by Willow Rose
Nothing. I found nothing suspicious. No creepy photographer, no strangers contacting her.
How did she get this idea into her head?
Frantically, I kept going through all her emails, all her messages on Instagram, when my phone rang. I looked at the display. Since the killer had called me the last time and told me where to find Ave Morales, the sheriff’s office had been monitoring my calls. The first one they had only been able to locate within a ten miles radius of Cocoa Beach, which didn’t give us much to go after. The phone was a burner. As I saw the unknown caller on the display again, my heart literally stopped.
What if it was him? What if he was calling me to let me know that he had my daughter?
My hand shook as I pressed the button.
“H-hello?”
Chapter 80
It was Chad. I gasped for air while trying to calm my poor hammering heart.
“Always had impeccable timing, Chad,” I said and sat down on Olivia’s bed.
“Is this a bad time?” he asked. “I can call again later. I was actually looking for Olivia, but she’s not picking up her phone. I wanted to know if she received the money.”
Money?
“You gave her money, Chad? How much?”
“A thousand dollars. It was for some photo shoot.”
“A photo shoot? You gave her money for that? Did she mention when or where she was going for it?” I asked.
“No. She just said she needed the money and that it was a big deal for her, that it was her dream coming true. Are you telling me that you didn’t know about this, about her asking me for it? I thought she ran this by you and figured you just didn’t want anything to do with me after last time we spoke. You made me feel really awful. I thought giving her the money was a way for me to make it up to her. I wired it to her this morning.”
No. No. No!
I rubbed my forehead. “Of course, you did. Listen…Olivia…”
For a second, I was about to tell him that I believed Olivia was in trouble but then decided against it. There was still a chance she was just out with her friends and that she had forgotten her phone at the diner before they left to go somewhere else. Or someone might have stolen it and thrown it in the trash when they realized they couldn’t open it. If she was, in fact, missing, I’d have to tell him when I was certain.
“I gotta go.”
“Wait; there was something else,” he said.
Of course, there was.
“What? I’m kind of in a rush here, Chad, could you get to the point a little faster?”
“I eh…figured out how to be with the kids more.”
“Yeah? That’s great, Chad,” I sighed while my mind worked overtime trying to figure out where my daughter could be. “How so?”
“Well. The thing is, Kimmie left. Or rather, she threw me out. We’re splitting up. She gave me two weeks to find something else. I could get a new job closer to you guys. I was actually thinking about coming to Cocoa Beach. Maybe coming…home?” he paused, probably waiting for my reaction, but I had no words yet. It was a lot to take in right now.
“It’s always been you and me, Eva Rae,” he continued. “I realized this recently. I don’t know what I was thinking when I left you. We’re a family.”
Are you freaking kidding me?
“You wanna come…home?” I asked, not quite grasping this. Things were moving a little too fast for my liking right now.
“So…what do you say?” he asked.
What do I say? What do I say? I say you cheated on me and left the children and me without a word. I say I will never be able to trust you again. I say I am deeply, madly in love with someone else and we’re doing fine without you. That’s what I say.
But, of course, those weren’t the words leaving my lips. Instead, I said, right before I hung up: “Like I said. You have impeccable timing. I can’t deal with this right now. I gotta go.”
Chapter 81
“Who was that?”
My mom stood in the doorway of Olivia’s room.
I rubbed my forehead. “That was Chad,” I said.
“What did he want? It sounded like he wanted to come home?” she said and stepped closer.
I put my hands up. “Not now, Mom. I don’t have time for this. I need to find my daughter, remember?”
“Don’t shut him out just because of what he did. He is still the children’s father. You didn’t even tell him you didn’t know where Olivia was. Why didn’t you tell him? He deserves to know.”
I lifted my eyes and met hers, then sent her a look to make her back off. “I don’t owe Chad anything. He left us. Besides, I don’t see how this is any of your business. I need to find my daughter now. So, Mom, please forget about Chad for a little while, even if you love him, and try to help me think. Now, Olivia never spoke about becoming a model before, how did she get this idea in her head? Could she have spoken to someone? I checked online, and there doesn’t seem to be anything there. Could she have met someone at the diner? At school maybe?”
My mom shook her head. “I…I don’t know, Eva Rae. She seemed perfectly normal to me this morning. Are you sure she’s not just out with her friends and forgot her phone at the diner?”
Was it me? Was I overreacting? Maybe because of the drugs? I thought it over, then felt this pinch in the bottom of my stomach again.
No, something is wrong. I just know it is. Call it a mother’s instinct; call it a cop’s instinct, or maybe both. You can call it what you want. I just know this.
I rose from the chair and stood in my daughter’s room, looking at the magazines next to her bed. There were all the big ones, Elle, Cosmo, and Vogue. I flipped the top one and stared at the super skinny models featuring strange clothes that I couldn’t believe anyone would ever wear.
Maybe Olivia had been into this for longer than I thought?
“I need to find the list of numbers for her best friends,” I said. “I keep it in the kitchen. I’m gonna start calling them.”
