Claire has had a crushed on her best friend's dad, Rawls, since she was sixteen years old. Now that she is all grown up, she wants it to be so much more. Does she take the chance and tell him how she feels? Or does she just sit in her window and dream about him.
View MoreAs he leaves, I fight the urge to follow, to beg him to take me with him. But I know I can't. I'm too much of a liability in my current state. The fear for him, for Evie, for the baby, and for myself is a storm of noise in my head. I need to stay strong, to keep the hope alive. I sit down in the nursery, the silence deafening. The only sound is the faint ticking of the crib mobile above, a reminder of the life we're fighting for. I try to focus on the positive—Fiona’s call, the possibility of finding Evie. But the fear is a living creature, feeding on my doubt. Rawls's footsteps retreat down the hallway, and I listen until the front door clicks shut. My heart feels like it's in a vice, and I take deep breaths to keep the panic at bay. The house is too quiet, save for the occasional muffled murmur of dad's team outside. The thought of Fiona plays in my mind. She's out there, alive, and willing to help. But what if it's a trap? What if Jonathan has somehow turned her against us? I s
As if an answer to my silent plea, the phone on the nightstand starts to ring. The screen flashes with an unknown number, and for a brief, hopeful moment, I wonder if it's a sign. I pick it up, my heart pounding in my chest, and bring it to my ear. "Hello?" The voice on the other end is faint, but it sends a shockwave through my body. "Rawls," the voice says, and my heart skips a beat. It's Fiona. She really is alive. "Fiona?" Rawls says, his voice tight with disbelief. "Is that really you?" There's a pause, and then her voice, clear as a bell, fills the room. "It's me, Rawls," she says, the sound of her voice like a ghost from the past, haunting and yet oddly comforting. "I need to see you. It's about Evie." My hand tightens around the phone. "What do you know?" Fiona's voice is a mix of pain and urgency. "I know where he's keeping her," she says, the words coming out in a rush. "I can help you get her back." "How?" he asks, his voice gruff. "What do you want in exchang
The further along Claire is in her pregnancy the more e concerned I become. No matter how much digging Robert and I have been doing, we cannot find out where Jonathan is holding Evie. We decided to not get the police involved. It may not be the best decision but some of the things were are having to do or will have to do may not be on the right side of the law. The further along Claire is in her pregnancy the more concerned I become. No matter how much digging Robert and I have been doing, we cannot find out where Jonathan is holding Evie. We decided to not get the police involved. It may not be the best decision but some of the things were are having to do or will have to do may not be on the right side of the law. "I can't sit here and do nothing," I say, pacing the room. "We need to find her." Rawls's eyes are filled with understanding, but his voice is firm. "We will, but we have to be smart about it," he says, his hand landing gently on my shoulder, trying to still my frantic
I should have gotten Jonathan psychiatric help a long time ago. Even as a child he had issues getting along with other children. The years I was with Rawls and Evie, Jonathan had been raised with his father’s (Marco) family, the Castellanos. Marco had always talked about the strange incidents that occurred when they he was young, but he had always downplayed the seriousness of Jonathan’s behavior. Now, it all made sense. My child had turned into a monster, and we were all just pawns in his twisted game of power and control. I had to see Evie. I had to explain, to apologize for the years of pain I had caused. But would Evie even believe me? Would she recognize me as her mother or the woman who had abandoned her all those years ago? Fear and guilt had been my constant companions since I had gone into hiding, but now, with Evie's safety hanging in the balance, I was going to have to face my past. I had to see her, had to try to make this right. I approached the house where I kne
I know Rawls and Dad are keeping things from me. I can see it in their eyes every time they think I'm not looking. They hover over me like overprotective hawks, their whispers and furtive glances speaking volumes. But I'm not a child anymore. I know something's wrong, something much more than just Evie's disappearance. I sit in my room, my thoughts racing, trying to piece together the puzzle that is my life. The walls are closing in, the silence suffocating. I need to know the truth. I need to know what's happening to Evie and why my fiancé and my father are acting so strangely. Summoning my courage, I tiptoe down the hallway. The house feels eerie, as if it's holding its breath, waiting for the next shoe to drop. I hover outside the door to Rawls’ office, listening to the muffled whispers of Rawls and my dad. "We need to tell her," my dad says, his voice strained. "She has a right to know." Rawls's voice is low and firm. "Not yet. She's not ready for this." I bite my lip, my he
