Daughters (37 page)

“How many shots did Ben take?” Marie asked.

“One.”

Marie couldn’t hold back the tears. Claire moved over closer to her and put her arms around her. “You’ve got to stay strong, Marie. Stay strong for Rachael,” she whispered.

Marie swiped the tears from her face. “What else did he say?”

“He said three radio stations committed to interrupting their programs periodically to announce Rachael’s disappearance. I wrote down the station numbers. They’re on my desk if you want to listen to them.”

“What did he say when you asked him what we could do to help, dear?” Claire asked.

Jonathan’s voice cracked. “He asked us to pray.”

Day five. Still no word from Rachael. While no one said it, Marie knew everyone feared the worst. Jonathan knew the police chief well and was told they were doing everything possible to find her. Every available cop was on the case, bloodhounds were searching for her throughout Kane County, and the FBI had been called in when they found Judy across the state line.

In spite of Claire’s force-feeding, Marie had lost five pounds since her arrival, and the dark circles under her eyes made her look even more gaunt. Jonathan had his work to keep his mind off of Rachael’s whereabouts. Claire had her house chores. But all Marie had was time to think about what had happened and what could currently be happening to that child.

Strong emotions welled up inside of Marie with seemingly nowhere to go—fear, anguish, frustration, and anger, all bottled up inside of her, ready to blow. She felt more helpless, tired, and discouraged with each passing hour. Was Rachael being held against her will? Was she physically alright? Was she wondering why no one was coming to rescue her?

CHAPTER 24

That Peaceful Place

Day seven. Marie had another fitful night’s sleep. She felt guilty sleeping in a clean, comfortable, safe place knowing that Rachael was likely having to deal with something much more exposed. Alone. Or maybe not alone.

As the morning dragged on, Marie’s intense emotions were interjected with feelings of numbness. While she tried to keep her thoughts positive, her mind kept going back to the worst scenarios. She wished everything inside of her would shut down, at least until the uncertainty ended. The not knowing was the worst.

Claire answered the ringing phone and a minute later came running out of the kitchen. “They found her!” she shouted. “And she’s alright!” She gave the phone to Marie, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

Marie was shocked to hear Karen’s voice on the other end of the phone. She listened with tears rolling down her face while Karen talked.

“Rachael is here, and she’s okay. She’s had a rough week, but she’s here now and she’s okay.”

“What happened?”

“I’m going to tell you all I know. It isn’t much. Judy broke into Ben’s house and tried to kidnap Rachael. When Ben came into Rachael’s room, he tried to stop her. That’s when she shot him.”

“Who? Judy?”

“Yes, Judy. Judy shot Ben, and she and Rachael ended up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rachael said she hitchhiked here. I don’t know any more details. She was so worn out that after I checked her over, I let her go to bed.”

“I’ll be home just as fast as I can. Can I talk to her? Do you think she’s awake?”

“No, she’s sleeping. Do you want me to wake her?”

“No. Let her sleep. Sounds like she needs it.” She let a jittery laugh escape. “Just tell her I love her, and I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

“So what happened?” Jonathan asked after she hung up the phone. “Wait. Don’t start until I get back. I need to call the Feinsteins.”

“Claire, you call Walter. He can drive us to the airport while Marie tells us what happened. And I’ll call the chief too.”

In the car, Marie filled them in on as much as she knew. “Oh, good heavens!” Claire gasped.

“I don’t know anything more. Karen said it was all she could do to get Rachael to tell her the bare facts of what happened before she collapsed in the guest bedroom.”

“Oh my God in heaven. That poor girl,” Claire sighed.

“Karen made sure she was okay, physically anyway, before letting her fall asleep.”

Jonathan and Claire shook their heads. “She probably doesn’t know her father is dead,” Claire said.

Marie nodded. “No. I guess I’ll have to be the one to tell her.”

“It won’t be easy.”

“I know.”

“What are you going to do, Marie?”

Marie understood what he meant. “First I’m going to go home and make sure that child is alright. Then I’ll call Greg and Gloria, and we’ll figure it out. Rachael can certainly stay with me, temporarily at least—if it’s okay with the Feinsteins, that is. But it’s complicated, given her mother is still around.”

“Oh, she’ll go to jail for sure,” Jonathan assured them. “Rachael was a witness, for God’s sake. I think you can count on her being out of the picture for a long while.” Walter pulled the limo up to the airport curb. Jonathan turned toward his daughter. “We’re here for you if you need anything, sweetheart. Have a safe trip, and call us when you know more.”

Claire gave Marie a sympathetic look. “We’ll make sure the Feinsteins are kept in the loop. I think their week of Shiva ends today.”

Marie entered her apartment feeling like she was walking into someone else’s home. Karen greeted her with a hug. “How are you, hon?”

“I’m okay. The question is, how are
you
?” Marie asked.

“I’m okay. C’mon, let’s go out here,” Karen whispered, guiding Marie to the porch.

“No, wait.” Marie went to the spare bedroom and peeked in on Rachael, who was curled up in a fetal position, her back facing the door. She tiptoed toward her, just far enough to see the peaceful expression on her deceptively callow face, then left the room.

She joined Karen on the porch. Two glasses of wine sat on the wicker end table, but Marie, wanting to have all her wits about her when Rachael woke up, didn’t drink hers.

They kept their voices to a whisper. “She’s still sleeping?” Karen asked.

