by Kahlen Aymes
Missy’s eyes landed on mine, but then quickly averted to Dylan scrambling across the room with Remi to climb up on stools where I had bowls of cereal waiting.
“Captain Crunch?” She asked, pursing her lips, as her brows rose. “Do you know how much sugar is in that stuff?”
I smiled, wryly. “Um… just enough to make it taste good?”
“Ugh,” she groaned.
Teagan sat down on the stool next to Remi and Missy noticed how miserable she looked.
“Are you doing okay, Teagan?” she asked, alarmed.
“Oh, I’m just really tired today. My back has been hurting, and I didn’t sleep well.”
Missy’s eyes met mine, before settling back on Teagan. “Could you be in labor?”
Teagan’s eyes widened in a shocked expression. “Oh, God, no. I have an OBGYN appointment on Monday, so they’ll check me, but I still have several weeks to go. It might be Braxton Hicks.”
“Okay,” Missy said, walking to Teagan and rubbing her arm while I poured milk on the kid’s cereal and they dug in with gusto. “Maybe you should stay in and rest today.”
“Yes. I can take the kids to Jessica’s party.”
“I’ll go with them, too,” Missy insisted, meeting my eyes. My mouth thinned. We’d agreed she’d stay in with Teagan.
Relief flooded Teagan’s face. “Really? Are you sure? Chase asked me to stay home, but I don’t know…”
“Absolutely,” Missy agreed.
“I’ll be there, too” I reassured. “Don’t worry. Have you told Chase how you’re feeling?” I knew Teagan, and she was one to keep stuff to herself if she thought it wasn’t serious.
Teagan shook her head, leaning on the marble countertop where she was seated. “No. He’ll be home tonight anyway, and I don’t want to worry him.”
I decided that I’d let the kids finish their breakfast, have Missy help the kids with wrapping the gifts and text my best friend about his wife. After hiding Remi’s birth and illness from Chase for years, there was no way I’d hide anything from him now. “Well… I think you should call him, Teagan. He’d want to know. We learned that lesson, didn’t we?”
“He’ll be home. Even if I tell him, he can’t get home any sooner. Why make him worry for nothing? He’s already stressing that he isn’t here for this party.”
She had a point, but as soon as I could, I’d be texting my best friend. “Like I said, I’ll be with these guys.” I put a hand on both of their heads and gave them a little wobble. Dylan laughed, and Remi gave me a big grin, showing her missing front tooth.
“Will you play with me, Jensey?” Dylan asked. “Remi told me about the jungle gym and how fun the trampolines are!”
I grinned down at him and winked at Remi. “Of course! I’ll play with both of my special kids.”
MISSY
I was sitting at one end of a low, kid-height picnic table with two of the other parents who were helping to chaperone the birthday party. Jessica’s mother was putting out plates and drink cups for the two dozen or so children attending. The gifts were piled up on the adjacent table with the cake, and huge bunches of mylar balloons adorned both.
Jensen had disappeared with Remi, Dylan, Jessica, and a few of the other kids. He was amazing. The kids were crawling all over him. I watched in awe as he climbed high up in the three-story play structure on the inside of the PlayDaze venue, with both Remi and Dylan clinging to his back and shoulders like monkey babies clinging to their mother. It made me smile. He was such an incredible man, and he made one hell of a father. A warm rush of love and lust filled me, and I almost felt my ovaries flutter. I’d love nothing more than to have his child someday.
There were trampolines, an arcade, a roller-skating rink, a huge ball pit for the babies, a snack bar, and the enormous jungle gym that took up most of the space inside the massive facility. There were also a few clowns entertaining children by making balloon animals and juggling.
My two security guys dressed more casually than I was used to, were nowhere to be seen. They’d disappeared into the throng of the crowd, and I could only assume one was following Remi and the other, Dylan.
Once again, I was thankful for Chase and Teagan’s generosity. There was no way I could ever repay them for everything they’d done for Dylan and me, and without that added layer of peace of mind, I’d be a nervous wreck. And, Jensen was like a guardian angel sent down from heaven to watch over us.
