Dancing at Daybreak

by Valerie Comer

  He’d phoned the police, his mind stuttering that Dixie could have stooped to kidnapping, but what else could he think? Who else would do such a thing?

  The policemen had fired a billion questions at him, and he’d answered as best he could in his daze. He’d been in the backyard, shoveling. Yes, she missed her mama. No, she’d never run off before. Yes, she could probably reach the deadbolt if she stretched.

  Why, though? That was Dan’s big question as the officers called in MUPU, the Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit, to begin a search.

  Tony stepped into the ring of officers surrounding Dan. “Basil’s in Seattle. He sounded genuinely shocked and said he hadn’t seen Dixie since the night of the Christmas concert.”

  It had been a long shot. Basil Santoro might have a thing for Dixie and a penchant for too much booze, but Dan couldn’t imagine him acting criminally against a child.

  Outside, darkness had fallen with an accompanying drop in temperature. Snow fell.

  A small child like Mandy would need shelter to survive a night like this.

  Dan dropped his head and drove his hands through his hair. Oh, God, please help us find Mandy! Whatever the messes of her parents, she doesn’t deserve this.

  His phone buzzed with an incoming text, and he grabbed it up.

  Call 911. From Dixie?

  The police had already sent someone to her apartment, but Tanisha hadn’t seen her since the day before. She pointed out Dixie was probably in the laundry room or visiting a neighbor, though, since her jacket and purse were in their places. Her car was home, too.

  He showed his phone to the nearest cop. The guy narrowed his gaze and nodded. “Phone her back.”

  Dan tapped her number. It rang then went to voice mail. “It’s Dan. Call me.”

  Silence reigned for what seemed like a long time, but nothing happened.

  He jerked to his feet and paced to the patio door, where Buddy’s little car sat under the overhang while snow blew beyond it. He’d have to shovel again tomorrow. He’d need to plow parking lots tonight.

  No. He couldn’t. He tapped his dad’s number. “Hey, Dad. A bit of an emergency here. Mandy’s missing.”

  He could all but see the frown on his father’s face. “She what? It’s twenty below and snowing.”

  “I know.” All too well. “Listen, can you drive the Bobcat tonight? I can send you the list of parking lots that are my responsibility. Joe and Dennis have their own lists.”

  “Yeah. Guess so. But what’s with the kid?”

  “I don’t know. The police are here. They’ve called in searchers. If you were the praying sort, I’d ask you to pray.”

  Dad harrumphed. “I’ll tell your mother. Need help?”

  Wow, unexpected. “Just with the plowing. I’ve got the Cat parked on the trailer here. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

  “Do that.”

  Fran’s hand touched his arm. “May I take the boys to my house for the night?”

  “I...” Could he let them out of his sight when it seemed Mandy might not have just wandered outside on her own? Someone besides Dixie must have snatched her. But who?

  One of the police officers conferred with Fran at Dan’s nod, offering an escort. Fran’s husband, Tad, was obviously torn between helping with the search and staying with Fran and the children, but the officer convinced him to go home and keep watch.

  Dan hugged the two little boys while Fran gathered a few clothes from their room upstairs. Then they drove away as Marietta trudged down the sidewalk.

  He held the door for her. “Marietta, you didn’t have to come.”

  “Of course, I did. Antonio says the little girl is missing. I cannot help search, but I can make coffee and sandwiches.” She jabbed her finger into the chest of the police officer beside Dan. “You know where my house is. You send people there to warm up and eat, yes?”

  “It would be better for this house to be headquarters.”

  Marietta rolled her eyes. “And how am I to bake cookies in someone else’s kitchen? My bread, my cans of tuna, everything is at my house.”

  The officer’s eyes softened. “You want to start cooking, ma’am, go for it. We might haul provisions down here, though. One of the neighbors can see to it.”

  “Humph.”

  In any other situation, Dan might have found her expression funny. She obviously wanted to be at the center of everything. He gave her a sideways hug. “Thanks for being so thoughtful.”