“Mm-hmm. You’re sure she’s okay?”

“I think so. Like I said on the phone, I checked her out pretty well. She’s exhausted, that’s for sure, and very relieved it’s over.”

Marie took in a deep breath. “Tell me more about what happened to her.”

“Don’t know much more than what I already told you. She rang the doorbell because, of course, I had locked the outside door. I went down to see who it was, and when I looked out the window, I didn’t see anyone at first. Then I heard scratching at the bottom of the door, and so I looked down, expecting to see a cat or something, and saw her, kind of crumpled up, leaning against the door.”

Marie sighed. “Good grief.”

“I know. So I opened the door and looked down at her. She looked up with the most pitiful face you ever saw and started to cry. I helped her up the stairs, sat her down on the sofa, and asked her if she was alright. She just shook her head, not saying anything.”

“Do you think she was in shock?”

“I don’t think so now. But then, I didn’t know what to think. She asked for a glass of water. So I got that for her, and after she took a sip, she asked me where you were. I told her, and she asked me to call you. And I said, ‘Not until you tell me what happened.’ That’s when she told me her mother broke into their house, shot Ben, and kidnapped her. She said they stayed in this dirty room in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and she escaped in the middle of the night and hitchhiked here.”

Marie shook her head. “I can’t believe this. She was missing a week! Were you able to tell her I was on my way?”

“Yeah. And when she heard that, she started to cry again.” Karen’s look was serious. “She really needs you, Marie.”

Marie nodded and waited for the tears to stop welling up in her eyes. “I can’t wait to put my arms around her and tell her everything’s going to be alright.”

“I know, hon. I know.”

“You said she had bruises. Are they bad?”

“Not really. I gave her one of your nightgowns and stayed with her while she undressed. There are black and blue marks on her legs and one on her back, but that’s about it.” Karen paused. “I hope I did the right thing by not bringing her to the hospital or the doctor or something. It looked to me like the thing she needed most was sleep.”

Marie reached over and patted Karen’s hand. “You did the right thing. And I can never thank you enough for staying here…and being here for...”

“I could use a hug,” Rachael said in a soft, broken voice. When their eyes met, Rachael started to cry.

Marie jumped up and put her arms around her, burying Rachael’s face in her chest. “You’re safe now, sweetheart. You’re safe here with me.”

The held each other until Rachael’s sobs waned into soft tears. Karen mouthed, “I’m going to go. Okay?”

Still holding onto Rachael, Marie peered over her shoulder at Karen and nodded. They stayed in the hug several more seconds. Then, with a gentle touch, Marie pushed her away and examined Rachael’s red swollen face. “C’mon, let’s sit.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before Rachael spoke, her hands clasped in her lap. “Are you mad at me?” she asked in a shaky voice.

Marie reached out for her hands. “Of course not, hon.” She gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “I was worried sick about you, and I’m just so glad you’re here and alright. Are you alright? Maybe we should have a doctor look you over.”

Rachael shook her head. “I’m okay.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened now, or do you want to wait until morning?”

“I can talk some now,” she said, her voice barely audible.

“Your mother broke into your house. Is that when it all started?”

Rachael gulped before talking. “Mm-hmm. She came in through my bedroom window. I was sound asleep, and the next thing I knew someone had their hand over my mouth.”

“You didn’t know it was her?”

“Not at first. I tried to scream, but her hand was so tight, I couldn’t. And then she grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the window. I started kicking and knocked my Dr. Pepper sign clear across the room.” She paused to take a couple of breaths.

“Your Dr. Pepper sign?”

“Yeah. Something one of Mom’s boyfriends probably stole. Mom wanted it, but he gave it to me.”

She rubbed the back of Rachael’s hands. “Go on.”

“She had this wild look on her face. It was crazy.” She paused while she took in a couple of deep breaths. “Anyway, Dad must have heard the noise and he came in. They said some things back and forth, like Mom said she wasn’t going to let Dad have me any longer, that I was going with her, and Dad tried to get me away from her, and that’s when she pulled out the gun.”

Marie shook her head and let her talk.

“Then she shot him.” She barely got the words out. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Right in front of me.” She squeezed her eyelids tight and took in another deep breath. “Is he alright?” she asked with a distraught face.

Marie put her arm around her shoulder. “No. I’m sorry, honey. He didn’t make it.”

She held Rachael until she stopped sobbing. “Do you want to stop?”

“No.”

“What happened next, hon?”

“She dragged me out the window and to her car and threw me in the back seat and then floored it. I couldn’t get out on her side ‘cause there were just two doors, but I looked over at the other door and thought maybe I could get out that way, but she had tied that door with rope.”

“Sounds like she had this planned out pretty well in advance.”

“Yeah. We drove a long time. I thought about hitting her or something from the back seat, knock her out or something, but I was afraid maybe that would cause a crash, so I didn’t.”

“Did she say anything while she was driving?”

“No. She was too peed off to say anything. After awhile I asked her if she would just let me go on the side of the road or something, and I told her I wouldn’t say anything to anyone. But she just kept telling me to shut up.”

“Karen said you ended up in Kenosha, Wisconsin.”

“Yeah. But I didn’t know where I was then. We stopped at this sleazy motel or something. She dragged me outta the car and pounded on the door, and this creepy-looking big daddy opened the door and let us in.”