Page 50 of The Chain

“Use a different phone than this one. Drive away from the house to make the call.”

“Good idea. I will.”

She drives quickly to the parking lot by the ocean. She dials the Dunleavys’ number. “Hello?” a woman says anxiously.

“I’ve taken your daughter, Amelia. She’s been kidnapped. You are not to call the police. If you call the police or any law enforcement agency, I’ll kill her. Do you understand?”

Helen begins to scream.

Rachel calms her down by telling her that if she doesn’t calm down, she is going to put a bullet in her daughter’s brain.

The conversation takes ten minutes.

When it’s over, Rachel gets out of the car and throws up again and again until there’s nothing left.

She stares at the black ocean breaking on the shore.

She sits on the sand as a very cold, hard rain begins to fall.

Her head’s hurting. She feels as if her skull is going to explode.

She sits for five more minutes and then stands and stamps on the burner phone and throws the pieces into the sea. She tilts her face up into the downpour and begs the water to cleanse her. It doesn’t work.

She calls Pete on a new burner phone. “It’s done. Everything OK there?”

“Not so great. I put the handcuff on and chained her to the pillar. She didn’t mind that too much. And she’s not screaming or anything, but she’s crying and wants her mom and says she can’t stay here without Mr. Boo. He’s a bear, apparently. There’s plenty of other stuffed toys but only Mr. Boo will do.”

“I understand,” Rachel says.

She drives home and goes upstairs into Kylie’s room. She finds Marshmallow, Kylie’s pink stuffed bunny. How is Kylie able to sleep without Marshmallow or her cat?

She takes Marshmallow, puts on a hoodie, and runs through the rain to the Appenzellers’.

She taps on the back door and Pete lets her in. He’s on the phone. He looks worried.

“What’s the matter?” she whispers.

“AmEx is verifying the charge,” he says, putting his hand over the receiver.

“Visa did that with me too. If the money doesn’t go through tonight, they kill Kylie.”

“I know. I’ll take care of it,” he replies. Pete doesn’t look good; he’s twitchy, bug-eyed, sweating.

“Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll take care of it.”

Rachel puts on her ski mask and goes down to the basement.

Amelia is exhausted. She has cried and fought and cried some more and all she probably wants to do now is sleep but she can’t without Mr. Boo. She’s sitting on the sleeping bag on the mattresssurrounded by Legos and games and the wrong stuffed animals.

Rachel sits next to her. “I know you’re scared, honey, but there’s nothing to be scared of. You’re safe here, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I want my mom,” Amelia says.

“I know. We’ll get you back to her soon. Look, I heard about Mr. Boo and although we don’t have Mr. Boo, this is my little girl’s special friend Marshmallow. She’s had it since the day she was born. He’s very, very special. He’s got thirteen years of love in him.”

Amelia looks at Marshmallow suspiciously. “I want Mr. Boo.”

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