by Mark M Bello
“Thank you. Find Aisha,” demands Sarah, oblivious of the compliment and Ellington’s apparent interest in her.
“We’re doing our best.”
“We’ve reached out to all of the local newspapers, radio and television stations. Still waiting to hear something,”
Sarah tries to remain optimistic.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Billy growls, fresh from meetings with Michelle Delany and his captain.
He is immediately sorry he vented his frustration with the media in front of the grieving parent of a missing child.
“What does that mean, Detective?”
“I’m Billy—please call me Billy,” he insists.
“Okay. What does that mean, Billy?”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but the media is more focused on a different investigation, and I am pissed as hell because it distracts focus from your case. I’m trying to make Aisha front-page news. Let’s just say that I’ve encountered some difficulty with the brass.”
“Why?” Sarah is nonplussed.
“Because the other case involves a teenaged white kid.”
“Seriously? In this day and age, whether a child is white or black is an issue? That’s hard to believe.”
“Believe it.”
“What’s the other case?”
“Gilbert case.”
“I saw that on the news.”
“Exactly!”
“I watch the news all the time. There’s some talk about Aisha’s case. If they mention her, they pronounce her name wrong. But what can I do?”
“I’m doing everything I can to find your daughter. Believe me. I will not rest until she is home with you. Want some advice?”
“Sure.”
“If this were my daughter, I’d march myself into Captain Ellis’ office. I’d make her very aware that I know what is going on and that I won’t stand for it.”
“If Aisha was yours?”
“You bet.”
Billy Ellington is a good man to have in our corner
***
The phone in Captain Wanda Ellis’ office rings. The captain answers the phone on the third ring.
“Captain Ellis speaking, how may I help you?”
“Captain Ellis? This is Sarah Hayes. Do you know who I am?”
“Why yes, Ms. Hayes, I do. I want you to know we are doing everything we can to find your daughter. We have our best people on the case. What can I do for you today?”
“Your people promised me the media would be contacted, and I would be interviewed about my daughter. What happened to that interview?”
“We haven’t been able to make it happen yet.”
“Haven’t been able to make that happen yet, why?”
“Look, Ms. Hayes . . . I try to throw my weight around when I can, but I don’t control what stories the media feels are important and how much time they devote to a particular story, even when I know what they’re doing is wrong,”
Ellis is defensive. Sarah cuts her no slack.
“You mean like the fact the media is covering the Gilbert girl like a blanket, but there’s little mention of Aisha? Like that?” Sarah snaps.
“Yes, like that,” Captain Ellis concedes.
“I don’t know. You’re a captain. You control investigations around here, don’t you? You’ve pulled some people off my daughter’s case because the media likes the other story better, haven’t you?”
Has she been talking to Ellington?
“We follow the leads that come in. If we get leads, we need more people to follow them up.”
“It’s a vicious circle. Is that what you’re telling me? More media results in more leads. More cops are assigned. And that case gets solved while this one’s ignored. So, tell me, Captain, who’s running this place, you or the media?”
“Ms. Hayes. We are doing everything we can to find your daughter.”
Sarah explodes. “Then maybe I need to do something! Should I grab something, start crying and screaming, or punch you or one of your detectives? Would that get your attention? Maybe the media would come running! I punch you—you arrest me! The media would be all over that! ‘Crazy black mother punches police captain! Details at eleven!’ I’ll do that if it’ll help me find my daughter! How’s that sound to you?”
“I’m willing if you are,” Ellis sighs.
“The bottom line is a black girl’s life isn’t worth as much as a white girl’s life to cops, even in Detroit.
“My husband’s life wasn’t worth a dime to the cops in Cedar Ridge, and my daughter’s life isn’t worth a dime to the cops in Detroit. You know what, Captain?”
“What?” Ellis cringes.
“All you cops should be ashamed of yourselves!”
Sarah Hayes slams down the receiver.
