Love Me Tender

Chapter 25

Peter was smiling when he headed home, he couldn't wait to wrap his arms around his wife. She was so beautiful and he loved the fact she was having his baby. As he came upon the house it was quiet, in fact it was to quiet. He went in the front door and immediately took in his surroundings.

He walked in and found broken glass all over the kitchen floor. He started to run to every room," Emma, are you here!" He started to panic, this was not like her. Maybe she went to one of his sister's house. He needed to check there.

He ran to Rachel's house first, hoping she was there helping her out. When he went in, Rachel was alone. " Have you seen Emma?"

Rachel stared at her brother," She came earlier to help with the baby. but that was a while ago. Why do you ask?"

Peter didn't like this," I went home and she wasn't there. I have a bad feeling about this."

Rachel grew worried" I think she said something about going to see Grace, maybe she is there."

Peter nodded," I am going to go see if she is, I just have a real bad feeling she is gone."

Rachel watched as her brother ran out of her house and towards Grace's. Peter never acted like this, something had him worried. Emma was missing? Hopefully she was at Grace's, and then he would calm down. It had to be cause Emma was getting close to having her baby.

Peter made it to Grace's house to find Carrie and Grayson playing on the front porch. Carrie smiled" Daddy, go home now?"

Peter smiled" no, I am going to talk to aunt Grace for a moment then we can go home."

Carrie just went back to playing, Peter knocked on the door. He couldn't wait for Grace to make it to the door. He walked in and came face to face with Grace," Is Emma here?"

Grace looked at her brother, " no, she hasn't shown up to collect Carrie. Is something wrong? Where is Emma?"

Peter was about to loose his mind," She is no where to be found, I can't find her. I need help in searching for her, I think something has happened to her."

Grace nodded, " I will help you find Emma, maybe she took a walk or something"

Peter shook his head, " she knows that she can't just take a walk, she knows it would worry me to death."

Grace had never seen her brother like this, something was terribly wrong. Emma was missing, but where did she go? There has to be some clue as to where she went? Maybe a clue on what caused her to disappear into thin air.

Charles came home, and Grace explained what was going on. So Charles took all three kids up to Rebecca's house. He then explained what was going on, it started a man hunt for Emma. Peter took Grace back to their home. They began to search for clues, Grace walked over to the writing desk, she saw a letter. 

Grace yelled" Peter, come quick! It's a letter!"

Peter ran over to her and grabbed it from her, he then read it out loud. "

My Dearest Peter,

     I am so sorry for this, I just can't do this anymore. I know that you don't understand , but I can't keep living a lie. I am writing this so that you won't worry to much, but I have to go. I can't stay here any longer knowing that I have came between you and another. I am so sorry that I destroyed your relationship with Mary. If it wasn't for me, you would be married to her instead. I just hope that you can forgive me for taking you away from her. I just hope that you can find her and fix this with her. I hope that you will understand what I have written. I ask that you don't come find me, I will not contact you even if my life depended on it. I say this to you with a heavy heart knowing that you won't accept this. I just want you to know that I will take care of the baby as you have for mine. Tell Grace to keep her little ones safe and that I am sorry that I can't come over today. I have to go , be safe and keep your thoughts clear.

                                                                     Yours truly,

                                                             Emma Richardson"

Peter stared at the letter in his hands," She left me? I thought she was happy, and why would she leave Carrie behind?"

Grace studied the letter, " I think this is written is some code, I think she is telling us what happened and that Mary has kidnapped her."

Peter was staring at her," She left me and you think it is written in some code?"

Grace nodded" yes, Emma is not some stupid woman who runs from everything. She is telling you here to keep your mind clear."

Peter perked up," Ok, so if it is a code then how do we figure out what she is saying?"

Grace shook her head," Peter sometimes I wonder about you, don't you remember the games Emma and I played when we were younger?"

Peter thought about it," I think you have it right she didn't leave me, that Mary took her from me." 

As they sat down at the table, everyone else came into the house. Peter was deep in thought as his family was talking all at once.Finally Rachel who was out of bed, stopped the madness," Ok let's try to figure this out."

So they got a piece of paper and started to work on unraveling Emma's message. When they were finished, they came to the conclusion that Mary had her. That Emma wanted him to find her, because where Mary was Emma was there too.

Time was of the essence, Mary was evil this they knew. They wouldn't put it past her to kill for what she wanted. Peter wanted to get Emma back before she had the baby. Mary was up to no good, now she was going to feel his wrath. No one messes with his wife, no one under any circumstances. 

They formed their posse and headed into town, it was going to be dark soon. Peter's first stop was Mary's oldest brother's house. Henry would know where she was holed up at, also the sheriff would be interested too. Mary had finally gone to far, she needed to be taught a lesson. One she can't get out of now, she deserved everything she got.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Emma moaned as she came out of the darkness, she felt groggy. Her mouth was like cotton, and her head pounded, especially around her temple. As she started to open her eyes, the light made her nauseous. She needed to open her eyes, she needed to know where she was.

Mary had left to buy a new dress, since Peter would be marrying her soon. She figured she would look good for him. Emma started to cry, she had to find a way out of here. She needed to escape from her captor. She knew that her life was on the line and so was this baby's. 

She hoped that Peter would understand the letter she left. She knew that Grace would, it was a game they played as kids. They would write letters to one another and write in code to see who would get it right. She tried to move but found she was bound at her wrists and ankles. This was not good, she couldn't break free. She didn't want to put the baby at risk, she could only pray that Peter came soon.