“What did you do next?” Annie asked.
“I crossed the street. I rented a van and drove up here. I didn’t even know if this place still existed. But I found it. That was on a Monday. By Friday, I knew I either had to go to Chappy and try and find her or forget it. So I went. And when I walked into the Inn and saw her right there, all by herself... I just . . . took her. Because she’s my daughter. And she looks like me, don’t you think?”
Annie ignored his question. She held Bella more tightly. “How did you get my phone number?”
He nodded toward Abigail. “From her phone.”
Before Annie could register surprise, Abigail seemed to realize what had happened. “The morning we were leaving Plymouth, Dad called to say you’d pick Lucy up at the boat. She’d forgotten her phone, so she put your number in mine. In case the boat was running late.” She turned back to Caleb. “When did you look at my phone?”
“You were in the bathroom, putting on your makeup. Lucy answered your phone, and I heard her side of the conversation. I figured out what was going on, so after Lucy left the room, I looked at your phone and wrote down the number.”
“So you really were dating me just to . . . do this? Not because you wanted to be with me?”
With Abigail asking questions, Annie wouldn’t be perceived as the nasty stepmother. Which pleased her.
“No. I don’t think so. But then . . . when you said I should come to the island the next weekend, everything fell into place. I even bought one of those cheap, throwaway phones and put Annie’s number in it in case I got up the courage to call her . . .”
Which explained to Annie why the caller ID had read UNKNOWN.
Abigail folded her arms. “Stop. Just stop. I don’t want to hear any more.”
Then Winnie called out, “Is everything okay in here?” She and Lucas came into the cabin . . . just as sirens blared outside and the red lights and blue lights flashed on and off across the snow. Unlike with the ambulance, Annie was grateful to see them.
“I texted my dad before you got here,” Abigail said.
“It’s okay, honey,” Annie said. “Bella’s safe now.”
“Of course she’s safe,” Caleb whimpered. “Why would I hurt her?”
Annie didn’t know how to respond, except to ask, “So I expect you also wrote the note?”
“What note?”
“The one you left on my porch that said Bella was fine. That she was safe with you.”
“I didn’t write a note. All I did was take her. And her teddy bear.”
“Mr. Bear,” Bella said, and pointed to the corner of an old plaid chair.
Then the police tramped through the doorway. Annie grabbed the teddy and handed it to Bella while Caleb was being handcuffed. She didn’t know the up-island officer who recited Caleb his rights, but she figured John must have had Linc alert the Aquinnah force because they weren’t far from the cabin.
None of which would have happened as fast and maybe not as safely if it had not been for Abigail.
Annie handed Bella and Mr. Bear to Winnie. Then she went to Abigail and hugged her. It was the first time she had done that; she hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
“Thank you,” Annie said. “You risked a lot by coming out here on your own.”
“I kept thinking about Gramma and Gramps,” she said, crying again. “And how freaked out they’ve been because the little girl was missing. I don’t know the rest of you very well, but she means a lot to them.”
“She means a lot to a lot of us,” Annie said. “And I hope it’s not long before you know that you do, too.”
Winnie joined them. “Come on, Annie, let’s get you and Lady Bella home. You have a wedding to finish planning, don’t you?”
Which was when the rest of Annie’s world came back into focus.
* * *
On the way back to Chappy, the first thing Annie did was call Francine. Their conversation was interrupted when a nurse called Annie from the hospital—her X-rays were negative for a concussion or other complications. “The doctor wants you to stay mindful of any unusual symptoms, and he wants you to take it easy for a few days.” Annie almost laughed at that.
