“Children tell stories. The girl was traumatized and probably worried about getting into trouble. This was a terrible accident, which could’ve ended much worse. Our thoughts are with (the girl) and her family as she recovers,” said local police chief Daniel Sullivan.
Note from the Editor/Author: Since moving to this area a year ago, I am astonished by the number of deaths ruled accidental by our police force. Chief Sullivan has assured me that the police have made every effort to investigate the girl’s claims, as well as the other deaths here in Bates. This reporter finds that hard to believe. Anyone with any information is urged to contact the local police. However, if they don’t take you seriously, I would love to hear from you. You can contact me, Libby Preston, at the Bates Tribune.
So, someone else thought that this town was strange too. It was exciting, empowering even, knowing that someone else had believed as she did. Libby Preston. She wondered if anyone had ever contacted her. She flipped back to her search engine and began typing:
Libby Preston Bates, SC.
Few results were actually useful. There was the site she had just come from, and a few other articles about unrelated topics. She scrolled, hoping to land on something useful. She gasped as she came across an obituary.
Libby Preston, age fifty-one, passed away Saturday, November 3rd. Mrs. Preston was a beloved member of the Bates community. She was the former editor of the Bates Tribune before her early retirement at the age of forty-nine. She was a proud member of Bates Baptist Church. Mrs. Preston is preceded in death by her daughters Lorianne and Annalise, and her son, William. She is survived by her husband, Hal, and her daughter, Carrie, along with her granddaughter, Rebecca.
Jordyn’s heart pounded as she read the last sentence again. Carrie Preston. This had been her mother. She read the obituary over again. Libby Preston had had four children, three of whom had died before her, leaving only Carrie. Carrie had two daughters, both of whom were now dead. Her head reeled as she began going over what she knew in her head. She’d stumbled onto a piece of the puzzle, but she was unsure where it fit. Could Carrie be behind all of this? She was definitely a link.
She scrolled back, wondering if she could find anything about how the family had died.
“What are you doing?” Connor’s voice came from behind her, causing her to jump. A high-pitched squeal escaped her.
“Connor!” she cried, nearly falling from her chair in an attempt to minimize her screen. “What are you doing up?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, though by his expression it was obvious that he knew.
“Did my light wake you up?”
“No,” he said firmly. “My phone.”
“Your phone?”
“I think I believe you now, Jordyn,” he said, his voice ominous.
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“About this place, about the kids. I know that’s what you’re doing up.” He paused, looking down at his phone. “They know too.”
“They?” she asked, a chill running down her spine. “Who’s they? What are you talking about, Connor?”
He thrust his phone at her, its screen brightly lit. “You have to stop asking questions, stop searching for answers. Whatever it is you’re doing, you have to stop.” His voice quivered, but Jordyn wasn’t listening to him anymore. Instead, her heart pounded in her chest, the air around her closing in as she stared at the screen. The phone held a single text from a blocked number, a warning:
STOP LOOKING FOR ANSWERS NOW—OR YOUR SON DIES.
Chapter Eight
Jordyn awoke the next morning on the couch. It had never been discussed that she should sleep there, but both she and Connor had needed their space. He had left early this morning, taking the laptop with him. Jordyn had pretended she was asleep, not wanting to deal with any more confrontation, but she knew she’d lost his trust. She wanted so badly to tell him he didn’t need to worry. After last night, every time she looked at the computer she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. She’d pulled all of the curtains tight, but she still had an uneasy feeling in her gut.
At eight o’clock, just after she’d gotten Ollie fed and changed, a knock sounded on the door. She jumped, startled, and Ollie began to cry. “It’s okay, baby,” she told her son, pressing his head onto her shoulder and trying to calm her pulse. She walked to the door cautiously, trying to guess who it could be. She pulled the curtain back and gasped.
“Carrie?” she cried as she swung the door open. The woman who stood before her was definitely Carrie, though she was different than the shadow of a woman who’d been at the funeral. There was a dim light in her eyes, slight color in her cheeks.
“Hello.” Carrie cleared her throat. “I just, I wanted to come by to tell you thank you for the flowers at Kinley’s funeral. You didn’t have to, and, well, we appreciate it.”
“You didn’t have to come all of the way here, especially not after the last time we saw each other. I know what I did, what I asked you in light of everything going on. It wasn’t right. I’m just so sorry.”
She held up her hand. “No. You were right.” She sucked in a breath, shaking her head. “You had awful timing, but you were right.”
“I was?” She furrowed her brow.
Carrie glanced around behind her, as if she expected someone to be watching her. Her car sat empty in the driveway, but still, Jordyn had a strange feeling.
“Everything okay?” Jordyn asked.
“Do you think I could come inside?” Carrie asked.
“Oh, of course.” Jordyn stepped aside, still uneasy after her research last night. She led Carrie into the den and gestured toward the couch.
“Thank you.” Carrie smiled at her, taking a seat.
“Could I get you something to drink?” Jordyn asked awkwardly, unsure of exactly what her house guest wanted.
“Water would be nice. Thank you.” Carrie stuck her hands in her pockets, shivering slightly.
