by Kim Pritekel
Jill gave her a brave smile. “You tell her Mommy has a boo-boo,” Jill offered, her voice catching on the last word. “You tell her that Mommy is safe and she’s home.”
Shannon smiled, rubbing her thumb along the back of Jill’s soft hand. “Hey, don’t start crying on me again,” she teased, but then sobered. “Jill, it’s okay. I’ll get through this and I’ll be okay.”
Jill nodded, bringing up her free hand, which held the tissue she’d brought out from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “Sorry. The last thing you need is my issues, too.”
Shannon laughed. “Yeah, since I’ve never dealt with those before.”
Jill smiled and leaned over, leaving a careful kiss on the side of Shannon’s head. “I’d better go. Andy will be downstairs to meet me for our visit with Tyler.”
“Good luck, sis,” Shannon said, accepting a quick hug. Jill had filled her in on what had happened a day and a half ago. She’d been shocked and horrified for her nephew. What on earth could make him do something so drastic? As she watched Jill walk toward the door, something popped into her head. “Jill?”
“Yeah?” the oldest Schaeffer girl asked, turning.
“Weird question. Did Mom used to talk about butterfly kisses?”
“Butterfly kisses?” Jill asked, delicate eyebrows drawn. She looked away for a moment as though in contemplation before a smile curled her painted lips. “Yes. She used to do this funny thing where she’d get in close to your face, and with her inhumanly long eyelashes, she’d bat them against your cheek. It was such a creepy feeling.” She laughed. “She called them butterfly wing kisses.”
“Oh. Okay.” Shannon gave her a small smile.
“Wait. The other things were flowers.”
This caught Shannon’s attention. “Flowers?”
“Yeah. We had a huge flower garden at the house on Emerald. Nora and I would follow her out there as she held you and she’d tell us to run our hands barely above the tops of the petals. Called the feeling butterfly kisses.” She smiled and shook her head as though lost in the memory. “Jeez, I hadn’t thought of that in forever. Why do you ask?”
Shannon shook her head, feeling strange. “No reason. A dream, I guess.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you, sis.”
“Love you, too.”
Left alone, Shannon was exhausted. She’d been moved off the ICU floor the night before, her doctors feeling she was stable and well on her way to healing, which were their words. She was glad, so tired of being stuck in the hospital. At this point, her memories were few and far between, mostly random images and faces. The psychologist they’d had come in to talk to her, Dr. Haley Carrigan, warned her that she may never fully remember or it may all come back in one crushing avalanche of information.
All she knew was, she was tired, and she couldn’t wait to see her daughter. As if on cue, the door to her room opened and the weight lifted off her heart was immense at the first sight of her little girl.
“Mommy!”
Shannon’s eyes squeezed shut as she caught the bundle that flew into her arms. She ignored the pain and weakness in her muscles as she gave all she had to hold the light of her life as close as possible. “Mommy,” Bella said, her little arms holding on just as tightly as her mother.
“Hey, baby girl,” Shannon whispered, inhaling the strawberry-scented hair, wondering what kind of shampoo Nora had her using. She smelled like a little Strawberry Shortcake doll. “I’m here.”
Shannon’s eyes opened in time to catch Nora turn away, tears in her eyes. She smiled and squeezed Bella before she began to rain noisy kisses all over her freckled face, making the little girl giggle.
“You smell so good I may have to eat you for dessert!” Shannon made noisy eating sounds as she nibbled playfully at Bella’s neck, sending the girl into even more giggles. She hugged her daughter close, rocking her gently. Nora turned back around and met Shannon’s gaze. Thank you, Shannon mouthed. Nora smiled with a nod.
“Mommy?”
Shannon looked down to see big green eyes staring up at her. “Yes, baby?”
“Where’d your hair go?”
Shannon smiled, knowing questions would be coming. She reached down and grabbed a tiny hand in hers and brought it up to lightly touch the rough surface of her staples. Bella gasped.
