Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
I’m standing on the porch when the headlights hit the driveway. I brace myself, rehearsing what I’ll say to the officer, remembering what I already said to the dispatcher as the car comes into view. A white Charger moving slowly down the drive.
I release a breath one second, just to feel the kick to my sternum the next.
I can’t…
Rachelle’s Lexus is just behind the cop car, followed closely by Preston’s Range Rover, and then ours.
It’s as if I’m a pane of glass, shattered in an instant. My pieces fall at my feet until I feel weightless and numb. Stupid. Angry.
Caught.
I watch as the family gets out of their vehicles, Monty and Jett trying to race on their way back to the house despite their little suits and dress shoes. Ruby cries after her brother, telling him to slow down, but Vic just shakes her head as they go.
When I spot Simon, his eyes are locked on me. I can’t read him. Can’t tell how he’s feeling, though I suppose I could venture a guess.
I stand here like a scolded toddler awaiting my punishment, heat spreading across my cheeks as the swarm of Mornings approaches the porch.
When they reach me, Rachelle is at the helm, her lips pressed into a thin line. She clasps her hands together and looks over her shoulder at the police officer standing there, who seems to be waiting for her to speak.
“Well.” Her voice pierces the silence like scissors slicing molten glass. The earth seems to shake around us, the air heavy and thick with tension. “Are you all right?”
My gaze dashes across the faces of my Morning family, taking in their various expressions and trying to read them. Angry, disappointed, confused, bored.
“I…” Finally, I land on Simon. “She needs us. It isn’t a prank. I need you to trust me.”
“Who?” Pierce demands, silver brows drawn together as if by magnets.
“The little girl.” I gesture toward the door, inside.
“Lia. She’s alone and scared. I know you don’t believe me, but…
it’s true. If you’ll just come inside with me, I’ll…
” I can’t finish the sentence because the truth is, I have no idea what I’ll do.
Lia stopped answering before I called the police, and I haven’t heard from her since.
Once again, I have no way to prove my story.
“Show us, then,” Simon says, his voice wavering. He shoots a look at his father.
“What girl?” Monty asks, tugging at the sleeve of his mother’s jacket.
She pats his head, shaking hers, and leans down next to him, whispering, “Why don’t you go play with Jett upstairs, okay? Take Ruby with you.”
Vic nods, easing her daughter forward. “Go with your brother and Monty.”
Duncan steps forward. “I’ll go with them. Warren? Want to help?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah.” Warren checks in with Marlie over a quick glance, then follows Duncan and the kids inside the house.
With the children gone, all eyes are on me once again. Marlie steps forward cautiously, worriedly scanning me like I’m a book in a foreign language she’s trying to make sense of. “What’s going on, Astrid? Carl told us you called the police.”
“Carl—Officer Watson—is an old friend of the family. He gave us a courtesy heads up to let us know you’d placed a call to the police,” Rachelle explains, her voice soft.
“We know you’re new to the family, and this hasn’t quite come up, but you must understand you can’t call nine-one-one here.
If the press found out, if social media found out?—”
I lick my lips, squaring my shoulders. I have to be strong.
She’s counting on me. “How would they?” I ask.
“And I’m sorry, but I wasn’t actually thinking about the press.
I know you think this is all some prank, but I’m telling you, it doesn’t feel like a prank.
” I stare at the officer, forcing him to listen.
“And if it’s real, there is a little girl who’s lost. Kidnapped.
Somewhere near here. We need to find her. Help her. We have to be sure.”
His gaze goes to Rachelle briefly, then comes back to me. “All right, well, let’s see the radio you mentioned. See if we can’t get this all sorted out.”
At that, I lead them into the house, to the second floor, and into our bedroom, where the radio is still sitting on the bed. I pick up the microphone, praying as I avoid my family’s impatient eyes. I press it to my lips. “Lia? Sweetie? Are you there?”
We wait.
