by P J Stanley
Blair did have a baby. A baby girl. Madison Bradley.
Emily flipped the paper over and read the opposite side.
Father: unknown.
Her lips trembled as she turned the paper back over, searching for the date of birth.
September thirteenth.
That meant Madison, her granddaughter, was four months old. Emily closed her eyes as the tears trickled down her cheeks. How could Blair keep this from her? How could she keep her own granddaughter a secret from her? How could she not have told her about Mitch and the abuse? How could she not tell Emily about the horrible things her own father did to her? Emily thought they were closer. She thought Blair knew that she could trust her. After everything they had been through and after all the years of sharing everything with one another. Emily felt like she was looking for a stranger. It was as if she had never even known Blair, not entirely. Her eyes then widened as the date of birth circled through her head once more.
Mitch.
Callie.
Their baby was four months old.
D.O.B.
“What in the hell do you want?” Callie Bradley snapped as she stared back at Emily through the open door on the front porch of Mitch’s townhouse. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to just show up here,” Callie added as her red, puffy eyes stared back at Emily, her long, blonde hair tied back in a messy bun.
“You think I enjoy this, Callie? Do you really think I wanted all of this to happen?” Emily asked.
“The entire town is talking about the bullshit that you fed the cops. Mitch never would have done those things to Blair and you know it,” Callie growled.
“You don’t even know the man you married.” Emily sighed, her body shivering in disgust. “You didn’t see the photos. You didn’t see what he did to my daughter. If anything, I did you a favor. Imagine if one day, you woke up, and you discovered he was doing the same thing to your child, to his own daughter.”
“Why the hell are you here?”
“I’m here because I need to talk to you. This isn’t about Mitch and this isn’t about us. This is about Blair,” Emily said.
“What about Blair? Still on that bullshit that she’s missing? You still think someone took her? When the hell are you going to step into the light and see that you smothered that girl, Emily? You practically drove her away.”
“Do you know something?”
“No, I’m just stating facts,” Callie said as she rested her shoulder against the open front door. “You were so busy being her best friend that you forgot to be her mother. Mitch told me all about you, and then some. How are your meetings going, by the way? He said you quit, gave up.”
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” Emily snarled, stepping toward Callie.
“It is when you’re on my fucking doorstep.”
“Blair had a baby,” Emily spat out. “Did you know?” Emily asked. She was done playing games. She didn’t have time to stand here and entertain Callie. She needed to know the truth.
“And she didn’t tell you? I’m stunned.” Callie smirked, crossing her arms over her breasts.
“Did you know?”
“God no,” Callie said. “Mitch would have killed her. I know they had their ups and downs, but he cared about her a lot. He wouldn’t want her to ruin her life like that.”
“She had the baby in September. That would make her about four months, now. How old is Lexi?”
“What the hell are you getting at?”
“I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. If you know something, you need to tell me. NOW,” Emily demanded.
“Are you saying you think that Lexi, my daughter, is really Blair’s?” Callie smirked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“God, and I thought Mitch was exaggerating just how crazy you were. You need to check your meds, Emily,” Callie said as she stepped back, closing the door. Emily’s hand shot up as her palm slammed against the cold wooden surface, stopping it in front of her. Callie’s red eyes narrowed on Emily from behind the cracked door.
“You’d do anything for Lexi, wouldn’t you?” Emily asked, tears flooding her eyes.
“Of course. What mother wouldn’t?”
“Then dig really deep down into that cold heart of yours, and try to understand where I’m coming from, Callie,” Emily said, her voice trembling. “Just tell me the truth.”
“We recorded the birth. Would you like to watch it?” Callie smirked, rolling her eyes.
“You’re damn right, I would.”
***
Emily stared back at Hank who sat beside her on the couch in the center of her living room. The sonogram trembled in his calloused hands as his eyes lifted, settling on Emily beside him, her legs hugged to her chest.
“I can’t even believe this,” Hank said, shaking his head as he leaned forward and grabbed the beer bottle from the coffee table in front of the sofa.
“How do you think I feel? How could she hide this from me? How could she lie about everything, Hank?”
“So, what did Callie say?” Hank asked, taking a long sip from the cold beer in his hand.
“It’s not Lexi; it’s not her baby. She thinks I’m crazy, like everyone else. Just like you do right now,” Emily said, staring down into her lap.
“I don’t think you’re crazy. I just think you need to take a break from this, Em,” Hank said as he sat up, setting his beer back on the table. Emily turned from him, staring back at the black TV screen as he draped his arm around her. “You’re getting so caught up in all of this and I don’t want to see you slip. You spend all day digging for answers that you just might not ever get. I know she’s your daughter and I know you want to find out what happened. But you need to give yourself some time. You need to take care of yourself.”
“You say that like it’s so damn easy. You say that like I can just turn it off, the feeling in my stomach that’s constantly twisting inside of me. I don’t expect you to understand because you’re not a mother, Hank. I don’t expect you to get it because you don’t have a child.”
