Page 53 of The Chain

“Shit!”

“But I want to let you know that you’re one step closer to getting Kylie back. It’ll be over soon, Rachel, it really will.”

“Oh God, I hope so.”

“It will.”

“How did you do it? How did you get through it all? How did you find the strength?”

“I don’t know, Rachel. I suppose you just have to imagine that moment when you’re together again with Kylie. Everything you do, every choice you make, is a means to that end, you know?”

“Yes.”

“There was an incident when we took Kylie, something terrible. Nothing happened to her, she’s fine. But I had to do something awful, and the old me would be in agony about what I did back there. But you know what I feel? I feel nothing. Nothing but relief. I did what I had to do and I got my son back. And that’s all there is to it.”

“I think I understand.”

“You just have to hold on a little bit longer.”

“I will.”

28

Saturday, 12:07 a.m.

Mike Dunleavy looks at his wife sobbing and curled up in a fetal position on the bathroom floor. He lies down beside her and he begins to cry too.

He puts the gun on the floor. There’s no reason now to be walking around the house with a loaded gun.

The gun is useless. There’s nobody to kill.

“How’s Toby?” Helen asks him, tears flowing down her face.

“He’s asleep. I told him Amelia was going to stay at a friend’s house for a few days.”

“Did he believe that?”

“He didn’t care. He just wanted to know where his archery stuff was. I told him it was safe.”

“Do you think it’s OK to pray for God’s help?” Helen wonders.

“Are we going to do this?”

“We have to.”

“We don’t have to. We could go to the police.”

“They’ll kill her if we go to the police. The woman who has her is a monster. I heard it in her voice. We’re the worst parents in America. You know those people who overdose in the front seats of their cars? We’re dumber than that.”

Helen begins weeping again. Great, big breathy sobs, like she’s dying. He looks at her face in the dim light coming through the bathroom window.

She seems frail and broken, utterly lost. He has no words.

“How can Amelia sleep without Mr. Boo?” she asks.

“I don’t know.”

“We’ll get her back, won’t we? Tell me we’ll get her back,” Helen says.

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