“It’s okay, baby,” she said softly. “Remember when you fell off the swings that time and you got a boo-boo and had to get stitches?”
Bella nodded, looking uncertain.
“Mommy got a boo-boo,” she said so quietly that only Bella could hear her, bringing them into their own world like she did during story time. “That’s why Mommy went away,” she added. “But, know what?”
Bella shook her head slowly.
“Mommy is getting better and she’s never going anywhere ever again.”
“You swear?” Bella whispered.
“I swear.”
Bella held up her tiny hand, pinky sticking up. Shannon smiled and, reaching her own pinky out, hooked the two smallest fingers together.
****
Nora headed out into the hall, overwhelmed with emotion. Yes, she wanted mother and daughter to have time alone during their first meeting after so long, but she also needed some air. To her horror, out in the hallway, she lost control over her fear and grief of the not knowing and then ultimately the relief after Shannon was found.
Bringing up her hands, she buried her face in them, the tears hot and wet as they slid between her fingers. She could barely catch her breath, desperately trying not to make a scene, but she was too overcome by the emotional release to find her way to the ladies’ room.
“Hey.”
Startled by the soft voice and touch to her shoulder, she looked up, and for a moment, thinking it was a mirage, saw Sarah looking back at her, understanding in her dark eyes. The tears came harder as she was taken into a firm, warm embrace. She held on to Sarah for dear life, letting so much go as a gentle hand cupped the back of her head, gently guiding her to rest against a strong shoulder.
After a long moment, Nora’s tears slowed then stopped. She felt stupid and stepped away from Sarah, using her sleeve to wipe her eyes. She spared a glance into concerned eyes.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked softly, a hand still resting on her shoulder. She gasped lightly. “Is Shannon okay?”
Nora nodded, giving her a small smile. “Yeah, she’s great. I left to give her some time alone with Bella.” She scrubbed at her face with her hands for a moment to clear the wetness of her tears. “Sorry,” she said, feeling foolish when she saw the tear stains on Sarah’s shirt.
Sarah followed her gaze and smiled. “It’s okay.”
Nora looked at her, eyebrows falling. “How did you know where we were? What are you doing here?”
“Nurses down on ICU looked it up for me, where they’d moved her.” She raised the binder that Nora hadn’t noticed. “I have one final question, and it’s for Shannon.”
“Wait, I thought your part was done, with the case, I mean.”
Sarah gave her a grin that both sent fire through her veins but was followed by ice. “We got the fuckers,” Sarah said softly, looking around, Nora assuming to make sure nobody had overheard her.
Shocked, Nora stared at her. “What?” she whispered. “Who? How?”
“Hold off for now,” Sarah said gently. “Let me get to her first. Okay?”
Nora nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She placed her hands on Sarah’s arm to stop her, looking deeply into her eyes to make sure she had her attention. “Sarah,” she said softly. “You’re not going to upset her, are you? Or Bella? They’ve been through so much.”
Sarah looked away for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts before she looked back into Nora’s eyes. “Nora, we need to finish this. Other than maybe you and your family, there isn’t a person in this world who wants these bastards to pay for what they did more than me. Please know that.”
Nora saw the truth in th
ose dark eyes and nodded. “Okay. Come on.”
Bella was giggling at something her mother had said or done when the two women entered the room. Nora glanced over her shoulder at Sarah, curious about how she’d react not only to Shannon’s condition but to seeing her in person as a grown woman for the first time. Last she’d seen her youngest sister, Shannon had been around eight.
Bella looked at them, and with a squeal of delight, scooted off the high bed and ran over to Sarah, hugging her waist as she looked up at her with adoring eyes. “You did it!”
Sarah smiled down at her, brushing some brown strands of hair out of her big green eyes. “What did I do?”
“You found my mommy.” She looked over at her mom watching from the bed. “Mommy, this is the police lady. She said she’d find you.”
Nora watched, charmed and truly surprised that Bella remembered not only the woman but what she’d said so many weeks ago.
