Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Suspicion rises again

I know I look bad today, and you have to believe me, Doc, when you've heard what I've been through this week, you'll understand, and you'll understand why I asked for an extension of today's conversation. On my drive home from the last time we finished therapy, I passed a new billboard for the property I was supposed to get.The billboard was just around the corner on the way to my aunt's house, and I remembered how every time my mother talked about this project, my aunt would be very angry.Then, it dawned on me that my aunt hadn't shown off Tamara's achievements in a long time.

As soon as I got home, I checked out Tamara's website.She has a few pretty good listings on her site, but not nearly as many as there used to be.I went on Google again and searched her name and found the real estate association's website with the decision on her penalty.It turned out that my perfect cousin was forced to suspend business for 90 days last year.She bought a large piece of commercial land on behalf of a registered company, but concealed the fact that she was a shareholder of the company.So stupid. Apparently my mother didn't know about it yet, or she would have told me, not just me, but everyone else.Aunt Val was lucky because I disappeared just before Tamara's suspension was published in the Housing Association Monthly.Everyone's focus shifted to me.

An hour and a half later, Gary called. I jumped up and answered the phone: "I know who might have gone to see that pervert." Gary was silent for a moment, then said, "Go on." "I just found out that right after I was kidnapped, my cousin's license to sell real estate was suspended, but she must have known about it beforehand, and my aunt never mentioned it. My mother and her sister have been It's all about you fighting against me, I had hoped to get this big project..." "Annie..." "Listen to me. You say it's a woman with big sunglasses, right?"

"Yes, but..." "My aunt, Val, after my mother started wearing big sunglasses, she also learned to wear them." The reason why my mother wears them is because she feels that she wears them like Hollywood stars, and Aunt Val also followed suit. Sometimes, she was very angry. "The two of them look very similar. Aunt Val is a little taller. If you look at it from a distance, they look like one person. And the person who often visits my uncle is also my aunt. Maybe she gave him my photo. .Last week, when that man tried to grab me, she showed up within minutes, and..."

"Our records show that your mother also visited your uncle, Anne." "Impossible, she doesn't even want to talk to him." "Annie, we have video footage from the prison here, and her signature on the visitor register." "Maybe my aunt dressed up like her and imitated her signature, and my mother's handwriting looks like a child's..." Gary sighed: "We'll consider this possibility, okay? I have a few more questions to ask you. When you were locked in the hut, did you find anything that seemed out of place? Anything, like That photo?"

"The whole place is very abnormal. What does this have to do with the current investigation?" "You probably didn't think it was relevant at the time, but was there something that made you feel out of place there?" "I've told you everything, Gary." "Sometimes a little unexpected surprise can bring a memory back. You're going to have that cottage in your head right now." "Nothing special." "Perhaps in the shed or in the cellar..." "How many times do I have to repeat it? There's some boxes, there's two guns, there's my clothes, and there's a bunch of money on it..."

Pink, is pink.I gasped. "Oh." We were all silent. "What do you remember?" Finally, Gary finally spoke. "That pervert has a bunch of money. It's tied with a pink rubber band. A few days ago, when I was at my mother's house, I found the same rubber band in her drawer, the same color, pink, In her bathroom drawer, I also used a hair tie. But, my aunt..." "Is that rubber band still with you now?" "Yes, but, let me tell you..." "We need to compare it." How did I tell him about the pink rubber band.I feel bad. I heard Gary's voice seem to come from far away: "Can you think of anything else?"

"My mom's stepbrother, maybe he had something to do with the whole thing. I could talk to Wayne and see if he knows anything. Maybe mom told him why she hated..." "Absolutely don't do this. Remember, we haven't been able to determine if your mother was involved. For your sake, I hope she has nothing to do with it. If it is, you will affect our investigation. In fact, You don't say anything to anyone, okay?" I didn't answer right away, and he said in a policeman's tone, "I'm serious." "What are you going to do now?" "We will get a search warrant tomorrow morning, and it may take a few days for the bank to record your mother's account to us. In the meantime, we will try to collect as much evidence as possible. If we arrest your mother too early bring in an interrogation, then she could destroy the evidence, or run away."

