Chapter 2
LORI
The hot water felt like heaven against Lori’s skin, washing away three days’ worth of fear and exhaustion and dried blood that was not her own.
She stood under the spray for a long time, letting it run over her face and through her hair, trying not to think about the message written on the mirror in the next room.
The words kept replaying in her mind, over and over, no matter how hard she tried to push them away. Someone had been in the house. Someone had walked through these rooms, up these stairs, into this very bedroom. Someone who was promising revenge for something Lori had no clue about.
Lori scrubbed shampoo through her hair with more force than necessary, as if she could wash away the fear along with the dirt. She needed to focus. Needed to think. They would figure out what to do next. Maybe call Mitch after all, despite Lori’s insistence that he had enough to worry about.
Maybe they should just pack up and leave. Get out of Seabird Cottage, go somewhere safe, somewhere the person leaving threatening messages could not find them.
But where would be safe? Whoever this was, they were watching them.
They would just follow. Heck, they had even hacked into Mitch’s security system.
They had kidnapped Tessa, Ryan, and Jackie from different locations across the island.
Whoever was behind this was smart and resourceful and clearly not going to stop until they got what they wanted.
Whatever that was.
Lori rinsed the shampoo from her hair and reached for the conditioner, her hands shaking slightly.
She hated feeling afraid like this. Hated feeling hunted.
She had come to Nantucket for a peaceful summer getaway, a chance to relax in Carrie’s beautiful cottage by the ocean while Carrie enjoyed the Florida sunshine.
It was supposed to be simple. Easy. A nice break from her normal life.
Instead, she had fallen into the middle of a nightmare.
Except, Lori thought as she worked conditioner through her hair, she had also found something else in Nantucket.
Someone else. Mitch. With his kind eyes and his gentle strength, and the way he made her feel safe even when everything around them was falling apart.
The way he had held her in the hospital waiting room, the way he had kissed her before she left, the way he had looked at her like she was something precious and important.
She was falling in love with him. No. Lori had to be honest with herself here. She had already fallen in love with him. Which made leaving Nantucket at the end of the summer feel impossible, even though she knew it was what she would have to do.
Long-distance relationships never work. She had said as much to Tessa in the taxi. They just drag out the inevitable until someone gets hurt.
But Tessa’s response kept echoing in her mind, too. You live in the twenty-first century, where travel no longer takes days to get anywhere. Spend summers in Nantucket and winters in Florida.
Could it really be that simple? Could she and Mitch actually make something work despite living in different states? Despite having completely different lives in completely different places?
Lori shook her head as she rinsed out the conditioner. Now was not the time to be thinking about relationships and the future. Now was the time to focus on the immediate problem. The threatening message. The person who wanted to hurt Carrie’s family. Keeping everyone safe.
She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in one of the large, fluffy towels and drying off quickly, efficiently, then pulled on the clean clothes she had grabbed from the dresser before getting in the shower.
Jeans and a simple blue t-shirt. Nothing fancy, but clean, comfortable, and not covered in blood.
Lori ran a comb through her wet hair, not bothering to style it, and took one last look at herself in the bathroom mirror.
She looked tired. The circles under her eyes were dark, and there was a tightness around her mouth that had not been there a week ago.
But she was clean, at least. That was something.
She opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the bedroom, carefully avoiding looking at the message on the dresser mirror. She would deal with that in a minute. First, she would make breakfast and fresh coffee for herself and Tessa.
Lori walked to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and stepped into the hallway. “Tessa?” she called out. “Did you take a picture of the mirror?”
No answer.
Lori frowned and walked to the top of the stairs. “Tessa? Are you down there?”
Still no answer.
A small flutter of unease started in Lori’s stomach, but she pushed it down. Tessa was probably still in Carrie’s office, talking to Trent again as she was sure she’d interrupted them earlier.
“Tessa!” Lori called again, louder this time. “Where are you?”
Nothing.
The flutter of unease grew stronger. Lori hurried down the stairs, her wet hair leaving damp spots on her t-shirt. “Tessa?”
She went to Carrie’s office and pushed the door open. The room was empty, but Lori’s phone was sitting on the desk.
Lori then checked the kitchen. It was also empty. The dining room. The sun porch. They were all empty.
Lori’s heart started to beat faster.
Where was she? There was one more room to check. The living room. Lori walked through, but Tessa wasn’t there, and the door was wide open.
Maybe Tessa had gone outside or for a walk?
That would be perfectly normal. Tessa needed to clear her head and destress after everything she’d been through.
Lori swallowed, trying hard to ignore the voice at the back of her head that kept telling her they were in lockdown.
Why would Tessa have gone outside, especially after just having been kidnapped?
