DON'T LIE TO ME: Eva Rae Thomas Mystery #1

by Rose, Willow

  "How do we do this?" Matt asked, rubbing his hair frantically. "It could be one of those, but it could also be in one of the other containers. How do we even check them? We have to turn the ship around. We need a forklift to get them out. We might have to go through all of them." The sound of deep despair was seeping through his voice. "And by the time we get to the right one, Elijah might be dead."

  "I'll talk to the captain," Chris said and was about to leave when I heard something.

  "Wait."

  "What?" Matt asked.

  I signaled for them all to remain silent, then walked closer to the stacked boxes. I put my ear to one of them when I heard it again.

  "I hear something," I said. "It sounds like…a scraping!"

  "It could be a rat," Chris said. "Plenty of them on ships like these."

  Matt's face lit up. He disappeared for a second, and we heard glass being broken, and he returned with a fire ax between his hands.

  "Which one?"

  "Matt," I said. "You can't do that. You risk hurting him if he's inside."

  "Which one?" he said again. "Where did you hear the noise from?"

  I swallowed. "Middle row…the one on the very end, but…Matt."

  "Elijah, this is your father. If you can hear me, move away from the sides of the box. Move into the middle. I’m coming in!"

  I tried to protest once again, but he wouldn't listen. Matt swung the ax at the bottom of the box, and it cracked. He swung it again, and this time it went through. He then reached up and peeked inside. I could hear him sobbing between agitated pants. He looked inside the box, then reached in and grabbed something.

  A second later, he pulled a lifeless body out of the box by the legs. He grabbed him in his arms, then staggered toward us, his face torn in pain and anguish. I rushed to him and helped him put the boy down on the ground.

  "Is he…?" he asked.

  I felt for a pulse but found nothing.

  "He must be alive, right?" Matt asked. "I mean, you heard him; you heard the scraping. He must have been alive then, right? That was just a few minutes ago…?"

  He looked at me as if I held all the answers, while I frantically searched for the boy's pulse. I shook my head, then placed my hand on the boy's chest and pushed it down, then blew air into his lungs. I kept repeating this for a minute or so. It felt like an hour. Meanwhile, Matt sat on his knees. He cried and prayed for his boy to be alive. I blew one more time into his lungs, then I put my ear to his chest and heard a heartbeat.

  "I got a heartbeat!" I yelled. "I've got a heartbeat!"

  I stared at Matt, whose eyes lit up in the middle of the gloom.

  "I did," I said. "I heard his heartbeat. I can feel it now. His pulse. He's alive, Matt. He's alive!"

  Matt laughed and grabbed the boy in his arms, then held him up. He rocked him back and forth while repeating that he was going to be okay, over and over again.

  Chris had the coast guard call for help, and soon a helicopter arrived, taking both Matt and Elijah with them. I looked after them as they were airlifted into the chopper, my heart jumping with joy.

  We had won one. This time, the victory belonged to us.

  Chapter 72

  "Mommy, wake up. Please?"

  Rylan grabbed his mother's cold hand and pulled it. When that didn't help, he kissed her like they did in the story of Snow White. He had been reading it to his baby sister, Faith, over and over again for the past few days, not knowing what else to do. Their mommy had to have been very tired since she was still sleeping.

  "I'm hungry," Faith whimpered and held her stomach.

  Rylan was too. They had eaten all the crackers they had found in the cabinet on the first day. The box was empty, and now their stomachs were growling again. There was a box of Cheerios in there too, and now Rylan grabbed it and started to eat out of the box, then handed it to his sister. The milk in the fridge smelled bad, and they didn't want to drink it. There was some juice left, and he poured them each half a glass, then the jug was empty. Then they drank and ate while looking at their mother in her bed. They hadn't left her side since the first morning they had woken up and realized she hadn't.

  "I’m still thirsty," his sister said as she emptied the juice glass.

  "There's only water now," he said.