"There's nothing to ask her. She definitely didn't do it." His voice became gentle: "I know you must find this all confusing, I promise, I will call you when we have a more definite conclusion. Until then, try not to talk to No one touches. I'm really sorry, Anne." I hung up and was about to walk away when the phone rang again.I thought it was Gary again, so I picked up the call without even looking at the caller ID. "Thank goodness, I was so worried, Annie Bear. I left you a message a few hours ago, so much has happened lately..." Mom paused to catch my breath, and I tried to say something, but my throat ached. tight.

"Are you still there, Annie?" "I'm sorry I didn't call you back sooner." I want to warn her that Gary is checking her out, but what can I say?Gary thinks you have something to do with my kidnapping, but I think your own sister did it?No, there's a chance Gary's got this whole thing wrong, and if I told my mom right now, she'd be pissed off.I can't say anything.I clutched the receiver tightly, my hands hurt, I leaned my back against the wall, and slowly slumped to the ground.Emma ran out of nowhere and hugged my chest. "Do the police have any more information about the kidnapper now?" Mom asked.

Yes, yes, they have more news.Much more than I want to know. "There are no new leads, and the investigation seems to have been suspended. You also know that our police here are so virtuous, and sometimes they can't even find out about their own affairs." I lay on the floor.My breath stirred Emma's golden hair. "It's probably better this way. All you need to do now is get well soon. Maybe you should take a little vacation." Tears welled up in my eyes, I closed my eyes fiercely, and bit my tongue fiercely. "That's a good suggestion. You know what, I also think I should take a break and take Emma camping for a few days." "You see, my mother still loves you, but don't forget to call us and report that you are safe. We are all worried about you, Annie Bear." I hung up the phone and looked around the house, there was dust everywhere.I got to work and put all the books in alphabetical order and wiped down all the walls with bleach and water.All night I was on my knees mopping the floor.No corner was missed.My hands are cleaning, but my mind is thinking about everything that happened. Just because someone had hired that psycho before to beat people up doesn't mean his kidnapping of me was planned, maybe it was just a friend of his who went to the hotel to find him.Being in jail at the same time as my uncle didn't necessarily mean anything.There were many prisoners in that prison, and the two of them might have never even met each other.Even if they knew each other, maybe it was just the reason why the pervert chose me—because he saw my photo.Aunt Val didn't mention Tamara's punishment, maybe because she was waiting for the real estate association's final decision, but then because of my disappearance, everyone also shifted the focus to me.It's a good thing they're going to check Mom's bank accounts, because when they can't find anything, they'll be able to focus on finding the pervert's real accomplice - if he has one, of course.Everything will be fine. At 7 o'clock the next morning, I finally stopped cleaning. I found that my knuckles had been worn out, and I hadn't eaten for more than a day.I drank some tea and ate some dry bread. Later that evening, Gary called me and said he was coming to get the rubber band and the photo I had brought back from the cabin, and I told him about my conversation with my mom, including my pretending to be going camping.I explained that if I didn't call my mother at all, she would definitely start thinking wildly.Gary said it's okay to call, but don't talk too much. He suggested that I also call Christina and Luke and say the same thing so no one would accidentally slip up, and he told me to find a hotel to stay in, which I declined.This was enough trouble in itself, and I didn't want to leave the house again.We finally came to an agreement that I would hide the car in the backyard and try not to go out as much as possible.Ever since I was almost kidnapped a second time, Luke and Christina have insisted on calling me every day. Christina once pretended to be very casual and asked me to stay at her house for a while when I said "no thanks" At that time, she was stunned for a long time without speaking, took a deep breath, and then said, "Okay, it's up to you."I know, in fact, she is very sad, if I don't answer their calls, they must worry about me, so, I sent them an email, saying that I will go out for a few days, don't want to talk to anyone, so I will not Will give them a call. "I'm sorry, it's just that this period of time is more difficult for me." This is the truth. For the past few days, I have been hiding in my own home, only daring to light candles at night.Sleeping in the closet is no longer a problem, because I can't sleep at all.I didn't even