by Fields, MJ
“This here is Queen’s Gold, I own it.”
“Are you a queen?”
“In my own mind.” I didn’t understand that. “No, child, I just pretend to be a queen. I ain’t nobody. But you . . . how did you get over here?”
“An Uber.”
“Why did you come here?”
“I’m looking for Sadie Lazar. I want her to be my new mom.”
“Where’s your old mom?”
“She’s in heaven.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, child. Where’s your daddy?”
“He’s at the hospital.”
“Oh, is he sick?”
“No. He works there; he’s a doctor.”
“A doctor? Yea, you in the wrong part of town, Miss Callie. Well, we need to call Sadie or your daddy. Do you have their numbers?”
“Yes, hold on.” I reached for my phone but, no, I didn’t have it. “Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I lost my backpack. My phone was in there.”
“Okay, do you know your phone number?”
“Yes, but my daddy is at work.” I didn’t want her calling and talking to Nana. “I was going to Sadie’s work.”
“Where does Sadie work?”
“She’s a deputy, she rides a motorcycle.”
“Ahh. Well, Coco ain’t going to no sheriff’s office since we don’t seem to get along, but I know who we can call.”
“Who?”
“Piper. If Sadie is a sheriff and rides a motorcycle, then she has to be friends with Piper because Piper is good people.”
“I don’t know Piper.”
“Don’t you worry none, she’ll help you find Sadie.” Coco picked up a phone, and while she made her phone call, I looked at all the different things she had for sale. There were necklaces and rings. She had guitars and guns. There were televisions, telephones, and computers. “Piper didn’t answer, but I left her a message. I’m going to keep calling.”
“What kind of store is this?”
“It’s called a pawn shop. People can sell their old stuff to me and then I can sell it to other people.” Coco moved to a chair and patted the one next to her. “Callie, what is your daddy’s name?”
“Ryan.”
“What’s your last name?”
“Montgomery.”
“What hospital does your daddy work at?”
“Florida Hospital.”
“Do you know which Florida hospital? There are several.”
“The big white one.”
She nodded slowly. “Well, then, we are just going to have to sit here and keep calling Piper.”
Twenty
Ryan
“Sadie . . .” That was all I could get out as I ran to my car.
“I know. I just heard the BOLO. I’m on it. Everyone knows what Callie means to me, so when I say that I’m on it, I mean, the whole division is on it.”
“I’ll be at the school in ten minutes.”
“I’m headed to check the 7-11 and a few other spots first. Call me if you hear anything.”
“Will do.” I disconnected and then floored it. I couldn’t believe she did this again. It didn’t make sense. She’d wandered off before because she didn’t want my mom to see that she’d changed for school. Not that it made it better to have a reason, but Callie had been so happy . . . hadn’t she? Had I totally been blind, and she had been miserable? Was this a plea for help? I pressed the base of my palm against my forehead. I needed to focus, think straight.
When I pulled into the school’s parking lot, my heart was lodged in my throat and I could barely freaking breathe. “I’m Ryan Montgomery,” I said as I ran up to the group of officers, who parted for the woman who barreled through.
“Ryan!” My mom was crying as she collapsed against me, and I hugged her as she sobbed.
“Dr. Montgomery?” I turned to see Sadie’s friend standing to my left.
“Harley, right?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry, but we have something.”
“What?” My mom’s hand gripped mine and squeezed as she pulled herself away and focused on Harley.
“It seems that another child in your daughter’s class taught her how to use Uber today.”
“Uber? Does he know where she went?”
“We’re in a precarious position here because he’s six. We can work on what he has openly told his teacher, which was before we arrived. He said that Callie wanted to go find Sadie.”
“Me?” I turned and took Sadie in, not realizing that she had joined us. She looked distraught.
“Yes, he said that she couldn’t call you because the number you gave her was wrong and she hadn’t seen you in a long time.”
“My number was correct, I entered it. And I saw her three days ago.”
