I have their card. I can get you cash but only to the max. Then, we can think of another way to get you more. But the longer we wait here, the more likely you’ll go to jail than get your money.”
Voices sounded from the front.
Indecision played on her features, and I held my breath for what seemed like forever until she waved her gun toward the door.
“Let’s go. I know how to get out of here.”
Charles
I sat in silence, forced by authorities to stay in the car. Brad was so aggressive that he’d been put in the back of a car and ordered to calm down.
The only thing that could be heard in the car was Brad’s heavy breathing. Mason had gone utterly silent, his eyes glued to the front of the run-down house.
I had stopped breathing altogether. I closed my eyes and finally broke down. The silence and the not knowing and thinking about the worst-case scenarios broke me.
I rested my head against the steering wheel, and for the first time in forever, I prayed. I asked my parents and Natalie and all the forces that might be to help my child, to help Becky.
One strong hand rested on my shoulder. “It’ll be fine.” Mason’s words broke through.
“When has it not been okay?” Brad added.