  He grabbed a chair and pulled it close to the cabinets, then crawled up and found a new glass for her before pulling the chair to the fridge and crawling up on it, managing to fill the glass with water. He then slid down and handed his sister the glass that she drank from greedily. When she was done, she gave him one of those smiles that their mother loved so much.

  "I miss Mommy," his sister said, almost crying again.

  "Me too," Rylan said. "She will wake up soon. She was just really tired."

  "Do you think she's sick?" Faith asked, standing in the doorway to the bedroom, looking at their mother.

  Rylan shook his head. "She's not warm. She doesn’t have a fever. She's very cold."

  Faith wrinkled her nose. "She smells funny."

  Rylan nodded. He had noticed it too. And the night before when he had crept into her bed and laid close to her, he hadn't been able to hear her heartbeat like he usually did. And she hadn't put her arm around him as she usually did. And this morning, the smell was worse than the day before, and he had to hold his nose when he went to check on her and see if she had finally woken up.

  "Mommy needs to take a shower," Faith said and grimaced.

  "She will," Rylan said. "As soon as she wakes up. She's just really tired; that's all."

  "But she needs to take care of us," Faith complained, the sides of her mouth turning downward. Rylan hated when her mouth did that and rushed to hug her.

  "Shh," he said like Mommy used to. He also stroked her hair the same way she used to do it and spoke the same words he believed she would have said:

  "Don't worry. I'll take care of you until she wakes up. Don't worry, baby girl."

  Faith sobbed a few times, then stopped. Rylan felt awkward trying to act like Mommy. He really wished she would hurry up and wake up soon because he was running out of hugs and nice words to say.

  Chapter 73

  "Your son has been quite disruptive in class."

  Miss Melanie looked up from her papers. I sunk into the seat, feeling like a child at the principal's office. It was a quarter past three before I made it there, and me being late didn't impress Miss Melanie much. I had been late because I was on the phone with Matt, who called me from the hospital to let me know that Elijah was awake. He was severely dehydrated, and as soon as they got his levels back up, he opened his eyes and looked at Matt, then told him he was hungry for spaghetti and meatballs. He couldn't walk, though, since his legs were still too weak from not being used for two months.

  "I’ve seen the notes," I said. "The ones you have him bring home."

  She folded her hands in front of her. "We can't have this type of behavior in class. It's unfair to the other students."

  "Listen," I said. "His dad and I are going through a divorce. He hasn't seen his father for several weeks now since his dad has been…well, busy. I know that the divorce must be taking a toll on him, with all the changes and the moving and all. I’m sure that, as soon as it all settles down and we get into a good rhythm, then he will calm down too."

  Miss Melanie nodded. "I am aware of your situation, and I know these things can be very traumatizing for a young child, but I still think there is more to it than just that. I believe he is a child that needs a little extra attention, and I suggest we have him tested for…"

  Oh, no. Here it comes. She wants him tested for ADHD.

  "I am sorry," I interrupted her. "I don't think that's necessary. If we only give him a little time to settle down, I’m sure he will get better. Just give him a little time."

  Miss Melanie cleared her throat. "Ms. Thomas, I really think he could benefit from being tested…"

  "But I don't. These kids, once they get a diagnosis like that, it w
ill follow them for the rest of their lives. It'll be in all his records, and he’ll be stigmatized. I don't believe in labels. And then they'll want to medicate him. I don't want my child to be popping pills at this age. I don't think it’s necessary and I believe too many children run around with a diagnosis on them when all they need is a little attention or help to get through a tough situation. I don't think my son has ADHD; I just think he's going through a rough patch right now, as are we all."

  Miss Melanie looked at me in a questioning manner. She shook her head lightly.

  "Who mentioned anything about ADHD?"

  I gaped. "Uh…you did?"

  She chuckled. "I most certainly did not. I was asking for your permission to have him tested for our gifted program. We believe your son is very smart and that he isn’t getting the challenge he needs in school. We often see kids act out and become very vocal under these circumstances. I think your son could benefit tremendously from our program. With your permission, I'll have him tested, and he can join as soon as possible."

