AllFreeNovel
Share Us
By now, he will have filed missing persons reports. I don’t think he will have filed a kidnapping complaint against Violet yet. That would cause people to wonder why she would kidnap her daughter.
Unless…unless he’s been doing what my husband did prior to my attempted escape with Amelia. Planting seeds of doubt. Making his colleagues believe I was depressed. Questioning my sanity.
Those little seeds of doubt knocked me down the one time I did attempt to escape with our daughter.
Social services was brought in. I almost lost her because of that.
And then, I did lose her, even though it wasn’t by my husband’s design. Lost her as my daughter.
I climb onto my bike and slowly pedal home. My hypervigilance takes over, like an old friend who’s always in the corner of the room, ensuring I’m safe. I keep peering over my shoulder, half expecting to find a police car tailing me.
I turn onto my street, only to discover a police cruiser slowly driving toward me. I look down at the road ahead of me, avoiding eye contact. My heart’s pounding a chaotic beat, the loud rhythm echoing in my ears.
Just keep pedaling. Don’t give the officer a reason to think you’ve done something wrong. You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re trying to save a woman’s life.
The black and white vehicle stops, and I inadvertently glance up. The driver’s window is open and the cop is looking at me. Nothing to see here. Keep driving.
A tremor grips my body, and I tighten my hold on the handlebars.
The officer is several years older than me, his dark hair already turning gray. Worry lines crease his brow. “Ma’am, have you seen a woman in her early thirties with a young toddler?”
I pretend to contemplate his question. “Sorry, I haven’t. But I was just coming home from work.” I don’t bother to mention I was at the grocery store. The less he knows about my activities the better.
“If you do see her, please contact nine-one-one.”
“Is there any woman in particular you’re looking for? Or are you looking for any women in their early thirties with a young toddler?” I have no clue how many women in Maple Ridge fit that description.
“It’s Violet Wilson. The chief of police’s wife.”
I widen my eyes and infuse fear into my tone—which isn’t too difficult given I’m already there, but for different reasons than the officer is thinking. “Is she okay? Is she missing?”
“I can’t say. Do you know her?”
I’m about to deny I know her but change my mind. It wouldn’t take much for the officer to discover the truth. “A little. She was in my yoga class until she quit.” More like, until her husband forced her to quit going to yoga.
“And you haven’t seen her after that?”
“Other than when I ran into her the other day at the park, no, I haven’t seen her since she quit yoga.”
“Do you know any place she might go?”
Again, I pretend to think about his question, looking at the sky in case the answer is there. An answer that will satisfy him and cause him to keep driving. At some point—if he hasn’t yet—he’s going to notice I’m shaking and wonder why. “We…we talked mostly about yoga. So I really have no idea where she might’ve gone.”
He nods. “Okay. Thank you.” He drives past me, and it takes all my willpower not to collapse.
I want to stand still and wait for my body to stop trembling and for my heart rate to return to normal before moving on. But that’s not normal behavior for someone who just answered a cop’s questions and has nothing to hide.
I pedal home and continue up the driveway to the garden gate. I can’t tell if my neighbors are in their kitchen and can see me, but there doesn’t seem to be signs of life there.
I open the gate, the rusty hinges squeaking louder than normal, and wheel the bike and trailer into my yard. I take them to the door and unzip the trailer cover. Bailey waits for the command that she can get out and jumps over the edge of the opening. She sniffs the ground.
I remove her vest, signaling that her training is over for the day. Then I unlock the door and go inside.
A cavernous silence surrounds me. My breath stalls, and for a heartbeat, I wonder if something happened and Violet and Sophie are no longer here. But the alarm is still activated, which goes a long way in reassuring me.
I enter the code so the security company doesn’t think someone is breaking into my house and go back outside. I remove the groceries and diapers from the trailer, take them into the house, and put them on the kitchen counter. I put the bike in the garage and bring Bailey inside the house.
I walk through the downstairs. It’s exactly as I left it. The place isn’t toddler friendly, but the tools Troy and I were using for the renovations are in the garage or in his truck, waiting until we can resume the project.
