Emma's POV
I throw clothes into a suitcase without folding them.
The clock on my bedroom wall reads 5:47 AM. I've been awake for three hours, lying in bed, planning. By the time the sun started rising, I knew what I had to do.
Run toward the danger instead of away from it.
Find out the truth, whatever it costs me.
"Mommy, why are we packing?" Lily stands in my doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her stuffed bunny drags on the floor behind her.
"We're going on a trip." I force a smile. Keep my voice light. "Remember how I told you about the town where I grew up? We're going to visit."
"Right now? But it's not even breakfast time yet."
"We'll get breakfast on the road. It'll be an adventure."
Lily doesn't look convinced, but she doesn't argue. She's learned not to ask too many questions when I get like this tense and moving fast, like we're running from something.
Because we usually are.
"Go pack your backpack," I tell her. "Bring books and your tablet for the car ride. And pick out some clothes. We'll be gone for a few days."
After Lily leaves, I pull out my phone and call Sarah. My boss at the library. The closest thing I have to a friend in Riverside.
She answers on the third ring, voice groggy. "Emma? It's six in the morning."
"I know. I'm sorry. But I need to ask for time off. Starting today."
Silence. Then: "Is everything okay?"
"Family emergency. I need to go back to my hometown for a while."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Maybe a week?"
More silence. I can hear Sarah thinking, weighing whether to push for details. Finally, she sighs. "Take whatever time you need. Just keep me updated, okay? And Emma? If you're in trouble"
"I'm not." The lie comes easily. Too easily. "Thank you, Sarah. I really appreciate it."
After I hang up, I text my landlord about being away. Then I open my laptop and search for "Millbrook Police Department."
The website loads slowly. I click on "Staff Directory." Scroll through names and faces of officers I don't recognize.
Then I stop.
Detective Daniel Rivers.
His photo is small an official headshot against a gray background. But I'd recognize that face anywhere. Those warm brown eyes. That slight smile that never quite reaches his lips, like he's keeping a secret.
Daniel.
My first boyfriend. My first kiss. My first heartbreak though I was the one who broke both our hearts when I left.
He's older now. More serious. His jaw is sharper, his shoulders broader. The boy I knew became a man without me there to see it happen.
I haven't thought about Daniel in years. Pushed all those memories down deep where they couldn't hurt me. But seeing his face now brings everything flooding back.
Summer nights at the lake. Holding hands at the movies. Stealing kisses behind the school. Planning a future we both believed in.
Then Marcus happened.
Marcus with his charm and confidence. Marcus who made me feel special and mature. Marcus who convinced me that small-town life was for small-minded people. That Daniel was nice but boring. That I deserved more than Millbrook could offer.
So I left. Went to college three hours away. Started dating Marcus. Stopped returning Daniel's calls.
Never explained why.
Never said goodbye properly.
The guilt sits heavy in my chest. Daniel deserved better than that. Deserved honesty. Deserved closure.
I wonder if he hates me. Probably. I would hate me.
But he's a detective now. He investigates things. He helps people in danger. And despite everything, despite how badly I hurt him, Daniel was always good. Always kind. Always someone you could trust.
If anyone can help me figure out what's happening, it's him.
I screenshot his contact information and close the laptop. My hands shake as I zip up the suitcase.
Am I really doing this? Going back to Millbrook after seven years? Facing Daniel? Facing all the memories I've been running from?
Yes. Because I'm done being scared. Done letting Marcus control my life even from a distance.
And if Kara really is alive, I owe it to her to find out.
I carry the suitcase downstairs and load it into my car. Then I pack snacks, water bottles, and Lily's favorite road trip music. By the time Lily comes down with her backpack, everything is ready.
"Are we leaving now?" she asks.
"Right now."
"But what about breakfast?"
"We'll stop at that diner you like. The one with the funny-shaped pancakes."
Lily's face brightens. She climbs into her booster seat without complaint. I buckle her in, checking the straps twice. Three times. Making sure she's safe.
Always making sure she's safe.
As I pull out of our driveway, I glance in the rearview mirror. Our house looks small and lonely behind us. For three years, it's been our sanctuary. Our hiding place.
Now it feels like a cage I'm escaping from.
The drive to Millbrook takes three hours. I told Lily that earlier, but now I wonder if I can actually make it. Every mile feels wrong. Every turn of the wheel feels like I'm driving toward disaster instead of away from it.
But I keep going. Keep my hands steady on the wheel. Keep my breathing calm so Lily won't notice my panic.
We stop for pancakes at the diner. Lily chatters about what she wants to see in Mommy's hometown. The park. The library. Maybe the school I went to.
I nod and smile and push food around my plate without eating.
After breakfast, we get back on the road. Lily watches a movie on her tablet. I watch the highway and try not to think about what comes next.
