He saw her helping a customer at the checkout station, took a quick look around and saw no other sales staff in the department. Bob strolled around pretending to look over dress shirts and after a few minutes he heard a soft, female voice behind him.
“Can I help you find something?”
He turned around and looked down at Brittany’s pretty smiling face and shining blue eyes. Throwing caution to the wind he decided to jump right in.
“Um, yeah, ah, you can,” he slightly stammered. “Look,” he began over. “I’m going to be up front and honest. I’m not here to buy anything. I’m here to meet you.”
When he said this, Brittany’s back stiffened, the smile vanished and she took a half step backward.
“Wait, look, um. I’m not weird or a, ah, stalker or anything like that. It’s just, well,” go for it, he thought to himself. “I saw you at the Apple River a few days ago and I thought you were real pretty; someone I’d like to meet, so, um, I asked a guy who was in your party about you so, ah, I guess, here I am.”
Visibly relaxing, Brittany looked at the young man who appeared to be quite sincere and more than a little nervous. She had to admit to herself that she was actually very flattered. This guy wasn’t super-hot, but he was at least attractive. She was impressed, and more than a little pleased that he would go to this much trouble just to meet her.
“I’m sorry,” he said when she didn’t say anything. “I just thought, you know, we could maybe get together for coffee or a drink. Or I could take you to dinner. If you tell me to get lost, I’ll never bother you again, I promise.”
“I think I’d like that,” she finally said.
“What, for me to get lost?”
“No, silly,” she laughed. “Get together. You can buy me dinner.”
“Cool,” he answered obviously relieved. “When’s good for you?”
“How about tomorrow night? I have to check with my mom to watch my daughter. You know I have a kid, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry about your husband. Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, better. It was tough. Come over here and we’ll swap info.”
They went to the department’s service island where they exchanged names, addresses and phone numbers. As she watched him walk away she found herself thinking, “He might be a definite, solid maybe”. Just before he left the men’s department he turned, smiled and waved at her, which she returned. At the same time, he was thinking that his plan was starting out quite nicely.
While preparing for their first date, Brittany thought about how glad she was that Bob knew about Becky. She believed at least a couple of guys she had briefly dated had fled upon learning she had a daughter. Brittany understood why and that her child was not their problem. And it was possibly just as well to find out sooner rather than later that they weren’t interested in becoming immediate fathers. This guy seemed different. He had known about her little girl and had pursued Brittany anyway. The realization gave her a nice warm glow and she decided, just to be sure, she would let him pursue her some more.
Bob picked her up in a late model dark gray Camry. He was wearing a decent blue sport coat, a white dress shirt, tan wool slacks and polished cordovan loafers. Unlike most of her first dates, he looked like a grown-up and was clearly trying to impress her, a thought which pleasantly surprised her. Instead of the usual sports bar restaurant, he took her to a nice, quiet, semi-expensive place in Eagan with a real menu, a pricey wine list and a jazz combo to provide background music.
For the next three hours they had an excellent meal, two bottles of an absurdly over-priced bottle of wine she had never heard of and they basically smiled at each other, laughed and talked a lot. Or, more accurately, Brittany did most of the talking and Bob did most of the listening. Of course, being a good listener made him even more attractive to her.
Toward 11:00 he checked his watch and reminded her it was a work night for them both. When the bill came, he paid in cash which prompted her to ask about his employment.
“I work at a financial investment firm downtown Minneapolis.”
“What do you do?” Brittany probed further.
“I work in the bond department analyzing bonds. It’s really pretty boring,” he said hoping to change the subject. “How about this weekend? Are you busy?”
“I’m seeing some girlfriends tomorrow night but Saturday I’m open,” she hurriedly replied.
“Great! How about I call you Saturday and we’ll make plans. Maybe grab a bite and catch a movie. Can you find a sitter for Becky?”
“My mom will watch her.”
For the next two weeks they either saw each other or spent time on the phone every day. Gradually she got to know more and more about him. She discovered that he wasn’t a big video game player, he would rather actually talk to her on the phone than send text messages and most importantly, he had met and seemed genuinely fond of Becky.
Her initial plan to avoid the bedroom for a while lasted only until their third date. It was a weeknight and he couldn’t spend the entire night, but the event left her believing there were good things ahead for them. He had been upgraded from a “definite, solid maybe” to an “almost, certain probable”.
The only thing that perturbed Brittany was Bob’s reluctance to meet her friends. Every time she brought it up he would find some excuse for why he couldn’t make it or another time would be better and he would quickly change the subject.
On a rainy Friday evening, a little more than two weeks after they met, Bob picked up both Brittany and Becky to take them to dinner. While driving to the restaurant down County Road 42 in Burnsville, Bob told her he had forgotten his wallet and needed to stop at his apartment to get it. He turned down County 11, went about a mile, and then took a left into the parking lot of a large apartment complex. He parked in a spot away from the door and because of the rain, Brittany and Becky stayed in the car while he ran in. He was back in barely two minutes.
