by Willow Rose
“It’s getting to us all, I guess,” I said, keeping my opinions to myself. “And I’m sorry for being the reason you can’t go to work. But you’re well?”
“Yes, I’m fine. How’s your dad doing?”
I paused as my dad had another coughing attack. I could hear him wheezing in his room, fighting even to breathe. It wasn’t getting any better, and my stomach churned with worry.
“Not that good, I’m afraid.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, my friend. I truly am.”
I sniffled and stared at my hands, smeared with meat. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“But the reason I called is also that I have received news in the Candice Smith case.”
My eyes grew wide, and I grabbed the phone in my hand.
“You did what?”
“Yes. Major Walker called. He said that her brother called earlier today and told them she was with him. It was all just a misunderstanding. She was sick, and that was why he came to get her at her apartment and carried her out to the car. He had her at his house, where she was hopefully recovering. So, Walker has dismissed the case.”
I bit my cheek, wondering about this new information. It made no sense except if Bobby Kay wanted the police off his back. But why? If he had nothing to hide?
“Thanks for the information,” I said.
“I thought it might bring some relief in this difficult time to know that she’s fine. I know how much into the case you were.”
“Yes, yes,” I said absentmindedly. “I was. Thanks.”
“No problem. Take care.”
“You too.”
I pressed my screen to hang up, then stood for a few minutes, wondering about this. I finished making the spaghetti and meatballs, then rushed upstairs to Josie’s room and placed the tray outside her room and knocked.
There was no answer.
Concerned at this, I knocked again.
Still, no answer.
“Josie?” I called and knocked harder, almost hammering desperately on the door. “Josie?”
Finally, the door opened. A sleepy Josie peeked out, and I stepped back to remain at a distance.
“What? Why are you pounding on my door? It’s annoying, Dad.”
I breathed with relief. “I was just…I’m sorry. I wanted to let you know that dinner is ready, and you weren’t answering.”
Her tired eyes stared at me. “I fell asleep. How long have I slept? What time is it? Is it dinnertime already?”
I tilted my head and looked at her, my pulse quickening. I didn’t like the sound of this. It scared me senseless. Had she turned her days and nights upside down, or was there more to it than that?
“Are you okay, Josie?”
“Yeah…well, now that you mention it, I do feel kind of achy. My body is hurting. My muscles are really sore.”
I was barely breathing at this point. Her eyes were moist, her cheeks blushing, and she was breathing heavily.
“Josie, do you have a fever? Do you think you might have a fever? Please, Josie, talk to me.”
“I’m not sure,” she said, closing her eyes briefly. “I feel really tired, Dad. Can’t I just go back to sleep?”
I shook my head. “No. Not now. I’ll get you a thermometer, and then I want you to take your temperature, you hear me?”
I rushed into the bathroom and searched through my stuff, then found a thermometer, the one I usually used for Josie. We each have one, so we don’t have to share. I hurried back and handed it to her. She stuck it under her tongue, and then we waited, her leaning on the door.
It beeped, and my heart was racing as she pulled it out of her mouth.
“What does it say?”
She wrinkled her forehead. She looked at the display again, then blinked her eyes. “This can’t be right.”
“What do you mean?” I asked petrified. “What does it say, Josie? Josie? What does it say on the display?”
She looked up and into my eyes. I could barely breathe; that’s how scared I felt at this moment.
“A hundred and two?” she said. “That’s bad, isn’t it, Dad?”
I swallowed hard.
“Yes, sweetie. That’s bad. That’s really bad.”
Chapter 32
I rode with Josie in the ambulance. It was Doctor Bird who told me we had to take her in straight away due to her heart condition. Josie had a heart transplant only a few months earlier and running a high fever with the risk of it being the virus, she needed the best care she could get. She was a high-risk patient.
The road to the hospital was completely empty, so it wasn’t a long drive. The paramedics ran to the back and opened the doors, then rolled Josie out of the ambulance. I barely made it out of the back before I saw her being taken inside. A nurse stopped me right in front of the door when I tried to follow. She was wearing a full body suit, gloves, and a clear plastic shield covered her face.
“I’m sorry, sir. No visitors allowed at the hospital,” she said, barely looking at me.
“But…but my daughter was just rolled in and…? Surely, she can’t be in there all by herself?”
“I’m sorry, sir. There’s nothing I can do.”
I stood there as the doors slid shut, and the nurse in the blue suit disappeared. Suddenly, everything went completely quiet around me, and I realized how empty the streets and the parking lot in front of the hospital were.
Was this it?
What if she dies in there all by herself? What if I don’t even get to say goodbye? She must be terrified.
I know I was. I hadn’t been this scared since she fainted in our backyard and had to have the heart transplant. I grabbed my phone and called Jean.
“Hello there, handsome,” she said. I was lucky that she picked up. Over the past few weeks, I hadn’t been able to reach her when I tried.
