A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,92
to Auri, “And that’s basically it, sweetheart. That’s pretty much my whole story. Besides waking up in the hospital and finding out a month later I was pregnant.”
“Did you ever get your memory back?”
“Not much about the days I was held, but I did get some of the weeks I’d lost before the abduction. A few glimpses, anyway.”
Auri picked at stray fibers on the carpet. “Mom, why did you keep me?”
“Oh, honey, I was in a coma for a month, and then I didn’t find out you were percolating inside me for another month. By the time we found out, you were a part of me. I couldn’t let you go at that point.” She turned to her mom and dad, gratitude swelling inside her. “And your grandparents supported my decision. Without question. They were so amazing.”
“And you really, really, really don’t regret it?”
She leaned over and put a hand on Auri’s face. “I never have, and I never will. Unless you turn out to be a serial killer. But even then . . .”
“But, Mom, if you were held for ransom, what did he ask for?”
“Two million.”
“Dollars?” Auri squeaked.
Sun laughed. “Yes. Somehow, the man found out about the nest egg your grandpa had built up. He’s a shrewd investor. And some guy decided he wanted it.”
“Is that why you didn’t call the cops, Grandpa?”
“It is. He said if we did, he’d kill her. And to this very day, I think he would have. I’m not saying we made the right decision, but if I had to do it over again, I don’t think I would change anything.”
“So, you paid it and he took her to the hospital?”
“No. We waited for instructions on the day we were supposed to drop it off, but none ever came.”
“We were worried sick, sweetheart,” Elaine added. “We thought something went wrong.”
“We thought he’d killed her,” Cyrus said, his voice flat. He looked away, and Auri’s expression softened on him.
“That’s when we decided to risk it,” he said. “We called in the sheriff at the time, Royce Womack, and told him everything. He got the state police involved instantly, but before anything came of it, we got a call from Santa Fe PD.”
“Someone had dropped your mom off at the hospital,” Quincy said.
“Who?”
Sun shrugged. “We don’t know. He didn’t stick around. We have footage, but it’s grainy and impossible to make out a face. It was like he knew where to look and where not to.”
“What could you tell about him? Was he short? Tall? Big or skinny?”
Sun smiled. “He seems young in the video. Very young. He wore a hoodie and a baseball cap and, if I’m not mistaken, he was injured. There was a huge dark stain on the hoodie, and one of the nurses said it looked like blood.”
“It wasn’t yours?” Quincy asked.
“It could have been, but he was really favoring his left side, like he’d been hurt. And there was a ton of blood.”
“He carried her in,” Cyrus said, “put her on a gurney, called out to a nurse, then ran before she could get close.”
“Why would he take you to the hospital before he got the money?”
Elaine started assembling the sandwiches. “We think your mom was injured and he was worried she wouldn’t make it.”
“But if all he cared about was the money, and he’d threatened to kill her anyway . . .”
“Welcome to my world,” Sun said, her daughter every bit as inquisitive as she ever was. “I’ve watched that footage over and over. I just have no clue who it is. I can’t see a face when I get my glimpses of that time, either, but somehow I feel like the kid in the video doesn’t fit the face in my head.”
“What glimpses?” Cyrus asked, alarmed.
“Right. No more secrets.” She looked at him. “You nailed it, Dad. I have been remembering bits and pieces. It feels a lot like Sybil’s dreams. I see images but can’t make sense of anything.”
His mouth thinned into a straight line. “I was worried about that. You’ve seemed—”
“Worried? Because I did win an election I never entered.”
“Is the stress of all this causing more memories to surface?”
She took his hand. “Dad, no. I’ve been getting glimpses of the abduction for years now. Just images, really. I’ve even remembered a couple of things that have happened before the abduction that I’d forgotten. Just silly little things, but it’s something.”
“And?” Quincy asked.
“And what?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He sat back in the recliner. “I thought the whole