A simple babysitting job became my worst nightmare when I came home and found the babysitter and my daughter missing! When I shared what happened to them, who was involved, and why, I went into a rage!
My ex-husband, Daniel, and I divorced two years ago. His mother, Brenda, never liked me, but after the divorce, she became more caring.
At the beginning of the week of that fateful Friday, my baby girl had come down with a cold.
Having no other way out, daycare refused to attend to sickly children, and not wanting to reach out to Daniel or his mother, I had Jessica, my regular babysitter, watch her.
She’d been looking after Lily for months, and I trusted her entirely.
I looked forward to cheering her up and had even picked up some soup for her on my way home. But the moment I stepped inside, something was strange.
The house was quiet. Too quiet.
My stomach dropped.
“Lily?” I called out. “Jessica?”
Silence.
I moved quickly, checking the living room, the kitchen, Lily’s bedroom, nothing.
I pulled out my phone and called her. It rang. And rang. And rang.
No answer.
Then I noticed it, Lily’s pink backpack was missing! The one she never left home without.
And that’s when I remembered.
The AirTag!
A few months ago, I had slipped the small tracking device inside that very bag.
I opened the tracking app and there it was.
Lily’s backpack was at the airport!
My blood ran cold!
The drive was a blur of red lights I barely stopped for and angry honks I ignored. I kept checking the app, refreshing the location over and over.
Still at the airport.
I pushed through the crowd, scanning faces frantically. And then I saw it!
The pink backpack!
And standing beside it—Jessica!
But she wasn’t alone.
Lily and Daniel were there. And Brenda!
“What the hell is going on?!”
“Oh, Charlotte,” she said smoothly, like we were old friends. “No need to make a scene, dear.”
“Mommy!” she cried.
She clung to me, her little fingers digging into my jacket. “They said we were going to the beach.”
I froze.
“The beach?” I pulled back slightly, looking down at her. “Who said that?”
She pointed at Brenda.
“You were taking her out of state?!” My voice was low, shaking with anger. “Without telling me?!”
Brenda sighed dramatically. “Charlotte, honestly—”
Daniel cut in, his voice cool and dismissive. “We’re taking her for treatment. You’re overreacting.”
“Treatment?” I snapped. “She has a cold!”
“Sun and ocean air will fix her right up,” Brenda said, waving a hand. “We already booked the resort for two weeks.”
My stomach twisted!
Jessica let out a strangled gasp. “Wait—what?”
“You told me she knew. You said she was meeting us here!”
“You thought you could just take her?!”
Daniel sighed, rubbing his temples. “We thought she’d be better off with us for a while.”
I said: “This is kidnapping!”
Brenda’s fake smile paused. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. This is just a misunderstanding.”
I laughed, short, humorless. “Dramatic? A misunderstanding? You lied to a babysitter, packed up my daughter’s things, and bought plane tickets. What do you think this is?!”
He nodded. “We just made sure she didn’t question things too much.”
Brenda, on the other hand, tried one last time. “Charlotte, darling, let’s not be rash, we were only trying to help Lily.”
“If you ever try to ‘help’ by doing something like this again,” I cut in, my voice sharp, “you will never see her again!”
Jessica quickly caught up with me, offering more apologies and asking for a second chance.
“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls?”
“My phone is in my bag. I didn’t hear it ring. When I got here, Daniel and Brenda were already waiting for us, so I rushed to them instead. I am so sorry, Charlotte. I should’ve known better,” she explained.
Understanding my difficult situation, Jessica waved goodbye to Lily, who gave a small smile and waved back apprehensively.
I hugged her tighter as I carried her to the car and realized that this was far from over.
