by K. C. Crowne
Nadia stood up and offered me a friendly smile before motioning everyone out of the playroom. I didn’t even bother to get up off the floor, and Grant placed Caleb next to me. I heard the front door open, followed by some bickering.
“Well, if you hadn’t screwed up by trying to force yourself on him,” Thomas scolded Grace.
That was the last I heard from them. Grant walked over to the window and glanced out. “They’re gone.”
“Thank God,” I muttered.
“I have to say, you handled yourself very well. I’m impressed.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure that helped with bringing the family together.”
“Caleb comes first.” Grant shrugged. “If they can’t accept that, social services will soon realize they’re not fit to be his guardians.”
“God, I hope you’re right.”
Caleb continued playing with his trucks, seemingly content now that the strangers were gone. I was relieved it was over, but I knew today wasn’t the end of it.
They’d try again, and I had a bad feeling they would get more and more impatient.
Chapter 17
Grant
“First night back home, huh? How’s it feel, champ?”
Caleb was tucked into his own bed, a more suitable toddler bed with trains and adorable little animals decorating the room. Andy might have been an absentee father, but he’d sure spoiled his son. The kid’s room was larger than my master bedroom, and he had a separate toy room to boot. It was almost like he just kept buying his son whatever he wanted, hoping to make him happy since he couldn’t be around much.
Caleb looked happy to be back in his own bed. He had a stuffed penguin under his arm, and five other stuffed animals that were apparently part of some cartoon he loved. None of them looked familiar to me. His eyes grew heavy with sleepiness.
“Tell me a story,” Caleb asked. “Please?”
I didn’t know any stories, none that were suitable for kids. I looked around the room, hoping to find a children’s book, but saw nothing of the sort. Piper was getting the rest of the house ready for us to sleep there, so I couldn’t ask her.
“Uhh, well, I don’t know any stories, buddy.”
“Please?” he begged again.
My mind was mostly blank. I could only think of one thing. “There was once a little boy, not much older than you. He lived in a faraway land.”
Caleb seemed content with the start of the story. So far, so good.
I felt the tears stinging my eyes, and I cursed and told myself not to cry. I started the story, I needed to finish it - and I needed to be strong for Caleb.
“When I first met him, he wasn’t scared of me like the other children were. I was a big, grown man. A stranger to him. But for some crazy reason, he liked me.” I sucked in a deep breath. “He would always wave when he saw me, as if me being there made him so happy.”
Caleb’s breathing grew more even, signaling he’d fallen asleep.
“Just like you, little guy,” I added quietly. I waited for a while, making sure he was fast asleep. Piper peeked her head in to check on us.
“He’s out,” I whispered.
“Good. Poor boy had a rough day today.”
She came into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked at Caleb like a mother would look at a son. I had no doubt in my mind that she loved him like she would her own child. She stroked the hair back from his face and leaned in, kissing his forehead.
She rose and motioned for me to follow her out of the room. We walked down to the living room and into the large, spacious kitchen. Piper went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of beer, and handed it me. It was some expensive IPA. I chuckled as I turned the bottle over in my hands.
“Typical Andy.”
“Yeah, but I bet it’s good.” Piper dug around in the drawers until she found a bottle opener, but I’d already popped off the tab with the pocketknife I kept on me. I did the same to hers. She held up the opener then tossed it back in the drawer with a chuckle. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t need a fancy bottle opener.”
“What can I say, you know me well.”
She leaned against the other side of the counter, stretched across it. I closed the distance and kissed her. I caught her staring out the doorway of the kitchen behind me. I turned to see what she was staring at, but there was nothing.
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just thinking this house is almost too big. I don’t like being this far away from him. What if something happened?”
“Like what?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just feel like I can’t hear him if he calls out to me, and the master bedroom seems so far away from his room and—”
“Piper, it’s going to be okay. This is his home. He’s been safe here since he was born. The master bedroom is a bit far away, I agree, but there are monitors set up, right?”
The master was on the other side of the house, which seemed strange to me. You’d think you’d want your kids close to you, especially when young.
“Yeah, he has baby monitors still. I guess that’s how he could hear if Caleb needed him. I have no idea how he did anything.”
“We’re going to do it our way, so his way doesn’t matter.” I took a long sip of beer; it was pretty good, even if I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
“Our way?” She cocked an eyebrow and grinned at me.
I shrugged. It was a slip of the tongue, but whether I’d intended to be or not, I was attached to both of them and not likely to go anywhere. I was part of Caleb’s life now and couldn’t leave him. I was in it for the long-haul.
Piper leaned forward to kiss me again. This time our lips lingered, enjoying the feeling of each other’s mouths.
She stepped back, and with the crook of her finger, motioned for me to follow her. I still had most of a beer on the counter, but God knows, I wasn’t able to resist her. She stared at me with seductive eyes, beckoning me with a promise of so much pleasure to come.
