Page 110 of Rescued Dreams

He turned to Maria. “What woman?”

“The pregnant one we saw behind the house.”

Maddie yelled over the settling building, the car engine, and the residual noise, saying, “The pregnant lady is dead. Nicholas took her away and killed her!”

Maria shook her head. “We saw her outside, and she said she’d escaped him. She’s pregnant, so there was nothing she could do to help you guys. She was going to save herself and her baby.”

Ridge started toward the car. Picked up his pace. This woman knew where he’d find Amelia.

Kane tugged on his good arm and jogged in front of him.

“What’s going on?”

Ridge knew that was one of the cops asking, but didn’t stop to answer, and neither did Kane. He heard Maria and the girls launch into conversation with the officers, but Olivia told them all to shush, then took over.

Ridge tuned it out. He lifted one hand and waved. “Stop!”

Kane waved his arms overhead. “Stop!”

The car kept coming. The driver held the steering wheel with both hands and stared at them with wide eyes.Cherry.

They waved their arms more.

“Stop!”

Kane yelled, “Stop!”

One of the police cars fired up its siren for a second. The car jerked a little in front of them, as if her foot slipped off the gas. For a second, it looked like she was going to swerve around them and keep going, but Kane sidestepped and kept in front of her.

Finally, she skidded the car to a stop, spraying mud and grass behind her.

Ridge ran to the passenger side. Every step jolted pain through his shoulder. He needed to get stitched up by a doctor and all that, but not without knowing where Amelia was.

Kane opened the driver’s door. “Step out of the car, ma’am.”

Officer Thomas ran over. “I’ll take over from here.” He had his gun drawn. “Step out, please.”

The pregnant woman, Cherry, climbed out slowly, grasping the sides of the door. Kane even held her hand for a second.

“Where’s Amelia?”

Ridge didn’t mean to yell it over the roof of the car, but now it was too late.

Officer Thomas shot him a look.

Cherry said, “I don’t know anything. I can’t be here. I have to leave, or my baby will be in distress.”

“We can call you an ambulance, ma’am,” Thomas said. “You don’t need to drive yourself.”

“But first you need to tell us what’s going on.” Kane folded his arms. “Where are Nicholas and Amelia?”

Another cop jogged over. “I see we still don’t know if she’s with these guys or innocent.”

“Basuto.” Ridge turned to him. “If I hadn’t been shot by this guy while trying to save Amelia from being hanged in the lobby of that house, I’d punch you in the face.”

“I’d arrest you.” Basuto wanted to get in his face, but he didn’t.

Maddie and Ella started crying.