Chapter 49 | Rae
Rae
A couple of days passed with nothing from Ethan.
There had been no calls or texts, and none of the officers at the department had seen him around.
I didn’t know if that made me more nervous or relieved.
Caleb and I were sitting outside on the porch so I could enjoy the sunshine while he put up the cameras he’d ordered.
I’d chosen to sit on the porch steps, and Duke joined me, laying his head in my lap.
“How many do you have to put up?”
“Just two. The others won’t be here for a few days, sadly.” He had tried to buy them in town, but no one had them in stock, so he’d had to order them.
“It’s oka—” His phone ringing cut off my voice. I froze like I had every time his phone rang the last few days. Different officers from the department had been calling daily with updates on if they’d found anything.
“Don’t worry. It’s not work, but please don’t be mad at me.”
I gave him a confused look and tried to figure out why he would be making that request.
He answered the call. “This is Caleb. Yup. Yeah, can you hold on a few minutes?” When he looked at me, I saw a flash of nerves cross his face. He hit the mute button on the phone and walked to the porch swing. “I have a surprise for you.”
I walked over to the swing and sat next to him. “Who is on the phone?” I asked nervously.
“You were sleeping yesterday, and I had a thought, so I looked at your phone to see if I was right.”
I didn’t care if he looked through my phone, so why did he look so nervous? He seemed genuinely worried that I would be upset with him.
“Did you know you had a spam call and text section on your phone?” He reached for my hand and I linked my fingers with his.
I shook my head.
“I found a text from Cierra. She had texted you a few times per month.” My jaw dropped. “Rae, the last time she texted you was a week ago. Ethan sent all her texts and calls to the spam inbox.”
I was facing Caleb, but I was not looking at him anymore. I was shocked. She had continued reaching out even after I wasn’t allowed to talk to her?
“Is that...?” I pointed towards his phone which sat behind him. Excitement and nerves swirled in my mind. Caleb nodded. “Really?” I asked, trying to wrap my brain around what he’d just told me.
“I know you said you would like to try and reach out to her if I was involved, so I hope it’s okay that I called her when I saw the text.”
I was smiling so much my cheeks hurt and I quickly wrapped my arms around him. “You just did the sweetest thing for me, so of course it’s okay!”
“She’s been waiting for a few minutes, though. Do you want to talk to her now, or should I tell her you’ll call her later?”
“Now, please, but only if you stay with me.” I twisted my hands nervously as Caleb reached for the phone. He noticed and held one of my hands as he took the call off mute.
“Cierra? Hey, it’s Caleb...”
It was amazing hearing one of my best friend’s voices again, especially since I never thought I would hear from her again.
The conversation consisted mostly of her telling me about her kids and all they are doing now.
I could tell we were getting close to talking about my life recently, though, and nerves were bubbling to the surface.
“So, Rae, tell me...is that the Caleb from high school?” I could hear the smile on her face as she asked me that.
Caleb had been holding my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as his eyebrows raised a bit. I giggled at the look he gave me. “Yup. He’s that Caleb. I wish you could meet him, Cierra.”
“I feel like I know him already...” There was a long pause, but I could tell she wanted to say something.
“I will say, though, when I got a call from your number and a guy was on the other end, it made me curious... Listen, Rae. You do not have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.
Obviously, something happened, and I have a feeling that it was far from good.
I only think that because it was unlike you to not answer when I reached out, and the conversations I had with Ethan were. ..interesting.”
Caleb sat up straighter than he had been.
Cierra continued. “If you want to tell me anything, you can, but either way, there are no hard feelings.” She let out a deep breath before continuing. “All I want to know is...are you safe and happy?”
I looked at Caleb and smiled before scooting closer to him and leaning my head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Cierra. I am safe now, and I’m happy. I’m happier now than I have been in a long time.”
Caleb pulled me close to him but still seemed restless. I knew it was about her bringing up Ethan. I glanced up at him, and he motioned to the phone and then back to himself, mouthing the words “Can I talk to her?”
“Cierra, can Caleb ask you something really quick? It’s about what you said, about Ethan.”
She agreed.
Caleb’s face turned serious. “Hey, Cierra. When you said the conversations were interesting, what did you mean by that? I’m not only Rae’s boyfriend, but I’m also a cop.
I have seen and heard a lot of things in my career, suspects using people close to their victims, stuff like that.
And I was just curious about what he said to you. ”
“Oh! So, at one point, Ethan reached out to me from his phone and told me to stop calling Rae. He’d told me that she didn’t want to talk to me anymore, but he didn’t give a reason.
I had my husband go by her old house on his way home.
I was too scared to go by myself because something felt off, but we had the kids, so we couldn’t go together.
Ethan was moving around inside, and my husband could see him through the window, but he didn’t answer the door.
We had called the cops to do a wellness check on Rae. ..”
I gasped.
“I’m so sorry if that caused issues, Rae. I was so worried.”
I reassured her that nothing came of that. What I didn’t tell her is because he was afraid that if he did anything, the cops would find out since we were already on their radar because of her call. I remembered that day easily because it was one of the few good days I had.
“The cops called me back and said that Rae had come to the door with Ethan, and they both seemed fine. A few weeks ago, I called your work number, but they told me you hadn’t come in, so I called Ethan to check on you.
Ethan said you ran away but then corrected himself and said you’d left him.
It all felt off, until he said something right before he hung up. ”
I had no idea what she was about to say, but my blood ran cold. My entire body was freezing despite the warmth the sun brought.
“Caleb, Ethan said that when he caught up to Rae, she won’t have anything to say to anyone because she’ll regret leaving him.
When I asked what he meant, he said something about her missing time with him and making up for lost time.
I called the non-emergency number and told them about what he’d said and mentioned the wellness check.
The only problem is, he wasn’t at the house anytime they went by. ”
“That was probably around the time he came out here,” Caleb said as we heard one of Cierra’s kids crying in the background.
“Oh gosh. I’m so sorry, you guys. I have to go, but I do want to talk again really soon.
Is that okay? Also, Caleb, I really only know what I just told you, but if there’s anything I need to do, let me know.
I don’t know everything, but I know he did something to make my best friend leave, and if you are asking as a cop and boyfriend, then it seems serious. ”
Before the call ended, Caleb thanked her for the information, and I agreed to talk to her again, so she said she would text me.
I didn’t care about the crazy information Cierra gave us as much as I cared about kissing Caleb right now. I also didn’t care that the porch swing would move as I shifted until I was straddling his lap.
“Ranger, that was the sweetest thing you could have done. Thank you,” I said before kissing him deeply. My hands moved across his shoulders and up to the smooth skin on his head before pulling him even closer.
“Anything for you, Sunshine. Anything to see that smile on your face.”
The world around us seemed to fade away as Caleb wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight as he kissed me.
Somehow, Caleb always knew exactly what I needed.