She led me to the master bedroom, and my eyes watched her every movement. Her hips swished as she walked. She stopped when she got to the bedroom door as if listening for something.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I—I just want to check on Caleb again. I have a weird feeling. It’s probably nothing, just nerves.”
She scurried to his bedroom, and I followed her. I assumed everything would be fine, but I understood Piper’s concerns. He was a bit far away for my liking too. I made a mental note to look at the other rooms closer to Caleb’s, to see if we could sleep in one of them instead.
Piper had reached Caleb’s door first and turned the knob. When she stepped inside, I heard her say, “Caleb? Caleb, where are you?”
Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I rushed down the hall. I prayed he was just hiding in his closet or under his bed. His bed was empty. His toy penguin was missing too, but the rest of his stuffed animals were scattered across the floor. I didn’t like the way this looked.
Piper was frantically searching the other rooms. She was crying and her voice cracked as she called out, “Caleb, this isn’t funny. If you’re hiding from us, please come out now.”
I studied the room. I hurried to the window, which was too high for the little guy to reach on his own. It was closed, but when I looked closer, I noticed the locks on it were broken. His dresser sat beneath it, and everything on the dresser had been knocked to the floor.
“Call the cops, now,” I yelled. “And go to the bathroom down the hall, the one without any windows. Lock yourself in there until you hear from me, got it?”
Piper was reaching for her phone when I left the room. She nodded to my demands, and I saw her leave the room and hurry down the hall. She stopped, preparing to argue with me. I knew she wanted to help.
“No, remember what I said. You’re a civilian. If there’s someone out there, you’ll only put Caleb at greater risk. Get Teddy over here, now.�
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Piper nodded again and locked herself in the bathroom. I heard her talking to Teddy as I ran from the house, toward the backyard, which is where the intruder would have had to leave through. The snow had come down hard and was still coming down in thick layers. I looked for any signs of footprints near his window, and lo and behold, I found them, faintly. Almost covered up.
They led to a thick forest behind the house. I took off in that direction, following the footprints as best I could. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. The cold bit into my skin and my bare arms, but I didn’t let anything stop me.
Nothing would stop me.
I’d get Caleb back. I wouldn’t lose another little boy.
Ooo000ooo
I was shin-deep in the snow. I had to have been searching those woods for close to an hour when they found me. Teddy and several of his deputies had come out to search for Caleb as well. It was hard to walk, even harder to breathe from the dry, frigid air, but nothing would stop me.
I’d lost the footprints, but I hadn’t given up. There was no sign of him.
Teddy called, “Hey, man, take a break. Go inside. We’ve got this.”
I didn’t want to stop looking. I didn’t stop. But Teddy grabbed my arm and forced me to look at him. “Piper needs you right now.”
I was torn. I knew Teddy and his guys could continue the search, but I felt like I needed to be there. But Piper needed me too. I had to make sure she was okay. But she was definitely not going to be okay.
“I’ll be back.”
“I know you will, Grant. Unless we find him first.”
God, I hoped they did. And soon too.
I walked back to the house, flashbacks hitting me hard. How was it possible for me to fail two boys who were very much alike? What kind of horrible person must I be? I tried to tell myself Caleb wasn’t lost yet, not completely, but it felt like he was.
I feared that he was.
I was physically numb from the cold upon entering the house, but hearing Piper’s sobs tore something deep inside me. It caused every nerve in my body to come alive, and it hurt. God, it hurt to hear her suffering like that.
She was in the living room with one of Teddy’s men beside her. He didn’t seem to know what to say or do. Hell, nothing anyone could say or do would matter, unless it brought Caleb back.
When Piper saw me, she rushed over, her eyes wide. “Please tell me you found him.”
I shook my head, and the tears continued to fall. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly, letting her sob into my shoulder. I wanted to tell her everything would be alright, but I couldn’t promise anything.
There was a knock at the door that startled us. The deputy stood up. “I’ll get it.”
When he came back into the room, he had someone with him, a huge man built like a mountain. I’d seen his face before, and I’d also seen his ads around town, but had no fucking clue what he was doing here in the middle of the night during the first major snowstorm of the season.
He reached out a hand. I didn’t unwrap my arms around Piper to shake it. He dropped it.
“My name is Cyrus Whitaker,” he said, a hint of a southern drawl in his voice.
“I know who you are. Why are you here?”
Cyrus ran an extreme sports type company, offering dangerous hikes and excursions for people who liked to live on the edge.
“I heard about what happened, I have friends at the sheriff’s department. I’m a former Army Ranger. I have specialized training in search and rescue.”
“So you think you can do more than Teddy and his guys?”
Cyrus shrugged. “Listen, Teddy’s a good sheriff. I’m sure he knows these woods like the back of his hand. But I figured you could use all the help you can get. One more set of eyes out there might make the difference.”
He was right. The more experts, the better.
I was just about to tell Piper I was going to walk Cyrus out back, when in stormed Grace and John.
