Not My Mother by Miranda Smith (lightweight ebook reader .txt) 📕

she didn’t hesitate to give them her name. More than that, she knew it was her best shot at ever finding Caroline.

She never could have predicted it would take so long.

There had been several times over the years when she thought she had found them. A mother and daughter living in California, celebrating a third birthday. Another time, on vacation, someone swore a woman accompanying a ten-year-old girl was Sarah. And yet, all those were false leads.

Amelia never knew her daughter would be over thirty before she saw her again. Gone was the baby she had so desperately wanted, gone was the little girl she had worked so hard to find. But all wasn’t lost, she realized. Caroline—Marion—now had a daughter of her own. Maybe Amelia’s fate wasn’t yet set. Maybe she still had a shot at having the family she’d always wanted.

And yet, with everything that had changed over the years, the same obstacle remained: Sarah. Although she was called Eileen now. Stupid name.

Amelia couldn’t believe they had lived right under her nose all this time, but she tried not to let the bitterness consume her. Not when she finally had the opportunity to make things right, and even more than that, get revenge.

But she had to get Sarah out of the way. That’s why she didn’t rush to North Bay the minute she learned about Marion’s existence. She had waited long enough, what would another month hurt? Instead, she used her resources to find out as much as she could about the Sams. She had to make sure everything was in place before she tipped off the police, and the information came in handy later when she needed the media to put pressure on Marion.

Before arriving in North Bay, Amelia made sure she had a connection in the jail, someone capable of stabbing an unsuspecting Sarah in her cell. And she had to make sure the guard on duty could be paid to look the other way. Everything worked according to plan, except Sarah survived the attack.

That’s why she had to make a break for Marion when she did. Whether or not Sarah would pull through was out of her control, but none of that would matter if she could win back the daughter stolen from her all those years ago.

And who could forget precious Ava? Yes, the three of them would make a better family than even Amelia could have dreamed. No undependable Bruce. No screw-up Sarah. She knew then, after all the heartache, after all the sacrifice, some things were worth the wait.

49 MarionNow

Minutes.

I must have only been out for minutes, and yet my entire life might have been ruined in that short amount of time.

I feel drops of water falling on my face and neck. That’s what wakes me. When I open my eyes, I see Evan standing over me.

“Marion, what happened?”

He’s still wearing his jacket from outside, and it is dripping on me. The front door is wide open, letting in powerful gusts of wind.

“Ava.” I move, struggling to stand.

“Tell me what happened.” Evan sounds rushed, afraid.

“Amelia was here,” I say, pulling on his arm to find my balance. “She wants to take Ava.”

Now standing, I dart down the hallway, Evan fast on my heels. Each footstep seems to span its own moment in time. Reality has slowed, like I’m reliving a moment from the past. But it’s not my past, it’s Amelia’s. As I push open the door, look around the room, rush to the crib.

It’s empty.

I fall backward, Evan holding me up.

“She took her,” I say, my voice frantic.

“Amelia took her?”

“I’d put Ava in her crib. Amelia showed up. She said she wanted us to leave with her. When I refused, she knocked me out.”

I push past him, each second that passes feeling too long and dangerous. I rush to the front door, swing it open, expecting to see Amelia’s car has disappeared. I stop in my tracks when I see it is still nudged between two others on the curb. She has not driven away, which means she must have gone somewhere on foot.

And she has taken Ava with her.

“I’m calling the police,” Evan says, the phone already held up to his ear.

The rain is still pouring down in heavy bursts, the night dark except for the random streetlights and squares from bedroom windows.

“She must still be close,” I say, turning my head from one way to the next. “I couldn’t have been out for more than a few minutes.”

Running back into the house, I find Amelia’s keys on the floor.

“That must be why she didn’t leave in the car,” Evan says, then turns his attention back to the telephone. “Yes, I need to report a child abduction. The address is…”

I run to the patio overlooking the beach. The entire area is shrouded in darkness. A chair is flipped on its side. It could have been in reaction to the storm, or this might have been the route Amelia took to get out of the house unseen. I squint, trying to see into the distance, but all I see is blurry blackness.

The ocean and the rain create a cacophony of water around me, drowning out the sound of anything else. And then there’s something. A noise. A cry. It’s Ava, I know it.

“She has her on the beach,” I shout to Evan, jumping over the back gate.

I don’t have time to wait for him. I grab my phone, still in my pocket, and switch on the flashlight. Usually so bright it’s blinding, now it only illuminates a few inches in front of me. I scan it across the ground, my feet sinking deeper into the wet sand with each step. The farther I get from the condo, the more alone I feel, not sure which direction to turn.

Then, another cry. It sounds closer, but the wind whooshing past my face can be misleading. I run in that direction. A few minutes later, I can hear Evan coming up behind me.

“Police