Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
Ice spreads through my chest. “That was you?”
“I thought if you came back to town, you would come home.” Her smile is brittle. “But you didn’t, even though you were so close. You completely forgot about me.”
“I never did,” I whisper, shaken by the bomb she dropped. The idea that she had been orchestrating my life without my knowledge chills me to the bone. “I loved… love you, Megan. I just—life got in the way. And I didn’t think you would still be here.”
“You could have easily contacted Mrs. Potter to find out how to reach me. But you didn’t.” I watch her tears dry up and a smile spread across her face. Her sadness disappears as quickly as it came. “But that’s all in the past. You’re back now. That’s all that matters. This is where you belong.”
“You can’t keep us here, Megan.” I struggle to my feet, but she holds up a hand.
“Stay where you are. You don’t want to end up like your friend.”
I sit back down and wrap my arms around Sadie, wishing I could glue her to my side forever.
“If there’s any further interference,” Megan continues, her mouth a straight line, the smile gone, “if anybody else attempts to come through those gates, they will suffer the same fate.”
My mind immediately goes to Gabriel. He’s still out there somewhere. If he wasn’t with Scarlett when it happened, he’ll be searching for us, putting himself directly in the line of fire.
My chest constricts until I can barely draw breath. “Please, don’t—I’m begging you—”
Megan’s shoulders drop as she exhales slowly.
“This isn’t what I wanted, Judy. Nobody was supposed to end up dead.
” She lowers her voice. “It wasn’t part of the original plan.
When Alice proposed to you that Sadie, who was a difficult teenager, should come here, I did not expect you to agree.
I thought you wanted nothing to do with us.
But she came, and I made sure to be in charge when she arrived.
I’m sure you understand that I couldn’t let her go.
It was like you had returned to me, in your daughter. ”
What does she mean, she made sure to be in charge? Was Mandy’s accident not an accident at all?
Megan’s voice maintains its composure, but I can hear it, the anger leaking through the cracks between her words. “You ruined a good thing, Judy. I made a deal with your husband and it was working just fine until you got in the way.”
Blood drains from my face. “Gabriel? What deal?”
She nods. “He’s the one who gave Sadie to us.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I’m furious and confused, my cheeks burning with heat. “My husband… he would never—”
“Well, he did. He wanted to take her home that night, but we reached an agreement that she would stay here.”
Lucille’s message flashes in my mind. Sadie was talking to some older guy, she said. Did she mean Gabriel?
“It wasn’t easy to convince him,” Megan adds, filling in the blanks in my mind.
“He tried everything, but he did not have a choice. I knew something about him he didn’t want the world to know, something you probably don’t know either.
” She pauses as Alice moves back outside and disappears from sight.
“In the end we came to an agreement. Sadie would stay here, and I would send him photos as proof of life. In exchange for a little money that would go toward a good cause.”
“Gabriel knew Sadie was alive?” My voice cracks. The betrayal hits hard, and my rage feels like a live wire beneath my skin.
“Did you send me that photo?” I wonder if Gabriel refused to pay an installment, and she threatened him through me.
“I didn’t have to do it myself.”
Oh, my God, it was Alice.
I bite hard into my bottom lip, tasting blood. But I can’t allow the betrayal to derail me. We need to make it out of here alive.
“The money’s been a blessing, really.” Megan tilts her chin upward and sighs deeply.
“I’ve put away every single cent of it. I added it to my growing savings.
I’m almost at my goal actually.” She waves the flashlight with each word she speaks.
“Once I buy up enough shares to control the board, Saltspray will finally have proper leadership again.”
“What about Mandy?” My mouth asks the question without my mind registering it.
She scoffs. “Mandy is too weak to be the director, and she and the others only see dollar signs. I see children who have been discarded. Like I was. Like you were. Mrs. Potter understood the heart of this place. And so do I. I will do anything to save the children, and I have to stop anyone who gets in the way.”
How many people has she “stopped,” I wonder?
She’s clearly deranged and I need to get out of here, to bring my daughter to safety. It hurts me almost physically to know she was kept inside this dark room for six months.
“Please, Megan.” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “Let Sadie go. Let us both walk out of here. I swear to you, we’ll disappear and never say a word to anyone.”
“Of course you won’t tell.” Megan’s smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “I think Scarlett’s fate has made it perfectly clear what happens to those who try to cross me.”
“So you will let us go?” I ask, hope jumping into my throat.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that. You have betrayed our friendship, our sisterhood.” She moves back into the doorway, blocking our way out. “You have betrayed this place. But now that you are here, you are home, this is your chance to make it right.”
In a desperate attempt to save my daughter, I pivot, making a heartbreaking split-second decision.
“I’ll stay. I will stay and you let Sadie go.
I’ll even ask my husband to send you more money to help you buy the shares.
You’re right, Saltspray deserves someone running it who understands the true needs of children.
You will get the money you need to make a difference in their lives, but promise me you won’t hurt Sadie or Gabriel. ”
“I can’t promise that.” Before I can react to her words, she reaches for the door handle.
“Wait—” I blurt out before she shuts the door again. “I mean it. I will stay here and help you run things, if you like. It will be like the old days.” My voice cracks on the last word, betraying me.
I don’t mean it, any of it, but this is the only move I have left to play. If she lets Sadie go, I will stay here and wait. Eventually someone will expose Megan.
Megan looks away, but before she does, I catch a wave of anger sweeping across her features. And then just like that, without saying another word, without making any promises, she slams the door shut and the darkness returns. It swallows us whole again.
Sadie leans into me, her small body trembling like a frightened animal. I hold her tighter, wishing my arms could shield her from whatever comes next.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” My lips brush against her tangled hair that smells of sweat and fear.
Every creak outside the door sends ice through my veins. Is Megan deciding our fate right now, planning to make us disappear?
The thought that Gabriel was in on this is the kind of betrayal that cuts deeper than any knife. He traded our daughter like currency. Six months of knowing exactly where she was. What secret is worth betraying your own child for?
Sadie’s breathing slows, but she won’t let go.
Minutes stretch into what feels like hours as we huddle together, the walls of our prison seeming to inch closer with every moment.
To pass the time and soothe her, I sing the songs I sang to her as a child, back when the world felt safer and I foolishly thought I could protect her from anything.
We’re not prepared when the door is flung open again.
Megan is standing there, alone this time. In her hand is a phone, and the flashlight is gone. She dangles the device in front of her and I recognize it. It’s mine.
“Judy, you made the right decision. After much thought, I’ve decided… I have decided to accept the offer. But it must be done properly.”
She walks into the room and hands me the phone before walking quickly back to the doorway, perhaps afraid I might tackle her.
“You must call your husband. Tell him to come here… alone. He should come and pick up Sadie within fifteen minutes. No police, no delay. If he does not show up or tries any tricks, the offer is off the table.”
I nod vigorously and drop my gaze to the phone in my hand, then at my daughter. She looks back at me, terrified, but also hopeful, trusting me to do the right thing, to make this nightmare go away.
With Megan standing watch at the door, I don’t even have to think about it. I make the call.