“What the hell did you do?” Grace shouted, running over to Piper. “You incompetent little twit. Can’t even keep an eye on the boy in his own home, can you?”
I was glad Cyrus was there. He grabbed Grace’s shoulders and stopped her from getting any closer. “Hey there. I think you need to leave.”
Piper lifted her head up to watch what was happening, her tiny body rattling with sobs against me still.
“Get your filthy hands off me!” Grace shouted.
John was his usual self, standing in the background as if he didn’t know why he was there. He didn’t say anything to Cyrus, was probably too scared. John wasn’t a large man and Cyrus was massive.
“I’ll go find Teddy and escort these fine people out,” Cyrus said.
He guided Grace out the front door, and John followed without complaint. Grace continued to hurl insults toward Piper, which only caused her to cry even more.
“She’s right,” Piper wailed. “I failed him. How could I have let this happen?”
“You didn’t let anything happen, Piper. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
I believed it, too. I didn’t blame Piper, but I blamed myself.
I took her by the shoulders and held her firmly in front of me, staring her in the eyes. “I’m going to find him.”
She didn’t look convinced at first, but she nodded her head. “Who would have done this?” she cried. “Why? Why would anyone take him?”
It was a good question. Besides her family, I could think of only one other person who might be interested in Caleb. Piper’s family was scum, but they weren’t violent criminals.
More deputies came into the house, and Piper stared at them with hope in her eyes. “Please tell me you found something.”
Teddy stepped forward. “I’m sorry, we haven’t found anything. It’s an outright blizzard out there right now, but we’ll keep doing what we can. Just needed to warm up. Cyrus is still out there.”
“I’ll join him,” I said.
Piper held onto my arm and I thought she might stop me. But she just stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine. “Find our little guy, Grant. I’m begging you.”
Our little guy. Yeah, he was my little man. And I’d do everything in my power to find him and bring him home, and if there was even a scratch on his body, someone would pay for it.
Chapter 18
Piper
Sunrise came and went. I got tired of waiting and went outside to search. Teddy didn’t want me going too deep into the woods. Grant was out there. So were Cyrus and Kellen, having joined the search efforts in the middle of the night.
“Get some rest,” Teddy said to me. “We have deputies and volunteers casing this entire town, the forests around this place. Everywhere.”
The snow kept on coming down, and I couldn’t see several hundred feet from the house. The air was bitter cold and hurt to breathe. I was bundled up in layers, but the cold reached deep into the bone. It was unbearable. I prayed Caleb was inside, safe and warm, wherever he was.
“I can’t sleep, Teddy. I need to be doing something.”
Teddy nodded, as if he knew he wouldn’t win the argument. “Alright, stay with me then. I’d hate to lose you out in this blizzard,” he muttered.
Grant was out there, somewhere, but I couldn’t see him. He’d been searching for hours now without giving up. I knew that with his prosthetic, sometimes it made it hard to walk in the thick snow or to keep going for hours on end like this, but I also knew he wouldn’t give up so easily.
I just prayed both my boys were alright.
I had my cell phone in my pants pocket, and when I felt it buzz, I stopped in place. Teddy froze as well. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, my phone is ringing, one sec.” My hands were shaking as I removed the gloves and answered my phone. It was an unknown number.
“Piper Davis?” a distorted voice said on the other end.
“This is her.” The voice sent a chill down my spine that hurt more than the c
old. “Who’s this?”
“I have the boy. If you want him back, do exactly as I say.”
I looked to Teddy, who must have sensed something was wrong. He stepped closer and tried to listen.
“No cops if you want to see the boy alive again. Tell the officer by your side that everything is fine, then go inside. There’s someone who wants to speak with you.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Teddy, unable to find my voice.
“Who was that, Piper?”
I choked on my words. Whoever I was speaking to could see us. He was close by, or otherwise was watching us. I had to do as he said or else.
“Uhh, social services,” I lied. “I need to go to the house and make some phone calls. Be right back.”
I hustled back toward the house, each step taking longer than I thought it should. My feet felt like bricks as I walked up the stairs to the patio and into the back door.
As soon as I stepped inside, it felt overwhelmingly warm and I began stripping out of my layers. The man on the phone said someone was waiting for me inside. I hurried through the kitchen and into the living room, where a deputy was meeting with Ashley Sutter - I’d been right when I told social services had wanted to speak with me.
When Ashley saw me, she excused herself from the deputy and walked toward me. “Ms. Davis, I heard about what happened with Caleb. I’m so sorry.”
Even though she was saying sorry, there was an air to her that made me think she blamed me for what had happened.
I held my phone in my hand, begging it to ring. It didn’t.
“Well, we’re going to find him, don’t you worry,” I said matter-of-factly. My phone buzzed, but it was only a text message.
It read, Do not tell her anything. Tell no one.
My hand shook and I nearly dropped my phone, but I didn’t want Ashley to see the screen. I hurried and put it back in my pocket.
“Are you alright, Ms. Davis? Are you handling this okay?”