“Jean. Josie was just taken to the ICU. She has a fever, a high one. I’m scared.”
Jean went quiet on the other end. When she finally spoke, it was barely a whisper.
“Oh, dear God, no.”
“I don’t know what to do. They won’t let me go in with her. Can’t you help me?”
“I’m sorry, Harry. They’re not letting any parents in. We have all these poor kids fighting for their lives, and their parents can’t be with them. A lot of them don’t even get to say goodbye. Earlier today, I Facetimed a mother so she could say goodbye to her twelve-year-old son. It was heartbreaking; you have no idea.”
That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear at this point, and my heart sank. I felt like screaming.
“I’m sorry,” Jean said. “That was inconsiderate of me. I’m sure Josie will be all right. Some patients are getting better now. We will see lots of recovering patients soon; I’m certain of it. Your sister recovered, remember?”
“But so far, she’s the only one,” I said. “And Josie has a weak heart.”
“But many are getting better,” Jean said again to make sure I heard it. “At least, we hope they are. I have two patients this morning whose oxygen numbers improved from yesterday. I feel confident—and so does the doctor, by the way—that those two will make it. You mustn’t lose hope, Harry. The doctors here are getting good at taking care of the patients. We’re learning new things about the virus every day. You must keep your faith, Harry. You must trust that God will come through for you and Josie. He’s done it before, remember?”
I exhaled, reminding myself of how Josie had fought for her life when she suffered heart failure and how there had been no new heart for her, but still, we found one, and she was saved at the last minute. I knew God had taken care of her back then, and, of course, He’d do it again.
“You’re right,” I said. “Thanks. I needed that.”
I hung up, feeling slightly better, but still scared like crazy. I felt such deep anger toward this virus and how it had destroyed my life. That was when I decided to turn my anger toward those responsible.
Chapter 33
Much to my su
rprise, Bobby Kay lived in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Miami, with views over Biscayne Bay. Al helped me find his address through the DMV database, and she texted it to me. Furious, I drove there, then as I found the right house, my jaw just about dropped. The house was a brand-new three-story white luxury mansion with a flat roof and floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows. It made no sense to me. How did a guy who fought for more equality in society…how did he live like this? Was Bobby Kay one of the one percent?
I drove up the driveway and got out, completely overwhelmed by this. It only confirmed my suspicion that something was very fishy about this organization, and especially about Bobby Kay.
I rang the doorbell, then knocked on the wooden door, hard.
Jacob, one of the guys who had been in the back at the headquarters, opened the door.
“Detective Hunter,” he said. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“I need to see Bobby Kay,” I said. “I have something I need to talk to him about.”
He scoffed. “Well, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
Jacob smirked. “He doesn’t want to see you.”
I lifted my badge and held it up. “Will he see me now?”
That made Jacob laugh. “No, he won’t. He’s sick, and so is his sister. We believe they have caught the virus and need to keep them away from people. They’ve been quarantined.”
I wrinkled my forehead. This was very sudden.
“Bobby Kay is sick?”
“Yes, that’s what I just told you. That’s why you can’t see him. We can’t risk infecting anyone. You, of all people, should know the rules, Detective. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be in quarantine as well? That’s what I heard. To be honest, this doesn’t look good. You shouldn’t be running around out here infecting people when you have a sick family member at home. You shouldn’t be breaking your quarantine.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“How do you know about that?”
“Bobby Kay called your station and talked to Major Walker. He told us something very interesting. He said you weren’t on duty, that you were staying home because you had a father who had come down with the virus and that you were also quarantined. As far as I can see, this is the second time you’re breaking that quarantine, Detective. You want me to call the major and let him know you’ve been out infecting people, abusing your power?”
I stared at the guy in front of me, not knowing what to say. He was right. I had broken all the rules by taking Reese to Al’s place and by going to their headquarters. There was nothing I could say to justify it.
“I didn’t think so,” he said. “Let’s just say you’re going to leave, and then we won’t talk anymore about this.”
He smiled an unfriendly smile, and as he was about to close the door, I heard a baby cry in the background. The sound came from inside the house. My heart skipped a beat, and I was about to ask about it.
“What is…”
But Jacob didn’t wait for me to finish the sentence before he shut the door in my face. I stood by the closed door, my hands shaking violently in anger. Was that Abby I had heard?
Had these people taken Reese’s baby?
Chapter 34
Reese was awake when I got back to Al’s place. I kept my phone close in case they called from the hospital. Jean had promised to keep an eye on Josie and make sure she got the treatment she needed. I was too terrified even to think about my daughter and how she was doing. Driven by anger toward those responsible, I rushed up to Al.
“I want to know everything about this group, about OUTRAGED, about Bobby Kay and those that work for him,” I said. “Who are they? Where do they come from? How do they know one another, where do they get their money? Everything there is to know about them.”
“I’m on it,” Al said and threw herself at the keyboard. I turned to face Reese, then sat down on the couch with her.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’m doing pretty okay,” she said, looking confused. “I would kill for a cup of coffee, though.”
