Chapter 18
The heavy diesel exhaust filled the covered platform as the grey Greyhound bus pulled out of the Redding terminal, turning onto the open freeway.
Tessa sat in the very back row of the bus, placing Maisie in the window seat while she took the aisle seat to block any passing passengers.
She had purchased a cheap prepaid burner phone at a convenience store inside the terminal using her remaining cash.
With trembling fingers, she dialed her older sister Clara's cell phone number, holding the plastic phone tight against her ear.
The line rang four times before a sharp, familiar voice answered the call.
"Hello?" Clara spoke, her tone cautious and hurried.
"Clara, it's me. Don't say my name," Tessa whispered urgently, leaning low over her seat.
"Tessa? My God!" Clara gasped, dropping her voice to a furious whisper. "Where are you? The police were at my house two hours ago!"
Tessa’s heart stopped. "What did they tell you?"
"They said Evan was dead and that you kidnapped Maisie after setting fire to his mother's estate!" Clara said rapidly. "Tessa, what the hell is going on?"
"Evan's mother was insane, Clara! They tried to hurt Maisie!" Tessa sobbed softly into the phone. "Evan was part of it!"
"I knew it," Clara spat bitterly. "I told you seven years ago there was something deeply wrong with that man and his creepy family."
"Clara, I need your help," Tessa begged. "We're on a bus coming south. Can you meet us somewhere outside the city?"
There was a long, terrifying pause on the line before Clara answered.
"Tessa... listen to me very carefully," Clara said, her voice dropping into a tone of quiet terror. "Don't come to San Diego."
"What? Why?" Tessa demanded, panic spiking through her chest once again.
"An hour after the police left, two men in black suits came to my door," Clara whispered, her voice shaking violently. "They weren't cops, Tessa."
"Who were they?"
"They said they represented the Hawthorne Family Trust," Clara explained, her breath fluttering against the microphone. "They showed me old property deeds. They own my apartment building, Tessa. They own the bank where I work."
Tessa gripped the burner phone so hard the cheap plastic casing cracked under her fingers.
"They told me that if you contact me, I have to tell them immediately, or they'll take everything I have," Clara wept. "They are everywhere down here."
"Oh God," Tessa gasped, tears spilling down her face. "They owned everything from Oregon to Mexico."
"Tessa, where is Maisie right now?" Clara suddenly asked, her voice changing strangely.
Tessa glanced down at the seat beside her—and felt her heart leap into her throat.
May you like
The window seat was completely empty.
Maisie was no longer sitting beside her.