Claire said that Thelma is good at digging up information. Hopefully she has something that can help us find Evie and rid our lives of this psychopath. Robert and I were anxious to see what Thelma had found, but I know it will help Claire if they can see each other. "Thelma," Robert said, his voice tight with urgency. "What do you have for us?" Thelma took a deep breath, her eyes flicking to me before returning to Robert. "I've been looking into Jonathan Cramer/John Castellanos's history," she began, her voice steady despite the gravity of what she was about to say. "And it turns out he has connections to Evie's mother, Fiona." "Robert and I leaned in, our eyes locked on Thelma's face as she opened the folder. She pulled out a series of photographs, each one more disturbing than the last. "These are of Jonathan with his mother," she said. "Does this woman look familiar?” Robert took the photos, his eyes scanning over them before handing them to me. The woman in the images
Robert and I sat in my office, poring over the case files and notes we had gathered on Jonathan Cramer. The silence in the house was suffocating, compared to the chaos that had erupted earlier. The detectives were on thin ice with me. I could not believe they questioned Claire about the paternity of the baby. "How did he do it?" Robert muttered, his eyes scanning the page in front of him. "He had to have had help," I said, slamming a fist on the table. "There's no way he could have gotten through that security unnoticed." Robert nodded, his jaw set. "I've called in a favor with an old contact at the precinct," he said, his eyes never leaving the paperwork scattered in front of him. "We're getting the full report on the facility's staff—everyone who had access to Evie's location and schedule." We worked tirelessly into the night, piecing together a timeline of events, looking for any inconsistencies or signs of tampering. The more we dug, the more it became clear that this was
I can’t believe how easy it was to get at Evie. The security at the mental facility was no better than the security at a nursery school. I had disguised myself well enough that Evie did not recognize me. She thinks her dad sent me to pick her up for her safety. She will be anything but safe with me. I may have a little fun with her before my plan is put into place. But first things first, I need to get her to my place. She’s so naive and trusting, it’s almost too easy. I have a van waiting outside, no plates, no paperwork, no way to trace it back to me. The perfect getaway vehicle. As we walk out of the facility, my heart races. The plan is coming together perfectly. The security camera's blind spot is right where I need it to be. I glance around, making sure no one is watching. "It's okay, Evie," I say, my voice low and reassuring. "We're going to get you somewhere safe." Her eyes are wide with fear, but she nods, trusting me implicitly. She's just as innocent now as she was
Days passed, and despite the fortress we had built around ourselves, a sense of unease remained. It was as if the walls were made of paper, ready to be torn apart at any moment by the monster we knew was out there. And then, it happened. Evie went missing from the facility. "No," Claire whispered, her hand flying to her mouth. "It can't be." But it was. Evie was gone, vanished without a trace from the very place we had thought she would be safe. The facility's director looked at us with a mix of regret and urgency, his words barely penetrating the fog of dread that had descended upon us. "We're doing everything we can," he assured us, but the tremble in his voice did little to ease our fears. Robert's eyes met mine, and I knew what he was thinking. We had been so focused on keeping Claire safe, we had neglected to consider that Jonathan might come after Evie. The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. We had played right into his hands. We sprang into action, phones to our
My Lifelong Crush Claire has always had a crush on Rawls. She always thought he was handsome but never looked at him like anything other than her best friend’s dad. That changed when she turned sixteen years old. He did not have the dad bod and did not (at least most of the time) make the corny dad jokes. He worked out all of the time, so he was in good shape. He was also so handsome, with some gray at the temples in his black hair. She always wondered why he never got remarried. After his wife, Fiona, died he spent his time raising Evie. He has not been celibate for the last nineteen years. He had his share of women over the years. There were not many weekends that he slept alone. She was jealous of all of the women that had been with him. She has fantasized so many times of what it would be like for him to just kiss her. She dated while in college but no one ever measured up to him and she never slept with them either. The guys had always tried to get in her pants. But for some r...
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