Still, my eyes nervously scanned the venue, watching for any sign of Derrick. The place was bustling. The building was divided in several separate parts that made it impossible to see everything that was happening at once. There was more than one birthday party going on, and it was open to the public as well. Saturday was easily the busiest day of the week. I sighed, uneasily.
I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Jensen about what Chase’s investigator had uncovered. We hadn’t had any time alone without the kids, and I knew Jensen wouldn’t discuss it in front of them because he didn’t want to frighten them.
The way Dylan had cried for Jensen to be his dad last Wednesday night made my heartbreak, and the tender look on Jensen’s face made me melt. If only that were possible. I knew Jensen was serious about me and only time would tell where we’d end up, but it was my heart’s highest wish that we’d be a family someday.
I loved him more in the moment when his arms wrapped around my sobbing son and me than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone. My heart was so full, and if it weren’t for Derrick’s threats hanging over us, I would have thought I was living a dream.
If only I weren’t terrified and tied into knots. I knew how ruthless Derrick could be, and I didn’t understand why he wanted Dylan now, after all this time, but worry petrified my soul; after finding out what happened to my attorney, I was desperate to stop my ex-husband.
My heart thudded inside my chest sickeningly. I felt nauseous, my stomach turning at the smells of popcorn and pizza permeating the air. I concentrated on breathing through my nose, struggling not to get up and run to the bathroom to vomit. I had to find some way to get him to hurt me so we could file charges. It was the only way to ensure he’d never get visitation with my perfect, innocent little Dylan.
I felt small, sitting there in the vast building as I glanced around. My eyes longed to find Jensen and the two kids so I could relax. He kept them both close, despite each of them wanting to run off with different groups of friends, and in spite of Tom and Mitch; Chase’s security guys.
He was amazing with the kids. If only I’d met Jensen first. Dylan would be his, and we wouldn’t be in this mess. My eyes flooded with tears and I dabbed at the corner of my eye with one finger, hoping no one would notice.
“This place is crazy!” Denay, one of the other mother’s said, leaning in to speak loudly. In addition to a couple hundred screaming kids, there was pop music blasting over the speaker system. “It’s so loud!” She stuck a finger in her ears.
I offered a weak smile. “Yeah!” I answered loudly. “I think I’ll be deaf for days.”
“Remind me never to have a party for Danni, here!” another of the mothers joined in.
“At least, not without earplugs! I wish I would have known! It’s almost time to eat.” Jessica’s mom, Sara added. “Then we’ll cut the cake, and Jess can open her gifts… if we survive that long.” She laughed happily, glancing at the clock on the wall. Jessica was a pretty little blonde that was the spitting image of her mother. “Just ten more minutes.”
The kids were told to meet back up at the table for Pizza, cake and ice cream. I couldn’t wait for this party to end, and while ten minutes was a short amount of time, it dragged by.
Little by little, the kids started to filter to the table and take their seats, with Jessica at the head of the table. Soon, all of the kids were sitting down; except there were two empty seats. Dylan and Remi were not there.
I stood up, panic seizing my heart as my head snapped from side to side and I turned around in a circle
; searching. I pulled my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and texted Jensen.
Where are you guys? The pizza is here.
I waited, my heart beating wildly, for his response. I waited for what felt like an eternity and still, he didn’t respond. I left the table and hurried from one area to the next, getting more and more overwrought as I searched for them. I weaved around children and adults, becoming more and more frenzied. “Dylan! Remi!” I called over and over. People started looking at me, but I paid them no mind. “Dylan! Remi!” I screamed. “Jensen!”
A man playing with his little boy in the arcade stopped what he was doing and pointed to the front of the building. “Go up to the desk. Maybe they can help find them,” he said sympathetically. “I’m sure they’ll turn up. This place is friggin’ huge.”
I thanked him absently and ran to the entrance to speak to the attendant.
“I can’t find my children!” My heart was beating at what felt like a thousand beats a minute. “Please help me!”
