chapter one
Maddie drove down the street, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. The side of her face was completely numb now and she was shaking.
“But he promised,” she whispered vehemently to herself. “He said he’d never do it again. Why did he lie?”
She stopped automatically at the stop sign. It was fortunate for her that she had the entire street memorized because she could barely see in her current state. Everything was blurred and swimming and Maddie could scarcely be sure she was still on the road.
“I’ll kill her,” she muttered. “That slut Jenny.”
But then, another thought crossed her mind. “He probably lied. Jenny probably doesn’t know about me,” she said rationally.
“I’ll kill him.”
Another stop sign. With a quick glance to her left and right to be sure there were no moving blurs, she continued through it.
“Only half a mile until I’m home,” she muttered sarcastically. She just hoped she could get that far. Her hands were trembling and she had to grip the wheel until her fingernails were digging into it to be sure she wouldn’t let go.
Another stop sign. Again, there were no mobile blurs to her sides, so she pulled past it. She took one hand from the wheel to wipe her eyes once more. Maddie squeezed both eyes closed tight for a moment and wiped them once more. She opened them just as the front, right side of her truck jumped up slightly.
Maddie stepped on the brakes. “Probably hit the curb,” she grumbled. However, a glance out the windshield proved that theory wrong. “What the heck . . .”
She leaned over and looked out the passenger side window. She couldn’t see much, but what she did see made her heart threaten to stop beating.
Blond hair. Long, blond hair. Stretched across the pavement.
“Oh, my god,” she breathed.
Maddie threw the truck into park and cut the engine. Not checking to see if any traffic was coming, she jumped out the driver’s side door and rushed to the front passenger side of the truck.
Laying on the ground in a small pool of motor oil, legs caught up around the tire, was a little girl with long blond hair. She wasn’t moving.
Maddie rushed to the girl’s side and immediately shook the little girl’s shoulder. “Are you all right?” she asked. There was no response. “Please be all right.” She checked the girl’s neck and found that there was a pulse, and her chest was rising and falling, so she was breathing as well. Maddie felt the girl’s neck and found that it felt in tact. She ran her fingers to the back of the girl’s head and almost cried out in relief when she felt no blood.
When she was secure in the knowledge the little girl was still alive, Maddie looked at her legs. The left one was up on top of the tire, causing the girl’s body to be slightly twisted. Her right leg was crossed under the left one, positioned just behind the tire.
“Oh, my god,” Maddie whispered. She took the girl’s left leg gingerly in her hands and gently set it on the pavement beside the right one.
She looked back at the girl’s face. She was young. Her age probably hadn’t yet hit double-digits. And she was still unconscious.
“Help!” Maddie cried. For the first time, she realized where she was: In front of a small party store. People were always in there. Someone would hear her. “Help!”
Maddie looked back at the little girl’s face. She looked so familiar. Long blond hair, young, innocent face. She looked like . . .
“Oh, my god.”
Maddie hadn’t spoken the words this time. She snapped her eyes up to meet the gaze of a young boy. He wasn’t as young as the girl, but he wasn’t as old as Maddie. He had his blond hair pulled back into a pony tail at the base of his neck and his brown eyes were wide.
“Oh, my god!” the boy repeated, louder this time. “Help! Help, help, help! Ohmigod! Help!”
Suddenly, two more guys that seemed to be more around Maddie’s age emerged from the party store, a younger boy and girl close behind them.
Maddie’s brain finally caught up with the events. The little boy crying, “Ohmigod! Help, help!”, the two older guys that had walked out of the party store; they were the three brothers of Hanson.
And the little girl in Maddie’s arms was their little sister, Jessica.