That smile allowed Emery to sigh in relief. “If you ever need someone to talk to, Ash, you can tell me anything,” Emery pressed a little. “You know that, right?”
“I know.” Ashley nodded and then looked toward the house. “I’m glad you found someone you can talk to.” With that, she opened the passenger door and walked back toward the house. She turned back and waved, but her smile looked sad. It’s like Ashley knew her better than her mother. Her mother had never even asked Emery if she was okay, even when she’d seen her arm.
Emery exhaled audibly. She didn’t know if she could leave Ashley. She knew she needed to go, to save herself, to leave this house, but she felt guilty. Maybe she could make sure Rachel would keep tabs on Ashley. The first time she acted differently, Emery would be back to save Ashley like she’d wanted someone to save her for the last three years.
A few days later, Emery was in her usual spot on Rachel’s bed. “Okay, let’s go over this again,” Emery said, going through her iPad. “You have his address at work, you know his car. The first contact will be…”
“Putting a note on his car and giving him a number to call,” Rachel finished, exasperated. They’d been over this plan at least a dozen times. “Then I’ll do the first transaction with the first burner phone, but get a new one every few months.”
“And you’ll get cash from the pickup, but someone else will pick it up. The first being $10,000. Derrick said he’d help us?”
Rachel’s faced cracked in two with a sly grin. Her crush had turned into quite the fount of knowledge for them. “Yes, he’s going to help. He said he can send someone to pick up the money and that Phil would have no way to trace him or us.”
“Okay, then you’ll come back to Nashville and give me the cash.” Emery closed the cover on her iPad. “And you’ll check on Ashley all the time, right?”
“Yes.” Rachel nodded emphatically. “Any sign of anything, I get in touch with you and we’ll handle it.”
“I’m leaving this here so you can get Derrick’s friend to wipe it clean,” Emery said, getting up and placing the iPad on Rachel’s desk, which was covered in so many papers and books you couldn’t tell what it looked like underneath. “Also, I have about $7,500 to start after paying your dad for helping me get out of jail.”
“That’s a lot of change, sister. Where’d you get all that money?”
“My birthday.”
“Are you shitting me?” Rachel said, her eyebrows showing her disbelief.
“No, my mom’s friends are rich and too busy to buy presents, so cash is the gift of choice.”
Rachel shoved herself off her bed and walked to the desk, searching through the piles of paper. “I think our last day of community service is this weekend, and then you can go.”
Emery nodded. “Your dad kicked ass getting us only two months of community service.”
“Yeah, like I said he’s like a rock star at his job.”
Emery scrolled through her iPad looking at the calendar.
“Are you…” Rachel didn’t look at her. “Are you okay to stay through then?”
Emery’s eyes clouded with tears, Rachel’s black and white printed comforter swirling together into a blob of gray. She nodded. She could do it. There was light at the end of her never ending tunnel. It was unexpected and it was named Rachel.
CHAPTER SIX
Start with One Step
Nine weeks after she met Rachel, she was writing a note to her sister to put under her pillow before she left. Ashley was spending the night with one of her friends, so it would be easy to sneak out. Emery’s bag was packed; her mother and Phil were out with friends at some sort of charity event her mother’s best friend had put together. She and Rachel had everything planned.
Ashley,
I’m so sorry to leave, but I have to go. I’m losing myself here. I know you probably don’t understand and I’m not sure I ever want you to. If you need anything or need to get in touch with me, call Rachel. I put the number in a place only you will be able to find. Also, she’ll find you. I hope you forgive me for leaving you here, but I won’t survive if I stay. I’m not sure I can forgive myself. I love you. My love is unbreakable and I will get back to you, it may just take a while.
Em
P.S. Do me a favor and lock your door at night, okay?
The emotions that swirled in her brain threatened to hold her there, in this prison. The only reason she was leaving was because Rachel had made her see she deserved a life. A life without rape, hate, and pain. She couldn’t remember a day when she woke and didn’t ache with the knowledge of what was happening to her. Emery tiptoed into her sister’s room and put the note under Ashley’s pink pillow. A lump formed in her throat, cutting off her ability to swallow, and she thought for a minute that she couldn’t do it. The bundle of nerves that sat in her gut flipped and she felt bile rise in her throat, hot and acrid. She couldn’t bear to leave her nine-year-old sister alone in this house. That was cruel. But Rachel’s words formed behind her closed eyes.