by CJ Simpson
Startled by her cell phone ringing, Kat answered it when she saw that the caller was Rhonda. Kat had almost forgotten that it was her turn this week to bring the boys to their Faithweaver class. She explained where she had been and stated that she would bring the boys home after class ended. Rhonda was sorry to hear of William’s death and worried that her friend might sink into a state of depression. She invited Kat to come to the house so they could talk, but Kat wanted to go inside the church. She wanted to have another conversation with God.
Chapter 23
Seated comfortably in a pew, Kat bent her head and silently murmured a prayer. When she was done, she looked straight ahead and focused on the cross that was displayed above the altar. Kat studied the figure of Jesus and thought about what it meant to see Him nailed to the cross. Tears began to well up again in her eyes as she realized what her Redeemer sacrificed for her.
Her thoughts drifted back to William and how peaceful he had looked in his hospital bed. As she kneeled, she hung her head and drooped her shoulders.
“Kat?” She looked up to see Daniel standing in the aisle. He became concerned when he saw that she had been crying.
“We meet again, it seems.” She smiled weakly.
“Are you all right?”
Kat sniffled and shrugged her shoulders. “I will be.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“You got all day?”
“I’ll be glad to listen.” Daniel smiled at her warmly.
Kat realized that when she first arrived, there was nobody in the sanctuary, so she wondered where Daniel came from. She also wondered how long he had been standing there.
As if he read her mind, Daniel replied, “Something came up the other day when I was here and I had to leave. So I decided to come back today and finish the job.” He pointed to the sound system in the back of the church.
He sat down in the pew in front of her. “You look like you lost your best friend.”
She smiled sadly at Daniel and described the events of her day, right up to the moment she saw William lying on his deathbed.
“I feel so lost.” She lamented.
“I can certainly relate to that.” Daniel agreed. He appeared forlorn, as if he knew exactly what Kat was feeling at this very moment.
For the next hour, Kat and Daniel talked about past relationships and what they learned from them. Daniel was hesitant to talk about his ex-fiancé because he felt it was inappropriate considering what Kat had just been through. However, she took comfort in his company and insisted on hearing his story. She listened with great interest as Daniel explained how he had found his older brother in bed with his fiancé the night before their wedding was to take place. The maid of honor decided to crash the bachelor party after Daniel left. Much alcohol had been consumed and one thing led to another.
Kat stared at him in disbelief, shocked that a family member could do something so cruel. “And I thought my problems were bad,” she mumbled. While the circumstances of their situations differed greatly, they shared one thing in common. They both had lost someone they cared about deeply.
Daniel rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, it wasn’t a good day for me.” Shaking his head, “It’s something I’ve tried to forget, but it’s kind of hard to do that when the guy she had the affair with is your own brother.”
They sat together in peaceful silence. Then Kat spoke. “You haven’t talked to your brother since then?”
Daniel shook his head. “I never want to see him again. I’m afraid at what might happen.”
Kat reached for Daniel’s hand. She held it as the two sat there in their respective pews, comforting one another. It all seemed so normal to Kat to talk to Daniel about anything. Well, just about anything.
Daniel gave Kat his phone number in case she ever needed to talk. Since they both attended church services at different times, they weren’t sure when they would see each other again.
Kat looked at her watch. Faithweaver class was about to end. “Want to say hi to Tyler?”
“That’s the best offer I’ve had all day.”
When the classroom door opened, Tyler and Eli bounded out, looking for Kat. They saw her standing next to Daniel and ran up to greet her.
She squatted down and wrapped her arms around each child, her heart feeling lighter. It amazed her at how being around little children gave her the strength to put her problems into perspective.
“Mommy, how come Daniel came over here with you?” His innocent expression made her smile.
“I was working on the new sound system in the sanctuary and I saw your Mom.” Daniel explained, winking at Kat. “She asked me to come over so I could see you.”
“Oh.” Tyler pouted, noting the looks Daniel and Kat gave each other. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Lots of things, sweetheart. I’ll tell you about it later, okay?” She tousled Tyler’s hair and stood up, straightening her shirt. “We need to drop off Eli and get home.”
“Okay.”
As Daniel gave Kat a hug, he whispered in her ear, “Think about what I said, okay?”
“I will.”
That evening after dinner, Kat and Tyler snuggled up on the couch. She told him that William had gone to Heaven and that she went to the church to pray to God, to ask Him to look after him. She explained that Daniel was there to help her feel better about never seeing William again. She didn’t tell Tyler about William’s accident, nor did she tell him about her trip to the hospital.
While his mother slept downstairs, Tyler lay awake in his bed that night, tossing and turning. Confused and upset, he began to cry. He didn’t understand why Daniel convinced his mother that William had gone to Heaven. William was here on earth and he knew this to be true because William had given him a toy car. He didn’t like that his mother was sad because of Daniel. He liked William because William made his mother laugh.