My mom sighed as I walked past her, then followed me down the stairs.
“I’ll help.”
I found the list in my drawer, then stared at the whiteboard I had put up to organize our lives. Alex had a TAG—Talented and Gifted—trip today where they went to Kennedy Space Center, so he wouldn’t be home till late, and Christine was at Orchestra. She had recently begun playing the double bass at school and rehearsed with the orchestra twice a week. Both of them were out, and that was good. I didn’t want them to know what was going on or to worry about their older sister. They had enough with me being in the hospital and everything else that had been going on the past several days.
“I’ll take the first one,” my mom said. “Vivian, is that her name?”
I nodded. Vivian was one of Olivia’s best friends that she had made since she moved here. I wouldn’t say she had made any really close friends yet, but she had found a couple of girls from the volleyball team that she liked to hang out with after school from time to time. Vivian was the one she liked best.
“I’ll try Shelly,” I said.
As I said the words, my eyes fell on something on the floor by the front door. I walked to pick it up, then turned the object in the light, recognizing it.
“What’s this?” I asked
My mom approached me, squinting her eyes to see better. “Let me see,” she said and took it out of my hand.
“This doesn’t belong to anyone who lives in this house,” I said. “Someone was here, Mom. While I was in the hospital. Who was it? Who was here, Mom?”
Chapter 82
The gate was open when I drove up. The entrance was packed with cars, big limos, Teslas, and Maseratis. A young man in a suit asked me if I wanted to use valet parking, so I got out and let him park my car in the garage underneath the house.
It was Friday night, and they were having a party.
Someone held the front door open for the couple in front of me, who slid inside, the woman wearing a long blue sparkling
dress. Me, I was in shorts and flip flops. Still, I managed to sneak in with the couple, and soon I entered the big hall where people were mingling. I recognized a couple of local politicians, some Hollywood starlets, a famous rapper that I only knew of because of my children, and I was pretty sure I spotted Tom Hanks by one of the big windows leading to the yard and ocean behind it. But I could be wrong. I never was good with famous people and recognizing them, much to my children’s annoyance.
There was champagne in every partygoer’s hand, along with caviar, and lobster canapés. I realized I hadn’t eaten at all today. Not since the mushy breakfast at the hospital that contained pineapple juice, an orange, and something I couldn’t identify but probably was supposed to be an omelet. I had barely eaten any of it, and now my stomach was grumbling angrily at me.
But there was no time.
I spotted Sydney—or Kelly Stone—standing between two well-dressed men, a glass of champagne held lightly between her fingers. Her eyes met mine, and she excused herself to them, then approached me.
“Eva Rae?” She looked nervously around her. “I thought you were in the hospital?”
“Save it. Where is she?”
She gave me a strange look. “What are you talking about? Listen, this isn’t such a great time. I’m having a small party. You’re welcome to stay, but…”
I held up her bracelet. “I found this in my house. Explain, please.”
“I…I’m not sure I follow you here, Eva Rae.”
“Cut the crap, Sydney.”
“Maybe we should take this elsewhere,” she said and looked nervously around her. A woman passed her, and she smiled politely at her while escorting me through a door into what looked like a big library. Thousands of books decorated the walls from top to bottom.
Sydney closed the door.
“Please don’t call me that name,” she said as she faced me again. “That is not my name.”
“Okay, Mallory Stevens or Kelly Stone or whatever the heck your name is. Where is my daughter? I know you came to my house and spoke to her. My mom told me.”
My sister sent me a wry smile.
“Our mother, if I recall,” she said. “And, yes, that’s true. When I heard what happened to you on the news, I went to your house. I was there to bring a peace offering. I spoke to our mother. I realized I was angry at her because I had been told my entire life that she didn’t want me. That was why I told you I couldn’t see you anymore. But as the days passed…and then you were hurt, well, I soon realized that I risked losing you again and that I had been silly. This was my family, and if you were reaching out to me, then I at least owed it to myself to take the chance. That was why I came back here in the first place. To find my family, that my dad—our dad—told me didn’t want me. I wanted to find my roots, but gave up, thinking you would have looked for me if you wanted to see me again. But now, Mom told me everything. She told me about how I was taken, and that they didn’t know where I was, how you all thought I was dead and gone for all these years. I never knew this. My dad, well our dad, told me she had thrown us out, that she never wanted to see either of us again and that was why we moved so far away and had no contact with her…or you. All those years, I thought our mother had chosen you over me, and that made me resent you. As I listened to her story, I began the process of forgiveness. But it’s a journey. Wait. Are you mad about that? About me wanting to talk to Mom? To want to get to know you?”
I shook my head, tears springing to my eyes. “No, of course not. That’s what I want too; believe me. It’s my daughter. It’s Olivia. She’s been missing since after school today and I…well…”
Sydney looked surprised, angry even. “You thought I had taken her? Me who had recently learned that I was a victim of kidnapping myself?”
