A Reckless Life

by Michelle Files

  “Abbey? Did you hear me?” She waved her hand in front of my face to get my attention.

  That snapped me out of it. “Oh, sorry. Yes, I heard you. This is a joke, right?” She had to be joking. There was no way it was legitimate. “Does Adam know what you’re planning?”

  “Of course not. Don’t be an idiot.” She rolled her eyes at me.

  Yeah, that was a stupid question.

  “Did your mother drop you on your head as a child?” I don’t think she was trying to be funny.

  I just glared at her. “Can I go to prison for kidnapping my own daughter? I mean, people don’t even know she is my daughter.” It was a fair question.

  I have to admit that the idea of getting Madison back thrilled me. She would be all mine. They still didn’t know my real last name. It would be difficult for Adam to find me. But I was terrified at the same time. I knew that he would never just let her go without a fight. He would call the police the second he discovered her missing. I would have to spend my life on the run. Was that fair to Madison? She didn’t deserve that type of life. No, I couldn’t do that to her, could I? If Sarah did give me a lot of money, like she said, I could afford to hide out in style. Madison would probably never know that people were looking for us. I really wished that I had some time to seriously think all of it through. There were a lot of consequences to what Sarah was planning. I didn’t go to the ranch planning to kidnap my daughter. I was there to try to work out some type of custody arrangement with Adam. But, as I stood there I realized he would never agree to that. Taking her might be my only option. It scared the daylights out of me though.

  “I don’t know. This sounds like a really bad idea to me.” I was waffling.

  “Do you want your daughter back or not?” Sarah was clearly getting impatient with me.

  It was a serious question. I could tell by the tone in her voice that she meant it. She wanted nothing more than to get rid of Madison.

  “Yes, of course. But…”

  She cut me off. “Just stop. Don’t be so afraid of every little thing. I’m going to help you. I promise that this will work.”

  Chapter 32

  They never locked the doors at the ranch, which was shocking to me, especially with a toddler in the house. I guess they figured there was no reason to bother on an estate that big with employees milling around all the time. No one would ever get in without being seen.

  Per Sarah’s instructions, at 2 a.m. sharp I drove around to the back of the estate with my headlights off. I parked on the other side of a large van that belonged to one of the staff that lived there. No one would be able to see my car that way, if anyone was up at that hour and happened to look out one of the windows. I got out of my car quietly and skulked to the back door. I crept down the hallway quietly without anyone seeing me. I think I held my breath the whole way. It was very dark and a bit scary creeping through the house in the middle of the night, knowing I could get caught at any moment. Before I got to Madison’s room, I heard someone moving around. I stopped and pressed my back up to one of the closed hallway closet doors and tried to make myself very small and invisible, in case they walked past me in the dark hallway. No one did though. I heard them go into the hall bathroom and I stood there for several minutes waiting for them to finish up and get back to their bedroom. It had to be one of the staff that lived there. Adam and Sarah had a bathroom in their room, so would have no reason to go out into the hallway. Finally it was quiet again and I continued on my way.

  When I reached the nursery, it too was very quiet. Apparently Boris didn’t work there anymore. No need, I guess, since I had left long ago. Sarah had packed a few of Madison’s things and I found the suitcase in the closet where she left it. I had to feel around for it, because I didn’t want to turn on any lights. Luckily there was a dim nightlight in the room so I could see Madison lying in her bed peacefully. She must have seen me too, because just as I walked toward her she started crying. I panicked.

  “Oh sweetheart, please be quiet. We don’t want to wake anyone up,” I said to her softly, trying to calm her down. It didn’t work. Of course it didn’t work. I was a complete stranger to her, sneaking into her room in the middle of the night. That would freak anyone out. Poor baby.

  I picked her up gently, hoping to quiet her. Just as I did, Adam walked in and flipped on the light. My eyes immediately slammed shut on their own, against the shocking lights hitting them all of a sudden.