He drove back to County Road 42 to the Olive Garden and the three of them had a great time together. Becky was really taking to Bob as the two of them almost played like kids during the meal. Later, on the ride back to Brittany’s apartment with her baby securely strapped into a car seat in back, Brittany reflected on the evening and realized it was the best night they had since Greg had died. For the first time in a long time she felt like life could actually work out for them.
At 3:00 A.M. Brittany heard a noise and was groggily awakened. She reached behind her to check for Bob and realized he wasn’t there. Believing the noise she heard was probably him in the bathroom, she closed her eyes and quickly went back to sleep.
Brittany awoke at 7:15 and looked at the empty side of the bed where she expected to find her lover. She laid there for a minute listening to the quiet apartment then rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom.
After finishing in the bathroom, she went to Becky’s bedroom wondering why she was still asleep. Brittany opened the door and found an empty bed and no sign of her little girl. Alarmed, she quickly went through the entire apartment and found no sign of either Becky or Bob. Suppressing her panic and still in her robe she ran outside and saw that Bob’s car was gone. She ran back to the apartment, grabbed her phone and despite how badly her hands were shaking, managed to press the button to dial Bob’s cell. Forcing herself to remain as calm as she could with her heart in her throat, she put the phone to her ear praying to hear his voice and tell her Becky was with him. The blood drained from her face when she heard the recording, “This number is no longer in service.”
Totally gripped by fear, her entire body began to shake and she dropped to her knees. Staring silently at a wall in her living room, Brittany tried desperately to think. Instead, her mind went blank, she pressed her palms to her temples and she stopped breathing for almost a full minute.
“Okay, okay, okay,” she finally said aloud to herself. “He’s a really good guy. He has her and he’s just taking her for breakfast.”
> She struggled to her feet and went back into her child’s bedroom for another look. That is when she noticed it. On the dresser were the clothes Brittany had set out for her the night before and missing were her baby’s teddy bear, the one with the tiny gold chain and little plaque engraved with the word Becky on it. Also missing were her favorite blanket and the pink pajamas Becky had slept in that night.
“This can’t be. This just can’t be. How, how, oh my god! How am I ever going to tell my mother?” Brittany said as the tears began to flow.
Unknown to Brittany and something she would never learn, three days later a dark gray Camry with stolen license plates was found abandoned in a restaurant parking lot in Robbinsdale, a suburb of Minneapolis. The police identified the vehicle owner by the VIN number and the owner of the stolen plates. Since the car was not damaged and there was no insurance claim, a stolen car returned to its owner did not merit much police attention. Had they done a search of the car, which of course they had no reason to do, they might have discovered several medium length blonde hairs and fibers from a child’s blanket and pink pajamas among the usual detritus in the trunk of the car.
FIVE
Brittany didn’t remember doing it, but she managed to stagger back to the living room where she collapsed onto the couch. Her mind had gone blank again and she lay on her back staring, unblinking at the white, textured ceiling of the apartment. Thirty minutes passed when suddenly she was snapped back to reality by the ringtone on her phone going off.
Praying it was Bob, she quickly snatched up the phone from the coffee table. Brittany looked at the screen, dropped the device back on the table, raised her hands and jumped back as if it was a poisonous snake. It was actually worse than that. The phone’s caller ID showed it was her mother calling to check on her. She waited until Barbara finished leaving a message then quickly erased it without listening to it and started to think again. She looked at the clock noting it was almost 10:00.
Brittany tried Bob’s number again and heard the same out of service message. Thoroughly convinced Bob had taken Becky, she calmed down by convincing herself that he was a good guy, everything would be all right, and her baby would be home safe and sound. In the meantime, what to tell her mother?
While in the shower, Brittany came up with an idea of what to tell Barbara. She also decided she wasn’t going to just sit, waiting for Bob to call. They had been to his apartment building and she believed she could find it again.
“Hi, Mom,” Brittany said into her iPhone. “What’s up?”
“Nothing, just checking on you. How’re you two? Are you coming over today?”
“Ah, I don’t think so. We sort of have plans.”
“Who’s we?” Barbara demanded.
“Me, Becky and Bob, you know, my new boyfriend. I told you about him.”
“Oh, yes, the mysterious boyfriend no one’s been able to meet. If you’re going to allow a strange man to be around Becky, I have a right to know more about him than just a name.”
“I have to go, Mom. We’re going to Como Zoo and I need to get ready. I’ll talk to you later.”
Determined to find her daughter, she spent the next couple of hours cruising the parking lots of every restaurant she could find between her apartment and Bob’s. She slowly drove through each lot checking for Bob’s car but to no avail.
Just before noon she stopped at a Perkins to get a bite to eat and consider her options. After the waitress took her order, she found a pen and a small notebook in her purse. Brittany sipped her water and tried to think as calmly as she could. She debated on whether or not to call the police but quickly ruled that out. Bringing them in would require telling her mother. They already had too many disagreements on how Becky should be raised. Barbara had even threatened to get custody of her several times. No, calling the police or telling her mother was not even a possibility. Becky would turn up, somehow, someway, somewhere and she would be just fine; or so Brittany convinced herself.
