Chapter 16 - Melissa Runs
Everything happened at once.
Police alerts.
Phone records.
Airport notifications.
Highway patrol.
Rachel screamed at Amanda over the phone, then immediately apologized because anger wasn't going to bring Chloe back.
Ethan stood in my kitchen listening.
“This is because of me.”
“No.”
“If I hadn't—”
“No.”
“If Chloe didn't record—”
I grabbed his shoulders.
“Stop.”
His eyes filled.
“This is Melissa's decision.”
“But Chloe helped me.”
“Yes.”
“She helped me and now—”
“Ethan.”
He looked at me.
“Melissa took Chloe because Melissa chose to take Chloe. Not because you told the truth.”
He nodded.
He didn't believe me yet.
Police found Melissa's car abandoned at a shopping center outside Rockford, Illinois.
That meant she had switched vehicles.
Her phone was inside.
She had planned.
The airline tickets were probably a decoy.
Detective Mills arrived at my house.
“We think she is driving.”
“Where?”
“Unknown.”
“Phoenix?”
“Possibly.”
“Why Phoenix?”
“She has a cousin there.”
Daniel arrived with his lawyer's permission.
I almost refused to let him inside.
Then he said:
“I know where she might go.”
Mills looked at him.
“Where?”
“Her mother owns land in Iowa.”
Melissa's parents had been quiet since Thanksgiving.
Too quiet.
Mills immediately checked.
The property was an old farmhouse near Dubuque.
Police went there.
Empty.
But someone had recently been inside.
Food.
Blankets.
Gasoline containers.
A map.
Ethan sat beside Chloe's school backpack, which Amanda had brought over.
He found a friendship bracelet inside.
Chloe had made it for him.
Blue and green beads.
He put it around his wrist.
That night nobody slept.
At 4:03 a.m., police traced a purchase.
Melissa used a prepaid card at a gas station near Des Moines.
Security footage showed her.
And Chloe.
Alive.
Wearing pajamas beneath a winter coat.
They were traveling west.
“Where would she go?” Mills asked Daniel.
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Think.”
“I am.”
“Family?”
“No.”
“Friends?”
“She doesn't trust people.”
“Former partners?”
Daniel went still.
“What?”
“She once lived in Colorado.”
“With whom?”
“A man named Tyler.”
Mills started searching.
Tyler Monroe.
Fort Collins.
Then another connection.
Melissa's old civil case involved his father.
They called Colorado authorities.
By midmorning, we had a possible address.
But Melissa was still hundreds of miles away.
Time mattered.
At noon, Ethan disappeared from the living room.
I found him in the guest room.
He was packing.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going.”
“Where?”
“To find Chloe.”
I stared at him.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Then you're not going anywhere.”
He threw a sweatshirt into the bag.
“She's alone.”
“So were you.”
He froze.
I regretted the phrasing immediately.
I stepped closer.
“And I almost lost you because adults who should have protected you failed.”
His face crumpled.
“I will not repeat that mistake.”
“But she needs me.”
“She needs you safe.”
“What if she's scared?”
“She is.”
“What if Mom—”
He stopped.
He had almost called Melissa Mom.
He looked ashamed.
I shook my head.
“Don't be ashamed of that.”
“She raised me.”
“I know.”
“I used to love her.”
“I know.”
“Does that make me stupid?”
“No.”
It made him a child.
Children love the adults they depend on.
Even dangerous adults.
Maybe especially then.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
Neither of us had heard him.
He looked at Ethan.
“I loved her too.”
Ethan's face hardened.
Daniel immediately added:
“That doesn't excuse me.”
Good.
He was learning.
Ethan zipped the bag closed but didn't pick it up.
“Can you find Chloe?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I’m trying.”
“Try harder.”
“I will.”
At 2:18 p.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person in the room froze.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
A child.
“Grandpa?”
I nearly collapsed.
“Chloe.”
“Don't say my name.”
Everyone moved at once.
Mills signaled for me to keep talking.
“Are you okay?”
“I think.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
Mills started tracing.
Chloe whispered:
“Mom is in the bathroom.”
“Are you at a gas station?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see a sign?”
“I can't read it from here.”
“Look around.”
Silence.
Then:
“There are mountains on a poster.”
Not useful.
“A big red cow.”
Mills wrote it down.
“What else?”
“A water tower.”
“What does it say?”
“I can't see.”
“Any roads?”
“Grandpa.”
“Yes?”
“I hid something.”
“What?”
“Mom has money in a green bag.”
“Okay.”
“And a gun.”
Every adult in the room froze.
Mills' face changed completely.
“Chloe, listen to me very carefully.”
Her breathing shook.
“Do not touch the bag.”
“I didn't.”
“Do not try to take the gun.”
“I won't.”
“Stay calm.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Is Ethan there?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to him?”
Mills hesitated.
Then nodded.
I handed Ethan the phone.
He pressed it against his ear.
“Chloe?”
She started crying.
He did too.
“Hey. Hey, I'm here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“The tablet.”
“You saved me.”
Silence.
“You saved me, Chloe.”
She cried harder.
Mills gestured to keep her talking.
Ethan asked:
“What do you see outside?”
“A truck.”
“What kind?”
“Yellow.”
“What else?”
“A sign with a chicken.”
Mills started searching nearby gas stations.
Then Chloe whispered:
“Mom's coming.”
Ethan's face changed.
“Put the phone down.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The line stayed open.
We heard movement.
Melissa's voice.
“Who are you talking to?”
Chloe said something.
Then Melissa shouted:
“Give me that!”
The call ended.
Mills looked at his screen.
“We got the tower.”
“Where?”
He looked up.
“Nebraska.”
My heart dropped.
Then another officer shouted from his laptop.
“I have the station.”
A gas station outside Grand Island.
Security camera access came through.
A gray SUV sat beside pump six.
Melissa appeared from the store.
Chloe beside her.
Police were nine minutes away.
Melissa opened the driver's door.
The SUV began moving.
Mills stared at the screen.
“Come on.”
Eight minutes.
Seven.
Six.
The SUV reached the road.
Then suddenly stopped.
A small figure jumped from the passenger side.
Chloe.
She ran toward the gas station.
Melissa slammed on the brakes.
Got out.
May you like
Ran after her.
And at the far edge of the camera view, blue lights appeared.