  She looked around. “We have a prayer meeting before I go back home, si?”

  “Please.”

  Jasmine slipped her arm around her nonna. “Then I’ll come help you cook.” She patted her slightly rounded belly. “The little one would rather I didn’t spend the night outside.”

  Nathan stepped up beside her. “And the little one’s father thinks that’s a great idea.” He turned to Dan. “But I’m in on the search, no matter how long it takes.”

  “Prayer first,” insisted Marietta. She marched into the center of the room and clapped her hands before launching into an impassioned plea to God above for Mandy’s safety.

  Half of it was in Italian, but Dan got the gist. He choked back tears, barely keeping his emotions in check. He’d be of no help if he fell apart now. Mandy needed him to think clearly. Please, Lord.

  An officer answered his phone, holding up his hand for silence. Everyone but Marietta obeyed. The man’s gaze found Dan across the crowded room, and he jerked his head.

  Dan wended his way around the room toward the front entry as hope bubbled. “What is it?”

  “A woman driving south on Maple saw a phone drop out of a car window in front of her. She swerved to miss it then stopped to pick it up before someone ran over it. The screen was cracked, but the message app was still visible. The last delivered message said Call 911. There was one word on the next line that hadn’t been sent. Simply Mom.” The officer stared hard at Dan. “The phone is in a silver glitter case, and it’s registered to Dixie Wayling.”

  Dixie. He took a deep breath. “That’s the text I got, then.”

  The cop nodded. “Someone’s gone to get the phone from the woman who called it in. There might be other clues.”

  “What kind of car? Gray Buick?”

  “Yes. She didn’t get a license plate, though. You know the car?”

  “Dixie’s mother. Eunice Wayling.” He rattled off her address and showed her phone number to the cop, who stepped aside and called his superior.

  “Gray Buick?” asked Rebekah Roper, who lived down the street. “I’ve seen a car like that in the neighborhood several times lately. Goes really slow to the other end by Adriana and Myles’s, turns around, and comes back.”

  “Would the child open the door to this woman?” asked the police officer.

  Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “She probably would, yes.”

  The big question was, what would Eunice want with Mandy? And with Dixie...

  Dixie cradled Mandy against her side as the little girl relaxed into sleep. The lights of Spokane disappeared in the distance, and swirling snow stabbed through the headlights at the windshield.

  Mom was driving too fast for road conditions. The car slid a little here and there, but Dixie couldn’t hear her cursing — though she saw the lips move — over the rock music blaring from the radio.

  All she could do was pray... and hope for a chance to escape when her mother finally stopped for fuel. Maybe Ritzville. Maybe not until the Tri-Cities.

  The panic had subsided. Mostly. Whatever was going on, her mother wouldn’t purposefully hurt her or Mandy. Would she? Dixie closed her eyes.

  God, it’s me again. Dixie. I don’t know how to pray, but Juanita says You hear us when we talk to You. I know I’m one of Your newest kids, but I’ve got kind of a big problem, and I don’t know what to do. My mom’s gone loony, and she’s, uh, kidnapped us.

  Her eyes sprang open. Really? Kidnapped? That’s what it was called when someone
forced others to come with them against their will, wasn’t it? That meant her mom was a criminal.

  I love my mom. Best to be completely honest with God. Or, at least, I care about her. And I really love my daughter. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her. I don’t want her scarred for life. Can I trust You?

  A measure of peace settled over Dixie like a soft downy duvet. Juanita said God was always with her, caring for her, and she could kind of feel it. She stared out into the night, but it didn’t seem quite so black.

  That prodigal son had faced a deep darkness, too. He’d sensed a light shone somewhere, if he only returned to his father’s house. Juanita had told her about a verse — she couldn’t remember where — about God calling people out of darkness into His wonderful light.

  So, Dixie needed faith. She needed to put her hope in the God she’d met just a few days ago. She needed to let Him prove He was trustworthy.

  I’m doing my best to trust You.

  “With the phone call, and with the vehicle matching the description of the child’s grandmother’s car, we believe there is zero probability the child might be out wandering the neighborhood.”

