Free Diane's Remembrance (Second Chance #4) by Christina Escue

Chapter One
     
     
    “Mama, are you almost ready?” I yell up the stairs as I anxiously wait to leave for camp. “Karla and Ann will be there before me if we don’t hurry.”
     
    “Calm down, honey. I’ll be down in a minute.” Mom says with a laugh from the top of the stairs. “I promise we will make it before your friends.”
     
    “This is going to be the best summer ever.” I tell her when she finally came downstairs. “I love camp.”
     
    “I know you do, sweetheart. Now, let’s go before we’re late.” Mom is all smiles as dad loads my suitcase in the back of the car. This is going to be the best four weeks ever.
     
    “Ms. Hall, are you with us?” A uniformed officer asked Diane, pulling her from her memories of a time long forgotten, as he put her into the back of the police car.
     
    “I have nothing to say to you.” Diane answered him and he closed the back door, successively locking her away from the man she was working out a deal with.
     
    Once she was alone she thought back to that day again; “See, honey? I told you we would get here before Karla and Ann.” Mom says as she stops the car in front of the main cabin. This is my third summer here so I didn’t need the tour they were giving all the new kids.
     
    “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best. I love you.”
     
    “I love you too, sweetheart. Now, let’s get you unloaded and checked in. You will be in the bear cabin this year, right?”
     
    “Yes, ma’am. I can’t wait to help with the arts and crafts this year. As bears we get to help the chipmunks and squirrels in arts and crafts and in nature safety. That’s why this is going to be the best summer ever.” I gush as we get my suitcase and backpack out of the car.
     
    As we are leaving the check-in cabin I spot my two best friends, Karla and Ann. They are just unloading their stuff from their parent’s cars. “They’re here.” I tell Mom excitedly as I point to them. When she nods her head I run over to see the two girls I hadn’t seen in a year.
     
    “How was school?” I ask brightly.
     
    “Same boring stuff as always.” Karla answers blandly, but perks up when she looks around. “I love this place.”
     
    “Me too.” Ann says with her signature smile. “Y’all ready for some fun this summer?”
     
    “Girls, let’s get y’all checked in and then we will get your stuff to your cabin before the welcome bonfire.” Karla’s Mom says with a smile. “I know you three have a lot of catching up to do.”
     
    “Ms. Hall, step this way please.” The officer interrupted her thoughts again. They were in the garage at the jail and he was waiting for her to get out of the car. She stepped out and he led her through a couple of doors and into a holding cell. “I’ll be back in a few minutes to do your prints and mug shot.” When the cell door closed Diane jumped slightly and looked around the room. It was stark white and looked exactly like every other holding cell she’d ever been in.
     
    Unimpressed, she let herself get lost in her memories again.
     
    “Diane, wake up.” Karla says softly as she shakes me. “Ann and I are going skinny dipping in the lake. Wanna join us?”
     
    “You know I do.” I answer with a grin and hop out of bed. We had been here three weeks already and had been skinny dipping five times. It was technically against the rules, but as long as we are quiet we wouldn’t get caught. “Let’s go.”
     
    We quietly make our way down the path to the lake and once we are there we stripped off our pajamas and jump in. The water is cool and clear and the perfect relief for the balmy July night.
     
    We swim for about an hour before we decide it’s time to head back, but when we get out of the lake we realize we aren’t alone anymore.
     
    “What are three young girls doing out all by themselves?” A man with a long beard asks the two other men with him.
     
    “Well I don’t rightly know, Elmer, but they sure are pretty young