“Oh, good, sweetie, you’re awake. Savannah’s waters just broke. We’re getting close!” Madison clapped her hands like an excited child.
“That’s great news, babe.” He put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
“Sweetheart, have you decided which outfit you want to take the baby home in?” Nora asked her daughter.
“Oh, yes! Wait till you see!” She moved the black leather duffel to the kitchen table. As she was about to unzip it, another contraction hit me. I felt as if every organ inside of me was being squeezed within an inch of its life as white-hot pain exploded from within. I let out another huge scream. Just before my eyes shut tight, I saw Madison roll her eyes and gesture for her mother and Max to follow her into a back room, where they could ooh and aww over baby outfits in peace. She took the suitcase with her—and the duffel bag too.
Dammit!
A few minutes later, Nora and Madison were back. I panted, trying to catch my breath.
“But I don’t want you to go, Mother. Can’t you stay?” Madison whined.
“I wish I could, sweetheart—but you know the plan. I have to establish our alibi. I’m going to the hotel in the city and I’m going to check in on social media and post the picture you and I took there last week. It’s very important.”
Madison sighed. “You’re right.”
“You have the burner phone, right? And I have mine. All you have to do is call me if you need me.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t wait to see my baby with little Charlie the fourth, at last. We’ll all be together soon.”
“I love you, Mom.”
Nora kissed her daughter’s cheek and exited the cabin. A minute later I heard her car pulling away, just as my next contraction hit. I screamed as loud as I could, successfully driving Madison back into the bedroom with Max.
As it passed, I looked at Colleen again, my face stricken. Our plan to take the gun was ruined—the bag was now in the back bedroom with Madison and Max.
“Time is running out, Savannah. If we don’t get you out of here soon, we won’t be able to stop the baby from coming. What are we going to do?”
“Do you have a phone?” I whispered.
“I do—but when I got close to the park I started losing my signal. We’re pretty far out here. I can try and get a message out though.”
I nodded.
Colleen grabbed a worn blue backpack from the kitchenette counter. She retrieved her phone from a side pocket, and I faked more screaming while she tried to get a signal.
A moment or two later, she looked up, her features pinched. “I’m on the park’s WiFi and I’m trying to send my sister a message through social media, but the signal is very weak. The circle just keeps spinning when I press send.”
My next contraction hit, hard. I screamed. Colleen coached me through the breathing again. As the pain eased up, we heard yelling in the background.
“Max!”
We heard scuffling and thumping, and then a loud crash.
“What did you do to Max?”
Colleen’s and my eyes met, wide with alarm. What was happening back there?
Then—of course.
Jenna.
The chloroform had worn off. She was awake—and fighting.
My eyes met Colleen’s again. “This is our chance, Colleen. Untie me.Now.”