go out for a walk.Most of the time, I just put my arms around Emma and cried against her. Once, I got in the car, started the car, and then used my mobile phone to call my mother, making all kinds of noises on purpose.I told her I was fine but I was driving and my phone was dying so I couldn't say much more.At least, the last sentence is still true, and the struggle and suffering in my heart really make me speechless. I checked my email, and Christina wrote back, saying she hoped I'd be in a better mood when I got back from vacation.She also wrote, "I will miss you".In the end, I wrote a bunch of XOXO and drew a smiling face. The next day, I saw Christina's car pull up to my house, and I put my hand over Emma's mouth to keep her from barking.She walked back and forth outside the door for a few minutes, then drove off.When I was about to go out to check, I found out that she had taken all the newspapers piled at my door.I think I'm really a villain at heart. Gary called to tell me that things were going well and he was very grateful for my cooperation.I don't know if he's excited about getting the "bad guy" soon.After all, the purpose of being a policeman is to catch bad guys. I didn't tell him I was coming to you for therapy today - he just told me not to come - and I'm glad I didn't cancel our appointment, he called at around 8 o'clock this morning, Said they finally found another employee at the hotel.Yes, she remembered the woman in the sunglasses, her car was so big, and she was so small, she had a hard time opening the door. "I know what you're thinking, Gary, but, here must be... hell, let me think again." "I'm really sorry, Annie, but all the evidence is pointing at your mother. We're just waiting for the bank records so we can bring her in for questioning. In the meantime, we..." "But you can't be sure that the woman in the hotel is her. It's just a small woman, which doesn't mean..." "It was a little woman with blond hair, Anne. The female employee didn't see the license plate number, but it was a reddish-brown car, the same color as your stepfather's car, and the employee recognized your mother's picture." I feel like my eyes are bloodshot. "I told you, my aunt looks a lot like my mother. She drives a Lincoln, the same color as my stepfather's Cadillac. Maybe she is working with her stepbrother. Last time he thought Catch me. Maybe he's threatening Auntie... Well, I don't know. Uncle hasn't been caught yet, if you talk to Wayne, he'll tell you Mom has nothing to do with these things No." "Of course we'll find Wayne when we're ready." "Wait until you are ready? What are you waiting for, waiting for me to disappear again?" "Annie, I understand you're annoying..." "I'm not annoyed, I'm angry. You're mistaken. If you're going to do nothing, then I'll go talk to Wayne myself, and then..." "And then putting yourself in danger? It's not doing us any favors, is it?" "Wayne won't hurt me. He's kind of stupid, but he's definitely not a violent person. If you're so worried, you can bug me." "We're not shooting gangster movies, Anne, we can't just install bugs on people casually, and you haven't received training in this area. If you say a wrong sentence, it will be a disservice to the case. .” "Come on, Gary, I'm stuck in there for a year and I can't do anything. I have to do something. I know Wayne. If Mommy told him about her stepbrother, I'd be able to ask .” "I'm sorry, this is not a matter of discussion. You can only wait patiently. I'm going to the court now and I'll call you later." "Alright alright." I glanced at the clock.Eight fifteen in the morning.In two hours, Wayne would be eating breakfast alone at a restaurant that he would go to in the mornings when he wasn't working, basically every morning, in fact.Mom never went because she was usually sleeping in because she had been drinking the night before.Yes, I'll be patient, I'll be patient for another hour and forty-five minutes. When I entered the restaurant, it was past the busiest time in the morning, but the smell of bacon was still in the air, and I quietly took a seat in front of the window. A waitress came by with a menu and a pencil.There were traces of being bitten by teeth on the tip of the pencil, and her fingernails were also bitten by teeth.Same as mine.I don't know what made her so nervous. "What would you like to have?" "Let's have a cup of coffee first." "Hi, I know you, you're Wayne's daughter, Anne, aren't you? How are you, dear?" I feel the little tape recorder in my pocket getting hot.What the hell am I doing here?What if Gary was right and I screwed everything up? "I'm fine thank you." "Wayne'll be here in a minute. I'll tell him you're sitting here, okay honey?" "Great." She brought me coffee, and before she could walk past my table, I heard the door bell ring.The back of the chair blocked my view. I had to stand up or turn sideways to see who came in, but that was no longer necessary. I heard Wayne's