Laura awoke in the morning after returning from a business trip to find her husband still sleeping. As usual, she walked to the kitchen to make herself coffee, but first she went to check on her daughter Emily, who was supposed to be asleep in her room.
When Laura entered Emily’s room, the bed was properly made and everything was neatly ordered, but Emily was not present. Laura became frightened after examining the toilet and the rest of the house and seeing that her daughter was not present.
Emily has been away from home before. Laura had previously slipped out to join out with her friends and attend parties, but her instincts told her that this time was different.
“Rick, wake up!” Laura returned to their bedroom and tried to wake up her husband, who was Emily’s stepfather. “Emily’s missing!”
“Let me sleep, Laura,” Richard replied with groggy. “She’s a teen. She must have snuck out to meet those friends of hers. Relax.”
“This is serious, Rick. Her room is spick and span! This isn’t like Emily!”
Richard, however, didn’t seem too concerned probably because he believed Emily would appear any time soon.
But Laura knew something wasn’t right, and just when she returned to the kitchen she received a text message which read, “If you want your daughter alive, bring $100,000 to the address below…”
The situation became worse rapidly, and everything felt like a dreadful dream.
Laura immediately contacted the police. A bunch of officers and investigators quickly arrived at Laura’s door. She told them what was going on, and they promised her that everything would be fine and that they would do everything they could to find her daughter.
When the cops arrived, Richard woke up and went downstairs.
“Laura? What’s going on? What are cops doing here?”
“Someone kidnapped Emily!” she replied tremblingly. “The kidnapper is demanding ransom.”
“Are you sure it isn’t one of Emily’s games?” he asked as he joined her in the living room.
“Of course it’s not, Rick!” she cried. “We have to find her!”
The cops, Laura, and Richard entered Emily’s room.
“Anything missing from here?” Detective Harris asked Laura and Richard.
“The carpet!” Laura now noticed. “It’s not here.”
“You got any idea about it?” Detective Harris looked at Richard.
“Uh, yeah, I took it to the dry cleaner,” Richard replied.
Detective Harris made a note. “I’ll need the dry cleaner’s address, please.”
“Yeah, I’ll get it. One second,” Richard said and left the room.
At that moment, Laura received another text message that read, “If you involve the cops, you’ll never see your daughter again.”
“Let’s drop the ransom, Mrs. Dennings,” Detective Harris suggested. “We can set up around the drop-off location. It’s the best chance of getting your daughter back and catching the kidnapper.”
“No way!” Richard protested as he returned with the address. “That’s too risky. We should just give the ransom, and then maybe the bad guys will let her go.”
“But Richard, what if they take the money and run away?” Laura shook her head. “No. I think the detectives are right.”
The decision was taken to station undercover officers near the ransom drop-off spot.
The next day, Laura drove to the drop-off location, hoping to see her daughter. She waited and looked in the car’s rear-view mirror, but no one approached the oak tree where she had deposited the money. When darkness fell, the detective knocked on the car’s window and instructed Laura to go home because the kidnapper had probably changed their mind.
Laura, devastated, returned home and went straight to Emily’s room. She then realized the carpet was there.
“Doesn’t the carpet look like it’s new?” her husband asked her.
Laura kneeled on the carpet. It was a carpet Emily chose herself just a few months ago.
“How could it be so new?” Laura asked confused.
“A good cleaner can do wonders, honey,” Richard replied almost too quickly.
Ten years ago…
Laura was on a business trip when Emily went missing, and she was left with Richard.
When Emily arrived home from school, Richard was watching television and offered her to sit next to him so they could watch the show together. She did not want to, but he insisted.
She sat next to him, scared, but then realized her stepfather was caressing the hem of her skirt. “Nice skirt,” he said, making Emily even more afraid than before.
At one moment, he offered to unbutton her shirt and said, “Come on, Emily. You’ve grown, and it’s not like you don’t want me.”
Emily yelled “Get away!” and ran straight to her room but Richard followed her. “You don’t need to be scared, Emily!” He smirked.
Emily felt acute pain in her head and noticed blood on the carpet. Then she blacked out.
Present day…
“A couple of fishermen found me, Mom,” Emily continued. “I was in a neighboring town. A kind family there took me in. They also tried to find my family, but I didn’t remember my past. It was only when I returned here and saw my face on the billboards that I recalled everything—My home, you, and the terrible…night!”
“Stop it, Emily! You’re accusing me after all I have done for you guys?” Richard screamed.
But Laura was certain her daughter was telling the truth.
She called the cops, and a DNA analysis was performed to ascertain whether the blood on the carpet was Emily’s. It was not surprising that the results verified it.
