Page 44 of Summer Ride

It was no surprise to her, since she’d spent most of her time in juvie with her nose in a book. She did have access to online classes but had quickly grown bored of them, feeling they moved too slowly.

The only thing she had been interested in was therapy. In particular, massage therapy and acupuncture. Mainly because she’d gotten in a bad fight one day in the showers and had injured her back. She’d been sent to see a physical therapist who had worked on her for a few months.

The woman had been kind and had talked to her and answered all of her questions.

If it wasn’t for that, she doubted she would have had anything to look forward to once she was released on her eighteenth birthday.

Thankfully, her juvenile records were all sealed, which had helped her obtain her first job.

When her case initially had gone viral, back when she’d been sixteen, her name and her family’s names had all been kept secret from the press. Even Ryan’s name had been kept out of the records.

Which is why she had never known it. The only reason she knew his first name was because she’d overheard someone calling him Ryan a few times when she’d been interviewed.

To be honest, back then, she’d been numb. Not only had she just escaped the horrors of the past years of her life, but then her family had turned on her.

For all those years, she’d dreamed of returning home to the open arms of loving parents and to their apologies for their past behavior. She should have known better.

Which is why it was so strange to her that Carter wasn’t going anywhere. She trusted him when he told her he was there to stay. That he believed her. Finally, at this point, he knew everything. All of her dark secrets.

She’d been too punch drunk and emotionally exhausted from her brother’s visit and her mother’s letter to keep those things inside any longer. Besides, she’d always known it would get out eventually. Carter just had a way of getting past her defenses.

Even now, as they ate their pizza and watched the television, he was pushing her out of her comfort zone. He was making a point, since the first time he’d said those words, to tell her as often as he could.

Every night when they went to bed, he’d tell her that he loved her. Every single morning, she’d wake up to him repeating it again. When he dropped her off at work or picked her up, he’d say it.

If she wasn’t careful, she’d get used to hearing it. Then, when he stopped, and she knew he would someday, she’d miss hearing it.

She’d been too deep in thought to register the news report on the screen at first. It was only after Carter took her hand in his that she zeroed in on it.

“Abigail Patterson was last seen at the Washington Point State Park at five o’clock p.m. She’s wearing a light pink shirt with blue shorts and a purple backpack. If anyone has information on her whereabouts, you’re directed to call the number on the screen. Amber alerts have been sent to all phones in the local area with the information. The Pattersons are asking for any information, no matter how small. At this point, Abby has only been missing for a few hours. Let’s do our part to bring this little girl home, safe and sound.”

There was a loud buzzing in Kara’s head that blocked out the rest of the report. How many times over the years had she heard about children going missing and remembered the horrors. How many times had she wondered how many more men like Axel were out there, knowing that it couldn’t be him because he was safely behind bars?

While she’d been locked in juvie until her eighteenth birthday, Axel had been given twenty years behind bars. Twenty years.

Since that night he’d broken into her apartment, she’d discovered that he’d been released on good behavior days before he’d left his first note.

But this time was different. Axel was free. There weren’t just other men out there doing these bad things. Now it could really be Axel.

When she saw the image of the little blond girl on the screen, she knew. Deep down in her gut, she knew.

Immediately, she jumped up from the sofa and threw up the slice of pizza that she’d just eaten. The entire room seemed to move all at once just before everything went dark.

“Kara, honey, you need to open your eyes for me,” someone said close to her ear.

That wasn’t Carter’s voice. That sounded a lot like…

Kara opened her eyes slowly and a very blurry Lea appeared hovering above her face.

“There you are.” Lea smiled down at her. “Can you remember what happened?” Lea asked as she flashed a light in her eyes.

“I…” She swallowed and tasted bile and willed herself not to throw up again. Then she remembered. Everything. “Oh god,” she groaned. “He has her.” She reached for her head.

“Easy,” Lea said softly. “You’ve bumped your head pretty hard. We’re taking you in for stitches and a few scans.”

Lea’s words somehow got through to her foggy brain. Then she realized that everything wasn’t spinning just in her mind. Everything was really moving. She was in the back of a car.

“Kara?” Carter’s voice sounded from somewhere in the car. “Hold on, baby.” His face appeared from the front seat. He looked so scared that she reached out to touch his face. She wanted to tell him that she was okay, but in truth, her mind was focused on what that little eleven-year-old girl—Abigail, Abby—was going through right now. What Axel was doing to her…