voice. "Beauty Jenny, how are you doing?" "I'm fine, handsome. Guess who's here." My stepfather saw me. "My God, Anne, what are you doing here? Your mother said you were on vacation." The waiter brought another cup of coffee.Wayne sat down across from me. I said, "The police want to question me again. So I came back early." He nodded, stirring his coffee with a spoon. "They know more about the man who kidnapped me." His hand holding the spoon stopped in mid-air. "Really? What's the situation?" "How about we go out and talk," I said, "it's too hot in here, let's take the coffee and go to the park?" "I don't know, your mother is going to get up soon, and I have to bring her a pack of cigarettes." "I don't have to sit all day, I just don't want to go home just yet. Have you brought your cards?" "Do you want to play cards?" "Yeah, let's go to the park. I don't want to be here, it smells like burnt bread." I paid the bill, Jenny poured us two fresh cups of coffee, and we walked across the street toward the park.I found a picnic table in the shade and it was quite secluded.Wayne took out his deck of cards and began to shuffle them.I try to remember what else we, just the two of us, have done together. "Honestly, Wayne, I didn't just bump into you." He was holding the cards and was about to deal the cards when he stopped in mid-air when he heard my words. "I want to talk to you." "yes?" I try not to think about Gary: "The police think my mother was involved in my kidnapping. Someone saw a car in the hotel where the freak was staying. It looks like your Cadillac, but I think..." "A lot of people have cars similar to mine." "I know, but the waitress also said..." "The police made a mistake." I stare at him.He stared at the playing cards in his hand. "Look at me, Wayne." "Don't you want to play cards?" "Look at me." He slowly raised his head and looked into my eyes. "Do you know something?" He shook his head. "Wayne, they've got a search warrant and they're going to get Mom's bank account records." His face turned pale. My voice is calm, but my ears are already ringing. "Does mom have anything to do with this?" For five seconds, he still tried to look me in the eye.Suddenly, he put his head in his hands, and I saw his hands trembling. "Wayne. You tell me what happened." "It's all screwed up, screwed up," he murmured, "Shit, screwed up..." "Wayne!" Still holding his head, he rocked back and forth. "You tell me now, Wayne, or I'll call the police and tell you to speak to the police." "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we didn't know he was going to hurt you—I swear." He looked at me with desperate eyes, "If I knew, I would have stopped her, I would, but I really have no idea". "what do you know?" "That's right, it was your mother who asked that person... to kidnap you." No, no, never, never. Across the park, a young mother is pushing her child on a swing.The little girl screamed and laughed, all covered by my tinnitus.Wayne opened and closed his mouth, but I only heard a few words.I tried to hear what he was saying, but all I could think about was the little tape recorder I kept in my pocket spinning and spinning. He stared at my face. "Damn it, Anne, you look... and I don't know." I stared at him and slowly shook my head: "You... so it's you..." He leaned over me and began to speak hurriedly, "You gotta listen to me, Anne. It's all screwed up. But I really didn't know, I swear, I didn't know beforehand. You've just been Your mother seemed calm during the kidnapping, you know? It wasn't like her, I thought she was going crazy. But after you disappeared for a week, she started having trouble sleeping at night, walking around, and drinking Lots and lots of wine. She went to see your uncle at least three times during the next week, so I thought it was weird, and I asked her, 'What the hell are you getting into, Rowling?' She just kept saying, 'This It's not my fault'." Wayne paused several times during the speech, swallowed, and cleared his throat. "What's not her fault? You haven't told me what she did!" "You were supposed to be missing for only a week, but things went wrong." Something went wrong.It turned out that it was just a mistake.I don't know whether to laugh or cry. "True or false. Then why kidnap me in the first place? Is that freak threatening Dwight or something? Or is Dwight threatening Mom? Does she visit him often? What the hell is going on, Wayne?" "I don't know what's up with Dwight, your mom acts weird when I ask her. It's not like that. It's because she saw a movie, a movie based on a true story, and said It was a girl who was kidnapped for two days. Later, the film company made a movie about her experience, and then went to interview the girl’s family... You know, sometimes your mother will change when she has a thought. Be very paranoid." I connected the meaning of these words: "Mom saw a movie, so she had the idea of ​​kidnapping me?" "She said that you are