“I told you I don’t believe in divorce,” he called out to her but knew it wouldn’t do any good. Alex shook his head. He was foolish for leading her on. He hoped by the time she figured him out that she’d be head over heels in love. She was head over heels in love, he reminded himself, but not to the man she thought he was. He covered his face and wondered how he could ever get out of the mess he created.
Alex sat there looking at the papers. Kimberly didn’t want anything from him. Then again why would she, he thought. Kimberly knew nothing about him or his family farm before she arrived. She came for a divorce from a man she got drunk with nine years before. He hated to sign it but knew he had to. She would never agree to stay even if he asked. He could hear her calling Ariel to say goodbye. Alex knew the time was up and just finished signing his name when he heard her scream.
“Alex, I can’t find Ariel!”
He jumped up from the table and ran into the living room. The television was still on. The toys were on the floor. Kimberly was down the hallway calling out to his daughter. Ariel’s bedroom door was flung open, but she wasn't inside. Kimberly came rushing out from the bathroom shaking her head. He raced into his room, searched the closet and under the bed, but his daughter wasn’t there. Kimberly told him that she did the same thing to the room she stayed in. Together, they searched the entire house and went out in the front yard. “Ariel!” they both called out but knew, where ever she was, Ariel couldn’t hear them or cry out for help.
Alex was headed towards the barn when Kimberly called him back. “Her doll,” she cried. “She was just playing with it.”
He looked down at the ground. Kimberly picked up the doll. Alex noticed tire tracks that were too small to belong to his truck. He kicked himself. He didn't hear a car but guessed what happened. While they were in the kitchen arguing over his identity, Misty must have slipped inside the house and grabbed Ariel; right from under their noses. "Misty must have taken her," he said then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the police. “Hey, Gavin. It’s Alex. I think Misty took Ariel.”
Chapter 22
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG for Gavin Ewin and another squad car to arrive at the house. Alex was pacing back and forth and growing impatient. Kimberly sat on the porch steps and let the tears roll down her cheeks. She blamed herself. If she hadn’t been arguing with Alex in the kitchen, Misty wouldn’t have been able to get to Ariel. She wanted to hold him and comfort him, despite what happened, but he was angry. She wondered if he blamed her too.
They both ran up to Gavin when he got out of his car. An officer followed and took notes as Kimberly and Alex told them everything they knew. Judging by the amount of time that passed since their feud, they knew that Misty couldn’t have gotten too far away. They planned a search party, and Gavin called in more authorities to shut down the main roads that led out of town. "They're putting out an AMBER alert too."
“I’m going to find her,” Alex informed Gavin. If anyone knew where Misty would go, it would be him. He was about to jump into his truck when Gavin grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“Leave your weapon home,” Gavin demanded. Alex's frustration grew. He lifted his shirt and handed his pistol over to Gavin. “You won’t have Ariel back if you kill Misty. You’ll be in prison. I can do a lot of favors, but you know I can’t sweep murder under the carpet.”
Kimberly stood back and listened to the men. She’d never seen this side of Alex before. He was enraged, but she understood why. Ariel was all he had. She knew now that he didn't have a brother. He had a good reason to be angry. She watched as Gavin calmed him down.
Alex began to cool his heels. “Then what’s the plan?”
“I ordered the roads to be blocked. She can’t get too far.” Gavin explained the situation to another officer that arrived and gave orders. “I’m going to head over to the hotel to see if-" he started to say but Kimberly cut him off.
“Hotel?” Kimberly shook her head. “I thought you said there weren’t any around here!” She turned away and stepped toward the porch steps.
Alex wanted to say something to her, apologize again, but knew it wasn't a good time. His problems with her could wait. Ariel's whereabouts were more important.
MOMENTS LATER, ALEX and Gavin left to search for Misty. Kimberly sat on the porch and watched them leave. Gavin asked her to stay behind. She was fine with that. As much as she wanted to look for Ariel, she didn’t know the area and knew she’d only get lost herself. Gavin had entered his phone number into her phone and gave her instructions to call him at once if she saw anything unusual.
