A Root Awakening: A Flower Shop Mystery (24 page)

She looked at me fearfully, her lower lip between her teeth.

“Draw it for me, Daisy.”

She began to cry. “It was just a little one.”

“It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.” I glanced at the window again. Time was growing short. “Draw it for me, please.”

She turned her picture over and drew a five-inch square. Inside it she printed in block letters:
Help me.

Oh, my God.
Daisy had written the note in Sergio’s pocket. He must not have known what to do with it, so he tucked it away, and Sam had mistaken his gesture for one of pain. “Why did you give the man that piece of paper, Daisy?”

She put her fists against her eyes and sobbed, “Because I want to go home.”

As she rested her head on her arms and cried, I glanced at the window again, but thankfully no one was watching. Marco was doing a great job of keeping Sandra in the front of the house, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to draw out his interview for much longer. I dug in my pocket for a folded tissue and pushed it into Daisy’s hand. “I’ll work very hard to make sure you get to your real home, Daisy. Dry your eyes now. You don’t want Sandra to see you crying.”

Gulping back the sobs that shook her little body, Daisy raised her head and gazed at me, her freckled face swollen and tear-streaked. “Will you take me home?”

“I’ll see that you
get
home,” I said.

“When?”

I was about to explain that the police would come for her when a big truck roared up the driveway and stopped near the gate.

Norm had returned.

I grabbed my phone and texted Marco:
Norm is here.

His reply came seconds later:
Leave now.

I stuffed the drawing and my phone in my pocket and rose, preparing to flee. Then I glanced up at the window and saw Sandra staring down at me with such a look of rage that I shuddered. I had to get out of there.

A terrifying thought stopped me. What would Sandra do to Daisy?

Leave now.

Unaware of Sandra, Daisy put her hand on my arm and gazed at me hopefully. “When?”

I shut my eyes to the image of Sandra glaring at me.

“When, Abby?”

The truck’s door slammed.

It’s now or never, Abby. Run!

I couldn’t do it. I could not leave Daisy with the monsters inside that house. I wrapped my arms around her and scooped her up.
“Now.”

With the child clinging to my neck, I ran through the neighbors’ yard to the other street and hurried to my car in the church parking lot, breathing so hard I thought my lungs would burst, realizing only belatedly that I’d left my sweatshirt behind. I buckled Daisy into the passenger seat and dashed around to the driver’s side. Luckily, because the ’Vette sat low to the ground, Daisy would be invisible to anyone seeing my car drive past.

I texted Marco:
In the car.

My phone rang instantly. I saw Marco’s name on the screen, so I said, “Are you okay? Where are you?”

“Looking for you.”

“I’m right around the corner at the church. Don’t worry. I’m safe.”

“No, Abby, you’re not safe. Norm is looking for you, too.”

“S
tay where you are,” Marco said. “I can’t follow Norm too closely because he knows my car now, but I can tell you when the coast is clear. Then I want you to leave the area as fast as you can and get back to the highway. We can meet up at home. I’ll alert Reilly about the situation.”

I put my key in the ignition, then glanced into the rearview mirror, and my blood ran cold. “He’s coming up the street toward the church, Marco. What should I do?”

“Duck.”

I slid as far down as I could and leaned over the console. Fortunately, there were at least twenty cars parked in the lot. What were the odds Norm would look for me there?

“What are you doing?” Daisy asked in a frightened voice.

“I—dropped a pen on the floor by your feet. Would you help me find it?”

Marco continued to talk in my ear. “He doesn’t know your car, so you should be okay as long as he doesn’t spot your hair. Stay on the line while I phone Reilly.”

Marco was gone before I could tell him that there was a high probability that Norm did know what kind of car I had. It hinged on whether he had recognized me Friday night outside the school. I raised my head and twisted around to see out the back window, then held my breath as the truck drove by.

He hadn’t seen the ’Vette. I sagged against my seat, weak with relief.

Then I heard the screech of brakes. I twisted around again and saw the truck backing up.

With my heart thudding like a hammer, I started the engine, put my phone on speaker, dropped it into my lap, and threw the car in reverse.
Don’t draw attention, Abby. Steady as she goes.
I glided around the side of the church to another parking lot in the rear, where I pulled up between two SUVs, the motor idling. I was shaking so hard my teeth were chattering.

“Abby?” I heard from my phone.

“I think he spotted me, Marco,” I called. “I’m sitting behind the church. What should I do?”

“Don’t panic. I’ll distract him. Keep both hands on the wheel and get to the highway as fast as you can, then head to New Chapel. He won’t follow you there. Pedal to the metal, sweetheart. You’ve got a race car, remember?”

