Author's note: Hi all sorry it's been awhile. I've been super swamped with school and life and every other excuse out there, but things are beginning to settle down so hopefully faster updates (although I can't promise anything). So this chapter is all Carter. I left a bit of mystery for you all to solve as well, as you'll see there is a clue that needs some deciphering. Hopefully you enjoy. It's a bit longer and I hope it makes up for the length of time between updates a little. As always reviews are appreciated. Thanks and happy reading.
It came into sight sooner than she expected. Only minutes had passed since she had asked if they could pull over, not nearly enough time to come up with anything when the gas station came into view. Carter knew it would be the one Lori would choose. It was a "mom and pop" station, free of cameras and that happily took cash for everything.
She began to scramble for any reasonable idea that came to mind but she was drawing a blank and silently she cursed at herself for not coming up with something before deciding to speak up. But as they pulled into the parking lot of the station the sight of two police cars gave her hope. Hope that she'd get more time to think of something, but more importantly hope that her ordeal would end right then and there.
Carter watched out of the corner of her eye as Lori tensed in her seat. Her knuckles going white as she squeezed the steering wheel tighter and her eyes growing slightly wider. But just as quick her face of worry turned into one of confidence.
The officers had spotted them pull in through the glass doors, had even raised a hand and given them a friendly wave before turning back to talking with the cashier. Lori pulled out her phone and pretended to make a call, making it seem like that was the reason they had stopped, just for good measure in case they were still being watched. As they pulled back onto the road Carter became filled with a mixture of relief and disappointment, but quickly swatted the emotions away to continue thinking up a plan.
They continued to drive a little further and Lori watched as the fuel needle dipped closer and closer to empty until the light turned on and she knew she had to pull over soon. She silently cursed to herself, as all she saw were commercial gas stations and knew she would be forced to fill up at one of them. It was her first slip up and she hated the feeling that it could possibly get her caught.
Slowly they pulled over into the heavily lit and recorded station, and Lori could see Carter's eyes seem to light up. Just another thing she would have to keep a watchful eye on for the next ten minutes until they could get back on the road again. Carter quickly jumped out of the car as soon as Lori turned off the engine and the woman hopped out after her with just as much speed.
"Carter no funny business," she said sternly. Carter's face had a defiant look to it so she made a threat. "If you try something, no phone call."
It had the desired effect as Carter's shoulders seemed to slump slightly, the mischievous glint in her eye gone from sight. They walked in together, Lori headed for the counter to pre-pay for gas while Carter roamed the aisles, a plan still absent from her mind. She carefully eyed the cameras though, wanting to make sure one of them caught her full face while trying to be discrete so Lori wouldn't see.
Carter looked up from the ample choices of chips displayed in front of her to see the cashier striking up a conversation with Lori, much to her displeasure. It was then that she caught sight of the lottery display and an idea clicked into place. She raced over and grabbed a sheet and pencil before going to the back wall near the drinks and hastily began to bubble it in.
3-1-18-12-25-19
The number 19 filled in for the Powerball space. Once she finished darkening the numbers in she moved on to another.
12-1-21-18-5-14
She looked up into the glass, trying to see Lori in the reflection and could see that she was wrapping up at the front, so Carter hurried even more. The last one was the toughest, there were repeats and it was longer that the previous two, but she had faith her mom would figure it out, so she bubbled the numbers in best she could.
19-20-5-6-14-19
Again the 19 sat in the Powerball slot and she was just able to stuff the paper in her pocket before she felt Lori behind her. She turned to face her and gave her a quick smile, trying to cover any tell that may have been on her face.
"Can I get a drink?"
"Of course," Lori replied, placing a quick kiss on Carter's head. Carter had to force herself to not flinch away. It was creepy that the woman could go from threatening to loving in such a quick turn around. Lori spoke up again. "I'm surprised you don't have five bags of gummy bears in your arms."
She had always thought that gummy bears had been their thing, that Lori had been the one to turn her on to the candy but soon after being home Carter had realized that it was in fact her third birthday that had made her fall in love with them. Her grandpa had slipped her and Taylor a few just before they had to go to bed and from then on she was hooked. Now it only reminded her of the fact that there were still numerous things she still didn't know about Lori and her family as well.
"I guess I just don't have a sweet tooth right now," she replied with a shrug. She grabbed for an iced tea in the refrigerator and turned to face Lori, sticking her hand out. "Can I have some money?"
Lori hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should allow Carter to go up to the front and talk with the cashier, and it didn't go unnoticed by the girl.
