by Willow Rose
“That’s the deal, Scott; you better honor it.”
He grabbed the door handle and was about to leave when he paused. “I meant you and me. You know that, right?”
“What?”
“When I talked about regrets. I was talking about us. Don’t you wonder what it would have been like if we had become a couple instead of just sneaking around? If we had stayed together?”
I stared at him, speechless. I had wondered that so many times lately, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to think about how deeply I had been in love with him, even though we just fooled around. I had wanted him so badly back then, wanted him to choose me over Hannah, and hoped he would break up with her because he realized his great love for me was more profound than what he had with her. But when it did happen, when she broke up with him, he didn’t choose me after all. He didn’t even call me or come looking for me. He just left town after graduation, and we never saw one another again. It was the biggest heartbreak of my life, and he didn’t even know it. Now, he was seriously looking at me and telling me he regretted it too?
“Did you want to?” I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“Heck, yeah,” he said. “I was nuts about you. I used to come to see you run track all the time, just to see you.”
“But you were with Hannah,” I said. “You were homecoming queen and king. You were the perfect couple.”
“I know,” he said. “It was all an image thing. We felt we belonged together because we belonged to the same group. You know how things were back then. It didn’t matter if you liked her or not. It was just how it was supposed to be, right? And then she broke up with me, and I was so excited, I could have burst.”
I tilted my head. “Really? Why did she say you tried to run her over?”
He scoffed. “I told her I was relieved when she broke up with me, and I think she was just upset about that. She wanted me to be heartbroken. She knew I wasn’t really into her and us. She could feel it, and I think she wanted to punish me. She made up this rumor that I had tried to hurt her because I didn’t want her to leave me. I never touched her. All I could think about was the fact that I was now a free man and could date you.”
I could barely breathe. Scott turned his head and faced me, pushing himself closer to me as he spoke. My heart throbbed in my chest, and I couldn’t find the words. For so many years, I cried over this guy, and here he was telling me he wanted me back then. And maybe now too.
“But…but you never called or said anything after you and Hannah broke up,” I said. “Why didn’t you?”
His eyes grew confused. “What do you mean? I called your house. I spoke to your mom and told her to tell you to call me back. When you didn’t, I called again the next day and continued for several weeks in a row. It was right after graduation. When you never returned any of my calls, I concluded that you didn’t want me, and I went away for college in Jacksonville. I was heartbroken—completely destroyed.”
“But…but…oh, dear Lord. My mom must have deliberately not given me those messages because she didn’t like you,” I said, clutching the steering wheel hard between my fingers. “It sounds like something she would do. I can’t believe it. I thought you didn’t want me. I thought I was nothing but casual sex to you. I thought you just used me because Hannah wouldn’t sleep with you.”
Scott looked at me intently, then leaned toward me. He closed his eyes and placed a kiss on my lips. His lips were soft and tasted sweet, and I closed my eyes and kissed him back, tasting him. When our lips parted, he looked at me, looked deep into my eyes.
“I was nuts about you. You were so hot; I could’ve died. And to be honest, I still am crazy about you. Seeing you again has opened up all those old emotions. How could I not be? You were the one who got away. I came to you because I wanted help finding Sarah and getting my name cleared, and you did all that. But I had no idea what seeing you again would do to me.”
With that, he winked and opened the door to the car. I watched him walk up to his townhouse, waving at me before he went inside, my heart throbbing so hard that it hurt my ribcage.
Chapter 58
THEN:
They were having a dinner party for some friends. Lynn and her boyfriend Stan looked at one another, and he put his arm around her shoulder while the woman from his office, Stella, talked about her and Phillip’s trip to Europe a few weeks earlier. They had been on a Mediterranean cruise and traveled through Greece on a moped and seen Rome by car. It was fascinating to hear about, and when Stella walked to the bathroom, Stan leaned over and kissed Lynn’s cheek, then whispered, “Next year, it’s our turn. Let’s go on a trip like that.”
Lynn smiled and nodded, sipping her wine and feeling happy. She and Stan had been fighting a lot over the last couple of years. She had begun to wonder if they’d last—if their love for one another was even enough. But lately, they had been doing a lot better, and she was enjoying him again. She was beginning to think they might make it after all. She leaned over and kissed his cheek with a light laugh. As she pulled back, her phone’s display lit up, and Stan noticed since it was lying on the table in front of them.
Stan looked at his watch. “It’s almost ten o’clock at night. Who is calling you at this hour?”
She looked at the display. She didn’t recognize the number and thought about letting it go to voicemail but then picked it up anyway.
“It’s Jeff,” the voice said on the other end. He sounded agitated, almost out of breath. Lynn jumped to her feet and hurried out of the room, hoping that no one could hear it was a male voice.
“What are you doing?” she asked angrily when she was in the hallway. “You can’t call me!”
“But…but I miss you so much,” he said. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I can’t function properly. I can only think about you. All the time, Doc, do you hear me? It’s all the time.”