Lori stood frozen to the spot, staring at the open door. Her eyes scanned the area, and that’s when she saw it. Lying on the floor just inside the doorway, a few feet from the open door.
A cloth. White, crumpled, lying on the hardwood floor like it had been dropped in a hurry.
“No,” Lori whispered. “No, no, no.”
She ran to the door and grabbed the cloth, bringing it to her nose before her brain could warn her that it was a terrible idea. The sharp, sweet smell of chemicals filled her nostrils. Chloroform. The same thing they had used on Tessa before. The same thing they had used on Ryan and Jackie.
They had taken her. Someone had come to the house and taken Tessa while Lori was in the shower, completely oblivious to what was happening one floor below.
Lori dropped the cloth and ran through the open door, out onto the porch, and down the steps to the yard. “Tessa!” she screamed. “Tessa, where are you?”
She ran around the side of the house, looking down at the stretch of rocks below. The tide was high. No sign of Tessa. She checked the back garden and even went into the small garden shed. No sign of Tessa.
Lori sprinted back around the house and across the yard to Sunrise House, Mitch’s house, and tried the front door. Locked. She peered through the windows, cupping her hands around her eyes to see inside. It was empty and dark, with no signs that anyone was home or had been there recently.
“Tessa!” Lori called again, her voice raw with panic. “Tessa, please! Where are you?”
Spurred by adrenaline and a desperate hope that she was wrong, that Tessa was somewhere on the property and just had not heard her calling, she sprinted toward the larger beach in front of the houses.
With her lung burning and perspiration popping onto her brow, Lori reached the sand and stopped, spinning in a circle, scanning the beach for any sign of Tessa’s dark hair, her tall frame, anything.
There were birds, and the tide lapping against the sand, but no Tessa.
Lori glanced out over the water, her eyes scanning the horizon.
There was a small boat bobbing out to sea, far enough away that she could not make out any details.
Just a dark shape on the blue water, probably a fisherman or someone out for an early morning sail.
But no Tessa. Lori turned and ran back toward Seabird Cottage, her mind spinning through possibilities.
How long had she been in the shower? Twenty minutes? Thirty?
Lori reached Seabird Cottage and stopped in the driveway, her eyes falling on Tessa’s car that was still parked exactly where it had been this morning. Which meant Tessa had not left on her own. Had not driven anywhere. Lori had to finally admit to herself that Tessa had been taken—again!
Lori pressed her hands to her face, trying to breathe, trying to think. She had no choice now. She had to call Mitch. She had to tell him that Tessa had been taken again. Lori patted her pocket. Her phone. She needed her phone.
“It’s on the desk in the office,” Lori remembered and muttered out loud as she ran back into the house and to Carrie’s office. Yes. There it was, sitting on the desk. She grabbed it and called Mitch.
Lori’s hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the phone. She pulled up Mitch’s number, hit call, then held the phone to her ear as it rang.
Please answer. Please, please answer.
It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four times.
Come on, Mitch. Pick up.
Five times. Six times.
Lori was about to hang up and try again when the ringing stopped, and she heard Mitch’s voice. But it was not Mitch saying hello. It was his voicemail greeting.
“You’ve reached Mitch Brandon. I can’t take your call right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
The beep sounded, and Lori opened her mouth to leave a message, but the words would not come. What was she supposed to say?
Then she pulled up the messaging app and typed:
Mitch, sorry to trouble you, but Tessa has been taken again. Please call me back.
A noise near the front door caught her attention, and her heart lurched. She hadn’t closed or locked it. Lori had been in such a panic that she’d just rushed inside to the office.
This was when she regretted not stopping to get Misty. So what if the cab driver didn’t want dogs in his car? They needed Misty here. As she got to the front door, she stopped short and blew out a breath.
“Oh!” Clara said when she saw the look on Lori’s face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,”
“Hello, Clara,” Lori greeted, trying not to sound breathless. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be at the door.”
“I was about to knock,” Clara said, holding a brightly hand-painted cookie tin. “I just wanted to bring these for you and Tessa. I saw the vet in town, and she told me that Tessa had an accident.”
“Oh,” Lori said, stepping forward and taking the tin. “That’s very kind of you. I’ll give them to her when she’s back.”
“Oh, is she not here?” Clara asked, her eyes scanning inside.
“No, she’s… uh…” Lori wasn’t very good at lying. “She’s at the hospital having her head wound looked at.”
“Well, please tell her I stopped by and that I hope she feels better soon,” Clara said. “I’d better get going. I’m already late getting to the beach. I’ve had one heck of a morning.”
Lori watched her go, and as soon as Clara took her bike, crossed the road, and disappeared onto the beach, she closed and locked the door.
Just to make sure, she went throughout the house making sure all the windows were shut.
Checked the back door and just to be sure, Lori locked the basement door.