Page 76 of Summer Ride

Brett greeted the guy and then quickly filled the officer in on what was happening.

Two more patrol cars arrived, as did his parents, who he had called while he’d been waiting for Brett and the police to arrive.

Each of them avoided the spot in the dirt where the tire tracks were.

Almost a full hour after he’d found that Kara was missing, his cell phone rang with an unknown number.

He answered it quickly, hoping.

“Carter?” Kara cried.

“My god, Kara, are you all right? Where are you?” he asked quickly, getting Brett’s attention.

“I’m in Panama City, at the hospital. I… can you come get me?”

“How did you get there? Are you safe?” he asked quickly. He rushed toward his truck, only to realize that it was blocked in by all of the other cars in his driveway. Looking around, he snapped his finger towards his dad and motioned to their car, which wasn’t blocked in. His father tossed him the keys, and Carter took off towards the car with Brett on his heels.

“I’m safe,” Kara said quickly. “The police are here and have my father and brother in custody. He… shortly after you headed upstairs, they busted in the back door and grabbed me before I could scream. He and Daniel forced me into their car. The entire trip they kept claiming that I had convinced my mother to steal my dad’s life savings. In her letter, she claimed the money was hers. Apparently, my father doesn’t believe my mother could manage any money all by herself, after all, she was just a woman. Somehow, he got it in his head that if he could get control of me like he had control of her that he could gain control of the money again. They took me here to see a doctor to confirm that I was mentally and spiritually unfit to be on my own. They said that they were going to get power of attorney over me and lock me away in an institution like I should have been all these years. They actually think I had something to do with Abigail.”

He heard her breath hitch and knew that she was trying to keep it together.

“They’re crazy,” Carter said, switching the phone to speaker. “Brett’s here with me. We’re on our way to come get you,” he told her. “How did you escape?”

“I didn’t. When they pulled me into the doctor’s office, gagged and with my hands tied behind my back, cast and all, the receptionist called the police,” Kara said. “Her name’s Jenny. She’s been to the camp a few times. I’ve even given her a few massages,” she said, and he heard her chuckle. “She’s here with me now, keeping me calm.”

“Hey,” they heard a woman’s voice say. “Your girl’s okay.”

“Thanks,” Carter said. “Remind me to give you a huge hug when I get there,” he told Jenny. He heard her chuckle.

As he talked, he weaved the car quickly through the back roads and when he hit the highway, he gunned it.

“Hey, slow down. We know she’s okay. Let’s arrive alive,” Brett told him.

“Right.” He lifted his foot from the pedal. “My folks will kill me if I total their car.”

“Carter?” Kara said, getting his attention again.

“Yeah, babe?” he said, trying to focus on driving without speeding.

“I know we talked about a fall wedding, but I don’t want to wait any longer. Do you think your parents will be okay with a quick wedding? Maybe on the beach at River Camps, in the spot where we met?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “I think they’ll be okay with that.”

“How about next weekend?” Kara asked.

He laughed. “I think they’ll understand. I have Grandma’s ring with me in my pocket. I was going to give it to you during dinner.”

“Good. When you get here, you can put it on my finger.” He heard her muffled voice as she spoke to someone. “They want to talk to me. How far away are you?”

“Ten minutes,” he said. “Tops.”

“I’ll see you in ten. I love you.”

His phone went quiet, and he focused on weaving through the slower cars on the highway.

“Damn, and they thought she was the crazy one,” Brett said. “Did they really believe a doctor would sign off on her mental health when they delivered her bound and gagged?”

“Guess so. Can you call ahead and find out what’s going to happen to them?” Carter asked.