Suffer Little Children

by Freda Hansburg

  “But she keeps making these vague threats about the children,” Robin protested.

  Ben grimaced. “Bird, maybe you’re—”

  “She frightens me,” Robin interrupted. “I asked if she punctured Jaden’s tires.”

  “You did?”

  Robin swallowed. “I—I had a feeling about it. At first she practically admitted to it.”

  Ben’s eyebrows shot up. “Practically?”

  “Then she said if I accused her, Vanessa and the children wouldn’t believe me.”

  “She might have a point. She and Vanessa are friends, and you’re not Nessie’s favorite person.”

  True, but Robin didn’t like hearing him say it. “Then Gloria said she heard I did it, like Amber claimed. Ben, how would she come up with that?”

  “Maybe...” He scowled. “Who knows? Probably Nessie said something.”

  Robin bit her lip. “Sean will be home in a couple of weeks. As much as I’m dying to see him, I’m worried about him coming now.” She eyed Ben, willing him to produce words of reassurance that would put her at ease.

  “That’s silly, Bird. Sean’s grown up enough to stay away from Gloria if you tell him to.”

  They weren’t exactly the words she’d hoped for. Again, Ben was treating her like she’d overreacted.

  “House salad for madame.” Bruce appeared at Robin’s elbow. “And for monsieur, escargot.” He placed their appetizers in front of them.

  Robin eyed her salad, her appetite fading.

  “Bird, stay away from her.” Ben started on his escargot. “Ignore her calls. When she realizes she can’t manipulate you, she’ll bother someone else.”

  And just vanish in a puff of sulfur? Robin almost laughed. “I told her if anything happens to Amber or Jaden, I’ll go to the police.”

  Ben coughed and took a sip of water. “Jeez, Robin! What are you thinking?”

  “But—”

  “You can’t involve the police without evidence. I mean, listen to yourself. She hasn’t really said anything, and you’re ready to call out the National Guard.”

  “Ben,” Robin objected, stung by his sarcasm.

  “We’d sound like a couple of cranks. What would you say when the cops asked questions? And suppose they want to speak to the kids? The last thing I want is the police showing up at the house and scaring them. Besides, what about Alex? Do you think it will help the poor boy if the cops come interrogate his mother?”

  “I didn’t mean—” Robin hesitated, stunned to be on the defensive when she’d been worried for his children. “Ben, I really think we should be careful, vigilant.” Maybe not the best choice of words. He already considered her paranoid.

  “Is madame’s salad satisfactory?” Bruce stood reproachfully beside Robin’s chair at the sight of her untouched appetizer.

  “Yes, it’s fine.” Robin picked up her fork. “Excellent.”

  He gave another head bow. “Very good. Bon appétit!”

  Robin forced down a few bites of salad, the greens sticking in her throat.

  “Bird?” Ben lowered his fork and reached for her hand. “Honey, let’s enjoy this evening instead of letting Gloria Reyes ruin it. Okay?”

  “Of course.” Robin managed a weak smile. She sipped her wine, telling herself to let it go, but she couldn’t. “Ben, would you talk to her?”

  He frowned. “Gloria? We agreed we were done with that subject.”

  “But she knows you.” Robin pushed aside her salad. “Maybe you can get through to her, make her understand why I can’t help her.” She shuddered. “Before she—does something.”

  Ben rolled his eyes. “I haven’t spoken to her in years. I doubt I’d have any influence.”

  “Then get Vanessa to talk to her.”

  “Come on, Bird. I told you they’re friends. Gloria’s stock with Nessie is higher than mine.”

  “Okay,” Robin conceded. “But please, Ben, try talking to Gloria.” She sought his eyes.

  He glanced quickly at his escargot before meeting hers.

  “Talk to her and—and I promise I won’t bring her up again.”

  He sighed. “All right, I will.” Ben picked up his fork. “Now, can we please get on with our dinner?”

  Robin squeezed his hand. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  At the end of the meal, Bruce packed Robin’s barely eaten dinner into a box.

