She only turned her back for a second. Just a second.
It shouldn’t have been enough for anything to go this
wrong. It shouldn’t have been enough to lose anything
so precious -- to lose her niece. In the front yard of the
home that once seemed to double as a frat house, Zola
Shepherd should have been safe from harm with Amelia
and Lexie both there to look out for her, but her scream
was stifled by her abductors, and in the mere seconds
it took to discover her absence, the black vehicle had
sped off down the street.
Breaths turned to hyperventilation as she bolted inside,
grabbing hold of Lexie’s sleeve to drag her outside as
she tried desperately to muster the words of what had
just happened. Remnants of the abandoned tea party
cluttered the wet grass, and Amelia’s tears started to
overtake her cheeks. Panic. Come on, Amelia. You
can’t do this now. You have to keep it together. You
have to get her back.
“We have to follow them,” she gasped, trudging
toward the car. “We can still catch up. We can still
-- Lexie, we have to get her back.”