Stolen Son: A gripping psychological thriller that will have you hooked

by Cole Baxter

  “It’s fine, Jacob. I’m just going to take a little nap anyway,” I lied.

  “You do seem to have a very special interest in everything with the case. As a matter of fact, you were trying to get one of my men to give you details that aren’t to be released to anyone outside of the victim’s family.”

  Jacob’s face flushed a deep red, the rage evident just below the tense surface of his oily skin. “I have a right to look out for Annabeth. She doesn’t have anyone else around here. Have you seen anyone?”

  Reyes, to my surprise, seemed angered by Jacob. “Are you in an intimate relationship with Ms. Simmons?”

  “What?” I stammered, interjecting before Jacob could speak. “Of course we are not in an intimate relationship!”

  “Annabeth,” Reyes said, carefully turning back to me and once again cutting an enraged Jacob from the conversation, “I didn’t mean to cause you any more stress. Sometimes, I have to asked questions that don’t make much sense. Would you like us to leave?”

  “No,” I said softly.

  “I think that would be best,” Jacob said suddenly. “As a matter of fact, I think that you have been through enough. I think I should handle the police from here on out. It’s obvious that they are stressing you out even more.”

  I glared at Jacob. “My son is the one missing. I am not some frail damsel in distress, Jacob. I can take care of myself.”

  His passive smile only served to anger me more as he spoke softly, like he was trying to appease a child’s tantrum. “Of course, you can.” Jacob turned back to Reyes. “Let’s go get this over with.”

  Reyes rolled his eyes but shot me a sly grin. “You have my card if you need anything, okay? Don’t hesitate to call me anytime, day or night, if you think of anything that might help the case.”

  “You promise you will tell me if you find anything?” I whispered to him.

  “I give you my word as an officer and as a parent.”

  I nodded my head, ignoring the look of anger on Jacob’s face as Reyes stepped from the room. All I wanted was a little time by myself to really process everything that was happening. I also wanted to see my mother. From what I’d been told, the only visitor I’d had during my stay was Jacob. Even if he could be brash at times, I couldn’t lose the only friend I had.

  “I’ll be back to talk in a little bit, okay?” Jacob said softly. “Just let me handle this clown first. Is there anything that you need?”

  I shuddered. “I just want my son back.” It was all I could think of. “Just find him and bring him back to me. He’s already lost a father he never knew, and I’ve lost the only man I’ll ever love. Bring him back to me.”

  “Don’t say you’ll never love again,” Jacob said, his congested tone like nails on a chalkboard. “You will always have me.”

  “I know, but I don’t see you like that,” I whispered to him as a reminder. “You know that I will never love you in that way. But you are such a wonderful friend.”

  He said nothing in reply, and for that I was grateful. I couldn’t handle any more of his drama. As if losing everything wasn’t enough, I was still reeling over what Reyes had told me. My own mother hadn’t made the effort to come and see me. She did blame me for what Tom was going through. It was worse that I couldn’t find anything else out about my brother. If he died, it would be yet another death that I was responsible for.

  My attacker’s words haunted me as I tried desperately to shake them from my mind. His thick breath, stinking of alcohol, was just as strong as the day I first smelled it. Chapped lips scratched at my tender skin as he whispered into my ear.

  ‘You are the reason he’s dead, bitch. You just couldn’t keep your legs closed. I hope you know that you will always have your worthless husband’s blood on your head. I’m gonna hurt you so much that you’ll wish you’d never met that useless piece of shit.’

  “No,” I said to the empty room. I squeezed my eyes shut. “No! It wasn’t my fault!”

  Chapter Four

  “His hands are around my neck. I can feel them,” I choked.

  “That’s okay,” Gloria softly pressed. “How far around your neck do they go? Can you tell me?”

  “No.” I swallowed back against the dryness in my mouth. “He’s choking me, I—” I gasped. “I just have to keep fighting. It hurts! Everything hurts.”

