Chapter 10
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Mandy moved around the motel room quietly. The babies had finally given in
and eaten a bit and were sleeping on the bed. "God they whine just as much
as Nick used to!" she muttered. The two weeks of looking after these kids
had just about driven her over the edge. She had thought about calling
Nick and telling him where she was, with the thoughts that he would be so
grateful that
he'd return to her, but with her luck, the wife would come with him and
wreck her plans. That, or the cops would be on his tail. She needed to do
something, she couldn't go out or anything. She could disguise herself,
but not the kids. Shopping for them had been a major endeavour. With no
car seats, she had to put the babies on the floor and cover them with a
blanket so they weren't discovered. Of course they squawked so much she
had to park at the back of the lot so no-one would hear them crying.
She picked up the paper someone had left outside earlier today and started
when she saw the twins photo on the front page. "CARTER TWINS STILL
MISSING" the headline read. Mandy quickly scanned the rest of the
article. There was a photo of herself and a detailed description. Police
had been checking out adoption agencies, hospitals and womans shelters to
no avail. Starting today they were going to widen the search. "Damn!"
She crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash. She looked at the twins
hatefully. "I'm not going back to jail for you two runts, no way!
Something will have to be done."
In the bright kitchen at the Carter house, Elisha absent-mindedly prepared lunch for Rebecca and Brian. "Mommy, why are you buttering the counter?" Startled, Elisha looked down and realized she had been doing just that. "I'm sorry honey, mommy is just thinking of other things, I guess. Elisha rung out a cloth to wipe the counter. "Are you thinking about Diana and Gene, mommy?" Tears filled Elisha's eyes, she knelt down and hugged Rebecca. Trust a child to know exactly what you were thinking. Rebecca patted Elisha's back. "Don't worry mommy, those silly babies should be back from their party soon!" Elisha sat back and looked at Rebecca. "What do you mean?" "Daddy said the babies went to a party. Don't you remember?" Rebecca explained patiently. "They went to visit their friends in the hospital." "Oh right!" Elisha silently praised her husband for coming up with something the kids would believe rather than scaring them with the truth. She had been out of it for most of the first week, only just getting up and around in the last few days. Nick had told her in no uncertain terms that, no matter what happened, she still had two children that needed her. He had been a tremoundous help to her, doing nearly everything for her and the kids, and she loved him all the more for it. She knew Nick was hurting too and that was what finally got her moving. If he could carry on in his grief, so could she. "That party must be something else, huh?" she weakly smiled at Rebecca. Nick came into the room, noticed Elisha's strained expression and hustled Rebecca out to find her brother for lunch. "Are you alright, sweetie?" Nick wrapped his arms around her and led her to a chair by the table. She let her head sink onto his shoulder. "I just can't stop thinking about them Nick. Are they alright? Is she looking after them? What do they look like?" She covered her face with her hands and started sobbing. Nick pulled her face up and kissed her eyelids. "I know sweetie, they are all I think about too. I saw a lady at the grocery store today and she had a little baby. I just wanted to go grab it and hug it." They could hear Rebecca ordering Brian into the kitchen for lunch. Nick wiped her tears away. "Cheer up for the kids honey. Put on a smile." They hugged and stood to finish getting lunch. Mandy had run through her options several times. Adoption agencies were out, a hospital was out, the damn womans shelter was out. The paper said the police had visited all of these places and people would be on the lookout for her. "Damn!" she swore. "I need to get going before somebody around here notices anything. She looked at the babies, awake now, gurgling away to each other. "There's only one thing to do, then I can go and get away." She picked the crumpled paper out of the trash and contemplated it. All the details were there. There wouldn't be anywhere she could go with these two. She would have to do it. She smiled at the twins. "This will just KILL your mother, and maybe your father too. Serves them right!" Mandy picked up a pillow from the bed and advanced towards the twins. |