One By One (editing)

Chapter Fourteen

I stood in the kitchen, my finger hovered over my contacts list on my phone. I was frozen to the spot, unsure of who to call. Dad? Mom? Granma Jo? Luke? The police? There were just so many secrets and suspicions that I had absolutely no- Wait. The note.

I slammed my phone down on the counter and raced upstairs to unfold the note. 'Don't call the police. Instead, call Luke the second day at 5:25 pm.'

But how did I know to trust it? They were just two-line instructions on a crumpled piece of paper left in my closet by an anonymous writer. As soon as I pressed the buttons for '911', I decided that I wouldn't call the police and I wouldn't call Luke till tomorrow. I deleted the number to call the police but I was still going to text Luke.

I went back downstairs to retrieve my phone and text Luke: Where are you?

While I waited for the reply, I shouted for the girls to go upstairs and start getting ready for bed. They thumped up the stairs and as I followed them, my phone buzzed. I paused, one hand on the railing to pull it out of my pocket.

The reply read: Left with Sean and Katie. Call me tomorrow. Mom knows.

I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding in, relieved about the confirmation that he had both Sean and Katie with him. But the whole 'left' thing? That didn't make any sense. Left? What did that even mean? As in, instead of being kidnapped, they left voluntarily? Or as in, they just left for a while? When were they coming back? Would they come back?

I asked him all of these questions, texting and sending them one right after the other. But there was no reply. The last option I could resort to was calling Luke tomorrow, so that's just what I would have to do.

"We're ready Carter!" Liv yawned as she bounded to the top of the stairs.

"Ok," I smiled, shoving my phone back into my pocket. "I'm coming." But as I climbed the rest of the stairs, I realized the last part of his text, the Mom knows part. Why would she know? Did this have to do with dinner? I shook my head and walked into my younger sister's bedroom, trying to clear my head of all of these confusing questions that were spiraling out of control.

All three girls shared one room. Liv and Vic shared a bunk bed while Emily occupied a twin sized bed off to the side. They were gathered on Emily's bed, waiting for me to kneel beside the bed and say prayers with them.

Thankfully, they didn't ask anymore about where Luke, Sean, and Katie had gone. Maybe it was because they could see it on my face. I'd been told before that I wore my emotions clear as day on my sleeve.

We finished our prayers and I tucked them all in, kissing each of them good night before softly closing the door behind me.

After double checking that the front door was locked, I retreated to my room. I finally decided to call somebody, anybody, after staring at my phone for a couple minutes. Somehow I felt like that stupid note was important and written by someone who knew a whole lot more than me about all of this. So even though it said not to call the police, I still wanted to call my mom, even though Luke said she knew.

"Hello?" My mom's comforting voice came through the speaker of the phone. It consoled my shaking hands instantly.

"Mom, I'm scared," I admitted. "I don't know what to do."

"Don't do anything. It'll all be okay and soon enough you'll understand why this is all happening. For now, I need you to be my brave, strong girl and believe me."

"Ok," I whispered softly, my voice cracking from the threat of tears building up in my eyes.

"We'll be home in a couple ten minutes. But don't go to sleep yet. Teddy will sleep in your room with you."