“To Callie, three days is forever,” I said, the guilt piling on me. “Wait, why can’t we bring the kid out here and ask him?”
“He’s six. We’re not allowed to without one of his parents as a witness.”
“My daughter is missing, something could have happened to her, and we’re worried about some parent? His teacher is here, you’re here. Fine. What do we do now?”
“We’ve called the boy’s parents, they’re on their way, and the teacher is talking to him, trying to get him to tell her. I have his phone.” Harley waved it. “But it’s locked.”
“This is ridiculous, a child’s life is in danger.” My voice was loud, and I was seconds away from demanding to talk to the kid myself.
“We’ve contacted Uber and are trying to locate the driver. We need to know where he took her, and as soon as we get that information, we will head there.”
“Does anyone have a laptop that I can use? I can log in to my account and look up her phone’s location.”
“Here.” Harley waved for me to follow her. I did along with several others over to her car. She grabbed her laptop and then brought it out to set it on the hood of her car.
Logging in, I found Callie’s number and clicked Find My Phone. “It’s moving.”
Sadie spoke into her radio, “Thirteen twenty-two, in reference to the BOLO. Any available unit near Bumby and Colonial, tracking car with phone of missing child, ten ninety-six, channel Charlie seven.”
Sadie flipped her radio station and began calling out cross streets and directions, movements and when the car appeared to be stopped.
“Confirming, has car currently stopped?”
“Affirmative.”
“License plate, Echo, nine, nine, Lima, Oscar, appears to be only one passenger, male mid-twenties driving. Approaching vehicle.” My heart pounded as I waited for word. It was probably only a minute or two but felt like an eternity. “Confirmed, phone left by minor passenger. He states that he wouldn’t have taken her had she not been going to the sheriff’s station. He also states that she claimed her father was in the hospital, so she was going to the sheriff’s station. The child was crying and hysterical.”
“But she’s not at the sheriff’s station, is she?” Sadie shook her head.
“No, someone would have seen her and would have stopped her. A young child walking around by herself is definitely out of the norm.”
“We know where to move our focus,” Harley stated, then she called in to dispatch using a bunch of numbers. The only things I understood were the names of the downtown cross streets, which made sense to me, since that was where the sheriff’s station was located.
“I’m going to the station.” Harley jumped into her car.
“I’ll be right behind you. Kathryn, why don’t you go home so that someone is at the house in case Callie calls since she doesn’t have her cell on her or if she comes home? Ryan, do you want to come down to the station?”
“Hell yes. I’ll be right behind you.” I turned and gave my mom a hug before turning back to Sadie, I wanted to say something but I couldn’t. I stuttered at her, and right then I was overwhelmed by guilt.
I was fucking up this whole single-parent thing.
Callie didn’t see Sadie for three days and she felt abandoned. I worked all the time, there had been many times when I had to stay at the hospital for days and Callie never reacted like this.
Twenty-One
Sadie
“Hello?” I was shouting, but I didn’t have a choice, since I was on the bike and driving above the speed limit.
“Sadie, Detective McGuire has called in SWAT, they have a lead and are following up on it. I’ll keep you looped in. I’m also still trying to get through to Piper, but she isn’t answering, see if you can get through and get back to me.”
“I will, thank you, Harley. Has Bridget heard anything?” I mean, since Detective McGuire was her oldest brother, she might have called him for details.
“Not a word, and he isn’t answering her calls either. She says that’s because he knows she’s calling for intel. Hey, Kat’s calling, I’ll let you know if she hears anything.”
“Thanks.” My headset went silent, and I rolled the throttle a little more.
The parking lot of the sheriff’s station was chaos, and for some reason, it was all focused around the pawn shop across the street. The owner had a strong dislike for all things related to law enforcement, and the feeling seemed to be reciprocated amongst the officers. Well, all except Piper. For some reason, Piper saw something in the woman, and the two had total trust.
