Chapter 15 Three days prior #2
Maggie.
The girl I’d raised.
My niece.
And the one holding me captive.
Three days have passed. Maybe more.
Time blurs together in this dim hotel room, where the lamp burns too bright and the shadows are heavier than night itself. My wrists ache from the ties, raw, bleeding, and tender, but at least I can still wiggle them.
My cut foot from the garage, however, isn’t faring so well.
I’m pretty sure an infection has set in. It’s red, swollen, and I’m freezing. Which means I have a fever.
I’m freed of my restraints only a few times a day. Maggie unties me so that I can use the restroom. She keeps a gun trained on me, watching me go pee, which is super humiliating. And then stays by my side while I eat, gun in hand.
Always making sure I don’t make a run for it. Or fight back.
Not that I haven’t thought about it. But then my mind always circles back to Rose. Maggie will kill me if I risk anything. And I can’t do that to my daughter.
My head pounds from the lack of sleep and coffee, no doubt.
God, what I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee right now and my big, fluffy bed.
Since I woke up, there are things I’ve noticed now that I’m more lucid.
Maggie leaves occasionally when she gets a phone call.
There is an adjoining room, the entrance of which is behind me, so my view is blocked.
She slips into it periodically. And I suspect sometimes she isn’t alone.
Then she returns. Meaner and moodier than before.
Currently, she left the room through the main door to get me something to eat. She’s been gone for a while. Or maybe she hasn’t. Time is no longer something I can measure, which leaves me with my thoughts and unanswered questions.
But one still plagues me. Because let’s face it, I have a lot of time to think.
Why hasn’t Maggie killed me yet?
And I’ve come up with only one answer.
She can’t.
Deep down, she loves me. And she can’t kill her family. She’s still feeding me and giving me water. She also ties me to the bed at night so I can sleep. Which is better than trying to rest hunched over in this chair. Why would she do all of that if her intention was to harm, or God forbid, kill me?
Ripping me from my thoughts, the door opens, and she steps inside with a bag. Water, crackers, a protein bar. The usual. It never changes. Hunger twists deep inside.
I hate that I have to rely on her for my basic needs. It makes me sick.
She doesn’t set the gun down right away. Her fingers tighten around it instead, knuckles whitening. “I shouldn’t even give this to you.” Her eyes burn with fury. “You really screwed up, Diane.”
A sharp pulse of confusion flashes through me. “Stop with the riddles already, Maggie. What are you talking about?”
The gun slams against the desk. I flinch, my pulse jumping. She steps closer, leaning in until I can smell her breath. “You wrote a note to Rose. And you said my name.”
For a split second, relief washes through me like light breaking through clouds. “Someone found it?” My words tumble out too fast. “Did Rose talk to you? How do you even know that?”
Her expression twists with frustration. “Because the police have it! They showed it to her. And now they’re asking questions. About me!” She jabs a finger toward her chest. “You dragged me into this mess, Diane!”
My stomach sinks. “Oh, I’m pretty sure you did that all yourself.
But me? I didn’t know you were involved in this,” I shout back, my voice cracking.
“I didn’t know who was chasing me! There were seconds to write something.
I thought I was going to die, and I wanted Rose to know how sorry I am.
” My voice softens, breaking on her name.
“Because I am, Maggie. I’m so sorry about that night.
I would’ve done anything to take it back. ”
Her face flickers with anger, pain, and a touch of confusion before hardening again. But in that one brief second, I see it. The girl I once knew. The one who used to call me family.
“I should let you starve.” She tosses the white plastic bag with red Thank You's all over it onto the desk. Using another weapon, a knife, she cuts the ties. Then, she points her gun. Her neat and deliberate movements echo in the quiet space. “Eat.”
I rip open the protein bar and take a bite, swallowing hard. “Maggie…” I implore, not daring to say it louder.
Her eyes snap to me, sharp and deadly, as her grip tightens around the gun. The warning is clear: don’t.
I try again, coaxing more. “You don’t have to keep me here. Rose would forgive you if you—”
Her laugh cuts through, high and brittle. “Forgive me? You really think that’s what this is about?” She paces again, her movements jerky before she stops dead in front of me. “You’ve always been so sure you know what’s best.”
A tight pain grips my heart. “I only ever wanted to protect her. And you. You are like a daughter to me, Maggie. You have to know that.”
“Don’t you get it? I’m done being your token daughter,” she spits out, lip curling.
Something inside me snaps. Anger rises fast and hot, drowning out every other thought. I can’t hold it in anymore. “I let you into my home! Into my family! And this is how you repay me? God, you are so selfish!”
The same fury that fills me is now coursing through her body.
She stands still, but she’s shaking, and completely falling apart.
“And guess what, Aunt Diane. You’re uninvited from my life.
” A small evil grin rises as she stands there.
“And soon … permanently.” That sinister grin disappears. I wonder what was behind that smile.
Hours blur together. I’ve lost track of time completely. Maggie keeps darting in and out of the adjoining room, her movements sharp and restless. She’s unraveling—more agitated now, pacing like a caged animal. She even forgot to tie me back to the chair after my last bathroom break.
Desperation clings to her every breath. Something’s shifted. I can feel it in the air, heavy and wrong, but I can’t tell what’s changed … only that it has.
That’s when it happens. Her phone buzzes, screen lighting up with a familiar name.
Her phone isn’t normally out in the open. It’s with her at all times. Either in her hand or in her pocket. But she slipped and left it on the table. And now I can see who is calling.
Rose.
Maggie freezes. Slowly, she picks up the phone, her hand white-knuckled around it. Her eyes cut to me, wild, blazing. “Not. One. Word.”
Fear hits me hard, knocking the breath from my lungs. So, this is who’s been calling Maggie? It doesn’t add up. Maggie is Rose’s person, the one she always turns to, so some of those calls… they had to be from Rose.
But not all of them. Maggie couldn’t have orchestrated all of this on her own. There’s no way. Which means Rose isn’t the only one she’s been in contact with. I’m certain of it.
She steps closer, crouching as she spews her venom. “If you try to warn her—if you say anything—I swear to you, Diane, I’ll kill you before you finish the sentence.”
My breath hitches. Rose is a phone call away. And I can’t reach her.
Not without risking her life. And losing everything I hold dear.