He decided that he had to bring William back so his mother would be happy again. He sat up in bed then stood on his knees to look out the window where he saw that it was starting to become light outside. Clutching Froggy with one hand, he slid out of bed and walked over to his desk where he had put the little car William gave him. He stuffed both Froggy and the car inside his backpack that hung over his chair. Next, he took off his pajamas and dressed himself in the clothes he had on earlier that day.
Finally, he tiptoed downstairs and tried to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up his mother. Her bedroom door was always open and Tyler peeked in to see that she was sound asleep. He retreated back through the kitchen and opened the pantry to find some snacks in case he became hungry later. After zipping up his backpack, he slid his arms into it so that the bag rested comfortably on his back. He circled around the kitchen once more to the door that led to the basement.
The hinges on the door always creaked when the door was opened slowly, so Tyler gave the door a quick yank. He paused for a moment, listening for any movement his mother might have made.
When he was satisfied he didn’t disturb her, he descended to the top step and quickly closed the door behind him. He stealthily crept down the stairs and when he reached the bottom, he opened the door that led into the garage. He was tall enough now that he could reach the light switch easily and after flicking it on, the garage flooded with light. Tyler immediately spotted his bike and ran over to it. His gear was right where he left it from the last time he rode his bike, which was with his mother and William.
He put on his elbow and knee pads, but had a little trouble snapping on his helmet. He carefully held the two ends of the buckle strap underneath his chin and snapped it together in place. Good, he didn’t pinch himself this time.
Next, Tyler wheeled his bike to the side door where he would make his departure. He didn’t dare open the garage door for fear of waking his mother.
After he maneuvered his bike through the doorway, he closed the door behind him. It was time to find William and bring him back.
Chapter 24
; Darryl stared at his computer screen in disbelief. He had hit the jackpot. He had finally located the general whereabouts of his former instructor Kate Richards, also known as Katarina Richards-Brennan.
For hours, Darryl had sat in his chair, only to locate the article that lauded her contributions to the University of Millstone, but the article did not offer any information as to where she lived. It was by sheer luck that he had mistyped Kate’s name as Kat when he made his discovery. At first, seeing her true name didn’t register, but after he conducted additional searches, he was confident he found the right woman.
Darryl needed to be sure, though. He needed a phone number and after an exhaustive search, he concluded Kat’s number was unlisted.
Refusing to give up, Darryl had an idea that could work, but it was a long shot. If his work account had not been terminated yet, he could log in from home. Chances were good that his account was still active due to the large number of client accounts that needed to be reassigned to new sales representatives. Before he was fired, he had access to a nationwide database of phone numbers that were recorded as no-calls, meaning that those numbers were registered on a Do Not Call list. He prayed that Kat’s phone number was one of them.
Cursing under his breath, Darryl wondered why he hadn’t thought of this in the first place. He guzzled the rest of his beer and typed in the search field the website address of his former company. He easily located the employee login screen, and when prompted, he entered his username and password. He was in!
Giddy with excitement, Darryl spent the next few minutes navigating menus, looking for the call directory. It had been quite a while since he used it, even when he was working. When he found the directory, he was prompted to enter either a phone number or a last name, followed by city and state locations. Darryl carefully entered Kat’s name and waited with bated breath. He knew it would be several minutes before he would see any results. The national registry contained millions of phone numbers and since he did not know where Kat resided, he was forced to submit his query without city or state input.
After what seemed like an eternity, his computer screen flashed the results of his query. Only one name was displayed and it was that of his former instructor. Directly under her name was a phone number!
Darryl quickly copied the number onto a piece of paper and studied the area code. Using his favorite search engine, he found what he was looking for. His search criteria yielded the state and county in which Kat lived.
Taking his findings a step further, he located the website for public tax records by county and found Kat’s home address. Stunned, Darryl couldn’t believe his luck. He was finally going to get his revenge.
But Darryl wasn’t stupid. No, he had to think this through very carefully. Getting up, he went to the kitchen to fetch another beer. After all his hard efforts, he deserved a treat.
Half an hour later, Darryl dialed Kat’s number. He needed to be absolutely sure the phone number and address he’d located on the registry belonged to his former instructor. After the third ring, a woman answered.
“Hello?”
“Good afternoon. May I speak to Katarina Richards-Brennan, please?”
“Speaking. Who’s calling?” The woman sounded suspicious, as if to suggest that no one addressed her by that name.
In his best telemarketing voice, Darryl pleasantly replied, “My name is Jesse Holcomb and I’m calling from National Research on behalf of faculty who teach at University of Millstone. We’d like to offer you the opportunity to share your success stories—”
“—I’m sorry,” Kat interrupted. “Now is not a good time. Perhaps another day.”
Before Darryl could respond, Kat had terminated the call. Laughing maniacally, Darryl set his cell phone on the counter. He praised himself for his marvelous detective work as he reached for a fresh beer. As short as their conversation was, it was enough to convince Darryl that he had finally found his former instructor once and for all.
Now that he knew where she lived, Darryl could carry out his revenge. He would now be able to make her pay for the misery she had inflicted upon him. He would make her sorry for ruining his life.