“I know, but you have got to slow down with all of this. You haven’t slept in days, Emily. You stay up all night, tossing and turning. You’re checking your phone constantly. I know you want to find her; I want to find her, too. But after what happened with Mitch and what you saw, what he did to himself.” Hank sighed. “You need to take care of yourself before you lose yourself.”
“I’ve already lost myself,” Emily said as she glanced to Hank beside her, the tears slithering down her cheeks. “I can’t give up on the littlest piece of hope that she might still be alive, that she is still out there wanting to be found,” Emily said. Hank leaned back into on the sofa, staring at the sonogram in his hands.
“The baby was twelve weeks when this was taken.” Hank nodded. “So, if the baby was born in September, that means she was conceived sometime in December. I’d say right around Christmas or so.”
“I know. I know she went to the Christmas Eve party at Mitch’s. But I don’t remember what she told me. I mean, that was last Christmas.”
“Well, maybe the father of the baby was there.” Hank shrugged. Emily bit her bottom lip as she struggled to comb through the memories of the previous Christmas. That was the last time Blair had really talked to her father.
The sound of Emily’s cellphone ringing echoed through the living room, the ringtone bouncing off the walls surrounding them. Emily snatched her phone from the coffee table and answered.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Miss Keller, this is Sheriff Alan Ross. We need you to come down to the station. Now.”
her
The blinding fluorescent light shined down on Emily as she stared back at the thin female figure hidden beneath a white sheet on the silver autopsy table. Every goosebump on Emily’s arms rose to the surface as the cold air danced along her skin, her entire spine shivering as she glanced to Sheriff Ross beside her.
“Are you sure
you’re up to this?” Sheriff Ross asked as his dark eyes glanced to the mortician beside the table across from them.
“Just do it,” Emily said, her eyes fluttering. She watched as the mortician grasped the edge of the sheet and lifted it back. Her heart sank when she saw her daughter’s pale, angelic face, her blonde hair spread out beneath her skull in curly waves of white highlights and blonde strands.
It was her.
It was Blair.
“Oh, my God,” Emily cried out, covering her mouth with her trembling hands as tears flooded down her cheeks. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God,” Emily said as she fell on the white floor, her knees slamming on the hard surface.
“Miss Keller,” Sheriff Ross said softly as he leaned down beside her, grabbing her trembling hands into his own.
“It’s her! It’s her!” Emily cried out. How could she let this happen? To her only child? To the only person she ever loved more than life? Her stomach turned as she turned away from the sheriff, vomiting on the floor. She couldn’t take this. She couldn’t do this. All this time spent on finding her, and she was gone. How could she be so blind?
“Miss Keller, please, come with me. We will clean that up. Just please come with me.” Sheriff Ross nodded as he helped Emily to her feet. The mortician quickly pulled the sheet back over Blair’s face as she turned away, making her way toward the door.
“Who did this? Who did this to her?” Emily cried as Sheriff Ross pushed the door open, leading her out into the deserted hallway of the Elwood Memorial Hospital.
“We wanted you to identify her before the autopsy. We will know a lot more by tomorrow morning. I promise you, Emily, we will find them. We will find who did this to your daughter.”
“And what if you don’t? She’s just going to be forgotten. She’s just going to be the girl that disappeared. She’s just going to be the daughter of Emily Keller, the mother who let this happen to her.” Emily sobbed into her hands.
“Miss Keller, this was beyond your control,” Sheriff Ross said. “There is nothing you could have done. You did everything you could do. Now, all we can do is get justice for her. That’s the most important thing right now,” he added. Emily felt her heart race as her breath sped up, faster and faster. Her legs wobbled as her tongue stuck to the roof of her dry mouth. She couldn’t handle this. She couldn’t take it anymore. There were so many questions she would never get the answers to now. There were so many memories left to be made: her wedding day, her graduation from college. Now, that was gone. Someone stole that from her.
“If you don’t find who did this, I will,” Emily said, her jaw tightening as the warm tears trickled down her cheeks.
“Did Blair have any enemies? I know we’ve been over this before, but we have to be sure. If we want to catch this son of a bitch, we have to focus. Who would want to hurt her? Did she have any enemies? Did someone have a grudge against her?”
“No, I’ve told you everything. I’ve told you about Cole and the professor; there’s no one left,” Emily cried. But there was one person, tucked away in the back of her head. If there was anyone that knew more about Blair than Emily did, it was her.
It was Zoey.
hush
Emily lowered herself down on the couch inside of Zoey Duncan’s living room, cupping the mug of hot chocolate in her cold hands. It was almost easier this way, distracting herself with the questions that still remained unanswered. Blair was dead and Emily would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t see this coming. She could feel it inside of her as the days went on, the impending doom that lurked within the shadows of her soul. But seeing her body, seeing her on that cold table confirmed the doubts that haunted her. Deep down she knew the truth this whole time; she just couldn’t let herself believe it.
