Page 75 of Rich Girl
As soon as I get to the bottom of the stairs, I freeze in place. Sirens are ringing outside, lots of them, and they sound like they’re all pulling into the courtyard here.
I reach for the doorknob and turn it slowly, worried about what is going on out there. At some point, I hear footsteps running right outside the door that leads me outside, and there are people yelling in the courtyard.
I finally pull the door open, only to be met by the barrel of a gun.
“Hands in the air,” the person holding it screams in my face. He looks like he is dressed in tactical gear from head to toe. Inthe corner of my eye, I notice a few others. Police cars fill the yard, surrounding a large truck. My eyes widen in shock when I notice the words on it. S.W.A.T. Unit.
“Oh my God, that’s her,” someone screeches from out there. I can’t make out any faces, so I’m not sure where it’s coming from, or who it might be.
“Oh my God, it is!”
I sure hope I’m not hearing things because I could swear that they sound like my friends from Boston. But why would they be here?
The gun still being held to my face relaxes a bit.
“Miss, state your name.”
“Uh, Hayden Benedict.”
The guy asks me a few other questions, supposedly to establish identity. I jump in place when he pulls the gun away from my face, then turns to call out a signal to the rest of his team.
Suddenly, I am surrounded by people, all of them wanting to know if I am okay.
“We have an ambulance on standby, ready to take you to the nearest hospital,” a police officer assures me.
“Why would I need an ambulance?”
No one answers my question. Instead, they call out for a blanket and an IV.
“I don’t need any of that. What’s going on?”
Just when I think I’m about to lose my damn mind, the crowd parts. Emma and Jeanine walk down the middle, a look of pure happiness on their faces. They pull me into a hug and hold me tight.
“We found you!”
“Uh, I wasn’t hiding.”
“Thank God, you’re safe,” Emma cries out. “Jeanie, look at her face. She looks so pale.” She brings her face closer to mine. “Oh my God, there’s no foundation on your face, no wonder!”
“And the hair!” Jeanine looks horrified. “What did he do to you?”
“Who?”
A sheriff’s deputy walks up to me just then, a serious look on his face.
“Miss, we are happy to see that you are alert and in fairly good spirits. According to protocol, we need to take you to the hospital to make sure you are okay.”
I look at him with what I’m sure is pure shock on my face.
“The suspect has been apprehended,” he continues. “He will be held with no bail until he can appear in front of a judge. You are safe now.”
Suddenly, I can’t breathe. I let out a cry and spread my arms wide, pushing everyone away from me. They all do so, with everyone having a look with different degrees of pity showing.
“Somebody better tell me right now what’s going on.” I turn to look at my friends. “What. Did. You. Do,” I ask through my tense jaw.
They both look worried but also confused. “We called the police and told them you’d been kidnapped,” Emma says. “Jeanine had all the information we needed. And Chase helped us…”
I’m going to throw up.