“I can fix that,” I said as I got up and walked into Al’s small kitchen.
Al had already made a pot, and I poured us each a cup. I tasted it quickly to make sure it was drinkable. Al tended to buy these strange types of coffee that, for the most part, tasted awful, but this one seemed pretty normal. The aftertaste was nutty, but I could live with that.
I handed Reese the cup, and she took it, sending me a look of gratitude. She held the cup between both her hands while sipping it. She closed her eyes briefly, then looked up at me.
“Just what I needed.”
I drank too. I had added a lot of sugar to make sure it tasted the way I liked it. I preferred my coffee sweet.
“I went to see Bobby Kay,” I said after a few seconds of silence. I was pondering how much to tell her. I didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. I had heard a baby cry, yes, but that could be any baby. It could be Bobby Kay’s or one of his co-worker’s. It could be visiting.
But it could also be Abby.
“Oh?” she said and looked up at me. “Why?”
“He claims his sister is at his house, and I wanted to see her, to make sure she was all right. But they’re both sick, according to the guy who opened the door, and they wouldn’t let me come in.”
Reese looked down at her feet, then shook her head. “I think I remember something more. I think I remember the day she was taken from me.”
I put down my cup.
“Really?”
She nodded, stifling her tears. “I’m not sure, but I keep seeing this woman coming in through my door, but she isn’t alone. There are two men with her, and they take Abby. They knock on my door, and I go to open it, then they go directly for the baby, who is lying in her carrier. I scream and cry for them not to, but they lift her up and simply leave with her. I plead and cry, but they do it anyway.”
Reese’s eyes met mine. Hers were filling. “Why would anyone take my baby, Harry? Why?”
I placed my hand on her arm and looked straight into her eyes. “Was it Bobby Kay who took her? Try to think, Reese. Was he there on the day they took her?”
She shook her head, the tears spilling onto her cheeks. “I don’t know. I can’t remember their faces.”
“Okay,” I said, mustering all the patience I could. “Let’s try something else. Did you call the police when they took Abby?”
Reese thought for a second, then shook her head. “I don’t believe so.”
“Why didn’t you call the police if someone took your child, Reese?” I asked, worried deeply. Something was so wrong about this. I knew that when Reese was off her meds, life was a little like a dream to her, and she couldn’t keep her thoughts from one another; everything sort of melted together in her mind. That was how our old doctor used to explain it to our parents, and it was the best way for me to understand what it was like for her. It was just so frustrating that she didn’t remember more. It was in there somewhere. We both knew it was. It was just a question of accessing it. I knew that pressuring her didn’t work. It took time, a lot of time. I wasn’t sure I had that kind of patience.
She swallowed. Her eyes flickered back and forth in confusion.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Did they blackmail you, Reese? Did they ask you to do something to get the baby back?”
“I…I…don’t…”
“Think, Reese. Was there something they told you to do? Something you didn’t want to, but you had to?”
“Like what? What are you talking about, Harry?”
“Did they ask you to steal something, maybe from a lab? And then promised you’d get Abby back if you did it?”
“Steal something? Like what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a sample of a virus?”
“I…I…”
“Think, Reese. Please try and remember what Bobby Kay talked to you about. Just something he might have told you? Anything?
Did you go to his house? Did he come to you? How often did you two talk?”
Her eyes were blank, and I knew the answer before it left her lips.
“I don’t know! I don’t know, Harry. I don’t remember. I’m not lying to you. I can’t recall it, no matter how hard I try. Please, stop asking, Harry; it hurts my head!”
“Okay, okay,” I said, trying to calm her. “Maybe you’ll remember a little later. But please, try all you can. I have a feeling that the solution to all this mess lies with Abby and what happened to her.”
Reese nodded. “I’m trying, Harry. It’s all I do.”
I smiled gently. I didn’t want her to feel worse than she already did. I squeezed her arm.
“That’s good, Reese. That’s really good.”
“Oh, dear God,” Al suddenly exclaimed from her seat. She took off her headset and turned to look at me. “I think I found something.”
Chapter 35
Al printed out some pictures and placed them on the desk in front of me, creating what looked like an organizational structure for OUTRAGED. She put Bobby Kay at the top, then pointed at his picture.
“Robert Kay Smith, brother to Candice Smith. Bobby is an artist and a poet and the guy in charge of this organization. He started the protest group in two thousand and fourteen, as a running club. People ran to collect money for charity, or in protest of the oppression of the poorest in society, the single mother who works three jobs, the homeless, the children in foster care, and so on. All in all, a very noble cause. He’s known in the media for saying things as they are, and he’s known as what they call a creative influencer. He reaches millions of people through his YouTube Videos, and when he did a night run in protest against the death penalty, more than ten thousand people showed up. They call him the marathon man or the running man, and he has been named by People Magazine as one of the New century role models for men.”