Daisy was whimpering, cowering against her seat, hugging her little arms around herself. There was no way I could terrify her even more by speeding through town.

“I can’t, Marco,” I called. “I have a passenger.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Daisy is with me.”

The phone went silent. I could only imagine what Marco was thinking.

“Just get to the highway,” Marco said at last. “I’ll be right behind you.”

I exited the church onto a side street and drove to the corner. When I didn’t see Norm, I got back on the boulevard and headed south, then glanced in my mirror expecting to see Marco’s Prius behind me. But it wasn’t Marco. It was the black pickup coming up fast.

My heart skipped a beat. Had I been alone, I would’ve gunned the engine and left the truck in the dust, but I had Daisy to consider now. I had to go the speed limit, and that was making my tension worse. “Where are you, Marco?” I called.

“Right behind Norm. Just keep going the speed limit. He’s trying to intimidate you. Turn left at the next corner.”

Daisy began to cry softly. “I want my mommy.”

“You’re going to see her soon, Daisy. I promise.”

With Norm nearly on my bumper, I made a left turn, drove to the next corner, and turned right, keeping my speed low, stopping at every stop sign, and clenching my jaw all the while. Under Marco’s directions, I zigzagged through the city on unfamiliar roads, and still I couldn’t shake the truck. The black behemoth filled my rearview mirror like an evil predator. Every time I glanced up, I could see Norm’s big face, focused, furious, desperate to annihilate me.

My fingers tightened on the wheel. I was trying to stay calm, but Daisy’s whimpers weren’t helping. I had no idea where I was or how far the highway was. I glanced at the gas gauge and my stomach knotted. The tank was empty. I hadn’t filled up the ’Vette in a week because I’d been so busy.

“Where are we?” Daisy whined.

“Heading to a safe place. Can you sing a song for me?”

“I can’t. I’m too scared.”

Me, too,
I wanted to say.

After what seemed like hours, I finally caught sight of the highway ahead. Within minutes I veered into one of the double turning lanes so I could head east, then sat in the right lane behind a silver Taurus, my gaze fixed on my rearview mirror. I saw Norm swerve into the left-turn lane, and even though there was no one in front of him, he stopped right beside me. Then I saw Marco pull up behind me.

With white-knuckled intensity, I gripped the wheel and stared at the traffic light, willing it to change, too petrified to look over at Norm. What would I do if he tried to stop me? What was he planning? He had a clear view inside the ’Vette, so I knew he could see Daisy. Did he care? What if he had a gun and was even now taking aim?

I lifted my gaze to meet Marco’s in the rearview mirror and said, “Marco, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

“Listen to me, Sunshine,” Marco said in a confident, calming voice. “Here’s the plan. When the light turns green, I need you to stay in the right lane. I’m going to perform a police maneuver on Norm’s vehicle that should stop him cold. When you see it happen, get into the left lane and take the cutoff onto the old country road that runs parallel with the highway. Do you know which road I’m talking about?”

“Yes.”

“Good. That’ll lead you straight into New Chapel.”

I took a steadying breath. “Okay.”

“Stay on the line while I alert Reilly to the change of plans. No matter what happens, follow the plan. Okay?”

“But what if something happens to you?”

“Abby,” Marco said sharply, catching me off guard. When he called me by my first name, I knew he meant business. “No matter what happens, follow the plan. I can take care of myself. But I need to take care of you and Daisy first.”

I looked down at Daisy, who had a grip on my knee over the center console.

“I’m going to call Reilly now,” Marco said. “Stay on the line and follow the plan. You’re doing a great job, sweetheart.”

Tell that to my stomach.

The light changed, and I moved forward with traffic, turning behind the silver Taurus onto the three-lane highway. I glanced in my mirror and saw Marco’s green car turn, then ease in behind the pickup. Surely Norm would give up now. He had to know I was heading out of Maraville.

The Taurus moved into the center lane in front of Norm, so I gave the ’Vette more gas and pulled ahead, finally able to increase my speed. Traffic was fairly heavy at first because I was approaching a big shopping mall, but at the next light most of the cars turned off, leaving only a few on the road. I glanced in the mirror and swore silently. The black pickup was back in my lane and gaining on me.

In my rearview mirror I saw Marco pull almost even with the pickup. The next time I glanced into the mirror,
I saw the Prius hit the truck’s right rear side, causing it to spin around.

“Hold on to your seat,” I told Daisy, stepping on the gas.

“Why? What’s happening? I’m scared, Abby.”

“Nothing to be scared about. I just need to go fast.”