  EIGHTEEN

  ROBIN

  THE MATCH PROJECT CONTINUED picking up steam, admitting new patients to the unit daily. Excited about the program’s growth, Robin nevertheless worried about burnout as her staff strained to keep up with the increasing workload. That morning she watched one of her nurses flush out a patient’s PICC line to prevent infection. It was a routine procedure—saline syringe injected first, heparin syringe next, then recap the lines—quick and smooth. But Robin realized her eyes couldn’t be everywhere, and tired people, even skilled providers, inevitably made mistakes. Those mistakes might have serious consequences.

  As she’d learned at Valley Memorial.

  “Call for you, Robin.”

  The aide’s voice snapped her from her ruminations. Automatically, Robin reached into

  her lab coat for her cell phone then frowned. She’d left it in her office.

  “It’s on your office line,” the aide explained.

  “Please tell them I’ll call back in a few minutes, Cindy.” Robin wanted to check on her patient Mrs. Kerwood, who was admitted for her first round of inpatient chemo last night.

  The aide hesitated. “It’s Mr. Martin. He said it’s important.”

  For Ben to call her work line, it must be serious. “Thanks. I’ll take it in my office.” Robin hurried down the hall, fearing another crisis. In her office, Robin picked up the phone. “Ben? What’s wrong? They said it’s urgent.”

  “Bird?” He said her nickname ominously.

  “What is it?”

  “I—we’re going to have to cancel our plans tomorrow.”

  So much for the museum or zoo. Unsure whether to be relieved or disappointed, Robin wondered why it warranted an urgent call. “Okay?”

  “It’s... Nina.”

  The dog? She couldn’t believe he’d interrupted her day over a sheepdog. “Uh, Ben...”

  “She’s missing.”

  “Missing?” Robin echoed, at a loss for how he expected her to help. “Did somebody let her out? The kids need to search for her.” They ought to be more careful, she refrained from adding.

  “It’s not like that. She was taken from a groomer. Somebody picked her up there, took her.”

  “Ben...” The hairs on the back of Robin’s neck prickled.

  “I know I shouldn’t have called you at work. It’s just—I wanted to give you a heads up. The kids are upset. I managed to get an appointment with the therapist for tomorrow morning, and I’m hoping Amber will come this time. She’s devastated.” He paused. “And angry.”

  Robin kept her voice level. “With who? Do they know who took the dog?”

  “It’s, uh, complicated, Bird. I’ll fill you in tomorrow after we see the therapist. Right now, I’ve got my hands full. Vanessa is pretty bent out of shape, too, so she’s making the whole situation worse.”

  “Vanessa is?” Robin sensed the déjà vu of the Martin wagon train circling, leaving her outside the caravan. “Can I help with anything?”

  “Give me a little space to deal with this. Okay? I’ll get it sorted out.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Gloria Reyes?” The question popped from Robin’s mouth.

  “Why would you think that?” Ben’s voice rose a half octave.

  “Did you talk with her yet?” Robin pressed.

  “I said I would, didn’t I?” Ben snapped. He took a breath. “I’m sorry, Bird. I don’t mean to be short with you. I’d better go. I’ll let you get back to your patients. Call you tomorrow.”

  He hung up without giving Robin a chance to voice any of the ugliness whirling through her mind,
like the memory of Gloria Reyes saying, “It frightens me to think what you might do next.”

  NINETEEN

  AMBER

  I’M TOO MISERABLE TO eat dinner. It doesn’t help that Mom made those crummy frozen fish sticks. Jaden had one, the traitor. We should have stuck together so she doesn’t try to make us eat them again. He wants me to play cards with him, but I say no and go to my room to be alone.

  After what happened today, I know for certain Robin is evil. I would kill her if I could, but I’m only a kid. Dad still doesn’t understand that his precious Robin is a selfish bitch who won’t be happy until she destroys everything and everyone I care about. First, she wrecked Jaden’s bike. Then she wouldn’t give Gloria’s little boy the medicine she promised. Now she’s stolen our dog.

  If anything happens to Nina, I swear I’ll find a way to kill Robin. I could steal a really sharp knife from the kitchen. Then, next time the witch sits next to Dad in the front seat and I’m behind her... pow! Right in her back. I bet they wouldn’t even put me in jail because I’m a kid. Even if they did, it would be worth it.