Their eyes feel like lasers on my skin, like needles. Their disappointment hurts.
I swallow and turn to the officer. “She’s not answering, but I swear to you, I’ve talked to her multiple times now. She told me her name is Lia and that there’s a man who comes to bring her food at night. From what I’ve gathered, it sounds like her mom is usually there, but she’s missing.”
The officer moves forward, holding out his hand. “And you spoke with her tonight?”
“Yes,” I blurt out. “Yes, we spoke just before I called.”
He turns the microphone over in his hands, then leans down, adjusting the knobs this way and that. He presses the button and speaks into the microphone, his voice clear and firm. “Is anyone there?”
We listen to the silent hum of the radio before he looks back at Pierce. “How old is this thing?”
“Oh, heavens.” Rachelle answers for him before he has the chance to speak. “Decades, at least. It might’ve been my grandfather’s.”
Officer Watson nods. “I thought so. It looks like it’s seen better days.” His expression when he looks my way tells me all I need to know. “There’s no way this thing picked up any sort of reliable signal. Especially not from way out here.”
“I think she’s close by, that’s why?—”
He holds up a hand, cutting me off. “Look, I know this is a bit of an ongoing issue. Pierce already reached out to me before to follow up about your…concerns. I did an internal search for any reports of missing girls in the area. There was nothing.”
“I…I didn’t know that.” I cast a quick look Pierce’s way, relieved, then embarrassed. He believed me. He tried to help.
Am I wrong about all of this?
Pierce gives a small nod. “Of course. If a child was in danger, we’d want to help. Surely you know that. But we have to be cautious about these things. We’ve told you about our history with pranks and stalkers. My priority will always be to protect my family. To protect all of you.”
“This world is still new to you, Astrid. We know that,” Rachelle adds, wringing her hands together in front of her.
“We know that, to you, it probably doesn’t make sense for us to ask you to ignore something as scary as a lost little girl.
But we know the risks. The reality we’re facing.
The press is already sniffing around. If they find out we’re all still home, they’ll suspect something is up.
It could ruin everything for Marlie. All the work we’ve put into salvaging the wedding would be for nothing. ”
“Which is probably what they want,” Pierce says firmly.
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t know.” But I did. Of course I did. They’ve told me this over and over.
The officer meets my eyes, gesturing toward the radio. “This thing might have a mile, maybe three-mile, range. You’re not getting far off Morning property with that, if at all. So, you calling this in…it looks an awful lot like you’re accusing the Mornings of being involved in a kidnapping.”
My blood chills. “What? No, of course not. I wouldn’t?—”
“I need to know if that’s the case,” the officer says. “Because that’s the only way we’ll be able to get a warrant and search the property.”
“We’ve already searched it,” Pierce tells him.
The officer doesn’t look at him, just keeps staring at me. “Would you like to accuse the Mornings of kidnapping a child?” His dark eyes drill into mine.
Beneath me, my legs are numb. I glance around the room, my throat dry, eyes landing on Pierce, Rachelle, Polly, Preston, Simon, Marlie, and Vic. Then I meet the officer’s eyes again. “No. Of course not. I wouldn’t… I would never accuse them of anything.”
“If that’s true, Astrid,” Pierce says, “if you don’t believe us capable of harming anyone—and I certainly hope we’ve earned that much from you—we must insist that you let this go once and for all.
We’ve already searched the woods at your request. The second you asked us to.
I followed up with the police to no avail.
But this has gone far enough. You must decide.
You’re either with us or against us, and if you’re with us, you must be all in.
You must trust me when I tell you, whoever it is you’re speaking to, it is not a little girl, and she does not need your help.
She is only trying to harm this family, emotionally if not physically. I simply can’t allow this to continue.”
I swallow, my eyes falling away from him. I can’t bear to look up. What did I do? Why did I do this?