I saw the cutoff ahead, pushed my blinker down, and swerved left through two empty lanes. I was preparing to exit when my ’Vette suddenly choked and sputtered but thankfully continued on. I glanced at the fuel gauge. The needle hovered over empty. Thank God I wasn’t too far from the New Chapel border now.

“We’re almost there, Daisy.”

I turned onto the narrow road that wound through a wooded section of the county, breathing freely for the first time. Any second now I would hear from my husband, letting me know I was in the clear.

But instead I heard the fuel indicator ding. I rounded a bend and saw a railroad crossing in the distance, its gates lowered and a train going by. I lifted my foot off the gas and coasted toward the tracks, praying the train would be gone by the time we reached the tracks.

But it wasn’t. In fact, it seemed to be going slower. I stopped at the gates and shifted into neutral to save gas.

Suddenly the phone clicked, and I heard Marco. “My plan didn’t work. He pushed me off the road and into a ditch. Did you take the cutoff?”

“Yes. Are you all right?”

“Fine. Don’t worry. I alerted Reilly and he’s on his way, so just keep going. Norm won’t know where you are now.”

“But is he still headed this way?”

There was silence for a moment. Then he said quietly, “Yes.”

Damn.

“How close are you to New Chapel?” he asked.

“Not too far, but I’m stuck at a railroad crossing. Where are you?”

“Standing by my car.”

I glanced up at my rearview mirror and saw a vehicle round the bend, still far behind me. It couldn’t be Norm, I assured myself. There was no way he knew I’d turned off the highway. But as it drew closer, I could see that it was a dark color and too large to be a car.

“Marco, I think he’s behind me again.”

“Is there a house nearby you can go to?”

I glanced at my surroundings, survival instincts kicking in. To our left was an abandoned gas station and to the right miles of barren fields. With the train blocking my path, there was simply nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. “No. Nothing.”

“Okay, stay in the car. Lock your doors.”

My engine began to sputter and chug. I looked down at the fuel gauge just as the motor died. I tried to restart it, but it merely chugged some more. I checked the rearview mirror and saw the black monster coming up behind me. “Oh, God, Marco—it’s him.”

“The New Chapel Police are headed your way, Abby.”

“They can’t get through. The train’s still there.”

“Can you see the end of it?”

“No.”

Daisy began to cry, her small body shaking in terror. “I want to go home.”

“Can you make a three-point turn?” Marco called.

I watched in absolute dread as the pickup stopped behind me, so close we had to be touching. “He’s getting out of the truck, Marco. Oh, God. He has a baseball bat.”

Through my side-view mirror I saw Norm slam the truck door, his large face twisting into a grin. He walked up slowly, pounding the bat in his palm.

“Don’t worry, Daisy,” he called. “Daddy is here.”

I was trapped in a nightmare that wouldn’t end. “He’s going to smash in my window.”

“Get down! Cover your head!”

I grabbed Daisy over the center console and pulled her under me. I had promised her I would take her home. I had promised her I would keep her safe. Now I’d put both of our lives in jeopardy.

I held her and began to pray, expecting at any moment to hear the impact and feel the shards of glass on my back. Ten agonizing seconds passed . . . Then twenty, thirty . . .

Nothing happened. I stopped praying and listened.

Were those sirens? My heart was pounding so loudly and Daisy was crying so hard that I couldn’t be sure.

I waited another interminable few seconds, then lifted my head just enough to see over my shoulder. Norm was standing next to my window, baseball bat in hand, staring straight ahead. I looked forward as he did, and through the train cars caught glimpses of flashing red and blue lights. The police were on the other side of the tracks.

Norm turned to me and we locked eyes.

He bent down, his body filling my entire window, his gaze now upon Daisy. “Don’t you want to come home with Daddy?” he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice.
“Come on, honey. Hurry now so no one gets hurt. Open the door and come with Daddy.”

Daisy lifted her head and with a determination and cheekiness that astounded even me, she said, “You’re not my daddy.”

“But you
are
out of luck.” I pointed toward the train just as the last car rolled past.

Norm glanced toward the crossing and, with a curse, ran back to his truck and started the engine. I sat up and twisted around, still holding Daisy, and watched as he backed up. My relief was so overwhelming, I began to laugh and cry at the same time. I found my phone on the floor and grabbed it with trembling hands. “Marco, he’s leaving. He saw the cops across the tracks and it scared him off.”

“Thank God you’re safe,” Marco said.

“Tell Reilly to stop him!” I called.

Daisy shouted, “And her car is broken, too.”

“Your car is broken?” Marco called.

I let out a shaky breath. “No, it’s just . . . could you ask Reilly to bring me some gas?”