  “What the hell?” Adam was definitely surprised to find me standing there, holding our daughter. “Give her to me.” He walked across the room quickly and yanked her out of my arms. That just made Madison scream even louder. “Now look what you’ve done!” he yelled at me.

  “What I’ve done? I was calming her down and you came storming in here, flipped on the lights and grabbed her from me. That’s why she is crying.”

  “Why are you here?” he asked as he laid her back down in the crib and covered her up. That’s when he looked down and saw the suitcase sitting on the floor next to me. “What is going on?”

  “I told you earlier, I’m here for my daughter. You are completely unreasonable and since you won’t even talk to me about some sort of joint custody, I’m taking her.” I tried to sound forceful, hoping he would take me seriously.

  Just then, Sarah walked in and feigned shock at seeing me there. She was pretty convincing. I almost believed that she was surprised to see me.

  “You are trespassing and I’m calling the police. Sarah stay here with her until I get back. And don’t let her near my daughter,” he told her as he turned to leave.

  Sarah just shook her head in disbelief when he said ‘my daughter,’ and not ‘our daughter.’ She then walked over and stood by the crib, keeping up with her performance. She had to make sure he had no clue that she was involved in my taking Madison.

  “Yeah, you do that. I’m sure they would be happy to know that you were sleeping with your 15 year old employee. And here’s the proof,” I said smugly, pointing at Madison.

  That stopped him in his tracks. He turned around to face me.

  “You wouldn’t dare.” He looked a little scared.

  “Wouldn’t I?”

  He stood there for a moment, probably trying to decide if I was bluffing or not. I wasn’t.

  “You know that I can still tell the cops that you stole the Picasso.”

  “Go ahead. You already told the police that you didn’t know who took it. There’s no proof that I did. They won’t believe you when I tell them that you were blackmailing me with that painting, so I would leave my daughter with you.”

  The look on his face was priceless. I think he finally realized that he had nothing to hold over me. I held all the cards, thanks to Sarah and her coaching. She told me exactly what to say to make this happen, in case I got caught. I could tell it was starting to work. Sarah just stood there. When I looked over at her, she had a slight, almost imperceptible smile on her face.

  “I’m not letting you leave this house with my daughter.” He started to come closer, trying to intimidate me. He reached out and grabbed my arm, which I quickly yanked away from him.

  That’s when I lost my mind. I had a knife in my pocket that I brought just in case things went sour. I grabbed it out of my pocket and shoved Adam up against the wall, completely taking him off guard. Then I held it up to his throat before he had a chance to react. I had to be strong. I knew that if I waffled at all, he would overpower me easily.

  “Let me make something clear,” I told him. “I’m taking my daughter tonight, and if you ever touch me or her again, I will kill you. I have nothing to lose if I don’t have my daughter, so going to prison for your murder does not scare me. And, if you come after us, I will absolutely tell the cops everything about how I got pregnant at 15 years old, against my will, by my boss. Then you will be spending a lot of time in prison. Got it?” I said every word slowly, for emphasis.

  “Yeah, I got it.” He looked like he was really afraid of me
at that moment. I’m pretty sure he believed every word I said.

  Sarah never said a word as I backed away from Adam and put the knife back in my pocket. Then I picked up Madison and the suitcase and walked out the door, keeping my eyes on him the entire time. Adam didn’t move or say another word to me. As I was heading down the hallway, I heard Adam and Sarah bickering. He sounded very angry that she just stood there and did nothing to help him or stop me from taking Madison.

  I was absolutely sure that he would come after me at some point. I was smart enough to know that. He couldn’t just let his daughter disappear in the middle of the night and not tell anyone. People would notice. Luckily he had no idea that Sarah was in on the whole thing. She gave me a nice chunk of money to disappear for a while. It wouldn’t last forever, but was a very nice start.

