Chapter 3 - The Wrong Julia
Neither woman spoke.
Rachel’s phone remained pressed against her ear.
The stranger stood near the banister, one hand resting lightly on the wood.
Rachel could hear Julia breathing through the phone.
“Rachel?” Julia whispered.
Rachel did not answer.
The stranger tilted her head.
“Everything okay?”
Rachel forced herself not to look toward the bathroom.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been upstairs a while.”
“Caleb finally calmed down.”
The woman’s eyes moved to Rachel’s phone.
“Hospital?”
Rachel nodded.
“Emergency.”
The stranger watched her for another second.
Then smiled again.
“Of course.”
She turned toward the stairs.
Rachel waited until she disappeared.
Then she whispered into the phone.
“Call 911.”
Julia inhaled sharply.
“Rachel—”
“Do it now. Give them my address.”
“Okay.”
“And tell them there are two children upstairs.”
“I will.”
Rachel ended the call.
Her hands were shaking.
She stared at them.
That annoyed her.
She needed them steady.
She crossed the hall quickly and crouched outside the bathroom.
“Caleb.”
“I’m here.”
“Do not open this door unless I say the word blueberry.”
A pause.
“What?”
“The word is blueberry. If anyone tells you I said to open the door and they do not say blueberry, do not open it.”
“Okay.”
“Can you lock the second latch?”
“It’s already locked.”
Good boy.
Rachel swallowed.
“Mia?”
“Yes?”
“Stay very quiet, sweetheart.”
“Okay.”
Rachel stood.
She needed to keep the woman downstairs.
She needed to keep her calm.
She needed time.
And she needed to understand what the woman wanted.
That question terrified her most.
If this was theft, why impersonate a babysitter?
Why not simply use the stolen keys while nobody was home?
Why arrive while Rachel was still there?
Why try to take Mia downstairs?
Rachel walked back into the kitchen.
The woman was near the back door.
She looked at Rachel.
“I should probably leave.”
Rachel’s heart jumped.
“Why?”
“Your son clearly doesn’t want me here.”
“I think he’ll settle down.”
“I don’t want to make him uncomfortable.”
The woman reached toward the doorknob.
Rachel needed to stop her without making it obvious.
“Wait.”
The woman looked back.
Rachel picked up her purse.
“I’m going to pay you for coming all this way.”
“That’s okay.”
“No, I insist.”
She began deliberately rummaging through the purse.
Wallet.
Receipts.
Lip balm.
Keys.
She let everything take too long.
The woman waited.
Rachel listened.
No sirens.
Of course not.
Seattle traffic at this hour could turn four minutes into fifteen.
“You said your car was in the shop?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
The woman smiled politely.
“Transmission.”
Rachel nodded.
“Expensive.”
“Unfortunately.”
Rachel found her wallet.
She deliberately dropped it.
Cards scattered across the floor.
“Damn it.”
She crouched.
The woman sighed very softly.
Almost inaudibly.
But Rachel heard it.
That sigh scared her more than anything else had.
Impatience.
The woman wanted to leave.
Or wanted Rachel to leave.
Rachel picked up the cards one at a time.
When she stood, she noticed the canvas bag on the floor beside the island.
The zipper was partially open.
Something metallic reflected the overhead light.
A second phone.
Rachel glanced away immediately.
The woman caught the movement.
Her face changed.
Not much.
Enough.
“I really should go,” she said.
Rachel handed her cash.
“Just give me a second to get your coat.”
“I have it.”
“No, the rain jacket.”
“I didn’t bring one.”
Rachel smiled.
“Right.”
The woman stared at her.
Rachel realized she had made a mistake.
Too many questions.
Too much delay.
The woman looked toward the stairs.
Then toward the front door.
“Rachel.”
The first use of her name felt different now.
“I’m leaving.”
Rachel moved slightly, placing herself between the woman and the staircase.
“Okay.”
The woman picked up the canvas bag.
“Tell Caleb I’m sorry I scared him.”
“I will.”
She walked toward the front door.
Rachel’s chest loosened.
Let her leave.
Police could find her later.
The children were safe.
Then the woman stopped.
She looked down.
Rachel followed her gaze.
On the floor near the stairs lay Daisy.
Mia’s white stuffed rabbit.
The woman bent down and picked it up.
“This must be hers.”
Rachel’s throat tightened.
“Yes.”
The woman turned it over in her hands.
Then looked upstairs.
“I can take it to her.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
The woman slowly looked back at Rachel.
Rachel tried to soften her voice.
“She doesn’t need it.”
“But you said she always sleeps with it.”
Rachel said nothing.
She had never told this woman that.
The woman smiled faintly.
And the final layer of normality disappeared.
“You figured it out,” she said.
Rachel’s pulse exploded.
Neither moved.
“Figured out what?” Rachel asked.
The woman gave a tired little laugh.
“Come on.”
Rachel’s hand slid toward her pocket.
The phone was there.
No call connected.
No emergency button activated.
Nothing.
The woman dropped Daisy onto the table.
“I wasn’t going to hurt them.”
Rachel stared at her.
“You were trying to take my daughter outside.”
“No.”
“Caleb heard you.”
“He misunderstood.”
“What did you want?”
The woman’s eyes hardened.
“Something that doesn’t concern you.”
Rachel almost laughed from disbelief.
“It concerns me if you enter my house pretending to be someone I hired to watch my children.”
The woman adjusted the bag strap.
“I just needed five minutes.”
“For what?”
No answer.
Rachel stepped backward.
“Police are coming.”
The woman froze.
There.
For the first time, genuine fear crossed her face.
Then she moved.
Not toward Rachel.
Toward the stairs.
Rachel reacted instantly.
She grabbed the kitchen stool and shoved it sideways into the narrow passage.
The woman hit it with her shin.
“Move!”
“No.”
The woman tried to push past.
Rachel braced both hands against the counter and kicked the stool forward again.
Upstairs, Mia screamed.
“Mommy!”
“Stay inside!” Rachel shouted.
The stranger cursed.
Then something changed outside.
Blue light flashed across the kitchen window.
The woman saw it.
So did Rachel.
The stranger looked toward the back door.
Rachel moved out of the way.
“Go,” she said.
The woman hesitated.
Then ran.
She threw open the back door and disappeared into the rain.
Seconds later, Rachel heard shouting outside.
A police officer.
Another voice.
Running footsteps.
Then silence.
Rachel did not wait.
She ran upstairs.
“Blueberry!”
The bathroom door opened.
Caleb stood there, pale, one arm around Mia.
Rachel dropped to her knees.
Both children crashed into her.
For several seconds, she could not speak.
She just held them.
Mia was crying.
Caleb was not.
That frightened Rachel almost more.
She pulled back and looked at him.
“How did you know?”
Caleb looked down.
“I told you.”
“I know.”
His chin trembled.
Rachel touched his face.
“You saved your sister.”
He shook his head.
“I just didn’t let her take her.”
Rachel pulled him close again.
Downstairs, someone shouted her name.
Police.
Rachel closed her eyes.
The house was safe now.
But one question remained.
The stranger had risked entering an occupied home.
She had impersonated a real babysitter.
She had known private family information.
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And she had specifically tried to get Mia downstairs.
Why?
