Page 88 of The Perfect Nanny

[SUBJECT A: EXPOSED SOLELY TO TRUTHS]can maneuver difficult situations when faced with adversities and has the ability to trust others.

[SUBJECT B: EXPOSED SOLELY TO LIES]believes and trusts no one and carves a path of deceit, devising their own rules and guidelines, however twisted they may be.

[SUBJECT A: EXPOSED SOLELY TO TRUTHS]often takes the blame for acts not committed.

[SUBJECT B: EXPOSED SOLELY TO LIES]eludes reality and most often escapes blame for committed acts.SUBJECT B:gets away with everything…

FIFTY-FIVE

THURSDAY, JUNE 29TH 5:30 PM

The front door squeals and whines as I step back into the house that I’ve spent so long avoiding. Now it seems like I’m here far too often. The living room is empty, but the TV is on, playing a sports recap and the volume is turned up louder than Dad usually has it.

“Mom, Dad? Where are you?” I shout, walking past the TV.

The house smells again and the flies have returned.

A guttural groan tears through the air from the direction of their bedroom at the end of the hall and my heart skips a beat before lurching up into my throat. I sprint down the hallway, finding their door closed. I wrench my hand around the doorknob and shove it wide open. I gasp in horror taking in the scene. “Are you okay?” I cry.

The shades are still closed from last night, but there’s enough light leaking through the blinds to highlight the horrific scene in front of me. They’re in bed, bound to the bedposts, blindfolded, and gagged, both with shivering jaws. I run to Mom’s side first, shaking as I reach for the zip tie tightened around her wrists. “What happened? Who did this to you?”

Dad mumbles, biting down on the handkerchief tied around the back of his head and lodged in his mouth.

I tug at the zip ties, feeling the sharp edge slice against my fingers. I need to cut these off. I crawl over Mom, in between the two of them, to pull down their gags and blindfolds.

“Haley,” Mom cries out my name.

“Who did this?” I grit through my teeth as I hobble off the bed.

“It was dark. We were still asleep, and it all happened so fast. We couldn’t see anything,” Dad says. “I hope they didn’t rob us.”

I pull open Dad’s top drawer, finding his pocketknife where he always keeps it at night and return to Mom’s side first. “I don’t know what they would have taken.”

“I need to call the police.” I stop fussing with the zip tie for a moment because it’s going to take some work to remove this with how tight it is. “One second.” I glance down at my phone, finding several missed calls from Willa. Maybe she’s returning all the calls she ignored last week. I try to clear the screen to call 9-1-1 but mistakenly hit her name, which redials the number.

“Hey, girl, can we talk? Just us?” Willa says upon answering the call after one ring.

“Please just get us out of these ties, Haley,” Mom cries.

“What’s going on, Haley?” Willa asks.

“Sorry, I’m trying to call the police. I pressed your name by mistake. I can’t talk right now. I’m at my parents’ house. Someone broke in and tied them up. I’m trying to help them. I have no idea who did this…” My voice is shaking.

“Holy crap. Do you need help? I can be there in ten minutes. Never mind, I’m coming over. Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. Oh my God. Okay?—”

“Yeah, I have to go—I have—bye,” I stutter while trying to end the call.

“Who was that?” Mom asks. “Is someone coming to help?”

“Yeah, I don-don’t know,” I say, fussing with my phone to get to the keypad.

“Just untie us first before you call the police, please,” Mom begs.

I drop my phone and return to her wrists, studying the plastic tie to figure out how to cut this off without hurting her. “These ties are tight.”

“How-how did you know to come here?” Dad asks. “We thought we’d be lying here forever until someone found us too late.” I should feel bad, listening to his comment, but it’s not my fault that I don’t come around or have much of anything to do with them. It’s their fault and I’ve spent so long taking the blame for their decisions. I can’t do that anymore.

“I didn’t—I just needed to get something for a research study I’m working on. Then I found you like this.”

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