Chapter 35 - Zoe
I’m shaking. Panic is coursing through my veins like a drug, and I cling on to the dull hope that Audrey is somewhere safe with Hailey.
“Maybe Audrey took Hailey out for a walk,” Mara says, staring at me with the same blind look in her eyes. Her face is paler than I’ve ever seen it, and she’s shaking just as hard as I am. “You know how she loves to spend time with the baby.”
I try to swallow past the huge lump in my throat. I nod. “Maybe,” I reply. “It wouldn’t be like her to just take off like that though.” The stroller was still there as well, but I don’t mention that.
Mara says nothing. She stares out the window as Aiden drives us towards Ethan’s house. The anger I felt only an hour ago has completely disappeared. Now, I want nothing more than to feel Ethan’s arms around me and to have Audrey beside us. I’ve never felt happier than when I’m with both of them, and a lie that Ethan told to protect his brothers seems trivial now.
My heart is thumping as we drive up to the house. It’s completely dark, exactly how we left it this morning. Both Mara and I fall out of the truck and stumble towards the house. My hands are shaking as I try the doorknob and find it locked, and then struggle to fit the shiny new key that Ethan just gave me into the old lock. When I finally open it we rush inside, but I already know the girls aren’t there.
Mara hangs onto my arm, her nails digging into me as she looks up at my face in anguish. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out, and I hear the soundless scream of her agony echoing with my own.
Aiden’s face is dark as he checks the yard. He comes back around the front and shakes his head. His lips form a thin line.
“Walk me through it again. When was the last time you saw the girls?”
“I was putting Hailey down for a nap,” Mara says impatiently. “I’ve already told you everything!”
“Go through it again.”
“I put Hailey down for a nap in the nursery and went over to the office. It’s just down the hall!” She says, clinging onto me. “I didn’t hear a thing! Audrey came up to me then, with the sales figures from yesterday. She said Katie had given them to her.”
“She did,” I say. “Katie was with me.”
“Then, Audrey left and I assumed she’d be with you. I finished my paperwork and went to check on Hailey, and…”
Aiden scowls. “Right. So either Audrey took Hailey somewhere, or somebody else took them both. They had to leave through the side door for neither of you guys to have seen them,” he reasons. “Who has access to the side door? Is it locked?”
Mara nods and I can see her struggling to swallow. She puts her hand to her forehead and takes a long, shuddering breath.
“Who would take them?” Mara says. Her face is drawn, and the pain is written all over it. I put my arm around her to distract myself from the pain in my chest.
I take a deep breath. “We left the festival after the scene with Ethan and Margaret. She was staring at me with such hatred,” I shiver, remembering the look the woman was giving me. “I was so focused on Ethan,” I continue.
I look at Mara. “Do you think…?”
Mara’s face crumples. “Do I think my own mother could have taken my daughter? Is that what you’re asking me, Zoe?”
My heart breaks all over again and tears start falling from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mara, I didn’t mean it.”
Mara laughs, but there’s no humor in it. She shakes her head. “I’m upset because the answer is yes.” She looks at me and her eyes are so full of pain that it’s hard to hold her gaze. She shakes her head again and tears fall down her cheeks. “Yes, I think my mother took my daughter and yours, and I don’t know where she’s going or what she’ll do. I thought if I let her get to know Hailey, that maybe… I don’t know!” She says, staring up at the ceiling. She shakes her head. “Maybe we could fix this fucked up relationship. Maybe my mother could be a part of my life.”
She’s still holding onto my arm, and she squeezes it tighter. Fear grips my heart like a hand, squeezing the life out of me as Mara’s words sink in. She thinks her own mother took her daughter, and mine too. I don’t know if Audrey was caught in the crossfire, of if Margaret has some malicious intent towards me, too.
“Right,” Aiden says, and we both jump. His voice is deep and commanding. “We’re going to operate on the assumption that Margaret has the girls. Where would she go?”
“I have no fucking idea,” I respond, looking at Mara for an answer.
She shakes her head, and tears keep falling down her cheeks. “I realized when she left last time that I know nothing about her. I don’t even know who my mother is.”
I wrap my arms around Mara and squeeze her close, then pull away and put my hands on her arms.
“Mara, you’re the strongest woman I’ve met in a long time. You gave birth to your daughter in your own house without a complaint, and we are not going to let that woman take our girls away from us.”
Mara nods, and I look at Aiden. “Where do we look?”
“Well, Ethan has gone in the direction of the airport. He’ll try to overtake her, but it’s unlikely that she’ll be taking the highway, so he might have to drive to the airport and wait it out.”
“The airport is hours away! What if she didn’t go to the airport?” I ask, glancing at the wilderness that surrounds us. “She could be anywhere.”
Aiden’s face darkens and he grunts. Despair starts seeping into my bloodstream, and I fight to hold it off. This is all too much. From my mother’s death, to finding out about Ethan and the fire, to now losing Audrey, I feel like every strand of love in my life is slowly, tortuously being unraveled. The pain is almost too much to bear.
Before I can spiral any further, Aiden’s phone rings. He answers with a grunt, and then listens for a few moments.
“See you there,” he says, and hangs up with another grunt.
“Who was it?” Mara says, going to him and putting her hands on his chest. She wraps his shirt in her fists and hangs on to him as if she’s about to collapse. “Do they have Hailey?”
“Ethan,” he says. “He’s not going to the airport. He thinks Margaret has them too, and he thinks she’s going to the river.”
“The river?” Mara and I answer in unison.
Aiden says nothing. He turns and walks back to his truck. Mara and I have time to exchange a panicked glance before rushing to follow him. I taste blood in my mouth as I climb back into the car. My heart is racing and my shirt is sticking to the sweat on my back. I feel like I can’t breathe any deeper than the shallowest of breaths, and I hold on to the car door with all my strength to keep myself from crumpling into a heap.
Aiden revs the truck and we fishtail as he speeds down the gravel road towards Lang Creek.