  Even with the money Sarah gave me, I really had nowhere to go. Other than my family and drug addict friends, I didn’t know anyone outside of the ranch. And I was not about to go back to that way of life with my daughter in tow. That was a vow I made to myself when I went into rehab for the very last time. No matter how hard things got, drugs were part of my past for good. So, I decided to go home.

  When we arrived at my parents’ house, very early in the morning, the sun was just peaking up over the mountains and it was still mostly dark outside. I knocked on the front door. I didn’t feel like I should just walk in, because I didn’t live there anymore. Besides, I didn’t want to frighten my parents by barging in the front door so early in the day. They might still be in bed. They were early birds though, so I doubted they would be asleep.

  When the door opened, my mother’s face went from just a touch of confusion to a huge smile, then the tears came as she grabbed me and hugged me like it had been years since she saw me last. Three years, to be exact. She was so emotional that she didn’t even notice Madison standing next to me, holding my hand.

  After holding on to me for a full minute, she let me go and backed up a bit while wiping the tears from her face.

  “Abbey, come in.” She moved aside to allow me to enter the house. That’s when she saw Madison. “Oh my goodness, who is this?” She looked down at Madison and back up to me, just as realization took hold. “You have a daughter?” She smiled.

  “Yes.” That was the first thing that I said since my mother opened the door. I was trying very hard to keep it all together. “This is Madison. Sweetheart, this is your grandma.” I picked up Madison so she could get a better look.

  “She’s beautiful, Abbey. Oh, I almost forgot your father. Leland!” she yelled to the kitchen. “Come in here quick.”

  My father almost ran in. “What’s the matter? Are you all ri…?” The words just hung there as he realized it was me standing there. “Abbey!”

  He started crying immediately. I handed Madison to my mother and ran to my father’s arms. I didn’t even realize until that moment how much I missed my family. We were all crying by then and even Madison started crying. That made me laugh.

  “Oh honey, it’s okay. I’m fine,” I said, taking her from my mother. “Dad, I want you to meet your granddaughter, Madison.”

  “Hi Madison, sweetheart. I’m happy to know you,” he said in a gentle voice. He took her hand and kissed it. That made her smile. “I think she likes me,” he said to me. “She and I are going to get along famously.”

  I loved the fact that neither of my parents seemed upset that I came back with a two year old. They never said a word about me getting pregnant at such a young age. I think they were just happy that I came back and was all right.

  It didn’t take us long to get settled in. Madison and I moved into my old bedroom and were very comfortable there. I found a job in a local restaurant and my parents watched Madison while I was at work. They didn’t mind at all. They adored and spoiled her. Madison took to them right away.

  Everything seemed to be going very well, until a few days after our arrival when I went outside and picked up the newspaper for my father. He read it every morning with his coffee. He had been doing that as long as I could remember. Then I saw the lead story. There was a huge photo of Madison on the front page.

  The article said that they believed the housekeeper (I was not the housekeeper) kidnapped their daughter out of her bed, while everyone was sleeping. There was no mention of Adam and Sarah catching me in the nursery on the night I took her. It said there was a massive search, with hundreds of volunteers, who turned up no leads. They offered a reward of $100,000 for any tips leading to her whereabouts. The name of the housekeeper in the story was Abigail Hunter and I was the prime suspect because I had recently been fired. They believed it was a fake name, which it was. It said Madison was the only child of Adam and Sarah Tyler. They had no credible leads.

  The story also mentioned the heart shaped birthmark on her neck, by her left ear. It was a perfect match for Adam’s birthmark.

  There was no way I could let my parents see the article. They might put two and two together. Well of course they would. There was a photo of Madison right there with the story, and the birthmark was a dead giveaway. I removed the front page of the paper and threw it away. When I handed it to my dad, I told him that it got wet. He could still read the rest of the paper and I would get him a new one when I went into town later. Of course, I never did and he forgot all about it as he went on about his day.

  The crises was averted, temporarily anyway.

