Saving Beth

Part 7

*OLIVIA*

I couldn't move. My shirt had fallen off my bed, and I didn't dare make a sound, or he might turn around and take another turn. For twenty minutes I laid there, silent tears streaming down my face.

Once I was certain he wasn't coming back, I got dressed. Grabbing my phone from my bed, I tried to call Michael one more time. I let the phone ring, expecting him to answer and start yelling at me for not calling sooner. But it went straight to voicemail. I sighed, putting my phone away and turning to inspect myself in my mirror.

My hair was everywhere, my eyes wide and bloodshot, and you could see bruises forming on my wrists. I looked so thin and fragile, and I shuddered thinking about how easily he had taken advantage of me.

But something had caught my attention when he was getting dressed to leave. A little ring he kept on a chain around his neck. One that looked very familiar.

It was Beth's ring, the one grandma had given her when she was five. She never took it off. And the only way Luke could have gotten it....

Realization hit me, and I threw my shoes on, running as fast as I could out of that house. I kept running, straight to Michael's job, and didn't wait to explain. I grabbed his hand and yanked him outside, barely breathing.

"Michael... It's Luke... He..." I gasped, trying to get the story out. But Michael just put his hand on my shoulder, a pained look on his face.

"I heard everything Liv. I know what he did to you." His revelation stopped me in my tracks, and it took me a second before it dawned on me.

"The phone... I never hung up.... Shit. Please don't tell anyone Mike. Please." I begged, hoping he'd keep this secret as well as he did the one about my mother.

"Liv, this is serious. He's a pedophile. He-"

"That's not important Michael. Damn it, listen to me." I cut him off, finally finding my voice. "He has Beth!"

Michael's eyes widened, and he just stared at me. I couldn't seem to catch my breath, and we stood in silence for about ten minutes.

"What now?" Michael asked, breaking the silence.

"Now, we wait. I have a feeling he's going to start making mistakes. And when he does, that's when we'll get Beth back." And as we walked home in the waning sunlight, I explained my plan to him.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Luke hadn't tried anything since that day, but I always kept my bedroom door locked when he was around. Mom had been quiet, and when she did talk to me she was nice. Something told me he had hurt her too, but I was too scared to ask, in case she had questions of her own.

Michael's parents returned from their cruise, and he filled them in on what had happened over the month they'd been gone. They offered their condolences, bringing over casseroles and pies as if we were mourning a death and not looking for a little girl snatched up by a creep.

It was almost August, and the annual end-of-summer festival was about to start. For the first time since Beth was born, my mother actually wanted to go with me. So I got up early that day, made her breakfast, and got dressed. We ate quickly, and I had never seen her so excited. I couldn't help smiling, seeing the joy on her face.

"Come on slow poke, we're gonna be late!" She called, running out ahead of me, like a little kid chasing after the ice cream truck. I laughed, running out after her.

We ran all the way to downtown, our hair flowing behind us, the difference in color so drastic you would never believe we were mother and daughter. The festival was just opening up, but the lines for the rides were already a mile long. We decided to skip the rides and head for the stage, entering the raffle and sitting on the bleachers. They had some local band playing, all about trucks and girls, but mom still sang her heart out. It was the happiest I had seen her in a long time.

We danced and sang for what seemed like hours, the stands slowly filling with people until there was almost no room to turn. The music finally stopped, and some balding guy with a horrible moustache stepped up to the mic.

"Alright folks, I know y'all are enjoying the music, but it's time for the raffle!" The crowd erupted in cheers, half of them too drunk to care. "Drumroll, please." He called to the drummer behind him.

Everyone started patting their legs, hollering and yelling, until he was ready to speak again. "And the winner of this year's raffle is... Ticket 094567!! Come on up!" From somewhere in the left side of the stands came an excited shriek. I looked over, watching a little girl no older than 10 run down the stairs. I smiled, glad the money would go to someone who would probably spend it on candy.

I kept my eyes on the little girl, from the stands all the way to the stage, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar. The announcer handed her the gift card, this year it was for walmart, and crouched down in front of her, mic in hand.

"Alright pretty lady, what's your name?" He asked, and the kid hesitated before answering, searching the stands as if looking for the answer in the crowd.

"Um... Annabeth?" She managed to squeak out, and as her eyes found their way to my side of the bleachers, I finally realized why she looked familiar.

Her hair was pulled back, her face thin and pale. Her lips were cracked, and the adorable little dress hung at awkward angles on her frail little shoulders. And even though they were sunken and glassy, I knew I would recognize those bright green eyes anywhere. They matched our mother's eyes almost exactly.

"Beth..." I whispered, too stunned to move, even as I watched her walk back to the bleachers and be swallowed by the crowd once more.

She was here. And that meant he was too. It was time to put the plan in action.