Chapter Thirty-Three
After three days in captivity, Aisha Hayes is learning that screaming and crying produces results.
“I have to go potty!” She screams. “I am going to pee in my pants! Hello? Hello! I have to go! Hurry!”
The door opens, and, as always, a blast of light blinds her. The big arm is back. It grabs her again, this time, more gruffly than before. This person is getting tired of hauling Aisha to and from the bathroom all the time.
All Aisha can think about is being locked in a room alone is tough on the bladder. She’s becoming accustomed to being carried down a hallway and into a bathroom, a place similar to the small bare room she spends her days in now. The only real difference between the two is one has a toilet and the other doesn’t.
Her eyes begin to adjust to the light. In the past, she’s been hesitant to look up at her captor. This time she decides to be brave. She looks up and sees the face of a large white man in a blue uniform. He’s motioning her toward the toilet.
“I told you,” she insists. “I can’t pee in front of you.” She starts to cry.
“I’m really getting tired of this shit!” The man roars. He cocks his head, huffs, rolls his eyes, and leaves the room. He slams the door behind him. Aisha hears an audible click as he locks the door behind him.
She takes down her pants and climbs onto the commode. As she relieves herself, her eyes continue to adjust to the light. She’s trying to a big girl like Mama taught her. After all, she is the big sister, six going on seven and Daddy’s in heaven. She’s trying to be brave.
It’s important to see that man’s face so I can remember and tell Mama. I’ve seen that blue suit before. Those men who came to our house that time when Mama got so angry. Those men wore those blue suits. I remember. The man who shot Daddy wore the blue suit. When I see Mama, I’ll tell her what I remember.
When she finishes in the bathroom, she flushes the toilet. Almost instantly, the door opens. The man in the blue uniform hoists her up, takes her back down the hall, and deposits her back on the floor. She brazenly gazes up and takes another good look at his face. This is what stranger danger looks like.
The man leaves in a huff and slams the door behind him. Aisha is, once again, enveloped in darkness. This time, however, she notices there is no audible click like she usually hears when the bad man takes her back from the potty.
She feels around in the dark and finds the sandwich. It’s the usual peanut butter and jelly with a glass of water. She takes a bite. It’s fine. She is tired of eating the same thing all the time, but she’s starving. She drinks the water and finishes the sandwich. Then, she listens intently for a sound, any sound that suggests someone is nearby. After what seems to Aisha to be hours, she walks to the door and turns the handle. The door’s not locked!
Aisha cracks the door open, and light pours into the room. As usual, it blinds her. She’s afraid to breathe. She blinks over and over and tries to adjust her eyes to the light. Finally, she decides she can see well enough and cracks the door a bit more. She sticks out her head and peers down the hall. Where am I? Where is the bad man?
She eases, shoeless, through the door. She’s terrified the bad man or someon
e with the bad man will return and grab her again. She wants to scream. She feels sick. But she continues on, bravely, one foot in front of the other, slowly, surely, traversing down the well-lit hall, passing several rooms.
Some rooms have open doors; others are closed. Aisha is buoyed by the fact she hears nothing. She’s determined not to make a sound.
At the end of the hall is a door. She tries the handle and is surprised to discover this door isn’t locked either. She turns the handle—frightened the door might creak. The door opens and expels a slight creak.
This scares her and causes her to utter an audible gasp. She stops, terrified, and waits in silence, holding her breath, until she’s satisfied neither the sound of the door nor her audible gasp has caused anyone to come running.
Aisha puts her head through the open door and sees it leads to an alley, outside of her captive building. The sun is very bright, but she isn’t sure what time it is, or whether the stark brightness has anything to do with the comparative darkness of the room where she has spent her last few days. Stepping outside of the captive building, Aisha is relieved there is no sign of the bad man. It’s not too cold outside.
She eases through the opening and peeks around the door. She looks both ways. She sees streets on both sides of the alley with traffic cruising down both of them.