Meeting Daniel. Explaining why I'm here. Telling him about Marcus and Kara and the impossible choice I'm facing.
Will he even help me? Or will he turn me away? Tell me I made my choice seven years ago and now I have to live with it?
I wouldn't blame him if he did.
My phone buzzes in the cup holder. I wait until we're at a stoplight to check it.
Another text from the unknown number: "Are you coming today?"
I type back: "Yes."
"Good. Sunset. The dock. Come alone."
"I have my daughter with me."
Long pause. Then: "Bring her. But no one else. No police. If I see anyone following you, I disappear and you never hear from me again."
I swallow hard. Type: "Okay."
The light turns green. I put my phone away and drive.
Two hours pass. Then three. Finally, I see the sign: "Welcome to Millbrook. Population 12,483."
My chest tightens. This is it. No turning back now.
The town looks smaller than I remember. The streets seem narrower. The buildings older. Seven years changed me but barely touched this place.
I drive slowly down Main Street, pointing things out to Lily. "That's where I got my first library card. That's the ice cream shop I told you about. That's the park where I"
I slam on the brakes.
A car behind me honks. I ignore it.
There. On the sidewalk. Just ahead.
A woman in a red jacket.
She has dark hair flowing past her shoulders. Average height. She's walking away from us, heading toward the corner.
My heart pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears.
"Mommy, why did we stop?" Lily asks.
I can't answer. Can't look away from the woman.
She reaches the corner. Starts to turn.
For just a second less than a second she glances back.
Our eyes meet.
My breath stops.
It's her. It's Kara.
Older. Thinner. Different somehow. But unmistakably her.
The same eyes. The same face. The same scar on her cheek from when we were kids.
She sees me too. Recognition flashes across her face. Then fear.
She turns and disappears around the corner.
Gone.
I sit frozen behind the wheel. The car behind me honks again. Longer this time. Angrier.
"Mommy?" Lily sounds scared now. "What's wrong?"
I force my foot onto the gas pedal. The car rolls forward. I turn at the next street, trying to follow where the woman went.
But the sidewalk is empty. She vanished. Like a ghost.
Was it really Kara? Or am I seeing what I want to see? What Marcus wants me to see?
My hands shake on the steering wheel. I pull over and park on a side street. Take deep breaths. Try to calm down.
"Mommy, you're doing the scary breathing again," Lily whispers.
"I'm okay, baby. I just thought I saw someone I used to know."
"Who?"
I open my mouth. Close it. How do I explain this? How do I tell my six-year-old daughter that I might have just seen a dead woman walking down the street?
"An old friend," I finally say. "Someone I haven't seen in a very long time."
"Like the lady in the red jacket?"
My blood turns cold. "What?"
"The lady from last night. She had a red jacket too. Is it the same person?"
I twist in my seat to look at Lily. "Did you see her just now? The woman on the sidewalk?"
Lily nods. "She looked at our car. Then she ran away really fast. Like she was scared of something."
Not something. Someone.
Me.
Kara ran away from me.
Why would she run if she sent those texts asking me to come? Why disappear if she wants to meet at sunset?
Unless she's scared of more than just me. Unless she thinks someone followed us. Unless Marcus
My phone rings.
Unknown Number.
My finger hovers over the decline button. But I need answers. Need to understand what's happening.
I answer. "Hello?"
"You brought the child." Kara's voice. No doubt now. That's her voice. A little older, a little rougher, but definitely her. "I told you to come alone."
"I couldn't leave her. She's only six. I can't"
"It's too dangerous, Emma. He might be watching. He has people everywhere."
"Who? Marcus?"
"Yes. And others. People you don't know about. People who want me dead and will hurt anyone who helps me." Her voice cracks. "I shouldn't have contacted you. I put you in danger. I put Lily in danger. I'm so sorry."
"Kara, wait"
"Go to the Millbrook Police Station. Ask for Detective Daniel Rivers. Tell him everything. He's the only cop in this town Marcus doesn't own. Daniel will keep you safe until tonight."
My heart races. "You know about Daniel?"
"I know a lot of things I wish I didn't. Just go to him. Trust him. And Emma?" She pauses. "I really am alive. I know it's impossible. I know you don't understand. But tonight, I'll explain everything. I promise."
The call ends.
I sit in stunned silence, gripping the phone.
Kara is alive. Actually, truly alive.
And she wants me to go to Daniel.
The boy I abandoned seven years ago.
The one person in this town who might hate me more than anyone.
I look at Lily in the rearview mirror. She's watching me with worried eyes.
"Are we going home now?" she asks quietly.
I take a deep breath. Start the car.
"No, baby. We're going to see a police officer. Someone who used to be very important to Mommy a long time ago."
Someone I broke.
Someone I'm about to ask to save my life.