"Please, mom," she tried. The word tasted vile on her tongue, it sounded strange saying it back to the woman in front of her. It sounded wrong, but she said it as unfaltering as possible in hopes Lori would buy it.
"Yeah here," the woman replied, a grin on her face as she pulled a twenty out of her purse. "Grab me one of those bags of gummy bears anyway, huh?"
Carter nodded and she split away from her to head down the candy aisle. With no one else in the store, the clerk had taken to watching them and so Lori was cautious in getting Carter's attention back for a brief moment, not wanting to use any names.
"Hey," she said in a loud whisper. Carter looked up. "Remember what I said outside."
"Yeah, got it."
And with that Lori headed back out to the car to fuel up, while Carter grabbed the candy and made her way to the front counter. The guy was young, not too much older than her, and his appearance made it look like he wasn't going to be moving up in the world anytime soon.
"So, on a road trip with your mom?"
Now was her chance to spill everything out. Let this guy know that she had been kidnapped, again. Tell him to call the cops. But there was something holding her back, a feeling that Lori had something more up her sleeve that Carter didn't want her to let loose. Something she knew would be let out if she said anything, so she nodded and let the moment pass her by.
"Something like that," she mumbled.
"Anything else?" he asked after he scanned the few snacks she had grabbed.
"Oh yeah," she said pulling out the lottery paper. "This too, please."
"Got an I.D?"
"Excuse me."
"An I.D. You need to be eighteen to buy a ticket, so I need to see something that has your age on it," he explained.
Carter pulled out the fake one Lori had given her earlier, but it still only said she was seventeen.
"Look please, I'm really not trying to win. I just need to buy this ticket with these numbers," she told him, trying not to sound desperate but there was a hint of pleading in her voice.
"Rules are rules, and…" he tried but she cut him off.
"What if I pay you to buy it for me. You look over eighteen and who couldn't use a little extra money. Please."
"Alright fine," he gave in, taking the paper from her and started to punch the numbers into the computer. "I don't think you're going to even be close to winning with these."
"I don't care. Just make sure you put them in right," she replied, to which he gave her a nod and shrug.
After it printed out he slid the ticket across the counter and she paid him for everything. As she turned Carter looked up directly as the camera above the door, pausing for a second before heading to the exit. Just before went to push the door open, she tucked the ticket between a few Twinkies in a display and hoped a camera with a different angle caught the action.
Lori was already finished with pumping the gas and she jumped into the driver's seat, eager to get out of the area, once she caught sight of Carter. The girl slipped into the passenger side, but kept the door open, which also kept them from going anywhere.
"Carter what are you doing? We need to get moving again. Close the door," Lori told her. There was a sharpness to her tone and Carter could tell she was desperate to leave. An emotion that played to Carter's position perfectly.
"Not until you tell me," she said looking straight ahead.
"Tell you what?"
Carter turned and faced Lori. The girl's eyes slightly narrowed, her mouth tightened. Everything about her expression showed how serious she was.
"Tell me the truth. I want…no, I deserve to know everything. I'm tired of being lied to and I want to hear why you took me in the first place," she finished and prepared to fight Lori's refusals, but was surprised when the woman started to nod.
"Fine, I'll tell you. Close the door and on the drive I'll tell you everything you want."
Carter gave her a skeptical look. There was no trust between them anymore and she knew once she shut the door all of her leverage would be gone.
"Carter I promise," Lori said as she watched the internal doubt began to build up.
Slowly Carter closed the door and Lori drove out of the station as quickly as she could without drawing any extra attention to the car. They drove a ways in silence, an uncomfortable air resting between them. Carter was anxious and eager to her the information she had asked for, but didn't want to push too hard. Lori was unsure and hesitant, wanting to choose the right words. A minute turned to a couple, which turned to ten and then fifteen. Carter was about to say something when Lori broke the silence.
"I knew your Dad," she simply stated before going quiet again.
"Yeah you were a hospice worker on our block. I already knew that."
Lori shook her head. "Before that. I've known David for what seems like forever. Way before you came along or Elizabeth forced herself into his life.
"We met the summer before his sophomore year in college. He was the nicest guy I had ever met, so charming and polite, and by the start of his semester we had fallen in love," she paused for a moment, recalling memories of way back then. She looked over a Carter, shock swept over the girl's face and Lori knew only more would come.
"A few months later I found out I was pregnant. Neither one of us knew what to do, but we decided that living together was the next step so we moved into an apartment near the campus."
"Is that where that photo came from? The one of him sleeping," Carter interrupted.