Sarah reached down and, with a loud grunt, picked up the five-year-old and held her in her arms as she walked over to the bed, depositing the giggling girl back next to her mom. “Hi, Shannon,” she said, extending a hand. “I’m Detective Sarah Sanchez. I work on the Missing Persons Unit.”
A few of her fingers still bandaged, Shannon took her hand as best she could and gave her a small smile. “Hi.”
“Shannon, you probably don’t recognize her,” Nora said, stepping up beside Sarah, “but, you actually knew Sarah when you were a kid.”
“Oh, okay,” Shannon said, looking from Nora to Sarah.
“Listen, Shannon, I need to ask you to look at some pictures for me. Can you do that?” Sarah asked, holding up the binder. “To pick out the bad guys.” She glanced down at Bella who was watching everything intently.
Shannon nodded, reaching up for Nora’s hand absently. Nora took it, murmuring words of comfort to her.
“Okay. Nora,” Sarah said softly, pulling her cell phone out of her blazer pocket and messing with it until she handed it to Nora, the camera activated. “Would you mind getting this on tape just for the record for the prosecution?”
“Absolutely.” She took the phone in her free hand and aimed it to where she could get Shannon and the binder, which Sarah had set on the bed before her.
“Okay, today is Tuesday, October third, 2017. We’re at Parkview Hospital with victim, Shannon Schaeffer to do a victim identification of the perps. I’m Detective Sarah Sanchez and this video is being conducted by Nora Schaeffer, the victim’s sister. Okay.” Sarah placed her hand atop the closed binder. “I’m going to show you a series of pictures, Shannon, six per page. Each will be numbered, so if you can, tell me the number of the picture if you see the men who abducted you and victimized you, okay?”
Shannon took a deep breath as she nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay, here we go.”
Sarah opened the top cover of the binder and inside were the six photos per page, as she’d promised. Each contained clear, color pictures of Hispanic men. Nora had to assume they were of that ethnicity since both Ronnie Garcia and Ellis White were, as well.
She glanced down at Shannon and could tell she was studying each picture carefully, shaking her head. Sarah turned to the next page, and Nora saw an instant visceral reaction.
With a trembling hand, Shannon touched the fourth picture on the page. “That’s one,” she said, emotion in her voice.
“You’re sure?” Sarah asked carefully. At Shannon’s vigorous nod, Sarah pulled out a Sharpie from her jacket pocket and marked an X on the corner of picture number four. “Okay, next page.”
It was three pages later before Shannon had a truly bad reaction. She burst into tears and slammed her hand down on the very first photo, a Hispanic man with piercing gray eyes.
“Okay, okay,” Sarah said softly, quickly marking the picture before closing the binder and moving it away. “It’s okay, Shannon,” she said with a comforting smile as she reached across the small space between them and placed her hand on Shannon’s knee. “You did amazing.” She looked up at Nora who was still filming. “Go ahead and stop now, Nora.”
Nora hit stop and handed the phone back to Sarah, who tucked it back into her pocket. The two met eyes for a brief moment and Sarah nodded, Nora taking it that Shannon had picked out both men correctly.
“It’s okay, Mommy,” Bella said, climbing into her mother’s lap. “Don’t cry. Me and Oreo will protect you.”
Through her tears, Shannon looked down at Bella. “Oreo?”
“My cat!”
“Nora,” Sarah said softly, climbing off the bed. She nodded her head toward the door.
“I’ll be right back, sweetie,” she said to Shannon, leaving a gentle kiss on the top of her head before following the taller woman out of the room. Once the door was closed behind them as they stood in the hall, Nora turned to Sarah with a question in her eyes.
“She successfully identified both of them. The second one, Ellis White, we believe was responsible for the majority of the violence.”
“Damn,” Nora said, hugging herself as she leaned back against the wall behind her. “Okay. Now what?”