“I don’t know what I thought. Maybe I hoped she was here and not taken by some sicko. You were at my house, and I was desperate. I thought maybe she had come to you.” I turned around and found a leather chair, then sank into it, feeling hopeless. We called everyone that Olivia knew, and no one had seen her since school ended. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going or who she was meeting. I even called the diner, and they hadn’t seen her either. I had felt so certain it had something to do with my sister and the fact that she had been at my house two days earlier.
“I wish I could be of more help, Eva Rae,” she said. “I really do.”
“Yeah, me too, well…I should be…” I rose to my feet when my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out. It was a text from Matt.
GOT YOUR MESSAGE. PICKED UP HER PHONE AT THE DINER. HAVE ALERTED ALL PATROLS AND WILL ISSUE AN AMBER ALERT ASAP.
I exhaled, almost in tears. It was the right thing to do, but it suddenly felt so darn real. My daughter was gone. No one knew where she was.
“I have to go,” I said and was about to leave when I stopped. “Didn’t you say that your boyfriend Noah recently moved in with you?”
I turned to face her. She nodded.
“Yes, he’s my fiancée. We’re going to marry this summer. I will invite you and Mother, naturally.”
“How much do you know about this guy?” I asked.
As I spoke, I received another text from Matt and opened it. It was a picture with the caption:
JUST RECEIVED THIS FROM DMV. THIS IS OUR GUY. THIS IS ANTHONY PIATKOWSKI. SENDING IT TO THE MEDIA ASAP.
I looked at the picture, then felt my heart drop. I showed it to Sydney.
“That’s Noah; why?”
I swallowed. “This is our suspect. This is the guy we believe kidnapped three teenage girls from the school on prom night. This is the guy we believe kidnapped Molly Carson after promising to make her a model,” I said, cursing myself for not having told Olivia what happened to Molly. I didn’t want to scare her, so I had withheld all the details, but now I realized it was the worst thing I could have done. I should have warned her, and now she had fallen victim to the exact same trick.
“He raped and blinded Molly before placing her in my yard, chained to a swing set. He also killed one person at the hospital, severely hurt several others, and shot Carina Martin as she tried to escape. He killed Ava Morales and Tara Owens and put me in the hospital. It is also the guy I suspect has taken my Olivia.”
Sydney looked at the picture on the phone, then shook her head. I could tell she was in shock.
“No. That’s not the same person. You must have the wrong guy. That’s not my Noah.”
“Look at the picture, dang it. Is this your fiancée?”
Sydney’s nostrils were flaring, and her eyes were flickering back and forth. She fixed her glare on the photo, then nodded with a sniffle.
“Yes…yes, that’s him.”
Chapter 83
“What do you know about him?” I asked when sensing Sydney still didn’t fully believe me. I couldn’t blame her. If she had been living with the guy and they were planning to marry soon, then this had to be quite a shock.
“His name is Noah Greenwald.”
“Have you met any of his family?”
“No…well, he doesn’t get along with them, he said. It’s not like he’s met mine either.”
“I am so sorry for this, but he has been lying to you. His real name is Anthony Piatkowski. Five months ago, he bought a house on Country Club Road where he built a bunker…where he later kept the three girls.”
Tears were in her eyes now as she shook her head. “No, Noah is a surgeon. He works at Cape Canaveral Hospital. He is very skilled and has earned many awards. Hasn’t he?”
“Give me a sec,” I said, then texted Matt back and asked him to look up Noah Greenwald. A few minutes later, he texted me back.
“I am sorry, sweetie,” I said. “Noah Greenwald is a surgeon, or rather he was. He died in Afghanistan in 2017.”
Sydney clasped her mouth and fought to stay calm. I placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
“Where is he now? Where is Noah?”
She swallowed.
“In there,” she said. “With the guests.”
I felt my badge in my pocket and pulled it out. I had also brought my gun strapped underneath my CBPD jacket.
“You should probably stay in here,” I said and grabbed my phone to call Matt.
“O-okay.”
“He’s here,” I said into the phone. “I’m gonna take him in. I can’t wait for backup. I’ll risk him making a run for it. I don’t care that it’s dangerous. He has my daughter, Matt. I am not taking any chances.”
Chapter 84
I walked back out into the big living room where the many people were gathered. No one seemed to notice me, so I continued through the crowd until I spotted him. He was standing by the grand piano in a corner of the living room, in deep conversation with a woman that I was certain I had seen before in some movie but didn’t recall the name.
As my eyes landed on him, my blood froze. This was him; this was the guy who had been toying with me for weeks, who had been torturing me and this entire town. He had been here all along? Hiding in plain sight in my sister’s house?
I couldn’t wait to take him in and have him taste some of his own medicine. He was going to be locked away for a very long time. It was satisfying to know, even though I most of all wanted to kill him right there. I felt such deep anger toward this man, and yet, I hardly even knew him. My question was, why he had felt such resentment toward me that he wanted to put me through all of this.
What was his motive?
As he lifted his glance from the woman in front of me and our eyes met across the room that was humming with chitchat, it hit me.
I knew exactly why he was out to get me, and the realization struck me like a punch in the stomach. It almost knocked me out.