  What’s worse is that Gloria blames herself. She tried to do something nice for us, and look what happened. Her face was so sad when she came over to the house this afternoon. She told Mom the whole story and explained how she’d suggested getting Nina groomed so Mom wouldn’t get mad at me.

  Apparently, Gloria ran into Robin when she dropped Nina off to be groomed. Robin knows our dog and stopped to pet her, which is maybe the first time in history that ever happened. So, Gloria chatted and was being friendly because that’s the kind of person she is. She mentioned to Robin that Nina was going in for a bath. Then, when she went to pick up Nina, after she finished helping her client, Nina was gone.

  “I’ll never forgive myself,” Gloria said. “The clerk told me the woman who picked up Nina had reddish hair and claimed to be the owner’s girlfriend. It had to be Robin.”

  Alex had waited in Gloria’s car when she went to pick Nina up and got really upset when she came out without the dog. It made him so sick she had to bring him home to lie down before coming over.

  Robin ruins things for everyone.

  Gloria said we should try not to worry, that maybe Robin meant to surprise us with a clean Nina, but I think she only said that to be nice. Robin never brought Nina home or even called. Besides, that was supposed to be mine and Gloria’s surprise for my mom. Now, instead of being happy, Mom’s plenty sore—not at me, thanks to Gloria. She might not care so much about Nina, but she sure doesn’t like Robin.

  Mom called Dad and really let him have it. Gloria stayed with me and Jaden while Mom talked to him, but I heard her, loud and clear, even though I couldn’t catch Dad’s side. I can guess. I’ll bet he made a bunch of lame excuses for his stuck-up, sneaky girlfriend. He doesn’t care about us since he met her. I bet he won’t do one single thing to rescue Nina.

  I’m praying Robin won’t hurt her, that even she couldn’t be rotten enough to harm our dog. Nina never did anything to her. If we can just have her back, I swear I’ll walk her twice a day and scoop up every bit of doggie poop. I’m scared. I keep thinking of all the bad things that might happen to her.

  Gloria tells me to have faith. “You’ll get her back. Your mom and I will see to it.”

  I wouldn’t count on Mom, but I trust Gloria.

  Oh, Nina, baby girl. Please be okay.

  TWENTY

  ROBIN

  THE CITY EXCURSION ABORTED, Robin tackled Saturday morning chores. She changed the bedsheets and was ironing a load of clean laundry when her doorbell rang—once, twice—followed by pounding on the door.

  Alarmed, Robin switched off the iron and hurried to answer. “Coming!”

  The knocking continued.

  “Hold your horses.” As Robin reached to open the door, her preservation instincts kicked in. “Who’s there?” she asked warily.

  A shrill voice yelled, “It’s Vanessa Martin! Damn it, Robin, open up.”

  Robin considered not answering the door and sparing herself an unpleasant encounter with Ben’s ex, but Vanessa knew she was there. Ignoring her might only escalate her histrionics. Once again, Robin resigned herself to playing the role of adult.

  “All right, Vanessa. I’ll open the door so we can talk, but can you please calm down?”

  The pounding ceased. And after brief silence, she said, “Robin, please. This is very serious. You need to let me in.”

  She sounded less manic, so Robin undid the lock and slowly opened the door.

  Vanessa paced on her doorstep in an agitated state of disarray. She wore jeans and a soiled sweatshirt with bedroom slippers on her feet. Blond strands escaped the red scrunchie attempting to contain her unruly hair. Without waiting for an invitation, Vanessa shoved Robin aside and burst into the house.

  “Where is she? Nina? Here, girl.”

  “Vanessa, hold on.” Robin reached for her arm, hoping to calm her, regretting she’d opened the door.

  Vanessa shook off Robin’s hand. “What have you done with our dog?” Bloodshot eyes blazed from her pallid face.

  Robin’s eyes darted around the room as she checked for any sharp or heavy objects Vanessa might use as a weapon. Other than a table lamp, she didn’t see anything dangerous that Vanessa could lift. Yesterday, Ben had described his ex as pretty bent out of shape—an understatement unless she’d gotten a lot angrier overnight.

  Robin tried to keep her rising anxiety out of her voice. At least one of them should remain civil. “Vanessa, what makes you think I have your dog?”

