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Sophie had never been good at making friends. That was why her mother suggested she join Girl Scouts. Sophie was homeschooled so she could focus on her competitive surfing on a daily basis and attend contests all over the country on the weekends. It was practically all she did in her life, and she loved it, but you didn't make any friends at surf contests.
Important understanding of who Sofie is and how crucial she is to the story. She is vulnerable in so many ways.
Kim Kennedy liked this
It didn't make things any better that she was chosen as surfer of the year by Ron Jon's Surf Shop and they had her displayed on their billboards all over town.
Sofie is right out there where the whole world can see her. A perfect set-up for disaster with no protection.
But they didn't. The person outside bent down, zipped her tent open, then peeked inside. Before Sophie could even scream, this person grabbed her, then zipped up her sleeping bag until it covered her face completely. Sophie tried to scream and kick but was lifted off the ground and was soon moving swiftly through the night.
The beginning of tragedy that rocks a whole community.
Kimmie had legs to up above her ears and hair blonder than platinum, not to mention a waist so slim it looked to be the size of my thigh. She also had a teenage son, and now Chad wanted to start a family with her. A
Eva Rae's world after Chad and the entrance of Kimmie. And three children without a father.
It was great for Alex to have a male role model these days, and not many understood him. I had enrolled him in my old elementary school, Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, as soon as we got here, but almost every day he had come home with notes from the teacher about his bad behavior.
Children have a hard time adjusting to separation and divorce.
I stayed under the pier for a few more minutes, thinking about Chad and our life together, then cursed him for ruining everything, before once again ending up blaming myself because I hadn't taken proper care of what I had. It was the same circle of thoughts that would rush through me every night and even during the daytime.
The tyical blame game that gets you nowhere.
Fumbling, I reached inside my pocket and found my phone. Then I dialed a number. It wasn't 911. Instead, I called the guy I knew would want to know about this first. The man I had watched on TV talk about the young surfer girl's disappearance over and over again. His name was Matt Miller, and he was a detective with the Cocoa Beach Police Department. He was also an old friend.
A good move to call the person already part of a little girl's life.
Melissa was another of my old friends. I had known her and Dawn since we went to pre-school.
Good friends of Eva Rae that come back into her life.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. My friends had been through so much while I had been gone, and I had no idea. They had needed me, and I hadn't been there for them. Just like I hadn't been there for my family. I had been busy saving others, yes, but at what cost?
Its not hard to lose touch with those we hold dear when immediate life issues become overwhelming.
But I didn't want closure. I wanted my daughter back. I want to hold her in my arms. I want to be down on that beach watching her surf. I want to drive her to North Carolina this weekend for the nationals."
Can there ever be closure from something like this?
"Who was he, the stalker?" I asked. "He lived in Rockledge, I think. The creepiest part was I had seen him at so many of the contests. He was always cheering Sophie on and taking pictures, but I just assumed he was one of the photographers.
People are often careless with information on social media involving children and grandchildren.
No, Maddie was very happy being a child, she thought to herself as she began to walk down the street in the direction of her school. She had only taken a few steps out of the parking lot before a car stopped by her side and the window was rolled down. "Hey there, little girl. Where are you going?"
Maddie weighed the pros and cons of her situation feeling sure it was safe and walked into the fire.
"She had a coach, right?" "Oh, yes. I couldn't get her to where she was on my own." "Who was he?" "Thomas Price. He's a local boy. Was on the World Tour for two years before he was injured.
Suspicion is mounting. Eva Rae is good at her job.
Maddie had cried when they passed the road she knew led to the school and tried desperately to open the door, but it was locked. She had cried and kicked it, then received another punch, one so hard everything had gone black. When she woke up again, the car had stopped in a strange place she didn't recognize. Then the door was pulled open, and she had been grabbed by the hair and dragged across the hard ground.
A child and parents worse nightmare!
"Who lives there?" I asked. "Senator Pullman." My eyes grew wide. "So, he's the son of a senator?"
The possibility of an obduction might be preferable to the horror videos of helpless children.
A huge wooden box was placed against the end wall. Maddie stared at it, and as she paid attention, she thought she could hear a noise coming from inside of it. It sounded an awful lot like nails scratching against the wood.
This becomes super important, just saying.
He had never laid a hand on me; that wasn't his style, but he had turned around completely and showed a side to himself I didn't know existed. I could never have imagined he would abandon his children like that and not want to be with them anymore. Just like that. Had anyone told me six months ago, I would have laughed. Those kids were his entire life. I thought I knew him, but apparently, I had no clue.
I wonder how he thought starting over with another woman would be any better than what he alreay had?
Having a canal in the backyard seemed very grand, and it was really nice, but most houses in Cocoa Beach had that. River views were the ones that were more expensive, and after that came ocean views. Living on a barrier island made it possible for almost everyone to have some type of water in their backyard.
The pieces are adding up along with the backgrounds of the characters. But the picture is coming into view.
The floor creaked under his heavy feet as he moved closer. I knew the sound of his steps like my own heartbeat. "It's sad when you think about it. The older child has to become a parent because the parents can no longer take proper care of them. Forces them to grow up too fast." I heard the gun cock behind my head and raised my hands in the air.
Never saw it coming. Had to re-read but worth it.
My dad nodded. "I thought I had it all figured out. My mom was the bad guy. She was a drug addict, she was crazy, she couldn't take care of us, and she tried to kidnap us. That's what we were told. That's what we believed." I swallowed. "But that wasn't the entire story, was it?"
Children should not be pitted against one or the other parent. Of course, in this case it was far more sinister.
She never hurt me. It all came back to me as I read the letters. My dad would tell us how she would beat us, but I don't remember her hurting my sister or me even a single time. She loved us. She loved me, and I lost all those years. I could have had a mother. My dad and his new wife brainwashed us into thinking she was this terrible person, that she was dangerous for us when she wasn't. It was all a darn lie."
Gaslighting. Making something seem true when it isn't.
"So, you came up with this." I stared at my dad, shaking my head. "You're sick, do you know that? Killing all those children. Just to tell the world your story?
How deep is your anger, your need for atention. For revenge...?
It wasn't until Maddie told me about the name by the floorboard. I remembered it from Sydney's old room. You kept them in there. Cleared it all out without mom knowing it, and then made it into a prison. You even soundproofed it with foam on the walls. You knew mom would never go anywhere near that room.
Are we all capable of this kind of depravity? The Bible says there is nothing new under the sun...it's all been done before. After all, we did lose Paradise.
I shuddered. To think of all the times I had left him alone with my children. All the times I had been to their house, and he had been keeping those children right up there in Sydney's room while we were hanging out downstairs eating dinner. The thought made me sick.
Creepy! Just creepy.