“Okay, sure. I’ll be right back.”
“Would you like me to hold him for you?” There was something in the way Carrie spoke that made Jordyn cringe. Her skin grew cold as ice. Could she have been right about everything last night? Was it Carrie who had texted Connor? She cursed herself mentally for being so trusting. Why had she just let her into the house without a thought? Not wanting to give herself away, she forced a small smile.
“Oh, that’s okay. He’s not very good with strangers. I’ll be right back.” She turned around, rushing out of the room and toward the kitchen. Her hands shook as she wondered what to do. She grabbed a glass, filling it with ice cubes and water. She stuck a hand in her pocket, searching for her phone. She had to call Connor. With no luck, she realized she’d left her phone sitting in the bedroom after getting Ollie dressed. There was no way she could sneak past Carrie now. As a last resort, she slid open the silverware drawer quietly. The house was too silent, she realized. Not a TV or radio going anywhere. She slid her trembling hand into the drawer, moving items carefully in search of a knife.
“Are you going to kill me now too?” The voice came from behind her. She shot back, tossing silverware back into the drawer and slamming her wrist on the counter. She spun around to face Carrie, her wrist throbbing.
“Excuse me? Kill you?” She rubbed her wrist painfully.
“I can only assume that’s why you’re digging through the drawers. You’ve killed my whole family now, haven’t you? Just left me to suffer through losing every single person I love.” She paused, staring into Jordyn’s eyes. “Get on with it then. Finish this. End me.” Tears filled her eyes, splashing onto her pale cheeks, but she didn’t break eye contact.
“What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t killed anyone. I thought you were here to kill me!” Jordyn exclaimed.
“Why would I be here to kill you if you haven’t killed them?” Carrie didn’t move, her body trembling.
Jordyn picked up a handful of spoons off of the floo
r, dropping them in the sink. She pushed the drawer shut, eyeing Carrie closely. In her eyes, she saw no anger. Confusion, yes, and a world of sadness, but no anger.
Jordyn handed over her glass of water. “Why on earth would you think I wanted to hurt you? I want to help you. I may have come on a little strong but the truth is that ever since that day in the supermarket, I can’t stop thinking about you, your family, The List…” She trailed off. “All I want to do is help this town. Stop whoever’s doing this.”
“You thought that I was here to kill you?” Carrie asked, still eyeing the glass of water suspiciously.
“Last night I started researching the deaths. I found out about your mom, about all of your family. I already knew about your daughters. You’re the only one left. I just assumed.” She stopped, pressing her lips together.
Carrie’s eyes widened. “You thought that I—” She opened her mouth to finish the sentence but no words came out.
“Carrie, when you came here you said that I had been right. I need to know what you meant by that,” Jordyn pressed, needing answers.
Carrie was silent, staring ahead.
“I found this article last night,” Jordyn continued. “One that your mother had written. She believed something bad was happening here. So do I. So, I need to know, did you know about Kinley? Did you know she was going to die? That something was going to happen to her before it did?”
Carrie took a gulp of her water as if it were vodka, walking toward the kitchen table. She sank into a chair, her eyes in a trancelike state. When she looked at Jordyn, tears lined her eyes again. “I would have done anything,” she emphasized, “to save my daughters. Anything. I kept them home as often as I could. I watched them sleep. I haven’t slept a full night in years. I tried so hard to stop it, just like my mom, but in the end it never matters. I just let it happen.” She wiped a stray tear with the side of her hand. “I came here because you were either going to kill me or help me fight. My family, my daughters, paid for my mom’s mistake, and no matter how good I was, it didn’t change their fate. I have nothing, no one left to lose. I kept quiet for my daughters, my future grandchildren, but they’re all gone now. Everything I have, have ever had, it’s all gone.” She took another sip of water. “And I am sick of keeping quiet.”
Jordyn sat down slowly across from her, turning Ollie around on her lap. “Go on.”
Carrie sighed. “You saw The List. That’s where all of this starts. It comes out every six months. You never know where it’ll be. You never know who’s next.”
“Next to die? So, it’s a hit list?”
Carrie nodded. “Of sorts. It’s always been children. Once you hit eighteen, you’re safe. I guess that’s why I survived, if that’s what you want to call this, when my siblings didn’t.”
Jordyn scrunched her brow, urging her to continue.
“My mom was a reporter, which you know. After she wrote the article you saw, her asking why the police aren’t doing anything about so many kids dying, they came after our family. It was a punishment I guess. But, I was already eighteen at the time, almost nineteen. We’d just moved to town less than a year before that. We had no idea what was happening.”
“But what is happening?”
She took another drink, shrugging. “No one really knows, I guess. There’s just The List. As long as you follow their rules, your kids stay off of it and stay alive.”
“Who do you mean ‘they’? Who’s doing this? Why are the police just letting them?”
“It’s not that simple. What choice do they have? What choice do any of us have? If we fight back or ask too many questions like my mom did, our children, our children’s children die. What on earth could be worth the risk?”
