35W, Anne pulled off onto an exit to sort through her next steps of survival. Behind a small strip mall was a gas station. She threw the SUV in park after hiding on the side of the white concrete building almost out of sight of traffic. She searched in the glove compartment, finding a sleek cell phone. Her hands where trembling so violently she could barely dial Casey’s number.
“Hello?”
Casey finally answered after four agonizing rings.
“Oh god, Casey, it’s me!”
Anne hysterically whispered trying to bite back her sobs.
“Anne, where are you? Are you all right?” Casey yelled.
She knew there was no time for a detailed conversation; quickly she explained what she needed.
“Casey, listen to me. I don’t have much time. Have you heard from Adam?”
“No, why? Isn’t he with you?” Casey asked.
“No, I don’t know what to do. Oh god!”
Anne began to lose all focus.
“Anne, what is going on? Please tell me!”
“I’m in big trouble, Casey! He’s going to kill me!”
“Who is? Anne? Where are you?”
As Casey began demanding Anne’s whereabouts, a beeping noise sounded in the ear piece. Slowly she pulled the phone away to view the screen. An unknown number was calling the phone. Before she hung up on Casey, she already knew who was on the other line. Anne could hear Casey screaming, and then there was silence. She listened quietly but her ragged breath deceived her.
“My sweet, Anneliese isn’t so sweet anymore.”
Anne closed her eyes while throwing her hand over her mouth, silencing her panic. Hearing the roar of an engine in the background, she started the Escalade, speeding through the parking lot and nearly rear-ending an innocent mini-van that was waiting for the light to turn green.
“You can’t hide, my love, and you’ll never find Adam.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Anne shouted into the phone as she maneuvered her way through the dense night traffic, rapidly driving toward the next exit that would merge her back onto the interstate.
“I want what is mine. Over the past couple of years, I have come to realize that I was sick and tired of listening to other people boss me around, take advantage of me, and take what belonged to me.”
“So you are out for revenge?”
Anne blended into the interstate traffic.
“You know what they say—revenge is profitable. Anneliese, please try and understand.”
Carter’s tranquil voice was laced with insanity.
“This has to end, Carter.”
“You’re right, and it will not be in a happily-ever-after kind of way.”
Swallowing hard, Anne ended the call and tossed the phone on the passenger seat. Rational thoughts were in a distant era, but Anne needed to find one. Was it possible Adam had predicted this entire event? He imparted his firearms skills upon her, so what else in their conversations and actions had he left her as a breadcrumb trail to this exact moment?
After parking the Escalade a few blocks from Adam’s residence, hidden in the darkness of an alley way, Anne jogged down the sidewalk and inspected her surroundings. Since Adam was a person of interest in her missing persons case, she knew there would be an undercover cop hiding somewhere in the vicinity. The smart thing would be for her to run to the car, bang on the window and beg for help, but that wasn’t how this game was played, and she would surely lose it for her and for Adam.
Hunching down behind a bush that sat near the side entrance of the town home, Anne dug her hand into the unpleasantly cold earth, searching for the hidden key. She had buried it there herself and now, since she was without keys, cell phone, license or even shoes, she needed to locate the key to the house. The bottoms of her feet were numb and sore from the cold pavement.
Pulling the silver metal from the dirt sent relief through her body. She inched toward the door, maintaining her child-size height and inserted the key. Quietly hearing the lock release, she slowly opened the door and peered into the thick black room.
Like a cheetah, she sprinted up the stairs. Surprisingly, Adam’s house seemed untouched, which she found odd because the Montgomerys and Minneapolis PD were searching for him. Or maybe they already knew his bleak fate. Anne shook the thought and proceeded to dig in the small walk-in closet for her clothes.
In the darkness, everything looked black and white and out of focus. Finally finding a pair of dark jeans and a magenta shirt, she undressed in the shadowy bedroom. She returned to the closet to