She sighed and leaned her head against the wall behind her. She had let him go too far, and she knew it. This wasn’t good at all.
“Jeff, you can’t call me.”
“Why not? I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“It’s not good, Jeff. Besides, I am in a relationship. You know this. If he finds out you’re calling me, he’ll leave me.”
Jeff went quiet. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Are you okay, Jeff?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “You tell me.”
“What do you mean?”
A long pause followed.
“Turn around.”
Lynn opened her eyes and did as he said. Then, she froze. There he was, standing right outside the window, looking in. Seeing his longing eyes made her heart melt completely, and she hung up, then stared at him through the glass for a few seconds before moving toward the door leading to the porch. She walked outside, closed the door behind her, and they stood in the rain, staring deeply into one another’s eyes.
Then, he leaned over, grabbed her face between his hands, and kissed her. She kissed him back, and he lifted her up. He placed her on the patio furniture table, then pressed himself up against her while pulling up her skirt.
Chapter 59
I didn’t sleep at all that night. Frustratingly enough, it wasn’t because of the babies. For once, they actually slept through the night, both of them and I could have had the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep. But I didn’t. All I could think about was Scott and that kiss we shared. I listened to Matt’s heavy breathing in bed next to me, feeling the guilt nag at me in my stomach.
What am I doing? What is happening to me?
Needless to say, I felt awful, and it continued the next morning. For some reason—probably guilt—I was being extra nice to Matt and made him his favorite breakfast with scrambled eggs and freshly baked chocolate chip muffins. The kids ate as if I had never fed them before, then left for school. Matt stayed behind, drinking his coffee, sitting at the breakfast counter, while scrolling thro
ugh Facebook. My father, grandmother, and brother were there too, chatting along, but Matt didn’t really talk to them. I got the feeling he was getting pretty annoyed with them being here. I couldn’t blame him. It was a lot.
“How about you and I go out for dinner tonight, huh?” I asked, leaning over the counter. “My dad and grandmother can watch the babies.”
He didn’t look up from his phone but sipped his coffee. “What’s that?”
“Matt, look at me.”
He lifted his gaze and met mine. I felt like throwing up; that’s how much the guilt was eating at me.
“I asked if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight. We could go to Pompano Grill? You love that place. It’ll be just the two of us. It’s my family’s last night here, and we need to take advantage of having all these potential babysitters in the house.”
He gave me half a smile. “Sure. Whatever you want. You’re the boss around here anyway, right?”
He drank the rest of his coffee, grabbed his keys, and left. I stared at the door as it slammed shut, then exhaled.
“Are you two all right?” My dad asked.
I shook my head, trying not to look as sad as I felt inside. “Going through a rough patch. But I hope we will be.”
I called Pompano Grill and reserved a table, then texted Matt to be there at six-thirty and added a heart emoji. I fed the babies, then put them down for their nap when my phone vibrated. Thinking—and hoping—it was Matt who called to say how much he still loved me, I pulled it out of my pocket in a swift motion, only to realize I didn’t recognize the number. I picked it up anyway.
“Bryan Abbey here.”
I paused. It was Sarah’s brother. Why was he calling me?
“Bryan? What can I do for you?”
“It’s my sister,” he said.
“She’s back…or so I’ve heard,” I said, trying not to reveal the fact that we went to his house.
“Yes, she came back, but she wasn’t quite herself. She kept sitting at the window, gun in her hand, guarding the house like she was expecting someone to come after her.”
“Did she say anything about where she had been or what happened to her?” I asked.
“Only that she had been taken and held against her will. She wouldn’t reveal where she had been or if she knew who had kidnapped her. I got the feeling she did, though. I begged her to go to the police, but she wouldn’t do that either.”
“That’s odd. Do you think she was protecting this person, whoever it was?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. She seemed scared to talk to the police somehow. She was scared of everything. And now, well, I was about to leave for work, but she hadn’t come out of her room. So, I went in to say goodbye, but she wasn’t there. Her bed was empty. I searched the house and the yard outside, but she’s not here.”
I sat down in the rocking chair behind me, where I usually sat with the babies when they woke up at night, trying to get them back to sleep. I cupped my mouth.
“She has disappeared again?”
“It would appear so, yes. Please, help me find her. I’m worried something bad has happened to her again. What if that person came back for her?”
I nodded, understanding his worry. “Was there any sign of forced entry?”
“Not that I can see, no. But the back door was left unlocked. I don’t know if she left that way or if we forgot to lock it, and this person came in through there and took her again. Please, help me find her, will you? I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Chapter 60
I left the babies safely—at least I hoped so—in the hands of my family, my grandmother and dad, then told them I would only be gone for a few hours. I left, guilt nagging once again in the pit of my stomach, and drove toward Winter Park. I didn’t say anything to Matt about me leaving. I didn’t want him to tell me that I could just say no when he knew perfectly well that wasn’t an option for me. I had gotten myself involved in this strange story and couldn’t just let it go now. I knew he wouldn’t understand. Besides, he didn’t have to know. He was gone all day, and I would be back before he was off from work. I stopped at a Seven-Eleven to get myself some coffee and a soda, then continued toward Orlando while wondering—and worrying deeply—about this news.