She bolts through the door and, for no reason at all, chooses to turn right. She runs as hard as she can down the alley, arriving at a city sidewalk running perpendicular to the alley and parallel with a street. She isn’t old enough to cross the street by herself. Right or left?
Aisha has no idea where she is. She’s terrified, but nowhere near as she was in that room with the bad man in the blue suit. For no particular reason, Aisha again decides to turn right. She runs until she reaches the next corner. Reaching another street, Aisha again turns right.
As she runs, she sees another man in that familiar blue suit. She pretends he isn’t there and continues to run. She tries not to look as frightened as she feels. The man in the blue suit doesn’t pay any attention to her. However, Aisha cannot comprehend that if she continues to make right turns, she’ll wind up back where her journey began.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Before Aisha completes her run around the block, she stops in front of a small, well-lit diner and peers through the large front window. As Aisha observes a few customers enjoying their meals, she notices there are no men in blue suits.
Aisha pushes open the door, walks in, and looks around. People are staring at her. A man behind the counter smiles and comes through a counter swing door. He walks up to Aisha and crouches to his knees in front of her.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart? Are you lost?” He wonders.
Aisha bursts out crying. The man tries to pick her up to comfort her, which causes her to shriek. She remembers the bad man in the blue suit who picked her up at the daycare center. Just like that! He put his hands over my nose and mouth and took me to the dark room!
The man shoots his arms and hands up in the air in surrender and smiles.
“Okay, sweet girl, okay. Calm down. I won’t pick you up. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
“Shouldn’t we call 9-1-1?” A customer suggests.
“Or maybe the Cedar Ridge Police,” offers another.
Police? Isn’t that where the men in blue suits are? Aisha wills herself to calm.
“C-could s-someone please get Mama on the phone?” She manages to ask.
“Sure, honey. What’s your mama’s number?” The nice man still crouched on his knees, pulls a cellphone out of his pocket. He’s ready to dial.
“313-555-2574,” Aisha recites from memory.
“What’s Mama’s name, little one?”
“Sarah.”
“And what’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Aisha.”
“Aisha, that is such a beautiful name! Let’s call your mother.”
Aisha’s calming down. The nice man pokes the phone with his finger several times and puts the phone to his ear. Everyone in the restaurant is watching and waiting. A man answers the phone on the first ring.
“Hayes residence.”
“I’m looking for Sarah.”
“Who’s calling?”
“My name is Steve. I own a restaurant, Nana’s, in downtown Cedar Ridge.”
The man on the other side of the line is silent, waiting. Steve continues.
“A little girl just walked off the street and into my diner. She’s looking for her mother. Her name is Aisha.”
The man’s voice turns away from the phone.
“Oh, my God! Sarah! It’s Aisha! I think we’ve found her, Sarah! I think we’ve found her!” Steve hears him say.
The voice turns back to the phone. “Sir, thank you for calling. This is Detective Billy Ellington speaking. The child who walked into your restaurant is most likely a six-year-old girl named Aisha Hayes. She was abducted from a daycare center. How does she seem to you? Is she okay? Hurt in any way?”
Steve is shocked. “Abducted? Why haven’t we heard anything about this? She seems fine. Scared. She needs a bath, but otherwise, she’s fine. She won’t let anyone touch her. How old is she again?”
“Aisha is six. Hang on. I’m putting her mother on the line.”
“H-hello?”
“Hi.”
“This is Sarah Hayes. You’ve found my daughter?”
“Apparently,” Steve advises.
“May I speak with her?”
“Sure.”
Steve holds his phone out to Aisha.
“Aisha? Is your last name, Hayes?”
“Yes,” Aisha whispers.
Well, honey, your mama is on the telephone.”
Aisha takes the phone and puts it up to her ear. “Mama?” Aisha coos.
“Oh, sweet Jesus!” Sarah bursts into tears. “Yes, sweet baby, this is Mama! Are you okay, honey?”