She made a list of places she had been with Bob and local parks where he might have taken Becky. She tried his phone again, hoping beyond hope that the disconnection of it was temporary. It wasn’t and she once again felt a jolt of fear when she heard the tinny sounding recording.
Brittany finished her lunch and left the restaurant to continue her search. She continued to drive around checking the parking lots of a few places they had been together. No luck. Around mid-afternoon, Brittany decided she would try to find his apartment building.
As best as she could remember, having only been there once, it was one of the places along County Road 11. She drove the entire length of the street checking the lots of every apartment building she could find. Without even realizing it for a certainty she had correctly guessed which one they had stopped at the night before but because it had been raining and she had not paid close enough attention, she couldn’t be sure of it. Brittany just cruised through the parking lot looking for the Camry once again with no luck.
Still very worried, but somehow calmer than she had been earlier, Brittany decided to head home. On the way, she received two phone calls, both of which made her grab her phone desperately hoping it was Bob.
The first call was from her friend Annie wanting to know if Brittany could meet the girls for a night out. Brittany didn’t tell Annie this, but she just wasn’t in the mood. Annie told her the time and place and Brittany said she would think about it.
A few minutes later, Brittany’s phone rang again. This time, it was her mother. Barbara had called several times during the afternoon and each time Brittany had let it go to voicemail. Realizing she could not put her mother off any longer, she took a deep breath, sat up straight in the car’s seat, cleared her throat, smiled into the mirror, and answered the call.
“Hi, Mom, what’s up?”
“Why haven’t you returned any of my calls? Do you know how rude and inconsiderate that is? Your father and I worry about you.”
“Sorry,” Brittany said insincerely.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes, Mom, of course. We’ve just been having a nice day and I didn’t have my phone on.”
“Is Becky there? Can I talk to her?”
“I’m, uh, in the car heading home. She’s in the back seat. She fell asleep and I don’t want to wake her. I have to drive Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
After disconnecting the call, she gripped the steering wheel hard with both hands and said out loud while staring straight ahead, almost trancelike, “Everything will be all right. Everything, everything, everything. Everything will be all right.” She then inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.
Brittany sat on the couch in her living room, the TV turned on to a local newscast. Her eyes were fixated on the screen, but her conscious mind had no idea what she was looking at. Thinking through her options, she again decided the best course for her would be to continue what she was doing, searching for Becky herself. The thought of her mother finding out and taking Becky away from her was simply too much to bear. In the meantime, she would act and conduct herself as normally as possible. Brittany wanted no one to think there was anything out of the ordinary going on.
She called Annie back, told her she would meet them and Brittany decided she would act as if there was nothing wrong. An hour later she was at a restaurant with her three friends laughing, gossiping and giving them no hint of the problem she had.
On Sunday morning, after a fitful night’s sleep punctuated with bizarre and disturbing dreams, Brittany awoke with two ideas. The first required a phone call to her mother and the second was a place for her to search.
Monday morning was a workday and Barbara was going to expect her granddaughter to be dropped off. Obviously Brittany was going to need an excuse for why that might not happen. Still convinced she would find her daughter soon and everything would be fine, she just needed to put off her mother for a couple of days. At 9:00 A.M. she called Barbara to tell her why Becky would not be there the next day.
>
“Hi, Mom,” she said when the call was answered. “Um, Mom, look there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What’s that dear?”
“I’ve found day care for Becky. She’s starting tomorrow.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Barbara answered, shocking Brittany. “She’s getting to the age where she needs to be around other children.”
“Wow, thanks, Mom. I was worried you’d be upset.”
“Who is this day-care provider?”
“Uh, ah, her name is Rosalie Parker and she was recommended by my friend Kathy’s older sister, Mandy. You remember. She has a little boy. He’s in school now, but Mandy used Rosalie and really liked her.”
“I suppose. But I’ll want to meet this person, Rosalie, sometime.”
“Oh, sure, ah, of course. But um, let me get Becky started there first.”
“Is Becky there now? Let me say hello.”
“No, she’s out in the play area with Bob. Probably on the swing set. Look, Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you later,” and she clicked off before her mother could reply.
The previous Sunday, Brittany recalled, Bob, Brittany and Becky had gone on a picnic at a local park, not far from her apartment. A relatively small two hundred acres, it had a nice picnic area alongside a little lake and plenty of trails, bike paths and a huge playground for children. She had decided this would be a good place to look for them. Still in total denial, she truly believed she was going to find them both. Of course, she had tried his phone again but she was no longer dismayed by the disconnect message she heard.
Brittany spent the entire day roaming through the park. She hiked every path and bike trail in it. She walked completely around the streets bordering the park and examined every child she saw, even older ones, in a vain search. She stayed at it until early evening then went home for supper. Still calm and relaxed, she simply decided to stop worrying and convinced herself that Becky would be found and no one would be the wiser.
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 96