Sarah had disappeared again. Was this woman just a master of vanishing dramatically, or had something happened to her? She had told her brother she was kidnapped and held against her will. If that was true, then had this person come for her again? Was this person determined to finish her off?
Or was something else entirely going on?
I needed to know. I needed to get to the bottom of this story before I could let it go. I would keep digging until my fingers bled before giving up. It would end up haunting me if I hadn’t done everything in my power to help her.
I just wished Matt would understand that about me.
I speculated if I should tell Scott about Bryan’s call, but something made me not call him. Was it because of the kiss we had shared? Or was it that I feared he had played me all along and maybe come back to hurt Sarah? He had surprised me many times over, and I had to admit, I found it hard to trust him. He had never offered me any explanation as to why he was stalking that girl, Lily. It was creepy to me, and along with the other stuff that had been revealed about him lately, I could no longer deny that I felt like I had to be careful with him. I mean, he seemed to have an explanation for everything. Hannah had made it up, Sarah had fallen by accident, and Lily had misunderstood his intentions on the bridge. But that didn’t explain why he kept stalking her? Why didn’t he try to explain that to me?
And then, of course, there was the kiss we had shared. I guess I didn’t really want to face him after that.
I parked in front of the old home on Howell Branch Road, then walked through the long front yard, up to the porch. Some of the grass and leaves had turned brown due to the lack of rain. It had been an unusually dry winter this year. Yet the yard still looked impeccable.
Bryan opened the door when I knocked. He seemed out of breath, agitated, and he was sweating heavily.
“Can I come in?”
He let me, and I walked inside.
“Did she sleep in here?”
He nodded, and I walked into the bedroom. The bed was made, and it didn’t look like it had been slept in at all. She could have been gone already last night for all we knew. It would be no use to go out searching for her. She could be far gone already.
“I left everything the way I found it this morning as you told me to,” he said.
“This is all?”
“She doesn’t have much stuff. She didn’t bring anything with her when she came back. She threw out the clothes she was wearing. They were completely destroyed. I had never seen anything like it. She was in a terrible state when she came here but assured me she didn’t need to go to the hospital. I did notice some bruises on her wrists and her arms, though, but she wouldn’t tell me how she got them. I bought her some pants and shirts at Walmart that she could wear. She didn’t want to leave the house, she said. She just sat in that chair by the window like she was waiting for someone to come get her. It was really eerie, to be honest. But she wouldn’t tell me who it was, who had hurt her, who she was waiting for. I could just see that she was scared.”
“It’s much like what she did in Viera,” I said while scanning the room, looking for anything that could tell me what had happened to her, if she had left willingly or not. I was mostly looking for signs of a struggle—a tipped-over lamp or trace of blood on the floor.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. It’s just that…she was dating Scott when she disappeared. And she said to him a couple of months ago that if she ever went missing, he should go looking for her. It just tells me she knew someone was searching for her. She was afraid of someone. That’s why I would really like to know what—or who—she ran from when leaving Winter Park three years ago.”
I walked around to the other side of th
e bed, my eyes scanning everything I could see but found nothing—no signs of a struggle. That didn’t mean she hadn’t been taken against her will. A gun to the head or a knife to the throat was enough to make people come along quietly. I glanced toward the chair by the window and tried to picture her sitting there, then remembered seeing her come out to us when we were last there.
Gun clutched in her hand.
“She had a gun,” I said.
“Yes, she was using my gun; it made her feel protected,” Bryan said, then wrinkled his forehead. “How did you know that?”
“I was just guessing,” I lied, not wanting to explain how I knew and get into the discussion of why Sarah would put a gun to Scott’s head if they were dating. It still had me greatly puzzled, and I kept wondering what the heck he did to her. “But where is that gun now?”
Bryan looked confused. “Let me check if she put it back.”
He left and came back a few minutes later. “It’s not in the box under my bed where it usually is.”
“So, technically, she could still have it?” I asked.
“I…I guess so.”
I nodded. “You and I are going to make some coffee, and then we’ll sit down and have a long chat. I need you to tell me everything, and I mean everything about Sarah. When she lived here, who did she hang out with? Where did she work? Where did she live? Who were her coworkers? What school did she attend? Did she have any enemies? Any heart she broke? Any big events in her life? Anything that might have happened back then that could justify her leaving everyone just like that. You must have had an idea back then about what could make her suddenly pick up and leave. I need to know everything. Do you hear me, Bryan? Everything. Don’t leave out a single thing.”
Chapter 61
THEN:
“They’re here again. The detectives are here.”