  “Okay, Annabeth, I want you to come back to me now, okay?”

  “Stop,” I whispered.

  Images of my life after the kidnapping flashed in front of me between the searing pain of my memories. I had to remember the details. I had to know everything that could help them find out who took my boy.

  “They are big, his hands,” I said quickly. “And rough, always so rough. The calluses dig into my neck.”

  “Can you smell anything?” she asked.

  Something pungent filled my nose, jolting me out of the trance and back into the hospital room. Instantly, my cheeks flushed red as I recalled what the smell was.

  “He, um . . . he liked to urinate after he was done with me.”

  “Oh,” Gloria said softly. “I think that we’ve done enough for now. You have made some big strides today. I don’t want to push much further and risk a breakdown. Have you heard anything from the police?”

  I shook my head. “No, but, um, the detective on the case seems to know what he’s doing. He has children himself.”

  “Really?” she said, her eyebrows raising.

  I blushed. “It’s nothing like that. I have confidence that he is going to find Gregory.”

  “You haven’t spoken so highly of a man besides Greg in the ten years we’ve been working together. That’s something I would like to explore later on at some point.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, knowing that compromise was key to our relationship. “But not right now.”

  “That’s understandable,” she said. “I think we need to go back to the man who took Gregory. You are sure that it’s the same man.”

  “Why else would he come for him? He’s sick. He thinks my baby is somehow his. I don’t understand it. I was pregnant already. And look at Gregory. You can’t deny that he is Greg’s.”

  She smiled affectionately. “I know. He looks just like him. Even his build is the same. But wouldn’t it be easier to get a DNA test and close this down once and for all?”

  “It doesn’t matter to me,” I snapped quickly.

  “Your captor, though, the man you believe took your son, has some attachment to him. It might help the case if you took a DNA test.”

  “I don’t want to, okay?” I shuddered.

  In my heart and mind, I knew that Gregory was Greg’s child. His namesake shared so many of his father’s features that it was often like I was looking into a memory from my past where Greg was a young man. My heart was pounding. What if I was wrong? What if somehow, the results came back and showed that Gregory was the offspring of my rapist? Shuddering, I shook my head once again.

  “No, it’s not possible. We have to find a different way to get him back. I just have to keep pushing myself. The memories will come to me. Something will help us to catch him.”

  She patted my leg soothingly. It was nice to have her there. Her eyes darted to the clock and I knew that our time together was almost up.

  “Please, Doctor,” I whispered. “Please just let me go under one more time. There has to be something of importance that I’m forgetting.”

  “And you will find it, okay? We don’t want to break down those walls though. Remember what we talked about? Your mind is protecting you from what happened. If he smashes through that wall, I can’t be sure of your ability to cope with it all at once.”

  “But think about Gregory,” I blurted out, the tears now flowing down my cheeks. “I can’t imagine how scared he must be.”

  “Tomorrow, I will come back here, okay? We can try again, but for now, you need to rest.”

  I nodded in agreement, though it wasn’t what I really wanted. “Have you seen my m
other?”

  Gloria nodded softly. I could always count on her to tell me the truth no matter how painful it was. “I did stop in and see her. She is dealing with a lot of pain right now. Don’t let her feelings weigh too heavily on you, okay? I know that you feel guilty, but you need to shake that off.”

  “Tom was stabbed because of me,” I reminded her. “How am I supposed to not feel guilty about that?”

  “Tom was stabbed because a maniac is obsessed with you. That is not your fault.”

  “How did he find us? Why did he find us? What’s his obsession with me and my son?”

  “Those are all very good questions, and once they catch him, I’m sure that you will get the answers you are looking for. But you know that I don’t have them. All I can do is help you to unlock the pieces of your past that are missing.”

  “Which you won’t do,” I grumbled.

  She chuckled softly. “Now, now, you know that we can’t rush this sort of thing. Just give it time.”