The quietness around the house rattled her nerves. Even when Alex was out in the field, she always had Ariel home with her. Kimberly knew the little girl couldn't speak to her, but she managed to make noise while she played. She sat on the porch and thought about everything that happened; all the lies that Alex told her... losing Ariel. It was too much for Kimberly, and she broke down.
After drying her eyes, she called Janie. It had been a few days since they talked, but she needed to hear her best friend’s voice. “I’m coming home,” she spoke when Janie answered.
“I’m glad you came to your senses,” Janie replied.
Her words caused Kimberly to bawl again. She explained everything to Janie. “So as soon as Ariel is home safe,” she told her, “I’ll head to the airport and will take the first flight out.”
"Kim," Janie spoke. "I feel bad. I've given you nothing but a hard time over this whole situation but never wanted to be in the 'I told you so' mode. I'm sorry." There was a pause on the line. Neither of them spoke. "I'll see you when you get here," Janie finally said. "Bye."
EVERY MINUTE THAT PASSED made Alex worry more. Misty was nowhere to be found. Gavin called and told him that the road blocks weren’t producing anything. Cars were stopped, but there was no sign of the missing girl. Alex went to Misty’s parent’s house. He knew they weren’t to blame for their daughter and the problems she created.
Her parents were different than she was. Alex allowed them to see their granddaughter and always kept them up-to-date on Ariel. He always made it a point not to talk about Misty to them. As much as he hated her, he knew they loved her. It was a shared respect that they had for each other. When he arrived at their house, he explained what was going on. "Have you seen Misty and Ariel in the last hour?" he asked.
Misty's mother cried when she heard the news. “I didn’t know Misty was back in town,” she informed Alex. Misty’s father stood beside them and nodded in agreement.
Alex thought that was strange. He wondered why she wouldn’t visit her parents. Misty was up to no good and didn’t want her mother and father to suspect anything. She must have been keeping something from them. Alex couldn’t help but ask. “Do you know if she’s been using again?” Drugs were the biggest reason Alex kept Ariel from her mother. When she returned the first time, and wanted to be a part of Alex and Ariel’s lives, she admitted drugs kept her away when Ariel was an infant.
“She must be,” Misty’s father answered. “What else could explain this bizarre behavior?”
The thought scared Alex more. Misty was on a mission to see their daughter; first showing up at the house then returning and threatening him that she’d tell Kimberly the truth about Ryan. He should have known that she wanted something more than a few minutes to hug Ariel. Misty was frying bigger fish, and it scared the hell out of him to think Ariel was her bait.
He thanked her parents then continued looking for her. They agreed to call him directly if they saw or heard from Misty. When he got inside his truck, the phone rang. It was Gavin.
“Bad news,” Gavin informed him. “The clerk at the hotel said that Misty checked out about 45 minutes prior to the time you reported Ariel missing.” He could hear his friend scream in anger. “If she drove out of town right away, our road blocks aren’t going to do a thing. She would have passed them before we started our search. We still have the AMBER alert out though. Don't lose hope.”
Ch
apter 23
ALEX AND GAVIN MET up and started looking for Misty together. As they drove up and down streets, looking for anything that would reveal her hideout, Gavin looked over at Alex. He sensed something, other than his missing daughter, was wrong. Alex's face had never been so grim. Gavin wondered if he was missing more than just Ariel. “I couldn’t help notice the tension between you and Kimberly.”
“Not now,” Alex complained. He kept his eyes on the road and looked for the slightest clue.
“You were arguing when Misty took Ariel. What happened?”
Alex punched the door with the side of his fist. “I said not now.”
Gavin was quiet for a couple of minutes but then brought the subject back up. If anything, talking about his problems with Kimberly would distract Alex from the task at hand. “Come on,” he started. “I’m your best friend, and I know something is wrong. Talking about it while we comb these streets is not going to delay finding Ariel.”