But first, Darryl needed a plan. He wasn’t dim enough to just show up at her front door. No, he had to be professional about this. He would rent a cheap motel room and observe her movements over the course of a few days. He had to know if she had children, or a husband, for that matter. If so, he would have to wait until she was alone before making his move.
Darryl was excited. Things were finally starting to look up for him. He needed to make travel arrangements as he had a long drive ahead of him. Katarina Richards-Brennan lived over seven hundred miles away and he needed to prepare accordingly. Pleased with his accomplishments, Darryl returned to his bedroom. He was eager to start packing.
Chapter 25
Kat awoke that morning feeling somewhat disconcerted. She had been dreaming of William. He had taken her on a tour of a luxurious mansion after their lunch date. He showed her room after room and smiled at her as she oohed and ahhed over the massive floor plan. In fact, she was so enamored by the estate that she lost sight of William. As she searched and searched, she finally found him upstairs in the main wing. He was in the master bedroom, lying peacefully on the bed. His eyes were closed and when she tried to wake him up, he didn’t respond. Strangely, the room seemed out of place, as if it didn’t belong in the house. Rather, it resembled a hospital room. As Kat stood next to the bed, a machine began making beeping sounds. William had flat lined.
Her alarm clock had beeped incessantly until Kat reached over to silence it. When she glanced at the time, she was surprised to see that it was just past nine o’clock. Why hadn’t Tyler come in yet to wake her up? It was customary for him to come into her room on Saturday mornings to snuggle with her before watching cartoons.
Unnerved by her dream, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Maybe he’s in the living room, she thought. Kat got out of bed and went to the bathroom. When she emerged a couple of minutes later, she half expected to see Tyler in her bed, under the covers. When she didn’t see him, she walked out into the kitchen, then in the living room. No sign was evident that her little boy had been downstairs.
Could it be that he’s still sleeping, too? She wondered. Kat ascended the stairs and when she reached the top of the landing, she saw that Tyler’s bedroom door was wide open. That usually meant he wasn’t in his room. When she looked in, she saw that his bed had been slept in. She looked behind her at the bathroom located at the opposite end of the hallway. The door was open and the lights were off.
Becoming alarmed, she called out to him. “Tyler, where are you?”
Silence.
Maybe he’s in the playroom, she reasoned. Retreating back downstairs, Kat quickly glanced around her living room again. She pulled open the drapes covering the French doors that led onto the back porch, but there was still no sign of Tyler.
“Tyler!” she called out again. Warning bells in her head began to go off and a feeling of panic washed over her. Going through the kitchen, Kat headed for the basement. When she opened the door to the playroom and turned on the light, all she saw were toys scattered all over the carpet.
Turning around, she opened the other door that led into the garage. She noticed the overhead light was on and didn’t recall leaving it on the night before when she brought Tyler home from Faithweaver class.
“Tyler, where are you?” she screamed. She listened for the slightest sound and realized her cell phone was ringing. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could into the kitchen where her phone sat on the counter. Not bothering to check the caller ID, Kat yanked it from its charger.
“Tyler?” she shouted into the phone. She knew her son had memorized her phone number as part of his Taekwondo stranger-danger training.
“Kat?” It was Daniel. “What’s wrong? Is it Tyler?”
“I can’t find him! I looked all over the house and he’s not here!” Kat’s voice rose w
ith panic and she began to sob. “I—I can’t find my baby!”
“Okay. Kat—Kat, listen to me. Take a deep breath.” When he heard her exhale sharply, he said, “Keep looking around. I’ll be right over.” When Daniel hung up, Kat ran into her bedroom and tossed her phone on the bed. She grabbed the clothes she had on the night before and quickly put them on. Her body was full of adrenaline and her heart was racing. Stay calm before you end up hyperventilating, she warned herself.
After she changed, she grabbed her phone and ran back out to the living room. Her eyes scanned the foyer and she saw that the deadbolt on the front door was locked in place. One needed a key to lock it from the outside and since Tyler didn’t have one, Kat knew her son couldn’t have gone out that way.
She ran back down the basement stairs and opened her garage doors. As the double doors slowly opened, Kat noticed Tyler’s bike was gone. She ran over to where it normally sat and saw that his gear was missing as well. The side door caught her attention next. It had been left ajar.
She gaped at it in astonishment. Tyler would never go on a bike ride without her, especially without her permission. Had he run away? Was this really happening?
Kat heard the sound of gravel crunching and ran out of the garage, around the side, to the front yard. It was Daniel. He was just getting out of his truck when Kat caught up to him.
“He’s gone,” she panted, gasping for air. “He took his bike with him.” Tears sprang from her eyes.
Daniel placed his hands on Kat’s shoulders to keep her focused. “Could he have gone to any of your neighbors’ houses?”
She shook her head stubbornly. “It’s possible, but I doubt it. Rhonda took Eli to see her sister and Tyler knows that. He wouldn’t be able to get in their house, anyway.”