Page 120 of Always Knew It Was You

My brain scrambles for what to do or what to say to get myself out of this situation. I doubt my phone is still on me. It probably got left behind so they couldn’t track us. I need to call for help so I’ll have to get one of their phones. I don’t think screaming will work because we look like we’re in a very remote area, if not, they would have gagged me already. But the fact worries me that they’re not wearing masks and they’re letting me see their faces. So, they almost certainly intend for me to die here.

I think about my child.

I feel so sad for the baby that will never get to see life, never get to take its first breath. It’ll never know what a kind and wonderful father it has, a father that will probably love it dearly. And then I think about Micah, who’s probably panicking right about now. I was supposed to wait outside for him and now he’s probably wondering where I am.

I never should have gone with Jordan. I never should have left that bench.

But it’s too late for regrets.

I hope Micah doesn’t blame himself if anything happens to me.

I also think about Emma and Mrs. Peach and Grandpa Crane and Nate. I don’t really think about my parents because I don’t know how sad my parents will be if I die. I know my mom will make a big deal at the funeral, and she might try to convince people that all this is Micah’s fault. And she’ll try to extort money from him too. But she won’t truly grieve me like a mother should.

And it’s weird that I’m figuring all this out now when I’m assigned my doom. So why did I waste so much time trying to please them, trying to take care of them? What was all that for, when they’ve never once shown they cared for me?

Micah is right. They are just vultures using me and I should have figured that out a long time ago.

But I didn’t. And now here I am.

The van eventually stops moving, slowly swerving into a park. The two men get out of their seats and a few seconds later the backdoor slides open. Hands reach out for me and I think about struggling but decide it will probably not do me any good. I’m too weak to even fight anyone off right now even if I didn’t have my hands and legs tied.

He pulls me out like a sack and heaves me over his shoulder. I bite back a shout and he says, “Good girl. You keep up the behavior and you might get out of this unscathed after all.”

Yeah, right. Like I’m going to fall for that.

But I won’t fight back now. I just need to lull them into a false sense of security while I wait for an opening, a chance to get out of here. And then once I get that chance, I take it.

Even hanging upside down, I see where they take me– into a drafty mobile home that smells like mildew and old clothes. And dust. Lots and lots of dust. Unfortunately for me, the mobile home isn’t surrounded by others. It’s on its own in the middle of the woods, and it reminds me of where they reportedly took Amelia after they kidnapped her.

They’re such a cliche.

As they set me down on the floor, I finally get to see the face of the man holding me. He’s older than I expected, almost as old as Jordan. And his eyes are grim.

But it’s the hand that has my heart racing in my chest.

Oh my God. There are gnarled scars on his hand.

He’s the burned man.

CHAPTER FORTY

MICAH

“Carly?” I call out heading around the block. At first, I thought maybe she just went around the corner to do something or check something out. It’s a pretty quaint neighborhood so maybe she’s just taking in the scenery.

But I circle the block once and she’s nowhere to be found.

Odd.

The next thing I do, which I probably should have done in the first place, is to whip out my phone and call her. It rings through my phone but no one picks up. And then I realize that there’s a faint ringing coming from outside too. I walk slowly, following the tune down the street, where I turn the corner and see it.

Carly’s purse. It’s lying on the ground, vibrating from the ringing of her phone.

But Carly herself is nowhere in sight. She’s been taken.

Oh, God.

Instantly my heart begins pounding again, trying to pound out of my chest. Fear douses my entire body as I scream, “Carly!” and jog around like a madman, looking everywhere as though she’ll materialize out of thin air smiling at me, and somehow this will turn out to just be some kind of elaborate joke. She’ll pop up laughing that I fell for it.

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