Now, all that was left to do was to get answers. Now, all she could do was to get justice and bring the son of a bitch down that took her daughter away from her. Zoey knew more. Emily was going to do whatever it took to get to the truth.
“I really am sorry to hear about Blair,” Zoey said as she sat down on the couch beside Emily. “Do they know who did it?”
“The autopsy is being done as we speak. I’ll know more once that’s done,” Emily said. The tiny marshmallows in her cup of hot chocolate were dissolving into a frothy head .
“It makes me feel so sick.” Zoey shivered, tucking her hands between her legs. “I don’t understand how someone could take a life. Especially here in such a small town. It’s horrifying. It makes you feel like no one is safe.”
“I know you’re probably tired of me and my questions, but I do need your help,” Emily said, closing her eyes. She couldn’t cry, not now. She had to be strong. She had to be stotic.
“What’s going on?” Zoey asked.
“Did you know that Blair had a baby?” Emily asked, placing the mug on the coffee table.
“What?” Zoey asked, her eyes bulging as she sat forward. “No, she couldn’t have, no way.”
“What makes you say that?”
“She was always so careful. I mean, we used to talk all the time about sex and how awful it would be to get pregnant so young, to have to drop out of school and take care of it. There was nothing she wanted less.”
“Well, she did; she had a baby girl.” Emily nodded. “And from my basic math skills, she got pregnant around Christmas.”
“Oh, my God,” Zoey gasped, her wide eyes drifting from Emily and to the coffee table. Zoey stood as she wrapped her arms around her body, staring blankly ahead.
“What? What is it?”
Zoey swallowed, turning to face Emily as she sat back down on the sofa beside her.
“I didn’t want to say anything before. I know me and Blair weren’t on the best of terms, but I never would have told anyone anything she told me in confidence. I’m not that kind of person.”
“What the hell is going on, Zoey? What do you know?” Emily asked, sitting up straight.
“She didn’t want me to tell you or anyone, ever. She was so embarrassed, and she was such a mess after it happened. She didn’t even want to press charges. I begged her to go to the cops. I begged her to tell you, but she wouldn’t listen,” Zoey said, her voice shaking.
“Zoey, what happened?” Emily asked again, her voice stern.
“She told me that—” Zoey paused. “She told me she was raped,” she said.
“What?” Emily gasped. “When?”
“All I know is that she said it was at her dad’s Christmas party. She said everyone was super drunk, and she didn’t want to cause any drama or issues with the family. I begged her to say something, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Did she say a name?” Emily asked.
“It was something really common.” Zoey sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips. “Maybe Chris or, or maybe George?”
“Come on, Zoey, think. Please, just think really hard,” Emily begged as she grabbed Zoey’s hand, squeezing it.
“It was one of her dad’s friends.” Zoey nodded as her eyes lifted, staring back at Emily beside her. “Greg! His name was Greg.”
evidence
Emily bit the right inner corner of her mouth as she watched Kate and Greg McCallister sit down at the small round table in the center of their kitchen. The bitter taste of blood filled her mouth, dousing her entire tongue as she bit harder, her tooth shredding into the tender flesh. It took everything she had not to leap across the table and wrap her trembling hands around Greg’s throat.
“How are you holding up, hun?” Kate asked, placing her hand on top of Emily’s that sat on the wooden surface of the table. Emily pulled her hand away, placing it into her lap.
“I could be better,” Emily said, her teeth grinding together behind her closed lips.
“Do they know anything yet? I haven’t been hearing much since—” Greg stopped, staring down at the table. “Since Mitch,” he said.
“I can see why you two were so close; I guess predators have to stick together, don’t they?”
Emily said, her eyes glued to Greg across from her.
“What?” Kate asked as her eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
“You don’t even know your husband, Kate. You have no idea what he’s capable of,” Emily snarled.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Greg snarled, his eyebrows arched.
“I talked to one of Blair’s friends today. She said Blair was raped. It apparently happened at Mitch’s Christmas party. Apparently, you raped my daughter,” Emily said, her nostrils flaring as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks.
“Where in the hell is this even coming from, Emily?” Kate snapped as she placed her hand on her protruding belly, gently rubbing the baby bump.
“I’m just trying to find out why he’s been lying! What the hell happened at that party, Greg?” Emily yelled.
“You are completely delusional.” Greg laughed, leaning back into his chair as he shook his head. “You are seriously going to take some stupid sorority girl’s word over mine? How long have we known each other, Emily? How long have we been friends?”
“That means nothing to me. I knew my daughter for twenty-one years and, somehow, I feel like I didn’t even know her at all,” Emily snapped. “What happened between the two of you that night?”
“Nothing happened,” Greg growled, shrugging as his wide eyes scanned the kitchen.
“You’re lying!” Emily screamed.
“I am not!” Greg yelled back as he darted to his feet. “Who the fuck are you to come into MY house and to say this shit to me, huh? Who the hell are you, Emily? How dare you!”
“For someone with nothing to hide, you’re getting awfully upset,” Emily said.
