Lost & Found

by Raquel De Leon

  “I believe the first step here would be to identify the other party in question,” Officer Barnes said as he shot Selma a smile. It made Piper uneasy. He was fairly attractive, or so town gossip claimed. “From there I can pursue the investigation.”

  He glanced over at Piper. “You say that he was part of the group you had removed from your property the other day?”

  At Piper's nod, he shuffled over to a cabinet to pull some files. “If you give me a sec I'll just put together a photo array so we can identify this guy. Even though you didn’t press formal charges, we took down names and a few photos.”

  Piper looked at Selma from under her lashes. Selma seemed pleased with his thoroughness. Piper did her best not to scowl; Officer Barnes was trying to help, after all.

  After a few long moments, he took his seat again. “If you'll just look at these and point out the alleged assailant, we can get the ball rolling.”

  Piper pulled the photo array to just in front of her, carefully looking at a few faces before recognizing the man from the morning. Her finger tapped against the photo. “This is the guy.”

  Officer Barnes pulled the photo array closer to himself and then pulled the picture out. He looked at the back. “Sunny Deacon.”

  Piper snorted and shot a look at Selma. “Sunny? Seriously? Talk about names that don't fit the personality.”

  Selma bit her lower lip, but Piper could see her lips were slightly upturned.

  Amusement seemed to dance in Officer Barne’s eyes, but he also refrained from commenting. “Alright ladies, I have your complaint written out, I'll contact you at a later time if I have any further questions.”

  They bid him goodbye and exited the station back to the BMW. Piper was glad to have it over with for various reasons. She paused before the passenger side door and cleared her throat. “Hey, let me buy you lunch to thank you for coming all this way to help.” Was her voice too high? It sounded too high, didn’t it?

  Selma lips pursed as she considered the offer. “That’s not necessary but I am hungry. Very hungry. I only had a little yogurt and coffee this morning.” She glanced at Piper over the roof of the car. “The diner?”

  Piper grinned. “Yep, no beating Dottie's food.”

  Selma chuckled as they got into the sedan.

  *****

  Selma hummed as she finished the last bite of her apple-pecan salad. It really was both delightful and refreshing. “I wouldn't expect to find such nice salads available at a diner.”

  Piper grinned from the other side of the booth. “Dottie gets bored of making the same things and likes to experiment with recipes she finds online.” She'd eaten her bacon cheeseburger a while ago and was idly finishing off her fries.

  Selma bit her lip as she watched another golden fry be dipped into ketchup. Unlike some people, she had to be careful with her choices in carbs, but… she had had a long day. After a quick glance at Piper, she swiped a fry and dipped it into the ketchup.

  Piper chuckled. “I guess it's fine considering you just ate a lot of rabbit food. I can understand why you couldn't resist my delicious, perfectly crisp fries.”

  Determined to enjoy her stolen bounty and not a single fry more, Selma only scrunched up her nose. She wiped her hands with a napkin as she finished chewing. “Are you alright? You seem tired.”

  There were bags under Piper’s eyes, ones that Selma didn’t remember seeing the first time they’d met.

  Piper avoided her gaze and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. There's just so much stuff going on in my head.”

  Selma studied her another few beats and decided to drop the subject. “Well if there's anything I can do, let me know.” Her tongue flicked out over her bottom lip to wipe away a few clinging crystals of salt. “I spoke to your mo—Karen about meeting up during Mark's spring break. She said that sounded like a great idea. She thought it might be nice just to go to the park, maybe have a small picnic.”

  Piper nodded, a muscle visibly flexing in her jaw. “That sounds fine, as long as you think the media won't be a problem in such a public place.”

  “Karen and Derek can blend in when they want to, and there’s always enough people at the central park that it’s fairly easy to get lost in the crowd.”

  Again Piper nodded.

  Her continued silence made Selma uneasy. She’d hoped Piper would be warming to the idea of meeting Karen and Derek but, at the same time, she could understand Piper’s reticence. Selma had seen the file. Piper had already been through plenty before having her world turned upside down all over again. She moistened her lips as a thought occurred to her. “Also, would you mind if I brought my son? Karen invited him, but I wanted to check with you first.”

  As if by magic, Piper’s solemnity evaporated. “Yeah, sure. If Mark gets bored he'll have someone to play with. Kind of curious about the little guy, myself.”

  Selma laughed. “Excellent. I'm sure the weather will be gorgeous and I'd hate to go to the park without him.” Piper finally smiled again, making Selma feel warm. “I should warn you that he is utterly adorable. And he knows it.” Thinking of Ben, she glanced down at her watch. “As lovely as this has been, I would very much like to beat traffic back home to see him on time for dinner.” She let the smile on her face bloom again. “I'm glad you called me, Piper, and I hope you know you that my offer is the same as before. You can call me any time, for whatever you need.”