  The unspoken consolation — no chance Mandy would be found in the icy river. A teensy tiny part of him still feared that, even though all evidence pointed to Eunice.

  “So, we’re calling off the ground search. State patrol is watching for a car matching her license plate number and description.” The officer turned to Dan. “Any clue where she might be going?”

  Dan rubbed his temples. “I couldn’t tell you, no. Eunice has lived in Spokane all Dixie’s life. I don’t remember her talking about friends or family in other places. Mind you, she never had any use for me, so I haven’t spent a lot of time with her.”

  The police officer nodded. “We’ve alerted Idaho and Oregon, as well as the Canadian border. She’s got to stop sometime, and we’ll get her then.” He touched Dan’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about your little girl.”

  The reassuring words wouldn’t stop his anxiety. Only God could do that.

  A murmur of voices as a few people gathered their coats and went out into the cold night, their services not required after all.

  “I phoned Nonna,” came Tony’s quiet voice. “She seems disappointed no one needs her sandwiches.”

  Dan managed a grin. “I’m not hungry.” His stomach growled. “Or I didn’t think I was, but I guess we never had supper.”

  Nathan chuckled. “I’ll go up and get the food. Be back in a few.” He headed for the door, shrugging into his coat.

  It wasn’t even nine o’clock. How could Dan think about eating when he didn’t know where Mandy was?

  Or Dixie. He let his mind go there for a brief moment. The relief when she’d proved not to be behind the little girl’s disappearance had nearly dissolved his knees. Dixie had issues, no doubt about it, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She’d tried to reach him to get help. Thankfully the stranger had rescued the phone from the street instead of driving over it.

  Eden, Sadie, and Rebekah left the house, Rebekah with six-month-old Theodore in a baby wrap on her chest. Soon they were down to one police officer and the men from Dan’s prayer group.

  He looked around, meeting each pair of eyes in turn. Jacob. Wade. Myles. Peter. Alex. Tony. Wesley. Marco. Pastor Tomas. Only Tad and Nathan were missing, each on his own related mission.

  Marco spoke. “Time to pray, my brothers.” The men draped their arms across each other’s shoulders, tightening into a circle, and bowed their heads. “Jesus, we come.”

  Dan listened as, one after the other, his friends raised his and his family’s concerns to the Lord, offering an amen to each other’s prayers, and continuing to pray, back and forth across the circle in no discernible pattern.

  He was vaguely aware of a place opening for Nathan when he reentered the house, of the officer tapping on his laptop over at the table, but most of him was consumed by the brotherhood these men had freely offered.

  Dave Junior had never been at his side the way these neighbors were. Little held them together besides Ranta blood. But, here, in the family of God, he belonged. No matter what happened, how this night played out, Dan knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God would never leave him. He’d sent His ambassadors to surround Dan and lift him up.

  22

  “I wish that guy would stop tailgating me with his high beams on.” Mom adjusted her side mirror. “It’s an interstate. There’s an entire free lane to pass me if he wants to go that fast.”

  Dixie shifted in the backseat, settling Mandy’s head on her lap. She stroked the tangled curls away from her daughter’s face. The glare from the vehicle’s lights illuminated the car. Mom was right. It was following very closely, and that took some doing since Mom had been flying right along since they’d left Spokane.

  Mom tapped the brakes, and the car fishtailed slightly on the snowy pavement.

  The guy flashed his lights.

  What on earth?

  Then a siren screeched, and red and blue lights strobed the darkness.

  Mom cursed and stomped on the accelerator.

  Dixie’s breathing hitched. Memories of the night Basil ran a police block slammed into her, but he’d been driving under the influence. Mom wasn’t, at least not that Dixie could tell, but she was definitely being influenced by something. She might not be the sweetest, most loving, mother and grandmother on the planet, but Dixie had never felt afraid of her before.

  Dear God, it’s me again. Dixie.