  “Because you were spotted!” Flecks of spittle flew from her lips. “You picked her up from the groomer yesterday.” A hint of stale morning breath assaulted Robin’s nose as Vanessa drew her face in close. “Where is she?”

  Robin shook her head, taking a step back. “I don’t have Nina. Ben called me yesterday and told me she’d been taken from a groomer. I was at work. I couldn’t have picked her up. Vanessa, I can imagine how upset you and the children are, but I had nothing to do with it.” Robin swallowed, her throat dry. “Have you notified the police?”

  Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Maybe I should call them right now.”

  Robin shrugged. “Okay.” She was thinking the same thing.

  Vanessa glared at her then called out the dog’s name again. She started toward the kitchen. “Nina! Where are you, girl?”

  Robin trailed after her. The situation had escalated into a home invasion. Maybe she should call Ben, but she didn’t dare turn her back on Vanessa.

  “Go ahead and look around,” Robin conceded. Reverse psychology, aikido, whatever. She needed a way to deescalate the situation.

  Vanessa traipsed through the house, room by room, calling for the dog. Robin followed a short distance behind, her emotions ping-ponging from pity to distress to resentment. She fought to keep calm as Vanessa banged open closet doors. They ended up at the laundry room, where Robin’s stack of ironing waited.

  Vanessa eyed the ironing board, clothes, and appliances. Then her shoulders slumped, and a sob broke from her. “Did you hurt her?”

  “Of course not.” The suggestion horrified Robin. “I’d never do anything like that.” Somehow, she’d become Godzilla to the beleaguered family. It wasn’t like she’d taken Ben from them. Vanessa had kicked him out. “Who claimed to see me take Nina?”

  Vanessa swiped a hand across her streaming eyes. “The groomer described you to a tee.”

  “To a... described me to you?”

  Vanessa shook her head, sniffling. “To my friend.”

  “Would that friend be Gloria Reyes?”

  Vanessa’s expression became guarded. “What difference does that make?”

  All the difference in the world. A shiver ran down Robin’s spine. “Your friend made a mistake, Vanessa. Why don’t you ask the groomer yourself?”

  Vanessa frowned. “Are you calling my friend a liar?”

  It’s pointless. Vanessa regarded Gloria
as an ally and Robin as a threat to the family. She couldn’t drive a wedge between the two of them. She would only trigger Vanessa again, which was the last thing she wanted. She decided to call Ben the moment she safely could. She wondered if he’d spoken with Gloria yet. If so, it hadn’t helped. Robin hoped Gloria hadn’t harmed the children’s dog.

  She cleared her throat. “Would you like a glass of water?”

  Vanessa shook her head. Her crying stopped, she appeared spent.

  “Then I think you should go,” Robin said gently. “Your children need you.”

  Head down, Vanessa silently walked past Robin toward the front door. She followed, hoping the confrontation had ended. Vanessa opened the door and stepped outside. Robin waited to see her go to her car, but on the front steps, Vanessa halted. She knelt and picked something up off the ground.

  A guttural sound rose from her throat as she stood, holding out a dog collar. “Liar! You did take her.”

  Robin stared at the collar, speechless.

  “Don’t you hurt her.” Vanessa’s breathing came in ragged gasps. “Or you’ll pay.” She shook the collar in Robin’s face. “I’ll fucking kill you!” Swinging the collar, she smacked Robin across the cheek with it.

  Robin cried out, her arms involuntarily rising to shield her head against further attack.

  Again, Vanessa waved the collar at her. “This isn’t over.” She whirled and ran down the steps.

  Robin didn’t lower her arms until Vanessa got into her car. When she drove off, Robin let out a long breath. She scanned the street in both directions and saw no one, but she knew Gloria had been there. Vanessa had hit the mark. This wasn’t over. It wouldn’t be until Gloria Reyes got what she wanted.

  TWENTY-ONE

  AMBER

  MOM LEFT FOR ROBIN’S, to get to the bottom of this, she said. Calista’s keeping an eye on us, if sitting on the bedroom floor and chanting counts as babysitting. It’s just until Dad comes to take us to therapy. But I’m not going. He can’t make me. I’m staying in my room.