  An indistinguishable look passed over Piper’s face before she smiled again. “You’ve already done so much. Thanks for all your help, Selma. Drive safely.”

  Selma bobbed her head in acknowledgement, already standing and pulling her coat on. She graced Piper with one last smile before departing.

  Just as she was about to back her car out of its space, a text made her phone vibrate. Warily, she shifted the car back to “park” and woke the device. She read the words twice to be sure and then sucked in a relieved breath. Her client’s six-year-old daughter had been found, and the ex had been arrested.

  Even if it were temporary, it was something of a happy end. Selma would take what she could get. She texted her client back, thanking her for taking the time in letting Selma know.

  Some days started worse than others but at least today’s was ending better than Selma could have hoped. She smiled as she changed gears and turned her car towards home.

  *****

  Piper couldn't breathe. It was dark. And warm. She didn't remember how she'd gotten in here. What had she done this time?

  She couldn't help but pant; the hot air was thick and heavy. Fabric brushed against her as she stood up, and she shoved the clothes to the side as much as she could for space.

  It took her a few minutes but she finally caught her breath. She quieted, trying to listen for sounds outside the tiny space. A sliver of light showed through the bottom of the door, and she curled her small body up to try and peek through the gap.

  There was no evidence of anyone around the door, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She looked away from the light, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness again.

  Her small hands pressed over the heavy lock on the door and tears welled in her eyes.

  Footsteps made their way over, making her cower against the back of the small space.

  “Piper, I know you're awake. I could hear you scurrying around like the little rat you are.”

  It was her foster brother, then. He was the worst. The closet was for time-outs, or so her foster mom had said, but her foster brother just liked to scare her. She's not sure what she ever did to him to make him hate her, but he let her know plenty of times that he did hate her, and thought she was pathetic.

  “Mom and Dad will be home soon, and it's such a shame. The place is so quiet when you're tucked away in your little hole,” he sneered.

  Piper thought it would be better if she just didn't say anything at all. Usually, he got bored and would unlock the door faster.

  Sure enough, a few minutes later she heard the lock on the d
oor slide free. She waited a few minutes. Had he gone? She didn't hear anything.

  She carefully opened the door, taking her time to make sure he didn't jump out at her.

  The coast was clear! She stepped out and took a deep, relieved breath of fresh air.

  She swallowed. The only way to her small room was through the living room, where she could hear the TV on. She took another deep breath and cautiously walked forward. So far, so good.

  “I knew you'd crawl out of your hole sooner or later.”

  Her breathing increased, and then his hand was in her hair and twisting painfully. He was so much taller and stronger. Suddenly, he shoved her and she was tilting too far forward. She attempted to recover her balance and overcorrected. The world was suddenly rushing past her at an odd angle.

  There was a sickening thud followed by intense pain. All she could see was red and the last thing she heard before she blacked out was a panicked “Oh shit!”

  Piper gasped awake again, her hand automatically going to her hairline to feel for an old, hidden wound that had long since healed over.

  She had been seven when that happened. Her fifteen-year-old foster brother had made up some story about her freaking out, and she'd been sent to the group home shortly after that. She couldn’t remember his name anymore but she would never forget his face.

  God, she was so tired. The dreams and memories had been relentless. She hadn't slept well in nearly a week. She felt she would go insane if she couldn’t get some relief. She found herself dressing for another run, foregoing her mp3 player.

  Piper made her way downstairs, a little out of it and feeling disconnected from everything around her.

  Dottie was at the door, clearly about to put her coat on, when she glanced up to look at Piper.

  “Piper?” Dorothy's brow was furrowed and her voice was full of concern. “What's wrong, my girl?”

  Piper blinked at Dottie. What could she say? Her lips twitched, but her mouth wouldn't open. She couldn't speak. The words wouldn't come.

  Dottie dropped her coat and rushed forward, carefully directing Piper somewhere further into the cottage. Shadow and light passed around Piper, and when she next blinked they were suddenly in the living room.

  Dorothy’s face was wrinkled in concern as she pulled Piper into a hug. “Honey, the bags under your eyes look like bruises. It's alright Piper, you can tell me.”

  Piper clutched at Dottie's flowery dress. She couldn't cry. Slowly, the words began to come. She'd told Dottie a little bit before, but never in too much detail. Most of the stories had only been told to the therapist assigned by social services when she was still in the system.

  If Piper were fully conscious of the time and place, she might be too ashamed to tell Dottie. But Dottie’s arms were warm, and her shoulder soft.

  She squeezed her eyes shut as Dottie held her, as she spilled secrets only one other person in the world knew. A curious thing happened as Piper spoke about some of her worst memories… she felt a little lighter. It felt a little easier. It hadn’t felt that way the first time.

  As she got the last of it out, exhaustion overwhelmed her. She hadn't shed a single tear. She was just tired.