  Not that she’d really stopped talking to Him for the past couple of hours. She’d been praying for an opportunity to get away from her mother. Whether the police were after her mother for speeding or something else, this would be her best chance. She waved both arms, hoping they’d show in the bright glare of the headlights.

  “Stop it, Dixie.”

  “Mom, pull over. You can’t outrun the police.”

  In reply, Mom sped up and moved to straddle the dotted line as though trying to prevent the car behind them from passing, but it fell back.

  Dixie felt fear burgeon again. Why weren’t the police forcing Mom off the road? But then she heard a bump-bump as they flashed by a vehicle at the roadside, and Mom wrestled with the steering wheel as the car turned into a sideways skid.

  The air blued with Mom’s frantic snarls as she struggled to regain control, and Dixie shouted prayers in an attempt to cover the curses, pressing her hand over Mandy’s ear and keeping the little girl down.

  They were going to crash. Mandy wasn’t in a booster. Would the lap belt give her whiplash?

  Frenzied thoughts whirled through Dixie’s mind in the few seconds before the car slid off into the median, pivoting to face the direction they’d come. Lights and sirens from three police cars filled the air.

  Mom growled and pounded the steering wheel then tried to drive out, but between the snow on the ground and what was probably punctured tires from spike strips, the car only slid a few inches to the side.

  The driver’s door was yanked open and a police officer shone his flashlight in Mom’s face. “Eunice Wayling? Out of the car. You are under arrest for kidnapping.”

  Mandy sat up, tears pouring down her cheeks, and she reached for Dixie.

  “Oh, baby.” Dixie pressed the little girl to her chest. “Everything will be okay now.”

  If only she could prevent her daughter from seeing her own grandmother clasped in handcuffs. If only she didn’t have to see it herself, but she couldn’t turn away.

  “I want Dan—” Mandy hiccuped. “I want Daddy.”

  “I know, baby. Soon.” Emotions roiled over Dixie as fear ebbed. Would Dan understand she had nothing to do with this? Would he believe her when she told him she’d prayed with Juanita just a few days ago?

  The beam shone into the backseat. “Dixie? Mandy? Are you okay?” The male voice was gentler than the one demanding her mother’s exit from the car.

  “Yes, sir.” />
  “Let’s get you two somewhere safe.” He opened the door, and Dixie climbed out, reaching back for Mandy. Her daughter was nearly too heavy to carry, especially up the slippery slope, but Mandy attached herself around Dixie’s body and refused to let go. With a police officer assisting from either side, Dixie made it to the nearest car carrying her burden.

  Just over from them, Mom was pushed into the backseat of another vehicle, hands behind her back.

  Dixie’s heart clenched. She wanted to rush over there, assure the cops that her mother was innocent. That she was a loving parent and would never do anything as horrific as kidnap her child and grandchild. But Dixie couldn’t do that. It had happened, and her mom had to face the consequences.

  The radio crackled as the officer climbed into the driver’s seat. “Suspect in custody.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at Dixie and gave her a lopsided smile as he picked up the handset. “I have Dixie and Mandy Wayling safe. Proceeding to Franklin County’s Sheriff’s Office for debriefing.”

  “They’re safe in Pasco.” The officer rose from his position at the table then stretched both hands over his head until something cracked.

  Dan — all the guys — had heard the report coming through the scanner. They’d taken a break for Marietta’s sandwiches then returned to the business of praying. Now they all grinned at each other, the relief in the air palpable.

  Dan turned to the officer. “How are they getting home? Can I go get them?”

  “You sure, man?” asked Tony quietly.

  “That’s my little girl. She needs me.” And then there was Dixie, somehow a victim in all this as well. Yeah, he wanted to see her again, too. He wanted to wring her neck then hug her tight and never let go.

  “I’ll make a call.” The officer turned away. In a minute, he returned with a slip of paper. “You’re cleared. Here’s the address.”

  That had to mean Dixie knew he was coming. He had her permission.

  “I share Tony’s concern.” That was Jacob. “If it were just Mandy, I’d understand, but there’s Dixie, too. How does that work with the lawsuit and all?”