“Calm down, ma’am,” the young attendant said. “What are their names and where would you like them to meet you? I’ll page them.”
“Dylan and Remi,” I gulped out, tears starting to roll down my face. “They need to meet at the table for Jessica Walton’s birthday party.”
He bent to put his mouth near a mic and pressed a button. “Dylan and Remi, please join your mother at Jessica’s birthday party!”
“Thank you,” I breathed, pushing the hair off of my face. I felt claustrophobic, suffocated and sweaty.
“Go back to the table and wait a few minutes. If you don’t find them, I’ll get some staff members together to help find them. They’re probably already at the table by now.”
Staff members? I wanted to scream, but it wasn’t this kid’s fault that I was scared out of my head. He had no idea that my nut job ex-husband had made threats or what was really scaring me. I didn’t just think they got lost; I thought they’d been abducted.
“Is there a back door to this place?”
“Sure, the employee entrance, but that is in the breakroom, and customers aren’t allowed in there. There are a couple of fire entrances, but those have been covered. The alarm sounds if they’re opened.”
“Okay.” I turned around to retrace my steps back to the birthday party, and as I approached, I looked for any sign of my son or Remi. There was no sign of either of them.
Jensen ran toward me, flanked by the two security guards. “Oh, God,” I cried seeing him without the kids, a sob breaking free. Jensen’s frenzied expression said it all. My hands curled into the front of his shirt as his arms went around me. “Where are they?”
He swallowed hard; his expression was pained. “We climbed to the top, and they wanted to go down the biggest slide again. Two other kids were with us and got between Dylan, Remi and me. When I reached the bottom, they weren’t there. I looked all over for them.”
I felt faint, my knees started to buckle, and thankfully Jensen’s arm slipped around me for support.
“We’ve been scouring this place, top to bottom,” Tom said. “I’ll keep looking.”
“There is an employee entrance.” I pointed toward it. “Look outside and in the break room or whatever they have,” I said. It didn’t sound like my voice. I felt as if I heard myself from underneath a mile of water. “How could you lose them?” I screamed at Jensen, pulling away just enough to pound on his chest with both fists. Over and over, I hit him. “How could you let them out of your sight? I trusted you!”
He grabbed both of my wrists but didn’t try to stop me from beating on him as tears ran in rivers down his face.
“It was an accident! I didn’t want to come to this goddamned party in the first place! Maybe next time you should listen to me!”
I stopped my assault and looked up into Jensen’s face. His skin flushed, and his brow furrowed; anguish was written all over him.
I realized he was right; we shouldn’t have come here no matter how much the children protested. I closed my eyes and started to sob, tears squeezing out from between my closed lids. I went limp in Jensen’s arms, sobbing my heart out and clutching at him like a lifeline. He caught my weight, pressing my head into his chest. “We’ll find them, babe. We have to. I won’t rest until we find them.”
From somewhere far away, I heard Mitch on his walkie talkie. “We’ve got a situation. Send back-up to the PlayDaze on a hundred and thirty first. We have to lock this place down. Two small kids are missing.”
JENSEN
The next several hours passed in an anxiety-filled blur.
Security called nine-one-one immediately, and within minutes the birthday venue was swarming with local police officers and FBI agents; sirens screaming, and the parking lot was filled with flashing red lights and a SWAT team van.
The facility was placed on instant lockdown, and no one was allowed to come or go. An Amber Alert had been issued, and the police questioned Missy and me until we were ready to scream. The other children and adults attending the party went through questioning, as well. Thankfully we were able to find the two kids that went down the slide after Remi and Dylan.
Missy sat at one of the tables with her arms wrapped around herself, silently crying and dabbing at her eyes, while FBI agents and local law enforcement arranged to have Missy’s phone tapped, and her apartment surveilled. I paced back and forth, feeling helpless; it was as if the world was ending. My little Remi and Dylan had to be terrified, and it was all my fault. Guilt threatened to suffocate me. I could barely look at Missy; fearful her face would be full of the loathing.