much prettier than the girl in the movie. If you can disappear for a whole week, it will be even more sensational." I reacted for a long time before I understood the meaning of Wayne's words. "More sensational? You mean, she does all this to make money?" "In the beginning, she heard that you might not get that sales item. If Val found out, she would definitely make fun of her—you know both of them—but what if you suddenly became famous? Val never in his life Dare to show off in front of your mother." "Were you completely ignorant of her plan at the time?" "Of course I don't know! I swear, I really don't know anything. She said that your uncle knows a person in prison who can do kidnapping, and your uncle also knows a loan shark who can lend your mother thirty-five thousand Thousands of dollars. I don't know any of that either." "Thirty-five thousand dollars? You're spending that money to ruin my life. You really are my parents." "Your mother didn't want to hurt you. The man didn't call at the appointed time, so your mother became anxious after a week. Your uncle asked someone to inquire about the news, and no one knew where the man took you gone." "But why didn't she call the police when I didn't come back? Why didn't you call the police? You left me alone..." I couldn't go on. "As soon as I found out about this, I told your mother that we had to call the police immediately, but the loan shark said that once your mother called the police, the police would follow him and he would come and scratch your mother and broke my leg. And said to have someone kill your uncle in prison. We told him we would tell the police that the money was paid from our own savings, but he still disagreed because he wanted us to Pay back the money. If your mother and I are locked up, he will not receive the money. He also said that even if we are put in prison, he will have a way to kill us." I discovered that this was probably the longest conversation my stepdad and I had ever had, the first time we had an open conversation about how my mom had planned to kidnap me so I could be raped. "Don't you worry that I will be hurt? Is it possible that I will be killed?" He looked very distressed: "I worry every day, but there is nothing I can do. If I help you, I will hurt Rowling. While you were missing, she sold some of your things and slowly returned the money to the loan sharks People, still buying time, looking for people everywhere, to see if anyone wants to make your story into a movie, but nothing goes well. When you come back, we are almost at the end of our rope." He took a deep breath: "I saw your situation in the hospital, I really couldn't bear it, but Rowling said, we must move forward for you and be strong for you. Moreover, the loan sharks have been urging Us. Rowling told him we'd pay you back when you had a deal with the filmmakers and you kept refusing to negotiate. She tried everything to keep the media interested in you. "I understand why the reporters have always been able to know my exact whereabouts and a lot of inside information. "All the money they paid us was used to pay back the money. About a month ago, the man said that we had to pay back the rest of the money, or he would come against us." "Wait a minute, the guy trying to catch me on the street. The loan shark, or Dwight?" Wayne looked down at his feet. "Could it be that you hired another person to kidnap me again?" "No." His voice was almost inaudible, "It's me." "You? God, Wayne, you scared the hell out of me, you hurt me." He looked at me and said quickly, "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't expect you to fall. I didn't know you would fight so hard. Your mother said that the media has lost its right You're interested. There's nothing else we can do, we're cornered, Anne." "Are you cornered? No, Wayne, being raped every night is called cornering; in order for him to finish the job quickly, I have to struggle and cry at the same time, that's called cornering; even urinating at the prescribed time, that's called cornering." No way out; you know what he'll do when he catches me sneaking to the toilet? He'll force me to drink the water in the toilet, the water in the toilet, Wayne, people won't even let their dogs drink I drank the water in the toilet, which is called desperate." Tears welled up in Wayne's eyes, and he kept nodding. "My daughter is dead, Wayne." I leaned over, took one of his hands, and rolled over his palm. "Her whole little hand is no bigger than yours, and she's dead. You tell me now." Me, my family did all this to me? You should be the people I trust the most, but you..." Suddenly, I collapsed. I fell to the ground with my arms folded, like a heavy boulder was pressed against my chest, and my head was stuck in a vase.I tried to take a deep breath, and Wayne slapped me on the back, saying over and over how sorry he was.His voice was crying.My vision began to dim.I felt like my body was falling. Wayne