  A soft rapping at the door made me look up quickly. My heart raced at the possibility of Reyes returning so soon to give me an update. When my lumbering friend’s head poked through the door, I smiled at Jacob. He’d apologized for being so protective over me, and I easily forgave him. I needed someone reliable like him in my life. Gloria bristled at the sight of him but said nothing, smiling politely as she rose.

  “I will see you tomorrow, Annabeth. Try and get some sleep tonight, okay?” Her eyes darted back to Jacob. “Don’t let anyone keep you from taking care of your needs.”

  “I won’t. I’m just going to wait up a little while longer and see if my mom makes it up. I know she’s worried about Gregory and Tom.”

  “She will be up. I’m sure of it,” Gloria said in her comforting tone.

  Jacob cleared his throat and Gloria shot him a look that could kill before slipping out the door. I wasn’t thrilled about his coming back. My mind had gone over details that I hadn’t had to think about in a very long time. I could at least stay awake long enough to spend a few minutes with Jacob, though, especially knowing that he’d been down to see my brother.

  “How is Tom doing?” I asked.

  He sat in the chair that Gloria had left behind. I didn’t like how close he was to me. His massive weight brushed against the bed, dangerously close to my legs. Fighting the urge to tell him to move, I scooted my body away a little. The move didn’t go unnoticed by him, though he didn’t say anything about it. Some things weren’t ever going to change.

  “He’s holding on, thank God,” Jacob said. “I can’t imagine what you must be going through.”

  “No.” I winced. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. Thankfully, detective Reyes seems more than capable of handling the situation.”

  “Reyes?” Jacob snorted. “That joke?”

  “I don’t think that he’s a joke,” I snapped back.

  I’d been holding his card in my hand during the session with Dr. Andrews. It brought me comfort as I flicked it between my fingers. The edges were slightly worn down from constantly folding them back and forth. I let my mind wander a little bit as Jacob fell silent. He saw the card in my hand and instantly bristled.

  Before I could react, Jacob snatched the card from my hand. Instantly, I pulled away from him, glaring at him. “What the hell?”

  His eyes grew wide at my language. “Wow, I just wanted to look at it. I don’t think it was right of him to put this kind of pressure on you.”

  “Pressure? It’s just a business card, and I think it was nice of him to be so worried.”

  “You actually like that little snot? He was rude to me, tried to intimidate me with his questions.”

  “What kind of questions?” I asked him.

  He rolled his eyes and shook his eye, “Nothing that you need to worry about. I think that I should handle the police from now on though. It’s obviously too distressing for you.”

  I frowned. Reyes hadn’t stressed me out at all. In fact, he was more soothing to me than I cared to admit to Jacob or anyone else. I shook my head softly.

  “I don’t think I need you to take care of them for me. But thank you for offering. I want to work with the detective. He seems so sure that he can help me find Gregory.”

  “Junior will be fine,” Jacob said, doing his best to comfort me.

  “Gloria thinks that I should do a DNA test,” I said softly. It wasn’t that I wanted to share the details with Jacob, but I had no one else to talk with about it.

  His eyes lit up a little at the break in the case. He’d been trying to push me to do a DNA test for years. I couldn’t understand his obsession with it, but then again, Greg hadn’t really been his favorite person. Knowing that Gregory wasn’t really Greg’s son would probably give him some strange justification in the matter. Even now, he had to assert that he was right about the situation.

  “Finally, something we can agree on. When are you doing it?” he spat out, practically jumping from his seat.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m not going to do it. There is no need. She even admitted that Gregory is Greg’s son beyond a shadow of a doubt. You know Gregory and you knew Greg. There is no denying his blood. We just have to find the sicko who thinks they have some claim to him.” I tried to grab the business card again, but he jerked his massive body away from me. “Just give it back to me, okay?” I snapped.

  He shook his head. “This isn’t you, Annabeth. You aren’t this grabby, rude woman I see now. You are kind to a fault. You’ve always been that way, though,” he reminded me.