“She’s my wife,” Alex stated. “Or, at least, she was until I signed the divorce papers thus the argument we were having.”
The news shocked Gavin. He had so many questions but could only manage to say, “What?”
Alex explained everything to his friend. “We were young, and drunk, but I fell in love with her that night,” Alex chocked on his words. “I thought she loved me too. Turns out, she was more drunk than I was. It’s been nine years, and she came for a divorce.”
“That is some weird shit,” Gavin exclaimed. “You know, I helped her the day she came here. She couldn't find the farm. She said she was looking for Ryan, and I thought that sounded bizarre. Why did she go bat shit crazy when I mentioned the motel?"
"I told her 'Ryan' was out of town, hoping to get her to stay a while and get to know me again. When she asked for a local room, I told her Pottersville didn't have one."
ALEX WAS SILENT FOR a while. His eyes were focused on the streets, but his mind was stuck on Kimberly. She was good with Ariel, and he knew that her heart was breaking too. Ariel is the reason he asked her to stay. She needed a mother. “I knew I loved her. I never forgot her. In all those years, I didn’t forget. When she showed up on my doorstep, I thought I was getting another chance.”
“You should have been honest with her.” Gavin shook his head as he replied.
Alex laughed at the thought. “Seriously?” he asked. “Tell her that I was still in love with her? You think that sounds better than the way I handled it?”
“Better to have her think you’re insane than to think of you as a liar.” Gavin frowned.
Alex was a hardworking man, and everyone agreed with that. He'd always been trustworthy; someone to count on. Apparently, he had a different side when it came to matters of the heart. The truth was that he lied his pants off for weeks to keep Kimberly by his side.
Alex didn’t say anything. He paid close attention to every person they passed; every car. Ariel had to be somewhere close, but it was getting dark. His eyes grew tired. Alex decided to go home. He knew there wasn’t much more he could do but wait until the authorities had a lead.
Kimberly was sleeping on the couch when Alex walked in. He didn’t want to wake her. Her puffy eyes told him she spent the evening crying. Alex sat next to her and covered her with a throw blanket. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her. Apologizing wouldn't make things better, but he prayed that she'd forgive him. His heart broke in so many places, and it was all because he lied to her. Kimberly wouldn't be there if he told the truth. Ariel would still be home because he wouldn't have been arguing with Kimberly when she was abducted. Alex looked at Kimberly and wished she would hold him.
KIMBERLY DIDN'T STAY asleep for long. She couldn't. Hearing Alex come home woke her. She chose to keep her eyes closed while she found the strength to talk to him. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes. “No luck at all?”
Alex reached for her hand as she sat up, but Kimberly pulled it away. She was concerned about Ariel but wanted nothing to do with him. “Not yet,” he told her. “I thought you’d be gone by now.”
Kimberly sighed. How could she leave while his daughter was missing? His lies upset her, but she couldn't leave while Ariel was gone. She wished that there was something she could do to help. Throughout the day, Kimberly considered jumping in the station wagon, but her sense of direction stopped her. Instead, she spent a lot of time in Ariel's room and prayed. Now that Alex was back without the little one, she knew those prayers hadn't been answered. Not yet at least. “I don’t want to leave without saying goodbye to her,” she finally answered.
ALEX WENT TO THE ARM chair and sat there. The thought of going to bed crossed his mind. He knew the last time he was in it Kimberly was too. It was too much for him to think about. He watched her adjust the blanket and close her eyes. There was nothing she could do but, as he watched her, he realized there was nothing he could do either. Alex leaned back and tried to sleep.
It was useless. As tired as his eyes were, Alex didn’t sleep at all. His thoughts were all over the place. At dawn, the sound of his cell phone woke him and Kimberly. He answered as fast as he could. “Gavin, anything?”
On the other end of the phone, Gavin told Alex what he learned during the night. “I had the bank trace her account. It took a long time, but they were able to detect a purchase at a gas station about an hour from here.”