“Everything is pretty much done, now. Depending on what these bastards do, the prosecution may ask Shannon to testify, but I don’t know.”
“But,” Nora said slowly, “your part is over. Right?” At Sarah’s nod, Nora tucked her bottom lip under her top teeth for a moment. “Will I see you anymore?”
Just then, Sarah’s phone rang. “Saved by the bell,” she said with a small smile before answering her phone.
Nora watched her for a moment, almost as though memorizing her striking features in case this was the last time she’d see her. Her gaze fell when Sarah ended the call.
“I have to go.” She tucked her phone away and met Nora’s gaze. “I’ll see you around.”
She watched Sarah walk away, taking Nora’s heart with her.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Jill saw Andrew waiting for her at the end of the hallway, right before the door that read, Behavioral Health.
“Hey,” she said, taking the hand he extended toward her.
“Hey. Ready for this?” he asked, concern in his dark blue eyes.
Jill let out a heavy breath and gave him a brave smile. “I think so. After thirty-six hours, I’m glad we finally get to see him.”
Andrew agreed as he pushed open the door, allowing his wife to enter before him. “Me, too. I’m curious what his therapist will have to say.”
After signing in and fifteen minutes of waiting, Andrew and Jill were led back through a maze of hallways to a therapist’s office.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lacey,” said the friendly woman who looked to be in her thirties. “I’m Patricia Waylan, and I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time with your son. Please come in and sit down so we can chat.”
Jill was nervous as she sat in one of the chairs provided but she felt substantially better to have Andrew sitting beside her. She absently reached over in search of his hand, which wrapped around hers.
“Now, I know this has been a stressful thirty-six hours for you guys,” Patricia began, taking her seat opposite theirs, a table with a box of Kleenex between them. “Tyler isn’t a bad kid. From what I’ve been able to gather in talking with him as well as through personal observation and detailed notes from others, I think he’s desperately trying to find a way to deal with, what I believe, is some anxiety.” She met the gaze of both parents. “From what he told me, there has been some discord in the home for several years. Essentially, folks, Tyler has been crying out for help and feels nobody has heard him. This explains poor performance in school and getting in trouble both at school and at home.”
Jill’s stomach roiled. So many things flashed before her eyes, so many times she’d chosen to go out with friends rather than check in with her children. So many times she’d picked fights with Andrew to avoid having to deal with him. So many times she’d failed. She leaned forward and snagged a tissue to dab at her eyes a
s the therapist continued.
“I recommend Tyler be put on a mild antianxiety medication, though that will have to be prescribed by the local psychiatrist here, Dr. Powell. I also strongly recommend family counseling once Tyler is released from here.” She paused as Jill blew her nose.
“Sorry,” she said softly.
“No worries. The thing you have to truly understand is, this didn’t happen with Tyler on his own. He’s not a bad kid. He’s not looking to be in trouble on a daily basis because it’s fun for him. And,” she added, her voice sober, “he certainly didn’t attempt to take his own life because he had nothing better to do on a Monday night.”
The tears began to flow in earnest as the memory of seeing her child hanging in his closet came back to her. Andrew put his arm around her and pulled her against him.
“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered. “Patricia, what can we do?”
“Well, one thing I saw in the paperwork you guys sent us, you had intended to send Tyler away to a private military school in Kansas. I’ll be honest, though I understand where your mind and hearts were on that, I think it’s a dangerous idea right now. Tyler needs to be close to home, needs to know that you care, and needs to feel stable in his home environment. I understand he’s been expelled from District 70 schools, so I can recommend a few good charter schools in District 60. What I strongly recommend is a place called, Goal Academy. It’s essentially framed for troubled kids like Tyler. I know many who have thrived there and I think Tyler can, too. It’s accredited in multiple states, and he could even graduate ready to enter a vocational career among other options.” She gave them a reassuring smile. “Any questions?”
Jill was far too overwhelmed for questions, so she shook her head, getting her emotions under control.
“No? Okay, let’s go get Tyler.”