  She placidly allowed Dottie to lead her over to the couch. She wanted to smile when one of Dottie’s homemade quilts was tucked around her body. It wouldn’t come.

  “I think I’ll get someone to cover my shift,” was all Dottie said.

  Piper wanted to protest. As far as she knew Dottie had only ever missed work twice in her life: once when a car accident had claimed her daughter and husband, and once when Shelly had been taken to the hospital.

  But after talking so much it seemed she’d run out of strength to get her jaw working, to generate sound and have it travel up to form something akin to words. She closed her eyes to the comforting and steady click of Dot’s knitting needles.

  When Piper woke several hours later, she felt completely refreshed. She should have been surprised to find her head pushed up against Dottie’s leg, but she wasn’t.

  Dottie smiled. “Good afternoon. How does grilled cheese sound?”

  Chapter 5

  Mark watched Piper from the hood of her old Camry, completely fascinated. She was pacing steadily in front of the car, muttering to herself.

  The drive had been a little long, but they'd made it to the park in plenty of time. Piper had texted Selma to let her know they'd arrived, and they were waiting for her to come to meet them.

  Piper ignored Mark as he sprawled further back against the hood, resting his weight on his hands. She was a bundle of nerves. Thankfully, her sleep had been mostly better since the day she'd talked to Dottie, but she was still very uneasy about meeting Derek and Karen. For the millionth, time she was happy that she'd asked Selma to come.

  Bringing Mark was a good idea, too. He’d been so excited that he’d brought her breakfast in bed. He’d helped Dot make it and had insisted on personally delivering it.

  She glanced over at him, and a smile grew on her lips. He looked so happy, basking in the sun. Seeing him so relaxed put her slightly more at ease.

  “Piper!” Selma sounded cheerful and Piper did her best to ignore the sudden butterflies in her stomach.

  She cleared her throat and turned, and was almost immediately distracted. Selma was wearing a white halter top, dark blue jean capris, and some simple low-top gray sneakers. Even dressed casually, the other woman was completely gorgeous. The fact that her hair was a little wind-blown and a lock of it clung to a full, pink bottom lip only added to the image.

  Piper had to shake herself to pull out of her daze. Was she imagining things, or was Selma giving her a knowing smile? She tried not to blush.

  “Nervous?” Selma asked with a tilt of her head.

  And, no, the smile was perfectly innocent after all. Piper was relieved she hadn't noticed the staring.

  Piper gulped as the word registered, and she glanced over at Mark, who was now watching her with interest. “Hell yes,” she mumbled so Mark couldn't overhear her.

  Selma responded by stepping closer, her hands coming up to rest on Piper’s shoulders. She squeezed a little and smiled. “You have absolutely nothing to be worried about, other than the fact that maybe Karen tried to help the cook with some of the food.” Her nose scrunched up cutely. “You're just here to make two new friends, right?”

  Piper shot her a tense smile. “Right.” Selma was just a couple of inches shorter than her without heels. Piper kind of liked that.

  Selma laughed and turned to Mark, who had climbed down off the Camry and tugged a backpack on over his shoulders. “Hello Mark, how are you today?”

  Mark bounced up and down on his heels, full of energy. “Excited! I want to show you guys some stuff I brought.”

  Selma’s head perked up in interest, as if completely taken with Mark’s enthusiasm.

  Mark stared up at her and blinked. “Hi, Miss Flores,” he said as if suddenly remembering his manners. Piper couldn’t blame him, really.

  He hurried to join them, and Selma responded by slinging an arm around his shoulders. They led the way further into the park. Piper watched them briefly before falling into step behind them.

  “You know Mark, I think it’s about time you started calling me Selma.”

  His brown eyes were wide as he looked up at her. “Are you sure? I don't want to be rude.”

  Selma flashed him another smile and squeezed his shoulder. “It's not rude if I give you permission. I appreciate the thought though, you're a fine young gentleman.”

  Mark's chest puffed out a little. “My favorite books always have the gallant knights or even just heroic princes. They always treat ladies with respect. I want to be like that too.”

  “That's a fine aspiration Mark. I think it best to treat most people with respect.” She shot him a sly look. “Except maybe reporters.”

  Mark giggled. Piper absorbed the entire exchange with a grin on her face, briefly forgetting to be nervous.

&nb
sp; Selma stopped them and gestured to an area a little further away. She glanced at Piper, “That's them, over there.”

  Piper followed her line of sight, seeing a petite dark-haired woman holding a small curly haired boy, and a well-built man wearing a baseball cap animatedly talking to them both. They were all dressed casually in denim jeans and soft cotton shirts and seated underneath a large oak tree.

  She’d seen pictures of them. Mark had been confident she’d know them right away, feel a connection to the people whose DNA she shared. She hadn’t been so confident.