Lori nodded. "That was taken only a few days before everything happened." She stopped to gather her breath. Carter could see the emotions running wild while the woman tried her best to remain in control.
"You could have told me this when you first gave me the picture."
"Would you really have believed me?"
Carter thought for a moment before shaking her head. She knew she would have accused Lori of lying, and there was still the possibility she was currently lying, but the rawness of her voice and the emotions in her eyes told Carter she was saying the truth.
"I lost the baby only a few short days later and I lost it. David tried his best to keep me the same person as before, but the grief was too unbearable and he left. Which I don't blame him for. I was an absolute mess.
"It was a couple of years later and just by chance we ran into each other. We got to talking and it was like no time had passed at all. But of course it had and by then Elizabeth had wormed her way into his life." Carter flinched slightly at the harshness behind her words when referring to her mother.
"We continued to see one another a little while longer, David was even prepared to break up with her but then she found out she was pregnant with you and Taylor. That news halted everything we had been planning. He told me that he needed to be there for her and the baby and so we tried to stop seeing one another, but we couldn't stay away.
"And for a while all was good again until Elizabeth started to show and David was hit by guilt. He broke it off again but it was different from the time before. He said that he had to give being a family a fair chance. That he needed to focus on raising the baby in the best environment possible, and that wasn't in a broken home.
"But he said that he wanted to be with me, so I agreed to give him some time and we agreed on three years. Three years to raise a kid before he would break it off with Elizabeth and we could finally be together." Lori paused for a moment and looked over to Carter. She had been doing a lot of talking and wanted to make sure that the girl was still following.
"I waited for him, doing odd job throughout the years but also getting into some trouble with the law. David found out about that and had used it as his excuse as to why it wasn't going to work out with us, but I knew the real reason. Elizabeth had managed to sink her claws into him, had somehow tricked him into loving her. He gushed over how great of a mother she was and that he couldn't leave.
"I tried to convince him I would be just as good of a mother, and for the first time since we met I saw uncertainty in his eyes. It was that look that made me feel like I had to prove myself to him. I wanted to prove that I was better. That if our child had survived they would have had a better life than anything Elizabeth was capable of providing.
"So I followed him and found out where you all lived. Got myself a job down the street and ignored David's protests for me to leave the area. I watched from afar as you and Taylor played outside on the porch unsupervised. I could hear your occasional tantrums from inside the house. And I knew I could do better.
"One day you were outside by yourself, Taylor had just ran in to get something, and I walked up to you. I had never gotten close to you before, and when you turned I just knew."
"Knew what?" Carter asked after Lori fell silent.
"I knew that you were my daughter. You were everything I pictured. Your golden brown hair and eyes. Your bright grin and tiny, outgoing personality. It all just clicked and I knew you were always meant to be mine, that we were supposed to be mother and daughter. You were Carter and always would be."
The car fell silent and Lori looked over to the passenger seat to see Carter taking it all in the best she could. Carter felt as if she were drowning. It was the most information she had gotten from a single person since she discovered she had been kidnapped at the police station. Lori turned back to focus on the road but set her hand gently on top of Carter's, to which the girl instantly pulled away.
"You…you just…" Carter shook her head as she couldn't believe the reason she had been given. "I lost thirteen years with my family because you wanted to be better than my mom at raising me. I didn't belong to you. I will NEVER belong to you. I am not your daughter. All those things you mentioned came from my parents. My dark eyes and hair from my dad, and the personality from my strong mother. Not from you."
Tears had begun to well in Carter's eyes. The frustration of everything had been building up and now was threatening to spill over, but she didn't let them fall. She forced herself to choke them back.
"How could you take everything from me?" was all she could manage to ask after her rampage.
"Look at the life I gave you though," she tried, still taken back at Carter's use of the word "mom" when she referred to Elizabeth in her rant.
"Look at the life you gave yourself. This is what you wanted," she replied while shifting in her seat, turning away from Lori and into the window. "I just need to think to myself for a little bit."
"Of course," Lori said, understanding that it was a lot of information to take in and hoping the time would make her come around to see she had only done what was in her best interest.
As Lori flipped on the radio and found a station, Carter let the tears slip down her face. She was scared and sad at the same time. Saddened by everything she had been told, by all the things she had missed growing up with her mom and dad simply because Lori had something to prove. Scared because now she knew that the woman sitting next to her was officially crazy. As she wiped a tear away her thoughts went back to that lottery ticket in the store and she hoped that her mom would be able to figure out what it meant.
