Either way, everything that had happened in the past two weeks was all part of the same morbid story about a crime family, brothers and sisters who were tied together by blood or organized crime. It was their strange psychopathic sense of loyalty that compelled them to exact revenge—killing in the most brutal ways—no matter time or distance.
“Mom, why have you never told me any of this? It’s a shock to me. Did you ever imagine how this would affect me when I learned about it?”
Mom turned and gently gripped her arms. “Of course! Everything I’ve done has been to protect you. I never wanted you to know.” Mom ran her hand down Erin’s hair and cheek.
And suddenly Erin was a child again.
Mom released her, turned, and stumbled forward. Defeated, discouraged, and yet determined to make it through. Erin had had her mother all wrong for far too long. Mom carried a burden that no one should ever have to carry. “Tell me about him. Your father, my grandfather. Tell me about your life.”
“I try hard not to remember, but if you want to know, I promise to tell you. But not yet. Not until we’re safe again.”
Safe again. Could Erin truly disappear again and leave behind the life she created? Leave behind her career ... Nathan?
Oh, Nathan.
She at least wanted a chance to explain. To say goodbye. She’d been a fool to walk out on him before without a true explanation for the brokenness she carried inside. But now she knew the reasons for all of it, and she wanted that chance with him more than ever. She’d feared she would hurt him again. But facing the real possibility of running—vanishing—now she knew if given another chance with him, she absolutely wouldn’t walk away this time.
Lord, I don’t want to do this. Why is this happening? I’m so confused ... I don’t want to leave. And I thought, I thought maybe I would have another chance with Nathan, even though I’m scared to take it. I thought you were giving us a second chance.
“Here’s our way out of the water tunnel.” Mom climbed up a rickety ladder.
Erin followed her and at the top of the ladder crawled through an opening, then scrambled to her feet to stand. The tunnel was dark, but Mom shined a dim flashlight around. Erin spotted the tracks. Breathed in relatively fresh air compared to the water tunnel.
“This way.” Mom’s voice had softened to almost a whisper.
Erin kept her voice equally quiet as she spoke, pressing her mother for more information. “You’ve planned the escape, yes, but do you have a long-term plan? I mean a real plan for disappearing?”
“Yes.”
Nausea roiled in Erin’s stomach. “What if we don’t disappear? What would happen?”
“They won’t stop until they have one or both of us. We could be tortured and then killed.”
“Maybe we can survive. I don’t want to leave.”
Mom turned again. “Pull yourself together. I don’t know what will happen. But right now, we have to get somewhere safe. Whether or not you agree to disappear with me again, that’s up to you.”
“Okay, fine.” She had time to think about this. To figure it out. Mom was right. Just get somewhere safe. She still had her cell phone and pulled it out. She could text Nathan.
Mom whirled around and swiped it from her hands.
“Hey!” Erin lunged for her cell.
Her mother threw it on the ground and stomped on it. “I don’t know how they found us, but we can’t take chances. Oh, wait, I do know. The same podcast that got me thinking about my past must have tipped someone off.”
“It was anonymous.”
“In general. Anyone who wanted to know could find out who you were and keep digging all the way down to your original birth certificate. Then start looking at my identity closely.”
Unfortunately, that was true. Erin hadn’t imagined someone with such nefarious intentions would take the time to dig so deep. And now it all made sense. She understood how Seattle was connected to Boston, and now Montana. Someone connected to her mother’s past had tracked her down. Newt Campbell must have found the truth as well, and someone tried to kill him before he warned Erin and her mother.
Still... “That’s the part I don’t understand. How could they have known just from listening to the podcast? I went out of my way to sound disconnected, only sharing what anyone could find in the public record.”
“I suspect the person who was hired to abduct you has never stopped searching for you. You said something that gave you away, or at least caused suspicion. We slipped away into the night days after Missy was abducted. After all the questions from the local law officials and FBI were answered but before the contingency of law dispersed. We had protection at least for a short time.”
“If we disappeared, then we would have been a cold case too, Mom. The FBI—”
“The FBI had what they needed from you, and I made it clear you were traumatized. They knew we were moving. The house was only a rental, and I settled all my affairs quickly, leaving behind misleading breadcrumbs to throw the abductor off our trail.” Mom whirled around. “None of that matters now that we’ve been found again.”