“I think so, Mama. The bad man in the blue suit took me away. L-locked me in a dark room.”
“I know honey . . . You are so brave. Stay with the nice man in the restaurant. We’re coming to get you. I’m so happy to hear your voice, sweetness!”
Sarah Hayes continues to cry tears of joy.
“May I talk to . . . what’s his name?”
“Mister Steve.”
“May I talk to Mister Steve?”
Aisha hands the phone to Steve.
“This is Steve.”
“Steve, oh, Steve. Thank you so much! My daughter was kidnapped. Oh, I forgot, Detective Ellington already told you that.”
“I understand, Sarah. And I appreciate the thanks and all of that, but I really didn’t do very much. Aisha just wandered into my diner and asked me to call you. I’m so happy she did! She seems fine to all of us here in the restaurant.”
“Steve, Detective Ellington would like to speak to you again. He’s from the Detroit Police Department.”
“Detroit?”
“Yes, Aisha was taken from Detroit.”
“How did she wind up in Cedar Ridge?”
“I’m not exactly sure, but you are my new best friend. Here’s Detective Ellington.”
Sarah hands the receiver to Ellington. “Steve, listen to me very carefully. Aisha mentioned a man in blue, right?”
“Right.”
“We believe this man is a Cedar Ridge police officer or is impersonating a Cedar Ridge police officer. Please don’t call the local police. Just keep Aisha there until her mother and I arrive. Will you do that for us, Steve?”
“A cop did this? In Cedar Ridge? The local police come into my restaurant all the time. They’re terrific people.”
“Well, he might not be an actual cop. He might be someone impersonating a cop. We have to be careful, though, especially in Cedar Ridge. For now, please understand if we hand Aisha over to the Cedar Ridge Police, we might be handing her back to the man who abducted her.”
“I understand completely. I’m surprised, that’s a
ll. I’ll set her up in the back by the kitchen, away from the window and out of sight. I’ll give her something to eat, too.”
“That would be great. We should be there in half an hour. What’s the address?”
Steve recites the address.
“Thanks,” Billy acknowledges.
“No problem. She’s a terrific kid.”
With red and blue lights flashing from Ellington’s unmarked police car, Sarah and Billy are soon speeding south down I-75 toward Cedar Ridge. Ellington, from time to time, glances at the vehicle’s navigation screen.
“She was abducted by a Cedar Ridge cop! It’s all about the lawsuit, Billy! I knew it, dammit. I knew it! Racist scumbags, all of them! They won’t intimidate me. They’ve crossed the line. A cop kidnaps a kid? This is insane!”
“Calm down, Sarah. Aisha’s been found. She’s safe, and that’s our number one priority. We don’t know if he’s a cop or someone pretending to be a cop. If he’s a cop, we don’t know for sure he’s a Cedar Ridge cop. We only know that Cedar Ridge is where he took her.”
“He’s a Cedar Ridge cop. I feel it in my bones. How did he pull this off? Wasn’t the whole area on lockdown? How’d he get through the roadblocks?”
“Things were locked down, Sarah. This guy looks like a cop! Would officers stop a police vehicle or someone who identifies himself as a police officer?”
“You’re right about one thing. My baby is safe, and that’s all that matters. I’ll pick her up, hold her tight, and never let her out of my sight. We can figure out who did this later after I get her home where she belongs.”
“We’ll do our best, Sarah. I’m just happy this whole mess has a happy ending.”
“This isn’t the end. This isn’t over, not by a long shot. I’m going to make these people pay. One way or another, they’re going to pay.”
“As long as you’re not talking about doing anything illegal. You aren’t, are you? I’m a sworn officer of the law, you know.”
“This guy can’t be permitted to get away with this bullshit.”
“He won’t get away with it, Sarah. I’ll make damn sure of that.”
“Thanks for staying with this Detective.”