Chapter 6
We left at five the next morning.
Megan came to the hospital to stay with Lila and Jake.
She hugged us both at the door.
“Find her,” she said. “Make her pay for what she did to those babies.”
The drive to Atlanta took four hours.
Daniel drove fast.
We didn’t talk much.
Both of us were thinking the same thing.
What would we do when we found her?
Linda texted at seven thirty.
*The address is 214 Maplewood Drive, Apartment 3B. Midtown. Her boyfriend is with her. His name is Marcus. Be careful.*
Daniel gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white.
“Marcus,” he said. “That’s the scammer’s name. The one who took all her money.”
“Maybe they’re still together,” I said.
“Maybe he’s the one who put her up to this,” Daniel said. “The whole thing—taking the kids, hiding them—it sounds like his style. Manipulate. Use people for money. Disappear.”
We found the apartment building easily.
It was a nice complex.
Gated.
Security cameras.
Sarah was living well while her children starved.
Daniel parked across the street.
We sat in the car, watching the entrance.
“Plan?” I said.
“We wait,” Daniel said. “Sooner or later, one of them has to come out. When they do—I’ll confront her. You stay back. Call the police if things go wrong.”
“Daniel—”
“Promise me, Emily.”
I sighed.
“I promise.”
We waited two hours.
Nothing.
I was starting to think Linda had given us bad information.
Or that Sarah had already run.
Then the gate opened.
A woman walked out.
Blonde hair.
Sunglasses.
Expensive workout clothes.
Even from across the street, I recognized her.
She looked exactly like her sister Linda.
Exactly like Lila.
“That’s her,” Daniel said. His voice was dead calm.
Scarier than if he’d shouted.
Sarah started walking toward the coffee shop on the corner.
Daniel got out of the car.
I followed, keeping my distance like he’d asked.
He crossed the street.
He caught up to her half a block from the apartment.
“Sarah.”
She froze.
She didn’t turn around at first.
Then slowly—slowly—she took off her sunglasses.
She turned.
Her face went from annoyed to confused to terrified in three seconds.
“Daniel?”
She backed away.
“What—what are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Did you really think you could get away with it?” Daniel said. He kept his voice low, but every word was sharp as a knife. “Did you think I’d stop looking? That I’d just forget I had children?”
“Daniel, I can explain—”
“Explain what?” Daniel took a step toward her. “That you paid Vanessa five thousand dollars to take Jake and Lila? That you told them I was dead? That you left them alone in a warehouse for three months with no food, no water, no heat? That Lila almost died of pneumonia two nights ago because you couldn’t be bothered to check on your own daughter?”
Sarah’s mouth opened and closed.
She looked around wildly.
People were starting to stare.
“I didn’t leave them alone!” she said, her voice rising. “Vanessa was supposed to take care of them! She told me she was staying with them! She said she’d feed them, take them to school—she lied to me!”
“You left them with Vanessa,” Daniel said. “You knew what she was. You knew she didn’t want them. And you didn’t care. Because as long as they were out of your way, you could be here with Marcus, spending what was left of my money.”
“Marcus is gone!” Sarah said. “He left me two months ago. Took every cent I had left. I’ve been stuck here ever since. I was going to come back for them, Daniel. I swear. I was just waiting until I had enough money to—”
“To what?” Daniel said. “To buy them a nice apology gift? To make up for three months of hell? Lila is five years old, Sarah. She weighed thirty-two pounds when we found her. Thirty-two. She couldn’t stand up. She kept asking for her mother while she burned up with fever. And you were here. Drinking lattes. Going to spin class. Living the life.”
Tears were streaming down Sarah’s face now.
But they didn’t move me.
They didn’t move Daniel.
“I made a mistake,” she sobbed. “I know I did. I was stupid. I was scared. Marcus told me if you found the kids, you’d have me arrested. He said I’d lose everything. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You could have called me,” Daniel said. “At any point. You could have said you were in trouble. You could have asked for help. I would have given it to you. Even after everything. Because they’re my kids. But you didn’t. You chose to run. You chose to hurt them. And now you’re going to pay for it.”
Two police cars rounded the corner.
Lights flashing.
Sarah saw them.
Her face crumpled.
“You called the police?”
“I didn’t have to,” Daniel said. “Vanessa’s been singing like a bird since they arrested her. She told them everything. Including where you were. They’ve been looking for you for twelve hours.”
The officers jumped out.
They walked straight to Sarah.
“Sarah Carter?”
She nodded, speechless.
“You’re under arrest for custodial interference, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and two counts of felony child endangerment. You have the right to remain silent—”
They cuffed her.
She didn’t fight.
She looked at Daniel over her shoulder as they led her to the car.
“Daniel—please—tell the kids I’m sorry. Tell them I love them.”
Daniel watched her go.
He didn’t answer.
When the cars pulled away, he stood there for a long time.
Alone in the street.
I walked over to him.
He didn’t look at me.
“It’s over,” I said softly.
He nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s over.”
But his voice didn’t sound relieved.
It sounded broken.
“Daniel?”
He turned to me.
Tears were running down his face.
“I loved her once,” he said. “I would have done anything for her. And she—she threw it all away. For what? A few months of fun? A guy who didn’t even stay? My kids almost died, Emily. Because the woman I married decided they were inconvenient.”
I pulled him into a hug.
He held onto me like I was the only solid thing in the world.
“She’s gone now,” I said. “She can’t hurt them ever again. You have them back, Daniel. That’s what matters. You have them back.”
We stood there for a long time.
Two strangers who’d become something more in the space of three days.
Bound by the worst and best thing either of us had ever lived through.
May you like
When he finally pulled back, he wiped his face.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
