Missing Like You

EPILOGUE

ISABELLE DONOVAN
SATURDAY JULY 30, 2022

It's been almost a month now since I was rescued, and things have been looking up.

After I was questioned half a dozen times and swabbed for more of Mark's blood, I was cleared to leave the scene. Scott took me home. Our home. I hadn't been there since I left in January, but it felt so good to be back where everything was once good. I hadn't realized how much I missed it until I stepped inside and was immediately swept up in the memories. Zeppelin greeted me upon arrival and I fell to the ground, crying as she licked my face and I held her in my arms.

It's taken me quite some time to finally get to where I am now. The psychologist I've been seeing said that I experienced PTSD after being rescued from captivity. I had spent two weeks there suffering immense isolation from the outside world, as well as relying heavily on my captor as my only source of food, daylight, and nourishment. She told me I suffered from Stockholm syndrome, which I'd actually have to disagree with. The feelings I had towards Mark were not that of attachment, but rather, of reliance. I knew I needed him. I knew I needed to trust him. But did I hesitate to end his life in order to free myself as well as my baby? No.

Motherly instinct. That's the only thing I can think to describe what happened that night. After I told Mark the truth about Lexie in its entirety, he was going to kill me. I couldn't let that happen, not with this baby inside of me. I was no longer just fighting to live for myself. I had to do everything possible to protect the life that was inside of me. And I guess I succeeded. Because in a moment that I can only describe as a true deus ex machina, I miraculously managed to get the gun and pull the trigger, just as Mark always told me he'd do to me.

What I didn't tell my psychologist, however, was that the reason I aimed the gun at his head and not his heart was because I couldn't risk him staying alive. I needed him dead because I needed to keep my secret safe. Two can keep a secret...

"If one of them is dead," Scott said to me once I had told him everything. He hugged me for a long time after that, apologizing for everything I went through. "It's all my fault," he said. "None of this would have happened if it weren't for my stupid mistakes I made over a year ago."

He was right about that, but for some reason, I no longer held it over him. Yes, his affair with Lexie led us to that fateful night in September. But everything that happened afterwards was on me as well. I made the decision not to go to the police. I made the decision to hide her body and participate in a homicide cover-up. I needed to start taking responsibility for my actions and stop blaming Scott for every bad thing that happened. I always say, everything happens for a reason. Karma exists. I'm not a good person for the choices I've made or the actions I've participated in. I deserved to be taken and held captive. I needed to go through that horrible experience. As traumatic as it was, it was essential and necessary for my growth as a person, and also as a mother. Because now I understand, I will do anything to protect my baby.

Scott was in shock when I first told him. He didn't think it would be possible for us to ever start a family after everything we'd gone through. But somehow, my body was working astonishingly. I'm just over ten weeks pregnant now and everything is fine. We've been to see the obstetrician multiple times to ensure the baby is healthy and isn't suffering any sort of trauma from the abduction. The doctor tells us that everything is as should be at this stage, and we have a healthy little fetus growing in there.

We've decided to try this whole marriage thing again, Scott and I. Being away from him was hard enough. But while I was locked away in the cottage for two weeks, I realized just how much I needed him, and I'd only be lying to myself if I said I didn't love him. Nothing like a tragedy to bring two people back together. We've agreed to put the past behind us and move forward together, not just for us, but for this baby. We were given a gift, and we don't intend on wasting it.

In regards to Scott and the investigation, the detective who led the team that rescued me continued to question him. But by that point, we had already worked out our story. I told the detective how my captor wouldn't reveal to me his name nor the reasoning behind my abduction. Finally, on the first of July, the truth came out who he was. He revealed to me that he was Mark Chambers, and I remembered him from the news, his wife had gone missing the year before. That was when he tried to kill me and I got the gun from him. "But before he did this," I said to the detective, "he told me the truth." And that was this: He had discovered his wife was having an affair with someone, and so he killed her. Upon figuring out who the affair was with, he tracked down Scott. Once he realized that Scott was married, his plan was set into motion, deciding to kidnap me to get revenge on Scott.

It's a pretty believable story when you think about it. If you don't know the truth, that is. Scott fully admitted to having an affair with Lexie. Fortunately, it's not illegal to have an affair. It is, however, illegal to lie during an investigation as an obstruction of justice, but the lawyers are currently working on that. All that matters is that the cases are linked together, and Mark Chambers is responsible for both of them. No one else needs to know what really happened to Lexie. The truth is safe with us.

I guess two can keep a secret after all.