Page 22 of Silent Echo

“Hi, sweetie. I was just talking to Ms. Watson for a minute. Give me a hug, and then go play.”

“Did you change your mind? Are you going to read?”

That’s when she saw the look on Penelope’s face. A mix of disapproval and disgust.

“Your mommy has to work, but don’t worry, we’ll have her read another time. I’m sure she feels just terrible for disappointing you. I’ll read today, so you still get to sit in the special reader’s helper seat.”

She felt that Penelope judged her, but she certainly would have never in a million years imagined she would go to these lengths.

Her phone rang. It was Agent Preston.

“Doesn’t look as though anyone was inside the house. We’re working on getting a warrant.”

Anguish overcame her. “Do you think she’s on the run? Rebecca told her about my message, so she knows I’m on to her.”

“Now that we have her alias, we can track her down. The office is accessing her license and tag information. We’ll put out a BOLO on her car. And we’ll try to find her sister. I’ve got someone calling the school to get her emergency contact information. Hopefully, we’ll get lucky there. We’re also accessing the records on her new cell phone.”

She was despondent. “What if we never find her?”

“We’re going to. I promise.”

But Charlotte knew all too well that some promises were impossible to keep.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Ileft my cell phone in the car and bought a burner. Now Sebastion and I are waiting outside Walmart for the Uber I called using the new phone. I was only able to take two suitcases from the car. Unless I’m lucky and they don’t figure out my identity, we’ll have to part with the rest of our things. A man comes outside and throws his food wrapper on the ground. Ugh.

“Excuse me. That’s littering!” I say, pointing to the trash.

He gives me an apathetic look and keeps walking. If I weren’t in such a hurry, I’d call the cops and report him! Why can’t people follow the rules? Still fuming, I call Nora while we wait.

“Hey, you almost here?” she answers.

“She found the house. We got away right before she spotted us. A minute later, and she would have seen us.”

“Oh my gosh! Where are you now?”

“Waiting for an Uber to get to the Airbnb. Listen to me, if by some crazy chance she finds you, you can’t tell her where I am. She might even have the police with her. She’s a consummate liar.”

“What? Why would the police believe her?”

“I’m just saying. I don’t know. Call me paranoid but better to be safe. Just don’t tell anyone where I am. And we’re going to have to postpone getting together. I’m not sure where we’re going, but it has to be out of state.”

“Oh, Penelope. You’ve got to stop running. This woman is ruining your life. Just calm down. I’ll come over later, and we’ll figure something out together. Don’t do anything rash.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise. Uber’s here. Gotta go.”

“Who saw us?” Sebastion asks as we’re getting into the car.

“Nobody. Don’t worry.” I can’t get into it in front of the Uber driver. Why couldn’t Charlotte just leave well enough alone? Why couldn’t she just enjoy the fact that she has the freedom to work as much as she wants now? No more struggling to get to school on time or making her child go to school sick so she doesn’t miss one of her important meetings. It’s not fair. Now I have to uproot my child from all he knows and loves because Charlotte is so selfish. A feeling of rage overcomes me, and I dig my nails into the palms of my hands. I want to scream with all my might.

“Do you have a booster seat?” I ask the driver.

“What? No.”

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