  Chapter 33

  Unfortunately, over the next few weeks the media coverage didn’t go away. It definitely slowed way down, as things like that do, but it still showed up in the newspaper occasionally. I made a point of getting up very early every single morning to check the paper before my father got a hold of it. Later articles just mentioned the kidnapping, but they were on later pages and easy to hide from my dad. All of the deception was starting to wear thin.

  One morning my parents left to go do some shopping, as they did every single Sunday morning of my life. Funny how things never change. Madison was in her high chair working on some oatmeal I had made for her, and making a horrible mess. You can just imagine a two year old and oatmeal. The doorbell rang and I went to answer it, leaving Madison in the kitchen while I went to the front door. When I opened it, I was shocked. There stood Sarah. She just smiled at me.

  “What are you doing here?” I wasn’t very friendly. I’m sure she had no expectation that I would be.

  “What kind of way is that to greet the person that gave you a small fortune and everything that you want?” she snidely remarked as she walked past me into the house. Her eyes scanned the room, obviously looking for something.

  I followed her as she walked toward the kitchen, apparently oblivious to anyone that might be in the house and see her. She walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw Madison.

  “Hi sweetheart,” Sarah said to her in her best impression of a mother.

  “Mommy!” Madison reached for her and Sarah turned her back on her to talk to me.

  Poor Madison. She had no idea what that was all about. To her, Sarah was her mother, the only one she had ever known. Until I showed up. She had been with me for a few weeks by that time, and I’m sure she loved me too. However, she had lived her whole life with Sarah. She didn’t understand that Sarah was not really her mother. I knew over time that would change. She was young enough to forget all about Sarah and come to love me as her only mother. It might take a little while for that to happen though.

  “Sarah, how did you find me?”

  I had no idea how she could have possibly found me. I had used a fake name. I know that I never told anyone, except Huck, where I was from, and he swore to keep my secret to the end. Strange that that’s exactly what happened. At least there was this one thing I kept my big mouth shut about.

  “Teresa told me.”

  “What? She did? Since when do you talk to her? Isn’t she in prison?” That whole family hated Teresa for stabbing Violet. It seemed unlikely anyone had any contact with her after a
ll she had done.

  “Stop asking me a million questions.” She put her hand up toward me, for emphasis. “I went to visit her in prison. We had a chat. I would never have found you if you had kept your big mouth shut and not told her everything. Luckily for me you did tell her,” she smirked.

  Oh yeah, I had completely forgotten that I told those things to Teresa in confidence. I guess Huck wasn’t the only one I told. Teresa and I had been friends once. I guess I did have a big mouth.

  “Why would she tell you anything?” Teresa hated that family as much as I did. It seemed unlikely that she would even talk to Sarah.

  “Because I accused her of stealing the painting. With that and the stabbing of Violet, it could go very badly for her. I don’t know if you are aware, but she only got 15 years for killing your friend, Huck. Crime of Passion and all that. Add grand theft to the mix and she might never get out. I reminded her of that.” Sarah seemed very satisfied with herself.

  “Wow, you are getting a lot of mileage out of that stupid missing painting.”

  “Yes I am. In fact, I could still use it against you if I wanted to. You left our house and somehow came into a lot of money for someone with no job. I wonder how that would look to the police?”

  “Did you just come here to threaten me, or is there some purpose to your visit?” I said through clenched teeth.

  “I came to pick up my daughter.” She turned and looked at Madison, scrunching her face up at my daughter all covered in oatmeal, then looked back at me. “You’ll need to clean her up first though. I can’t put her in my car like that.”

  “What! Hell no.” I jumped in between her and Madison. “I thought you couldn’t wait to get rid of her.”

  “True. But now there is so much publicity about her kidnapping, it is starting to worry me. I’m afraid someone will find out I’m responsible. Besides, Adam talks of nothing but her. I thought that getting rid of her would make our marriage better, but it has gotten worse. Adam is never going to stop looking for her. I figured that if I came and got her, maybe we could figure out how to be a happy family.”