A gruff and weathered man identifying himself as Agent Mills, the field agent supervisor, walked over to ask more questions. He smelled like an ashtray, and his chin was marred by a deep and ragged scar. He looked like he’d cut a few years off of his life expectancy from doing this job. “We need to contact the other child’s parents,” he said, keeping his voice low.
I rubbed a hand down my face. How would I explain that I was one of her parents? How would I tell Teagan and Chase that I’d lost Remi along with Dylan? This would be rough. “I should do it. Remi’s father is Chase Forrester, so—”
“The soccer player?” he interrupted. I could see the admiration flash over his face as I nodded in affirmation. “The press will go wild.”
“Yes. I’d like to keep it quiet until I can tell Chase’s wife. She’s pregnant, and Chase is out of town until tonight. He’s flying in from Kansas City around 5 PM, so he’s probably on his way already.” I knew it would kill Chase to tell him when he could do nothing until he got back to Atlanta.
“What airline? I can call and have them expedite him off the plane and have someone from my office pick up him up at the gate, but we need to get this out to the press a.s.a.p. so the public can help us recover those kids.”
“I understand,” I said wearily. “Don’t you already have the Amber Alert?”
“Yes, sir. It’s the first thing we do in cases of child abduction.”
The situation was surreal, like something off of a TV crime series. This couldn’t be happening in real life.
Missy was visibly trembling. I could see her shake from where I was standing twenty feet away, and I wanted to comfort her. As I started in her direction, Agent Mills fell in step beside me. I sat down and pulled her close against my side. I could see her try to push her emotions down, but a broken sob burst from Missy, and she buried her face in the curve of my neck and shoulder. I felt like hell. My heart ached, and I wanted to lose it myself, but instead, I steeled myself for the long hours and days to come.
“Those poor babies,” Missy cried softly. “I have to call Teagan.”
“I think we should get over there,” I murmured in her ear. I wasn’t sure how I’d get to Teagan before she heard it on the news or got the Amber Alert on her iPhone, but she couldn’t hear about it without either Chase or me by her side. “Can I take Missy home?” I asked the FBI agent. “Maybe over to the Forrester house
so we can be with Teagan, too? I don’t think she should hear that her daughter is missing over the phone.”
“I don’t want to leave,” Missy protested. “You go tell Teagan. I have to help find the children!”
“Ma’am,” the older FBI supervisor interjected gently, bending down to speak to her. “It’s too dangerous for civilians to get in the way of us doing our job. We’ve scoured this place top-to-bottom. The children aren’t in the building. The best way to help is to be patient, and maybe call the suspect from a safe location so we can trace his phone. You can help us figure out what he’s after. I know this is painful, but is he a pedophile?”
“No. But, he’s abusive and controlling. He used to beat me. I did my best to protect Dylan, but I wasn’t always successful.”
“Ehh,” Agent Mills was disgusted, wiping his lower lip against the back of his wrist. “I get so sick of these fucking slimeballs.” He realized he’d cursed. “Oh, sorry.”
“It’s nothing I’m not thinking, trust me. His company is dead broke. He needs money,” I added.
Missy looked up at me, questioning. “He does? How—?”
I nodded, still holding her close, but meeting her gaze. “Chase found out when he had Ellington investigated.”
The man nodded. “Okay, that’s probably the motive for taking the little girl, too. Do you know the PI agency? We need anything they’ve got.”
I nodded and dug a card out of my wallet and handed it to him. “Perlington Investigations,” I said the name of the firm.
“They’re top-notch. The good news is, the suspect is most-likely still in the city, but either way, he’ll probably be in touch with you. You just have to wait it out. I’ll have a couple of agents escort you over to the Forrester home.”
“Derrick told me he had my attorney killed in Jackson Hole,” Missy admitted reluctantly.
The agent sighed, and his eyes widened at the gravity of her revelation. “When?”
“He told me in Philadelphia last weekend when I was at a game, but it happened a couple of months ago. My lawyer’s name was Richard Anderson. His wife and son were also killed.”