“What’s going on?” I asked one of the deputies standing outside.
“They found a backpack belonging to the little girl by the dumpsters.”
My heart sank, all of the horrid crime scenes of people trying to hide evidence in a dumpster.
I ran to the front of Queen’s Gold with its wrought-iron bars covering the windows. The moment I yanked open the frosted-glass door, Callie looked up at me. The little girl let go of Piper’s hand and ran to me. It was as if my heart started beating for the first time since I’d heard the call go out. “Let me look at you, are you okay?” I rubbed my hands over her face, needing to assure myself that she was okay, she was safe, and that nothing had happened to her. Her arms tightened around my neck, and she burrowed in deeper.
“No!” I jumped when Callie let out a blood-curdling scream. “Don’t hurt her.” Callie fought to get down and then ran over and wrapped her legs around Coco.
“Can everyone just step the fuck back!” I hollered. “Callie’s father will be here in a second. Until he is, no one does anything.”
“I’m here, I’m here.” Ryan ran in, he’d obviously sped a lot faster than I imagined he would for him to be so close behind me. I had run red lights and averaged twenty to thirty miles per hour over the speed limit. “What’s going on?”
“They’re trying to hurt Coco, don’t let them, Daddy, she rescued me. I was hiding outside, and she made me come in to stay safe until she could reach one of y’all.”
“She should have brought you over to the station,” Detective Callum McGuire announced.
“So you all can treat me just like you are treating me now? You don’t listen, and you see only what you wanna see. I called Piper. I left Miss Piper a message—several, in fact.”
I glanced over at Piper, who was standing next to four women I knew, all of them looked as if they belonged in New York instead of Orlando. I gave them a nod.
“Who are they?” one of the deputies asked, directing his gaze toward the women.
“Iron Ladies, tell you later.” They were a group of private detectives who were known to find creative ways around the law. We were willing to turn a blind eye so long as they kept a certain level of integrity within their ranks, which they did. At least, as far as I knew they did.
Piper pulled out her phone. “There aren’t any messages.”
“I called you, Miss Piper, I called you on the number you gave me.”
“Oh.” Piper reached into her front shirt pocket and pulled out a second phone. “My personal phone, sorry. I only check it a few times a day.” She scrolled through it and then pressed a button. Coco’s voice came through the speaker.
“Piper, this is Coco, I’ve got a little girl here at my shop. I found her hiding out back. Her name is Callie. She don’t belong in this area.” The message ended and then another one began. “Piper, she is looking for a motorcycle deputy named Sadie. This little girl is too fancy for this area, and I need you to call me back and help find her dad. He’s a doctor. I’m not letting this little girl out of my sight. I can’t have nothing happen to this wee thing.” That message ended and Piper closed her phone.
I glared at Callum before swinging my ire to two of the SWAT guys standing on either side of Coco. “Could you all back off now? There is too much going on in here, and it’s pretty obvious that Coco was helping and not hurting. Piper, Harley, and I can handle any of the paperwork that needs to be filed for the station, but if we need anything, we’ll let you know.”
“Sadie, you know—”
“I know. And we will deal with that later.” Okay, so I’d probably be in trouble for bucking protocol since he was technically in charge, but this was Callie, and she was scared.
As soon as the crowd thinned, Ryan knelt. “Callie.” He swept her up into his arms. “Why? You promised me that you wouldn’t do this anymore.”
“Grammy and Aunt Sonya said that if I liked Sadie that meant that I didn’t love my real mommy.”
“What a bitch.” This came from one of the Iron Ladies, probably Adeline since she was by far the most . . . outspoken.
“But I do, I love both of them.”
“Of course, you do.” Ryan soothed her.
“But Sadie hasn’t been around in a long time, and she hasn’t been at school either. I can’t call her to check on her.” Oh my god, listening to her made my heart ache. Her little world sounded so stressful. She was worrying about too many things.