“So you all just sit by and watch as other people’s children die? As long as it’s not your own, you just look the other way? How do you live with yourselves?”
Carrie was silent, dropping her head.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.”
She looked up. “No. No, it wasn’t. You don’t know what it’s like.”
“I know.”
“But you’re right. The people of this town, me included, live in fear. Every single day. Whoever the list makers are, it’s like they’re everywhere all the time. They know everything that happens, everything that’s said or done. You can’t sneak past them. They probably already know that we’re talking about this.” She looked to Ollie. “It’s a big risk to you, me being here. I’m sorry about that.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Jordyn shook her head, pulling Ollie closer to her. “There’s no way that can be true.”
“It is. I know it seems impossible, and I don’t know how they do it, but I promise it’s true. They’re just everywhere.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to be quiet. But I can’t just sit by while this happens. I’m sorry. I know what you’re saying, but I just can’t do it.”
Carrie gave her a sad look. “Then I’m with you.”
“Okay,” Jordyn said with a sigh of relief. “Okay. So, I guess we should start at the beginning, right? Do you know when this all started?”
Carrie shook her head. “No, I don’t. It was before we moved here, so I’m not positive but I know someone who might know.”
“But you said we had to keep this quiet?”
“Of course we do, but I do know a few girls who could help us. Friends who I trust, who you can trust.”
“Okay,” Jordyn said.
“But I’ll only ask for help from women without children. I won’t put anyone’s children at risk,” she said firmly.
Jordyn nodded, staring at Ollie as a lump grew in her throat. She worried for her son.
“All right. Can we meet here again tomorrow then? I’ll bring the girls by.”
“Yes,” Jordyn said. “Let’s do it about this time.” She didn’t say aloud that it needed to be when Connor wasn’t home, but Carrie seemed to understand.
“Yes. This time is best for me too.”
A rap on the door caused them both to jump, startling fear in Carrie’s eyes. “Were you expecting someone?” she asked cautiously.
“No.” Jordyn frowned. “Maybe Connor’s forgotten something.” As she stood, the knock sounded again, this time much louder. Thinking quickly, she held Ollie out toward Carrie. “Would you mind holding him for me?” Just in case.
“Of course.” She pulled him into her arms, wrapping them around Ollie closely.
Jordyn walked toward the front door on her tiptoes, careful not to make any noise.
As she reached the door, another knock rang out.
She jumped, reaching for the curtain.
“Jordyn! Hello?” a familiar voice called out. Relief washed over her as she recognized the voice and threw open the door.
“Mom?” She stared in disbelief at her three unexpected visitors. “Kate? Dad? What on earth are you doing here?”
Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, rocking back and forth. When she finally let go, she smiled brightly. “I told you that we were going to come visit if you didn’t hurry up and invite us out. Honey, it’s been too long.”
“I know.” She stepped back. “I’m sorry. Come in. I’ve missed you all so much. It’s just been crazy here.”
Her dad pulled her into a hug. “Hey, girl,” he said softly.
“Hey, Dad.” She hugged him back, realizing how much she’d missed him.
As they entered the house, Jordyn pulled her sister into an awkward hug. “Glad you could make it.”
Kate twisted a piece of her brassy blonde hair. “Didn’t have much choice.”
The family walked carefully through the den, looking around. “Why, this place looks wonderful, Jordyn. It’s really turned out great,” her mother said in awe.
“Thanks. I still have a lot that I want to do. Ollie keeps me pretty busy though, so I haven’t gotten much started.”
“Speaking of, where is my grandson?” The family looked around.
“Righ
t here.” She heard Carrie’s voice behind her.
“Oh, hello there. Jordyn, you didn’t tell us you have company.” Her mother smiled happily, waiting for an introduction.
“I’m sorry. I was just so shocked to see you. Mom, Dad, Kate, this is Carrie. She lives here in Bates. Carrie, this is my family.” She held out her arms for Ollie and passed him to her mother, who proceeded to smother him with kisses.
“Hello,” Carrie said warmly, though obviously feeling out of place. “Jordyn, I should be going.”
“Oh, we didn’t mean to rush you off,” her father said genuinely. “Sarah, I told you we should’ve called.” He addressed Jordyn’s mother.
“No, it’s honestly fine. I have a million errands to run anyway.” She smiled.
Jordyn followed Carrie to the porch, making sure she was out of earshot before she spoke. “Can we still meet tomorrow?”
Carrie looked worried. “Yes, but not here. No one else can be involved.”
“It’ll be okay. I’m sure. I can have them take Ollie to the park or something, get out of the house for a while.”
“No,” Carrie shouted. “No. Don’t let Ollie out of your sight. Not for an hour, not even for a second.”
Jordyn frowned. “Carrie, they’re my parents. He’ll be fine.”
Carrie placed her hand on Jordyn’s arm, her icy fingers sending chills down her spine. “My daughter was just at school. My oldest, Rebecca, was just at the park with her father when the slide collapsed on top of her. Trust me, Jordyn, you will never forgive yourself. Keep that baby home. Keep him home where he’s safe.”
The List (The Carolina Killer Files Book 2) Page 7