  I stared at the woman in front of me, wishing for a small space I could crawl into. Me and my big mouth.

  "So…do I have it? Your permission?" she asked.

  I nodded, biting my tongue. "Where do I sign?"

  Chapter 74

  I had barely entered the house before I could hear the kids screaming and yelling at one another. Alex was shooting his toy police gun at Christine, while she was eating a sandwich, and Christine was yelling at him to stop.

  "Hi, guys," I said and entered the kitchen.

  "Mommy!" Alex yelled, then threw himself in my arms. I hugged him tightly, reminding myself how fortunate I was that it wasn't my kid that had spent two months locked up in some box. I held him for a little longer than he cared for and, as soon as I let go of him, he stormed into the living room.

  Christine was on her phone, grumbling something.

  "What's with you?" I asked.

  She sighed, then grumbled again. I couldn't hear what she said. I walked to the coffee maker and made a fresh pot. Two nights with barely any sleep made it hard to keep it together. It was going to require a lot of coffee to make it through the day.

  "So, I’ve been thinking," I said. "About next week. How about you take Friday off and then go early to see your dad? Make it a long weekend? I haven't talked to your dad about it yet, but thought I'd call him tonight and plan the details."

  "It doesn’t matter anymore," she said, not looking at me.

  "What do you mean?" I walked closer to her. "Did something happen?"

  She stared at her screen, punching it harshly.

  "Christine?"

  She finally looked up. "He canceled, okay?"

  "He canceled?"

  "Don't act so surprised," she said. "You never wanted us to go anyway. You probably told him to cancel."

  "I did not."

  I said the words, but she didn't believe me. She shook her head at me.

  "You ruin everything, do you know that? Everything. Dad says so too. He says you ruined your marriage. It was all your fault."

  Ouch.

  "Listen, honey. I know you're upset, but it isn't my fault your dad canceled. I’m sure something came up, maybe work. He's been gone for quite a while. He needs to make money at some point."

  She stared at me, her jaws clenched, her nostrils flaring slightly. "It's all your fault. The divorce, the move, everything. Why did you have to ruin it? We were doing fine in Washington. I was happy there. Why did you have to change it?"

  "Honey, when two people decide to…"

  "Oh, don't give me that," she said with a sniffle, then slid down from her stool. "You don't care about any of us. You never even asked us if we wanted to move down here; you just decided to do it. You don't care about anyone but yourself. You're so selfish!"

  "You think I’m selfish?" I said. "Your dad is the one who left. He just left us all. And now he doesn't want you anymore. He doesn’t want to see you. He has moved on. He has a new woman now. He wants to marry her someday. He has a new family now. And you think I’m selfish? At least I’m here; at least I’m not going anywhere."

  My daughter stared at me, her eyes wild and angry.

  "You're lying! You're nothing but a selfish liar!" she yelled, then ran up the stairs. A second later, I heard the door to her room slam shut and music blasting so loud her sister started to yell for her to turn it down. In the living room, Alex knocked over something big, and it shattered with a loud crash.

  I sank into a chair with a deep sigh, then hid my face between my hands, thinking it didn't matter how hard I tried; I simply couldn't win in life.

  Chapter 75

  As she whistled through the air, eyes closed, prepared to hit the water, Maddie was certain it was the end. She would most definitely die now. But as she plunged through the murky water, she felt very much alive, and soon after, she swam toward the surface.

  Maddie gasped for air as she poked through and saw the blue sky above her again. She couldn't believe her luck. But as she looked back at the house behind her, where she had jumped from, she realized it wasn't over yet. Her captor was coming out the back door and rushing toward the canal.