  “Please just give it back, Jacob. Detective Reyes is the first man I’ve met in a long time who doesn’t look at me like I’m damaged goods.”

  “What about me?” he whined.

  I chuckled softly. “You have never looked at me in that way. You’ve always been such a good friend. Especially now with Gregory missing. I just know that Reyes will be able to find him.”

  “Jesus, Annabeth, he’s a cop, not a god,” he said in a sharp tone.

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “You can keep the card.”

  “It’s nice to see that you are finally letting some good sense get into that brain of yours. I will deal with him and the other police officers. You just need to focus on getting yourself better.”

  “I don’t need you to protect me, Jacob,” I hissed.

  His face turned a deep red. I instantly regretted the harsh words. Before I could stop him or even reach out in a rare show of affection, Jacob was on his feet, pacing near the door.

  “You know, I don’t have to be here!” he blurted out at me. “I don’t have to be sitting here taking this from you. All I’ve done is try to help you, and I can’t even touch you, but this joke with a badge comes along and suddenly, I am chopped liver.”

  I shuddered in fear, his words so harsh. “Jacob, I’m sorry. You really have been an amazing friend. It’s not like that—”

  “Right,” he interrupted. “I’m such a great friend. Would someone who’s just a friend be here with you for two goddamn days? Would they be fielding every officer and question that the doctors have for you?”

  “I know,” I said, my throat dry. “I’m sorry. Please, just come sit back down.”

  “No!” he said, his tone cold. “You don’t need me to protect you, remember?”

  “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just so worried about Gregory.”

  He sighed, his temper cooling as he sat back down in the chair. His hand slid up the bed, resting next to my leg but not touching it. He was right on the fence of my comfort zone, but I didn’t move. My body was frozen. I didn’t want to risk pushing him away again. Then I would be entirely alone.

  “I just want you to trust me, Annabeth. After everything that we have been through together, just a little bit of trust.”

  I nodded without thinking. “You are absolutely right. You can keep the business card. I shouldn’t have tried to handle it all myself anyway. I’m just so worried.”

&n
bsp; “And the DNA test?” he pressed.

  I closed my eyes and tried to think about what Gloria had taught me. I had to come to grips with these decisions on my own, without letting others influence me. If I told Jacob that, though, I knew he would be upset all over again.

  “I promise that I will think about it, okay?”

  “Fine,” he grumbled.

  I watched him slip Detective Reyes’s card into his wallet and noted that he already had several other cards in there. It was a small thing to give him if it meant keeping him happy. After all, I’d already put Reyes’s information into my phone.

  Chapter Five

  “Okay, Annabeth, everything looks good. You are ready to be discharged,” the nurse said as she read over her clipboard. “It looks like we’ve released you into your mother’s care for now. The doctor doesn’t want you driving for a few days. She should be up here soon to get you if you want to get dressed.”

  “Thank you,” I said, still in shock that Mom would be the one to take me home. “Do you know how my brother is doing?’

  She smiled softly. “He’s a fighter, that’s for sure. His condition is still not great, but he’s a little more stable. Every day that he keeps fighting is another win for us.”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said in a hushed whisper. “Do you know if I can go down and see him?”

  The nurse shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. Dr. Andrews seemed to think it would stress you out more.”

  My cheeks blushed. “She spoke to you about me?”

  Instantly, her eyes widened in apology. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t think you’d want the doctor to know that you were her patient, but I’ve worked with her in the past for my own issues. She really is wonderful.”

  “Agreed,” I said with a breath of relief. “Okay, well I guess I’ll just wait on my mother then.”

  The woman nodded and left me alone, my clothing folded up at the end of the bed. It didn’t matter that my physical wounds had since healed. The emotional ones were bad enough that I felt like a cripple as I climbed from the bed and started to get dressed. My body was pale and thin, too thin for me to appreciate. I’d barely eaten since arriving at the hospital, my nerves too shot to consider a meal.