Alex jumped up with excitement. It was the first lead they had. “Tell me where. I’m going.”
"I don't think that's a good idea," Gavin said. "If she thought that you were nearby, Misty would take off again. They’ll call us as soon as they find her,” he instructed Alex.
“That is not good enough,” Alex shouted. He looked over to Kimberly who sat on the edge of the couch waiting to hear what was going on.
“Alex, listen to me. The police chief said they had a lot of suspicious drug activity going on over there. If Misty was back into that scene, she’d show up.” Gavin yawned on the other end of the phone. “I've been awake all night, and I'm not letting her get away. Try to get some rest and trust me.”
GAVIN’S INSTINCTS WERE right on track. He knew Misty would get involved with the drug deals that were going on. Within the hour of talking to the other police officer, his phone rang. They found her.
“We placed a team of undercovers at the scene. Not only did we have a large drug raid, but we found the woman in question.”
“What about the little girl, is she safe?” Gavin wanted the book thrown at Misty, but that was the sheriff in him. Wanting to know about Ariel's safety was both his profession and personal.
The officer continued. “Found her too, and she’s safe in our precinct. Poor thing was in the back of her mother’s car, without a car seat, and the windows were up. We’re holding the mother for possession of controlled substances, child endangerment, and kidnapping. The little girl isn’t saying anything, except asking for her daddy, but she’s here and ready for you to pick her up.”
In the excitement, it appeared Gavin didn't hear what the officer said about the little girl asking for her daddy. He only heard that Ariel hadn't said much, but smiled. “No, she can't hear or talk.” The news thrilled him so much, and he couldn't wait to get Ariel home safely. “I’ll be there right away to pick her up.”
KIMBERLY PACED BACK and forth on the porch. Alex fell asleep on the chair, and she didn’t want to wake him. His phone hadn’t rung all morning, and that worried her. She knew that they had a lead but wasn’t sure if that meant anything or not. Time was ticking, and the longer Ariel was away, the more her heart broke.
In the distance, she heard a car. When it came into sight, she realized that it was Gavin’s. “Alex,” she cried out. He didn’t answer. “Alex!”
ALEX JUMPED UP WHEN he heard her voice calling out for him. He ran out onto the porch and saw Gavin’s car approaching. His heart sank into his chest and feared the worst. Why didn’t he call? Why was he there in person? Kimberly approached him and stood close. He wa
nted to hold her hand but didn’t push it. They looked at each other when Gavin stepped out of the car.
“I have someone here who misses you both,” he exclaimed. He opened the door and Ariel ran out towards them.
Alex ran to her and swooped her up in his arms. Ariel wrapped her little hands around his neck and listened to him cry. Kimberly rushed over to them and kissed the little girl on the head. She never felt more relieved. “Thank you,” she told Gavin. Alex was still too shaken up to say anything.
“You don’t have to worry about Misty anymore,” Gavin told them.
“I’ll kill her if I see her again,” Alex sobbed. He placed Ariel down and inspected her body for any harm. She had no traces of any kind of abuse other than a couple small bruises where her mother yanked her. He cried more in relief.
“No need. I hear women’s prisons are the worst, and they got Misty on several charges.”
"Why would she abduct her?" Alex assumed he knew the answer to his burning question, but hoped Gavin could shed some light on the subject.
Gavin patted his friend on the shoulder. "I didn't see her, but I asked the arresting officer the same thing. He told me that Misty kept repeating herself, saying nobody had a right to keep her child from her. She needs a lot of help, man."
Alex shook his head. She needed to do time, and he was glad to hear she would.
AFTER MAKING SURE THAT Ariel was alright, Kimberly said it was time to go. She gave Ariel a long hug and kiss goodbye. “Gavin, would you mind taking me to the closest place to rent a car?”
"Kimberly, please don't go." Alex cried. His pleas went unanswered. She wouldn't even look him in the eyes.
Romance Me: A Collection Of Standalone & First In Series Books Page 20