Page 96 of The Followers

“I think he should be here for this discussion. It’s important. Can you call him and let him know he needs to come home?”

He still sounded casual, but he gently wrapped his hand around the back of Chloe’s neck. Molly stopped breathing.

“He’s camping,” she said in a rush, thinking of the Westfalia. The intruder might have noticed it was gone, and it made sense. “I’m not sure if I can get ahold of him.”

“Too bad. I’d hate for this little sleeping beauty to be frightened when she wakes up.” His hand tightened, long fingers reaching nearly all the way around Chloe’s neck. Her mouth fell open, a tiny ribbon of drool escaping from her lips.

Molly sat forward, pulse pounding. “Please...”

His hand relaxed, but Molly didn’t. She’d tried calling Scott multiple times in the past few hours. He wasn’t picking up. Her only hope was that Jeremiah and Liv had found him by now and one of them would answer her call.

“I’ll try,” Molly said, trying to remain calm. “My phone’s in my back pocket.”

He flicked a finger in her direction. “Stand up and reach for it. Nice and slow.”

Molly stood, her breath rapid and shallow. She kept her eyes focused on Chloe’s face as she reached for her back pocket and pulled out her phone.

“Your job,” he said, “is to get him to come home without saying anything about me.”

“His phone wasn’t working earlier.”

The intruder’s eyes flashed, a hint of anger beneath his calm exterior. “You need to figure something out.”

“Okay,” Molly said quickly. “I’ll call someone who should be with him.”

“Speakerphone,” he directed.

She pressed Liv’s number, then turned on the speaker. It rang three times, and she prayed silently that Liv would answer.

“Molly?” Liv sounded tired, but otherwise normal. Molly sent up a small prayer that Liv wouldn’t say anything to make the intruder suspicious. If he knew Scott was on the run, he might decide to cut his losses and get out of there—and she was certain he wouldn’t leave her and Chloe alive.

“Hi,” Molly said. Her pulse pounded, whooshing in her ears. “Are you with Sam? I need to talk to him.”

fifty-three

All we really know of other people is what they choose to show us.

@InvincibleMollySullivan

“It’s Molly,” Liv said, holding out the phone, confused.

Molly had sounded strange. Too cheerful, even for Molly, the perpetual optimist.

Jeremiah and Scott stared at her. “Why?” Scott said.

Liv handed the phone to him. “She wants to talk to you.”

Scott’s eyes narrowed as he listened, but otherwise his face gave nothing away during his short conversation with Molly. Liv strained to hear her voice. Maybe Molly could convince Scott to come home.

Jeremiah, she noticed, was trying to hear the conversation, too. He looked as hopeful as she felt. But there was nothing to hear, just Scott’s occasional Okay as he nodded. Finally, he said, in a patient voice, “I’m two hours away, Mol. Can’t you call someone else?” More nodding, more okays, and then, in a resigned voice, “All right, I’ll come.”

He hung up the phone and handed it back to Liv.

“What’s going on?” she asked him.

He shook his head, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. “She said a pipe’s burst and the basement is flooding. She needs me to come home.”

“What?” Jeremiah said. “A burst pipe?”