Secrets I Have Held In My Heart

Chapter 59

The morning drop-off had gone smoothly, much to my relief. After giving Auggie a final kiss goodbye, I watch him eagerly run off to join his friends at pre-k. I drive back towards work, mentally preparing myself for the busy day ahead. But as I approach the last light before the BAU parking lot, a sense of unease creeps over me. Checking my mirrors though, I see nothing amiss.

As the light turns green, I press down on the gas-only for a figure to suddenly materialize in my passenger seat. I jump with a yelp at the man now leering beside me.

  "Keep driving." He says, wielding a knife. My heart plummets as furious realization dawns. Not this again. With shaking hands, I obey, turning right instead of into the lot. Memories of past stalker cases flash through my mind-how quickly obsession could spill over into violence.

  "What do you want from me now?" I ask, aiming for a calm tone despite my pounding pulse. I have to keep him talking until finding an open which they're probably won't be.

  "I want you to go pick up your son and drive to Maine." He growls. My blood runs cold. I don't know which one this is of Spencer's, but I hate him already. He's not the same man who got into my car a couple weeks ago.

My mind races as I drive toward the pre-K, staying outwardly compliant while inwardly planning my next move. This man clearly has a vendetta against Spencer, which put me and our son directly in the line of fire.

  "I know Spencer put you away. Why come after me and an innocent kid?" I ask, keeping my tone neutral.

The groupie sneers. "Because hurting you and your brat is the best way to make that freak suffer. That's what boss says anyway."

Pulling up to the school, I spot August and the rest of his class in the playground. I get out of the car as the man follows and I get to the doors. The secretary greets me with a smile and I try and give her one back apart from the cool metal of the barrel of the gun in my back.

  "I've come to pull August Hendricks out of school for the rest of the day, Sara." I tell her and she nods, typing something in.

  "I can go get him if you'd like. Stay here." she says kindly before walking to the school yard. The gun presses further into my back and I swallow hard.

  "Don't. Do. Anything." He seethes and I nod my head.

Soon, August comes barreling down the hall, his backpack swaying behind him from side to side. "Mommy!" He yells, opening his arms to give me a hug. I greet him back with one and he looks at the man behind me with a curious gaze. "Mommy, who's that man?"

I exchange a tense look with the gunman before answering with, "That's just a friend, sweetheart. He's coming with us for a little while." Inside me though, fear and anger still roils. "We're taking a little trip today."

  "Is daddy coming?"

  "Later, peanut." I smile at him. "Daddy's coming later, I promise."

As we get back into the car and August buckles himself, he happily babbles about his day. I refuse to let this criminal sow any seeds of fear into my son. I focus on maintaining an unruffled facade while processing our dire situation rapidly.

As dusk falls, Auggie starts whimpering softly that his tummy hurts from hunger. My heart breaks to see his little face crumpled in distress. I know we have to take a break soon, for his sake if nothing else.

Turning to our captor with steely resolve, I reason "He's just a kid. We need to stop for food before he gets sick. I promise we won't cause any trouble." After a long moment of consideration, the man nods gruffly. Ahead, a lonely gas station appears like an oasis in the darkness. I help Auggie out carefully, keeping him close as we walk inside with our personal watchdog. "Pick anything you want, sweetheart." I encourage Auggie with a small smile.

He chooses crackers and juice boxes quickly, tiny hands bringing them to me. As I pay, I catch the clerk's concerned gaze flicker to our tail. An idea sparks- I scrawl 'Help Us' in capital letters on the receipt before stuffing it into my pocket. Outside, I open the cracker package slowly, murmuring soft comforts to distract Auggie from our dire plight. "Eat up baby. Mommy's here." But inside, my mind races like a caged bird, desperate for any chance at freedom.

All I can do is hope the clerk would've noticed my cry for help before it turns too late. For now, all I have is my fierce love for my little boy, keeping us both going through this nightmare one breath at a time...

As night falls deeper, even our captor knows we need rest. Pulling into a rundown motel, he ushers us inside gruffly. My skin crawls at the thought of being trapped in such close quarters, but I have to think of Auggie first.

Cash is slapped on the counter and a key procured without a word. Inside the room, I'm unsurprised to find only two battered beds.

  "Well monkey, it's time for a bath." I say, putting my hands on my hips. I'm trying to keep the spirits up for Auggie. He giggles a no and starts to run around the room, throwing his clothes around until he's completely naked, bouncing on the beds.

  "Come here!" I say, laughing as I bounce on one bed to grab him and then moving to the other. The guy is just standing there, not really watching us but the door. I finally grab him and pick him up into my arms, laughing as I say "Oh my goodness, you're a mess! You stink!"

Grabbing a towel quickly, I get him into the bathroom to wash him. After that's all done, I help him back into some clothes that I found in a goodwill bag in my car. I strip down the beds to make sure there's no bed bugs or anything before getting settled on the lumpy mattress.

  "When's daddy coming?" Auggie says, getting into bed beside me and cuddling up to my side. The man just sits on the other bed, calling someone on his phone.

I turn back to Auggie and smile at him. "Soon monkey. He's coming soon." Auggie grasps his stuffy in his hand as I watch his eyes open and close several times before completely falling asleep.