Chapter 1
Meredith's Pov
"Jacky come on, we've got to go!" I yell, knocking on my daughter's door. She knows we have to go to her dentist appointment and I know she is ready in her room and she is sitting in there reading on her phone. I don't guess I can fuss too much, but I hate being late.
As expected, she comes out fully dressed and ready and looks at me like I'm crazy then says, " Are you ready?"
I think, are you kidding me? Then I calmly say, " Get in the truck."
On the way, like usual, she is on her phone and I am left driving with only my thoughts to keep me company.
I think about how both my boys are grown and have lives of their own and it won't be long until Jacky will be grown as well and going to college.
I wish her father was here to see her graduate. I know he would be proud if her and the boys. He died when she was 14. The doctors said his heart went into the wrong rhythm and just stopped. I did cpr on him until the EMTs got there and took over, but there was no way to save him.
He has missed a lot and I miss him every second of every day. Needless to say it has been hard on all of us.
I snap out of my thoughts when I notice a car following us. Immediately, I move to the left lane and take the next turn. We are going downtown and I know there are several ways to get there.
I watch in my mirror as the car kept going straight. Maybe they weren't following us, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
We make it to the dentist with no more issues. Jacky gets her braces adjusted and soon we are back out to my truck. We decide to get some fast food before we make the drive back home. We eat and chat while I drive.
While we are laughing at something Jacky said, I look in the rearview mirror and notice the same car from earlier is one car behind us. I think to myself that this has to be some kind of coincidence. Why would someone be following me? I'm a widowed mother. My job doesn't attract much attention, I'm an editor. So I try to blow it off and just spend time with my daughter.
As we get closer to home, I notice the car is still behind us. If they are following us, I don't want to lead them to our house.
I decide to turn on one of the country back roads that I have known my whole life. The car makes the turn shortly after I did. I drive for a few minutes, then make another turn. The car turns, too. They have to be following us. I silently pray that they don't know these roads as well as I do. I speed up and take a couple of curves a little too fast and put some distance between us.
Jacky asks,"Mom, what are you doing?" I tell her that I think someone may be following us. She asks what I was going to do, and I tell her I'm going to loose them.
I take the next set if curves too fast again. I know at this point they have lost sight of us, so I whip into an old section of road that was bypassed years ago and not many people even know it is there because it is hidden by trees and overgrowth.
I shut the truck off and we sit there and watch through the trees as the car goes past.
Jacky asks, "Are you sure we were being followed?"
"I'm pretty sure," I say. "It doesn't hurt to be safe."
Just then, the car goes past us again in the opposite direction.We look at eachother and she says, "Ok, you were right."
I start the truck back up and wait. A couple of minutes later, the car drives past again and I make my move. I pull out and go the opposite direction as the car and take the road immediately to the right and speed home.
I thank God for my country upbringing as we pull safely into our driveway.
When we get inside Jacky asks, " Do you know who was following us?"
"I have no idea," I say. What would anyone want from me?
