Chapter 2 - The Car That Didn't StopThe ambulance arrived ninety seconds later.
Sarah remembered almost none of those ninety seconds clearly.
She remembered Daniel screaming at his mother.
She remembered Linda saying, “Not now.”
She remembered Emma's breathing becoming frighteningly shallow.
And she remembered the dark SUV disappearing around the bend without ever reaching their house.
Paramedics rushed across the lawn with a stretcher.
One of them crouched beside Emma and immediately began checking her airway.
“How long has she been like this?”
“She was missing.”
Sarah's voice sounded distant even to herself.
“For how long?”
“Since Tuesday.”
The paramedic looked up sharply.
“This is Thursday.”
“I know.”
They placed Emma on the stretcher.
Sarah climbed into the ambulance without asking permission.
Daniel started to follow.
Then Sarah grabbed his wrist.
“Stay.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
She looked toward Linda.
“Don't let her leave.”
Linda stood alone near the porch.
For the first time since Sarah had met her eleven years earlier, Daniel's mother looked genuinely helpless.
Daniel understood.
He stepped back.
The ambulance doors closed.
As they pulled away, Sarah looked through the rear window.
Linda was saying something to Daniel.
Daniel was shaking his head.
Then Linda suddenly turned toward the empty road again.
Watching for the SUV.
At Williamson Medical Center, doctors took Emma directly into emergency treatment.
Sarah remained outside wearing mud-stained clothes and holding one of Emma's filthy shoes in her lap.
A detective arrived forty minutes later.
Detective Lena Ortiz was thirty-eight, dark-haired, calm, and almost unnervingly observant. She had been assigned to Emma's disappearance the previous evening.
“Daniel called.”
Sarah stood.
“My daughter said Linda did it.”
“I know.”
“And Linda knew who was driving that SUV.”
“He told me that too.”
“Then why isn't she arrested?”
Ortiz sat across from Sarah.
“Because right now I need facts more than I need somebody in handcuffs.”
Sarah stared at her.
“My child crawled out of the ground.”
“Yes.”
“Someone shaved her head.”
“Yes.”
“She pointed at Linda.”
“I believe you.”
“Then what else do you need?”
“Enough evidence to keep whoever did this from walking free.”
That answer forced Sarah to sit.
Ortiz opened a notebook.
“Tell me exactly what Emma said.”
Sarah repeated every word.
Grandma has another man.
I saw them.
So she did this to me.
Then the SUV.
And Linda's whisper.
Wade.
Ortiz's pen stopped.
“Did Linda give a last name?”
“No.”
“Did Emma react to the vehicle?”
“She was terrified.”
Ortiz wrote again.
“What kind?”
“Black or dark gray SUV. Large. Maybe a Cadillac. Maybe a Chevrolet. I don't know.”
“License plate?”
“No.”
Sarah hated herself for not looking.
Ortiz seemed to read her expression.
“You were holding your missing daughter. Don't punish yourself for not memorizing a plate.”
A doctor appeared.
“Mrs. Miller?”
Sarah stood instantly.
“Your daughter is stable.”
Her knees nearly failed.
The doctor guided her into a consultation room.
Emma was severely dehydrated.
She had mild hypothermia, bruising around both wrists, several abrasions, and traces of a sedative in her blood.
“A sedative?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“We'll know after toxicology.”
Sarah's anger returned.
“Was she buried alive?”
The doctor hesitated.
“She had soil around her clothing and face, but based on her oxygen levels and the condition of her lungs, I don't believe she was completely covered for an extended period.”
“Then how did she come out of the ground?”
“The rain probably saved her.”
Sarah stared.
“The soil was loose and heavily saturated. If she was placed in a shallow depression and covered lightly with earth, branches, or debris, last night's rain could have loosened it enough for her to move.”
Sarah looked down at Emma's muddy shoe.
“Someone left her there expecting her not to get out.”
The doctor didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Detective Ortiz was waiting when Sarah returned.
“We have another problem.”
“What?”
“Linda left your house.”
Sarah shot to her feet.
“What?”
“Daniel went inside to call me. When he came back out, she was gone.”
“Her car?”
“Still there.”
Sarah stared.
“She left on foot?”
“Apparently.”
“Why would she do that?”
Ortiz's phone buzzed.
She checked it.
“Maybe she didn't.”
“What does that mean?”
“A neighbor has a doorbell camera facing part of your street.”
Sarah's pulse increased.
Ortiz turned the screen toward her.
The recording showed the Miller house from a distance.
The dark SUV appeared at 9:16 a.m.
It slowed.
Stopped.
Then pulled away.
Three minutes later, a figure in pale blue walked quickly from the Miller property toward a side street.
Linda.
At 9:22, the same SUV appeared again.
Linda stepped into the passenger side.
The vehicle disappeared.
Sarah couldn't breathe.
“She went with him.”
Ortiz nodded.
“Looks that way.”
Sarah thought of Emma pointing at her grandmother.
Then of Linda's fear.
“Find them.”
“We're trying.”
“Who is Wade?”
“We're working on it.”
Sarah's phone rang.
Daniel.
She answered immediately.
“Sarah.”
His voice sounded strange.
“What?”
“I found something in Mom's room.”
Linda had been staying in their downstairs guest room for almost three weeks while repairs were being done at her townhouse.
“What did you find?”
“A second phone.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
Of course.
Daniel continued.
“There are messages.”
“From Wade?”
“Yes.”
“What do they say?”
Daniel went quiet.
“Daniel.”
“One from Tuesday night says, ‘The girl saw us.’”
Sarah's fingers tightened around the phone.
“And?”
“The next message is from Mom.”
“What did she say?”
May you like
Daniel's voice broke.
“She wrote, ‘I'll take care of Emma.’”
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