Page 161 of From Rivals to I Do

“My mom is going to call Reece. She thinks I might be blocked.”

Tears are streaming down her face as she speaks, and all I want to do is reach down and wipe them away before hugging her.

“She said that I should go to the house in case he took her there. He doesn’t have anywhere in the city to go, as far as we know.”

“I’ll drive you,” I say, holding my hand out for her keys.

I write my phone number down for the daycare worker and tell her to call me if anything happens or if there is any news.

We drive as quickly as we can to Astoria. I keep my eyes partly on the road and partly searching for any signs of Charlee and her father. Rayne sits in the passenger seat, trying to ground herself by taking deep breaths, though it doesn’t seem to be helping her. She is somehow getting worse because of it.

“Rayne, you’re going to hyperventilate if you keep doing that,” I say gently.

“What else am I supposed to do? I lost my daughter,” her voice cracks, and she holds her head in her hands while she sobs.

I reach across the console to grab one of her hands and squeeze it. She grips my hand tightly and holds onto it for the rest of the drive.

We finally reach her house, and she gasps when we do. She nearly jumps out of the car before we stop, but thankfully the child lock is on. As soon as we park, she jumps out and runs across the street to the small neighborhood playground resting between two buildings.

Charlee isn’t there.

Chapter twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Leonard drives me home at about 2 am after searching every park and reporting to the nearest police station. I do not know how to get through all of this.

What if I can’t find her? What if something has happened to her? As I walk to the door of the house, I see a brown office envelope neatly placed at the entrance. I rush to pick it up and rip it open. It’s a letter from Reece!

“Soon-to-be bride,

I won’t allow another man to take my place in my daughter’s life. I have her. Don’t bother looking for her. I’ll be long gone by the time you see this.

Regards to the groom.”

There is nothing in the world that can bring console to the soul of a mother that has just lost her daughter in the hands of a monster like Reece. Certainly, he is trying to punish me for my engagement with Leonard.

Why does he have my child?

I hope he doesn’t harm my poor girl. He is so moody and unpredictable. The tears won’t stop flowing, but all I can feel are holes where my eyes are supposed to be.

“What if I never get to see her again?” I groan.

I pass the letter to Leo, who reads it and folds it back in the envelope.

“Babe, go in. I will sort this out, and I do not care how much it will cost us or how long it will take. We will never stop searching.

“I’m not going in! We’re going to the police station right now,” I say, marching from the front porch toward the car.

Leonard knows better than to argue with me, especially in a situation like this. He follows me to the car, and we head to the police station. The drive is quiet. I turn on the car radio, and the local stations have already started reporting a missing child. Although the connection to Leonard is not mentioned, I know it is his influence to have the stations report the story as emergency news.

There’s no saying what I will do to Reece if anything happens to my child.

We finally reach the police station and hand over the letter to the officers. Leonard asks me to sit and rest, but I want to know every detail and update in the

search for my child. The officers request a description of Reece since it is now confirmed by the letter that he is the one who kidnapped my child.

They are leveling different charges against him, such as kidnapping, contract breach, impersonation, etc.

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