Tradition Comes Third

Cops and Paramedics

"Georgia would make sense," Leah said. "I was outside of Knoxville when I was taken by Jared's father."

I weaved my way through the narrow roads, and I couldn't see another house. No wonder they could find so many lost travelers. I desperately wanted some kind of sign of where I was. The radio stations crackled, and I couldn't understand anything.

I saw the dim glow of lights. I headed toward them, and I saw a road. This was an actual paved road, unlike the others. The road was still surrounded by trees, but at least it looked like it lead to civilization. I sped down the street desperate to see a sign or some kind of building.

Another set of lights were approaching us. I squinted to get a better look at the car. As it got closer, I saw a large set of multicolour lights sitting on top of the roof. Even though they weren't on, I knew that it was a cop car.

Both of us were going too fast. They were going to miss us.

I leaned on the horn, and I saw all of the girls jump. Leah's baby started to cry. I slammed on the brakes. I swerved my car to the side to try and block the car. The cops stopped, and turned on their lights. The red and blue flashed across the road and through the trees.

I climbed out of the car. A cop got out of each side, but had themselves shielded by the car door. When they saw me, they pulled out their guns and aimed them right at me.

I forgot that I was covered in blood. I held my hands up, and took a small step forward.

"Get down on the ground!" one of the cops yelled.

"No," I said. "This isn't what it looks like. We need to go to the hospital."

"Get down on the ground!" the cop yelled again.

"Wait-"

"Get down now!"

A car door slammed shut. I looked to see Mom standing beside the car. She raised her hands up tentatively and stepped toward the cops. I could see the chain dangling from her hands. She still had a death grip on that key.

"I'm Juliet Wilcox," she said. "He's my son Hunter."

"We were kidnapped," I said.

The cops lowered their guns. One cop said something in the radio strapped to his chest. The other cop stepped around the car door and walked toward us. He took a look at the inside of the car.

"There's four of them, Hannon," he yelled back to the other cop. "Where is Jimmy Wilcox?"

"We had to kill him," I said. "He was going to kill us."

"Is Leah Marshall with you?" he asked.

"Yeah, she is."

I raised an eyebrow. There was hundreds of missing girls in America. How did they know she was taken to be part of that sick family?

"Who else is there?" the cop asked.

"Her name is Blair," I said. "I'm not sure what her last name is. Her nose is broken. She needs to go to the hospital."

The cop flipped open a small notepad and began to jot down notes.

"How did you know that Leah was kidnapped by the same people?" I asked.

"The girl told us," he said. "We have all been looking for you."

"The girl?"

"Ava Winters."

A wave of nausea hit me. I put my hand on the car to stop myself from falling over. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it was going to beat out of my chest. My lips curled into a large smile.

"She's alive?" I said. "I need to go see her. Is she okay?"

"We need to talk to you first," he said. "We are bringing you all to the hospital."

A new set of flashing lights filled the dark road. There was a loud siren, and I saw a few ambulances approaching. I could no longer see Mom standing beside the car. I walked around to see her sitting on the car in front of the car. Her knees were up to her chest, and the chain was still dangling from her hands. I crouched down in front of her, but she did not seem to notice me.

"Mom, the cop just told me that Ava is still alive," I said.

Her lips lifted into a faint smile, but she didn't shift her gaze to me. The car door slammed shut. I could see Blair hurry toward the paramedics. On took a quick look at her before helping her into one of the ambulances. Leah came up beside me with her baby. She took one look at Mom, and I could see the worry on her face.

"Julie, you got us all to safety," Leah said.

"Ava is alive too," I said looking up at Leah.

"She is?" Her lips spread into a wide smile.

"Yeah, and she told the cops about us."

A paramedic came up beside Leah, and took a quick look at the baby. He showed her over to one of the ambulances. A female paramedic came up to us, and crouched down beside me.

"Hi, Juliet," she said. "My name is Kelsey. I'm here to help. Can you tell me if any of this is your blood?"

"It is," Mom said. Her gaze hadn't shifted, and she was not looking at either of us.

"Where are you hurt?" Kelsey asked.

"My back."

"How about you, Hunter?" Kelsey asked.

"I'm not hurt," I said. "Can I stay with my Mom?"

Kelsey nodded her head. Another paramedic came and helped press something against Mom's back to stop the bleeding. We get her up onto her feet, and bring her over to a stretcher. I took a quick glance behind me to see the interior of the car was covered with blood. More cops with flashing lights were coming to the scene.

I got into the ambulance after they got Mom's stretcher in. They were starting an IV in her arm. I reached past them to hold Mom's hand as they worked on her.

This all seemed like a dream. We were out of that house, and Ava was alive. My beautiful Ava was alive.