Page 49

Lizzie

I could have been asleep for a couple of hours or a couple of days. That’s how hard I crashed after leaving Katie’s room. The room is pitch black when a banging on my door startles me awake. Sharp, fast cracks on the wood. Each of them resonates through the room like a gunshot.

“Coming.” I rub my eyes and glance at my phone. It’s filled with notifications. I’d silenced it so I could sleep. I reach for it in a panic now as I open the door.

Katie is standing there in flannel pajamas with puppies on them, her hair disheveled and sticking out every which way around her head.

“Rebecca’s in trouble.”

“We already knew that.”

“No. Real trouble. She’s in danger right now!”

“What’s going on?”

Katie pulls out her phone.

“When did you get that back?”

“Veronica dropped it off after you left. Listen to this.” Katie puts it on speaker, then plays me a voicemail.

It’s static at first and then there’s a creaking sound, maybe a car door opening, and a woman’s scream.

“Where the hell are we going? Are you taking me home to the ranch? Marsden, answer me.”

It’s Bex.

“Get the hell off of me, Marsden,” she yells so clearly that it feels like it’s meant for us. A primitive male grunt and then a yelp. He’s hurting her. Wherever they are, he’s definitely hurting her. I picture it in my head.

A crack of flesh hitting flesh. A whimper.

More rustling, more movement.

And then nothing but static. A car engine revs up. I feel useless.

Katie turns off the message. “That’s it. Static and then it cuts off. Phone might have gone out of service. He might have found it.” Her focus is contagious, but so is her fear. It itches and claws at my skin.

“That was Marsden.”

“What tipped you off? Was it the fact that she screamed ‘Marsden’?”

“Do you really think now is the time for sarcasm?”

“We need to find Rebecca,” Katie practically shouts.

“How? She could be anywhere.”

“They’re going to the ranch. She said it for a reason. She wanted us to know. We have to get out there.”

“Okay, let’s call the police.” I pick up my phone, but Katie stops me.

“Absolutely not. They’re all in bed with Marsden the same way they were with Gray.

Even more so because he gets everyone season tickets and passes to the World Series.

The things he gets away with in this county are unreal.

At least five DUIs that I know about. If they go to that ranch and Marsden has Rebecca there, they’ll probably help him finish her off. ”

“What about your husband? Is he close?”

“Not close enough. He’s at his mama’s and they have the kids. He shouldn’t leave them alone with her. His mother isn’t very mobile and she can’t pick up the little one. I can’t leave Alice and I certainly can’t bring her with me.”

“So it’s me. I have to go.”

Katie is wringing her hands. “I don’t know who else.”

“What about Olivia? How close does she live to the ranch?”

“I tried her.”

“Let’s try her again.”

Olivia answers on the second ring and doesn’t sound like she’s been sleeping at all.

“How can I help you, Lizzie?”

“It’s Bex. Marsden kidnapped her. We think they’re heading to the ranch. Can you get out there?” I hear movement, maybe a woman’s whisper behind her. A door shuts.

“How do you know?”

I explain about the voicemail. I explain about Alice being here with Katie.

Olivia is surprised by some of it, but not all, and I wonder how much she knows about where Bex and her children have been for the past few days, how much she’s been keeping from me.

How much she’s lied to me. But there isn’t time to ask it now.

“I’m closer to the hotel than the ranch. I’ll pick you up on the way.”

“Me?”

“I’m not going out there alone, Lizzie.”

I know she’s right. I can’t send her out there alone. But can I go? Can I put myself in danger like that? I’m a mother. I can’t do that to my own children.

“We’ll be safe together,” Olivia assures me. “I’m not going in without some ammunition.”

She doesn’t say any more before she hangs up and I know she’s on her way.

I do have a choice here. I don’t have to go.

I can leave right now. I think about Nora and Ollie.

Both asleep in their beds at the beach house, safe with my mom, Robbie, and Peter.

I think about Rebecca’s children. Also safe for now, but probably terrified.

I think about Bex. I still love her. After all of this I still love her like a sister. She’s responsible for so much of who I am today. She was my only real witness to the time when I became an adult.

“Go back to Alice,” I tell Katie. “I’ll get ready for Olivia. I’m going out there.”