A hand comes to rest on my shoulder, and when I look over, it’s Simon. I hadn’t seen him move. He squeezes me gently and gives a small nod to the officer. “Sorry about all this, Carl. We really appreciate you coming out.”
“And being discreet as always,” Rachelle adds pointedly. “The last thing we need with the wedding in just a few days is the press snooping around any more than they already are.”
“You know I’m always here for you guys,” Officer Carl says, avoiding my eyes as he unplugs the radio and crosses the room. “Where should I leave this?”
Pierce holds out his hands, taking it from him. “I’ve got it.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Polly tells him, holding out an arm.
When the door shuts behind them, leaving us in silence, Pierce’s eyes come back to me. “Now then…” He lets out a sigh, though I don’t really know if it’s out of disappointment or frustration. “It’s been a long day. Why don’t we just forget all about this and call it a night?”
I swallow, tears stinging my eyes. Then, because I can’t bring myself to say a word, I nod.
Simon draws in a deep breath, running a hand over his chest. “I think that’s a great idea.
” He gestures toward the door, parting the crowd as he moves through it.
Opening the door, he tips his head toward the hallway, and one by one, the rest of the family makes their way out of the room.
Rachelle pats his arm as she passes. Expression grim, he meets her eye for only a second, then gives a small nod, watching her disappear into the darkness of the hall.
Once we’re alone, he closes the door, staring at the wood. He keeps his back to me, impossible to read as he inhales slowly and deeply. One breath. Two.
The silence is long and painful before, finally, he turns around.
His quiet movements across the room carry so much weight as he comes to sit on the edge of the bed, not looking my way. When he finally does, his face is heavy and aged, exhausted beyond his years.
“What the hell is going on with you?”
“I…” I search my brain for the right words. Anger and sadness swell inside me, filling my chest until I have no room to take a breath. “I’m not lying, Simon. I swear I’m not. There really is someone on the other line. It scared me, okay?”
His eyes soften just slightly. “Your medicine. Your doctor told us it might cause…issues.”
My mind flashes to the orange bottle of pills in my suitcase, the ones I haven’t touched since I got the positive test. The ones that brought our little miracle to life. At once, I’m boiling with rage. “They said it might cause…mood swings. Insomnia.”
“And when paired with your other medicine…there was potential for anxiety. Depression. Irritability. There was a whole list of things to look out for.” His tone is gentler than his words. “After your mom?—”
“My mom has nothing to do with this,” I bite back, nerves fraying.
He draws in a breath, closing and reopening his eyes.
“First you thought your things were missing. Now you think…what? There’s some lost girl running through the woods with a radio?
Calling for help? A girl no one else has seen or talked to?
” As soon as he says it, his jaw drops, then slams closed.
He shakes his head. “I didn’t mean that.
That wasn’t fair of me to say. I’m sorry.
” He reaches for my hand, but I pull away.
I can’t believe he’s saying this. In a single blink, he’s transformed into a stranger.
“I think you did mean it. Anxiety doesn’t mean hallucinations, Simon. I didn’t imagine my missing things, and I didn’t imagine whoever this is. How can you even…suggest that?”
Both hands go up in surrender. “No. No. I don’t… I’m not—I swear to you, I don’t think… Honey, of course not. I misspoke. I’m not saying you imagined anything. I just think…you’re exhausted. You’ve been working hard.”
“You don’t believe me. About any of it.”
He closes his eyes for several seconds, then shakes his head. “It’s impossible. It’s just…impossible. We own a hundred acres. For anyone to be within distance for that thing to pick it up, they’d have to be?—”
“Here,” I say with a nod. “Here on the grounds. I get it. I heard the officer.”
He stands up, shaking his head. “Right. And that’s impossible,” he repeats.
“And…and Marlie’s wedding is what matters right now, so please…
please just stop this. You’re putting us all at risk.
” And with that, with a final look back at me as if I’ve betrayed him, he moves for the door and shuts it behind him.
I’m as alone as I feel.