  Half in panic, Maddie started swimming. Living in Florida, most kids learned how to swim at a very young age, but Maddie hadn't had that luck. Her mom hadn't taken her to swimming lessons and, therefore, she was fairly old before she learned and wasn't among the best of swimmers. That meant she had to fight to swim fast, and it wasn't easy. Maddie whimpered while pushing her way through the dark water, trying to keep the thoughts of what lurked underneath the surface at bay.

  Her captor reached the seawall and was yelling at her. Maddie panted and swam as fast as she could when she heard an engine start behind her and turned to look with a gasp. Her captor had wired his boat down from his dock and was soon rushing toward her. Maddie tried to scream but got water in her mouth and coughed instead. As she saw the boat begin to move toward her, she pushed herself even harder, trying to swim as fast as she could, panic eating at her.

  Please, dear God. You've helped me get this far; please, help me get away. Please, God.

  Maddie splashed in the water, panting as the boat came closer and closer. The engine roared behind her like some wild animal and Maddie was about to cry helplessly. As it came really close, and the man reached his hands down toward her, Maddie took in a deep breath, then dove down into the dark water and started to swim in the opposite direction, going underneath the boat. She kept swimming with all the strength in her small body, underneath the water, getting as far away as possible from the sound of the boat, pushing herself until she could hardly take it anymore.

  Finally, she swam to the surface, then turned to look. The boat had disappeared far down the canal, and her captor hadn't realized what had happened. He was still looking down into the water, searching for her in the wrong place. It would take him a while to turn the boat around and, by then, she could be long gone.

  Maddie made sure not to make a sound, then continued to swim down the canal, staying close to the seawalls and the houses. She made it down another canal, then heard an engine approaching from behind her. With a gasp, she swam underneath a dock and held onto the pillars while the boat rushed past her, the engine roaring loudly. She stayed there till it got dark and she finally dared to let go again and plunge herself into the water. As she swam again, she thought she heard a sound coming from the mangrove she had just passed and turned to look, staring straight into the eyes of an animal. Maddie had been living in Florida most of her life and knew exactly what she was looking at.

  Gator!

  Frantically, Maddie splashed her arms to get away from it, then reached a dock and pulled herself out of the water just in time. She crawled onto the grass, panting in exhaustion, and lay on her stomach for a few minutes, catching her breath before realizing she couldn't stay there in case her captor came back. She had to keep moving.

  Chapter 76

  My mom ha
d invited us for dinner so, after taking a nap, I told Alex to put on his flip-flops, then walked upstairs to get the girls. I knocked on Olivia's door and peeked inside.

  "Hi there. You ready to go?"

  She took off her headphones, then groaned. "Do we have to go? I can't stand the food she serves."

  I sighed. "Me either, but it means a lot to Grandma and Grandpa that we come over. It was one of the reasons we moved down here. So you kids could get to know them better. Plus, it means I don't have to think about dinner tonight. It's a great help."

  Olivia scoffed, then rose from her bed. "It's not like you cook anyway. We could just order pizza again."

  I gave her a look. She chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'll go. But I won't eat anything."

  I laughed. "That bad, huh?"

  "Worse."

  Olivia walked down the stairs, and I heard her talking to Alex while looking for her flip-flops. I hurried to Christine's room and knocked. The music had stopped. I hoped that meant she wasn't angry anymore.

  "Christine? We're getting ready to leave."

  I opened the door, and my heart dropped. She wasn't there.

  "Christine?" I asked and looked in her walk-in closet and then her bathroom, but she wasn't there either.

  That is odd.

  I walked back into the hallway, then to the stairs, where Olivia and Alex were waiting. Their eyes rested on me.

  "Are we leaving or what?" Olivia asked.

  Alex had grabbed his fire ax and hat. I could tell he couldn't wait to go play with his grandpa.

  "Have you seen Christine?" I asked.

  Olivia shook her head. "No."

  My heart started to beat faster in my chest. "She's not downstairs?"

  I walked down toward them, then into the kitchen, then the living room, and finally, I checked the backyard. No sign of my daughter anywhere.