put his arms around me. "Oh, Annie, don't faint." After a few minutes, I controlled my breathing and felt shivering all over.I looked up and pushed Wayne's hand away.I took another deep breath, then stood up and walked back and forth in front of the bench. "Then you were the one who broke into my house?" "Yes, we originally planned that I would go in first to scare you, and then your mother followed and pretended to save you, but I walked into your bedroom and found that you were not there, and then the alarm went off, and I escaped through the window. Later, your mother I went to spend the night with you that night, and you told her that you usually go for a run in the morning..." It was the night my mother brought me Annie Bear cookies and pictures.We sat down again. We sat there, looked at each other, didn't say anything, just thought about it, and we sat for a long, long time.At least, I think it has been a long time.Finally, I broke the silence. "You have to turn yourself in, you know that?" "I know." We stared at a clearing in front of us.No children were seen playing around.The sun hid behind a cloud cover, and the sky cooled down.A breeze blew the swing slightly.The rhythmic creaking sound of the iron chains on the swing echoed in the air, and there was a feeling that a storm was about to come. "I really love your mother, you know that?" "I know." He took a deep breath and put the playing cards back in the box.I wanted to stop him, I wanted to say something, I wanted to say let's play one last time, but it was too late.It's too late. "I'll accompany you to the police station." Gary had just returned to the police station from the court. When he saw me and Wayne together, he was very angry. Wayne told him that he wanted to surrender himself. Gary pointed at me and said, "You wait here", Then he left with Wayne. I spent the next few hours wandering the police station, flipping through magazines, looking at the walls, counting cracks or stains.The conspiracy of my family makes me feel more painful than the perverted torture, and the damage caused by this pain is incomparable.I tried to escape the pain as much as possible. Finally, Gary finally showed up. "You shouldn't be looking for him, Anne. If something goes wrong..." I handed him the tape I had surreptitiously recorded: "Nothing went wrong." "This is useless to us..." "You don't need it either, do you?" I said.But I will never apologize to him. He shook his head and told me that Wayne, after talking to his lawyer, had decided to come clean and identify my mom for a lighter sentence.He has now been arrested on charges of involvement in kidnapping, racketeering and criminal negligence.They will temporarily detain him until a bail hearing. Gary said the bank's records would arrive this afternoon or tomorrow morning.Actually, they don't need bank records anymore to arrest my mom, but he wanted to confirm Wayne's confession before interrogating my mom.They are still waiting for the results of the rubber band comparison in the laboratory, and the analysis report will not be available until tomorrow morning.They figured Mom wouldn't be running away overnight - she didn't even have a car - and she wasn't a threat to society, so if nothing changed, they'd have her arrested tomorrow morning. They got Wayne to call his mom and say he was going up north to follow up on a great sale.If it's too late, instead of driving home, go to a random friend's house for a night of sleep.Then he mentioned meeting me so that if someone else told her about my meeting with Wayne, she wouldn't be suspicious.Wayne also said that I have come back, but I was tired from driving, so I went straight home to rest.She believed it. Gary then accompanied me outside to pick up the car. He said, "Are you all right? It must be hard to hear that." "I don't know what I am. It's all...I don't know." I shook my head. "Have you ever heard of a mother who did something like this?" "People do horrible things to the people they love all the time. Every crime you can imagine has been committed." "Hearing you say that makes me feel even more uncomfortable." "I'll call you when we get your mother. Would you like to see the whole interrogation?" "Oh, I don't know if I dare to watch it." "I know she's your mother, it must be hard for you to understand what she's doing, but I hope you're strong. You don't want to talk to her until we arrest her, okay?" "Ok." "I'm serious, Anne. I want you to go straight home. I shouldn't have told you these things, but I don't want to keep you in the dark like I used to. You might be tempted to warn your mother, but, I Believe, you will make the right choice. Don't let yourself regret it, just remember what she has done to you." Does this need to be reminded? ! I complied with Gary's request and I did drive straight away, not home, but to you.I don't care if anyone sees me.Although everything is true, I still hope that this is just a big mistake.