4338.214 · August 2, 2018 AD
Trust Him
Brianne, six months into her first pregnancy has not heard from her fiancé for a week. She has been staying at his mother's house on a hill outside the city, waiting for news she does not believe is coming. When a text message arrives from his phone telling her he is safe and that the partner of his uncle is on his way to bring her to him, she does not question it. By the time she understands what she has agreed to, the car doors are locked.
Brianne Sitch is twenty-two years old and has not slept properly in a week. Her fiancé Kain has been missing since 26 July and the only person still arriving at Jeffries Manor with any news is Louise, who has none. Brianne waits in the house on the hill because she cannot think of anywhere else to wait. When Kain's phone finally lights up on the kitchen bench and the message says he is safe and asks her to trust the man who is about to knock on the door, she does not question which man or why Kain would phrase it that way. The phone is Kain's. That is all that matters.
The man at the door introduces himself as Jamie Greyson's partner. Louise Jeffries has disliked this man quietly for years without being able to say why, and today is not the day the reason will finally surface in language she can use. He has a letter. The letter does not exist. He is on her doorstep because the woman in her son's bedroom is six months pregnant with her grandchild and he has come to take her away in her own car. Louise lets him in.
The car is a red Mazda parked in the shed behind the manor. Brianne sits in the passenger seat. Luke places Kain's phone in the centre console. Brianne sees it, and the rest of the afternoon happens in the next eight seconds.