“Callie, I had to work other areas the last few days, and Sunday you were at the park. I don’t know why you can’t call me. I put my number in your phone.”
Ryan didn’t let go of Callie through all of this.
“It’s not the right number.” Callie was adamant, and something tickled the back of my mind. Unknown callers, hang ups, they all started on Sunday, the same day that Callie was with Louise and Sonya. The day after I gave Callie my number.
“Callie, did Grammy or Aunt Sonya know that you had my phone number?”
“Yes, that’s why they got mad. They took my phone away from me for the day.”
I glanced over at Harley to see if she was putting two and two together. “Unknown callers?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Well, don’t worry, we will fix it.”
“If it’s okay, I’m going to take Callie home. Thank you all for your help. I need to go talk to my former in-laws.”
“I’m glad we could help.” Harley winked at Callie.
“Of course, Ryan,” Piper offered.
“Thank you so much. If I can do anything at all to repay you, I will. I’m indebted to you.” Ryan was tall, but standing next to Coco, he looked like a munchkin.
“Nah, Miss Callie was precious. She was no trouble at all. Just glad ole Coco found her and not some Hoosi Tenga.” I stared at the woman, having no clue what she just said. If the reactions from the Iron Ladies and Piper were anything to go by, it was probably safe to assume it was inappropriate. They were all visibly stifling laughter.
“Thank you again.” Ryan held Callie tight before facing me. “We’ll talk later, I’ll call you. Thank you for all your help.”
Anytime. I loved Callie as if she were my own. All of that was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t say any of it.
Callie peered over his shoulder and waved, her small hand not lifting from him, just her fingers. I waved back, and something inside me cracked a little. When the bell chimed and he and Callie were gone, I returned to the crowd. Steeling myself, I put on a professional face. I’d think about what just happened and what it meant later.
“Hi, Coco, I’m Sadie, thank you so much.”
> “Ahh, that little girl loves you. A lot weighs on her little soul.”
“I know. I’ll talk with her dad.” I glanced over at the other four ladies. “Hey, what are you doing here anyway?”
“Coco called. She wanted Sunday’s help on some computer stuff,” Melanie said. It was her roundabout way of saying that Coco needed Sunday to hack into something. “She wanted us to help find this little girl’s father since Piper wasn’t answering.”
For the first time all day, I felt like I could breathe. Callie was safe and I was surrounded by the strongest women I knew.
“What’s hoosi tenga anyway?”
“Horse fuckers,” several people replied in unison, and I shook my head.
“Speaking of fuck, what the fuck is going on?” Adeline asked as the door of the shop opened and Kat and Bridget walked in.
“Oh, good, I didn’t miss anything.” Kat smiled as she moved into the shop. “Hey, you guys.” She leaned over and gave a hug to Adeline, Olivia, Melanie, and Sunday, the women who made up the Iron Ladies. “Long time no see.”
“Lock that door for me, would ya?” Coco asked and Bridget turned around to pull the shade and then slide the deadbolt.
“Heard you’re up for motors,” Olivia stated.
“Why didn’t you go with the dad and Callie?” Harley asked.
“Wait, what?” Bridget wanted me to spill, but I refused. She’d have to figure it out.
“Did you see him? I might as well have been any one of you all, it was a thank you for doing your job.”
“What are you smoking? He’s overwhelmed, been worried to death, and has his kid back in his arms after fearing the worst,” Harley defended.
“It sounds to me like it was her grandmother’s fault,” Adeline said. “Why is that bitch filling her granddaughter’s head with that shit?”
“I think there is some power struggle going on between Ryan and his late wife’s family.”
“Girl, abort, abort, abort. That is too much drama. Are you ready for that?”
“I don’t know. I care about him and Callie, but I think he might feel torn in too many directions. Me being the new variable, I’m afraid that I’m the one he’s going to get rid of. I get it, Callie comes first. But couldn’t he have at least hugged me, asked me to come over, something?”