“Now it’s my turn to be the positive one. And to give you the same ultimatum.
“There will be no more negativity, understand?
“We’re going to meet Samson in a few hours. We’re going to hold him and tell him we love him and then we’re never gonna let anyone take him away or threaten him in any way again.
“And you’re gonna stop being so negative. I don’t want no negative wife. Understand?”
She smiled again.
“Or what?”
“Or I will hold you down and tickle you. That’s what.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I would. I certainly would dare.”
He looked deeply into her eyes, still holding both her hands, and said, “No more negativity, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Since you brought up the subject, do you think you can still nurse him?”
“No. I’ve dried up.”
“Do we have what we need in the diaper bag?”
She looked at him in full panic mode.
“Oh, crap! The diaper bag!”
Chapter 46
They decided to leave a little earlier than they’d originally planned, so they could hit the Walmart a block from the motel and pick up some things for the baby.
And also to allow an extra half hour in case traffic was bad or their GPS underestimated their travel time.
While Tony packed their bag Hannah sat on the edge of the bed and logged onto her social media page.
She started a live video that would immediately go out to all her friends and held her phone in front of her.
“Hello to all of you.
“You all know of our being kidnapped by the Department of Homeland Security, and you know that one of their rogue agents still has our baby.
“This morning we are meeting with representatives of DHS at the Child Protective Services Office on Swanson Avenue in Akron, Ohio.
“They are telling us that Samson is alive and healthy and is there waiting for us to pick him up.
“I pray they are telling the truth.
“Based on their past record with us, though, we think there is a possibility we’re walking into a trap.
“If we are able to finally get Samson from the woman who took her I will be back on in a few hours and will show you all our son.
“On the other hand, if I’m not back online by tonight it means we’ve been taken again.
“We both believe that if they take us again it will be out of spite and vengeance, as we have nothing else to offer them.
“We also believe that if we’ve been taken again we will probably be killed very quickly, as dead people are much easier to deal with than live ones.
“If I’m not back online by tonight, I’m asking you to make the government pay for our murders. Be sure a copy of this video is plastered all over every TV network in the country.
“Forward it to all those bastards in Congress who claim they represent the American people but who really just do things which benefit themselves and their rich and powerful friends.
“It’ll be too late to help us, but maybe it’ll make them think twice before they kidnap and kill the next people who cause them embarrassment.
“Thank you. I love you all. Wish us luck today.”
She stopped the recording, logged off her social media account, and placed the phone on the bed beside her.
Tony went over and kissed her.
“What was that for?”
“Nothing, really. It’s just that you’re my hero.”
“I’m your hero? But why?”
“Because you’re way stronger than I’ll ever be. You’re way smarter than I’ll ever be. I never would have thought of that.”
She blushed just a bit.
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been anybody’s hero before.”
“You ready to go?”
“I’m ready.”
Luckily they’d brought the credit card with a lot of room on it instead of the one that was almost maxed out.
As they walked out of Walmart half an hour later Tony said, “Holy crap! How can that be right? Two hundred eighty three dollars?”
“Nope. It’s right.
“I watched as each item scanned to make sure all the prices were correct.”
“But how can it be that much? Are we gonna have to take out a second mortgage for this baby?”
“Oh, quit complaining. You’d take out a third and a fourth and a fifth mortgage to get Samson back and you know it.”
“I know, but that’s a lot of money.”
“I know, honey. But it’s only because we had to replace everything that was in the diaper bag we forgot. And the travel bottle warmer was a good chunk of it.
“From now on we’ll buy a little at a time, and it won’t be more than… I don’t know. A million dollars a month, tops.”
She smiled the sweet smile that always warmed his heart.
“You know you’re glowing, don’t you?”
“Am I?”
“Yes. You look much better this way than as that pessimistic poopy head you were this morning.”
“I’ve decided you were right.”
“Well that’s never happened before.”
“I know, for sure. I decided we’re gonna show up at that place, we’re gonna get our son, and we’re finally gonna get the chance to be parents.
“And heaven help Rebecca or Marilyn or the State of Ohio or anybody else who tries to get in our way.”
“Atta girl.”
“Hey, wait a minute.
“Did you just call me a pessimistic poopy head?”
“Yeah. But that was in the past tense. You were that way this morning.
“But not any more.”
“What am I now?”
“Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
“And perfect in every way.”
They were nearing Akron now, and had one more detail to work out.
“So, how do you want to do this? Do you want to go in, or do you want me to?”
“I’ll go in, Tony. A baby should always see his mommy first. I mean, daddies are important and all that. But I’m the one who carried him everywhere I went for nine months.
“He’ll know my voice and he’ll recognize my touch. If he’s apprehensive or scared I can soothe him much easier than you can.”
“Believe it or not, I agree with you. I just hate the idea of you going in there alone.”
“I know, honey. But we’ve talked this out. We’ve got a great plan. We need to stick to it.”
Chapter 47
They found the Child Protective Services Office at twenty after ten.
Way too early, they decided, to go in.
Instead, they decided to turn around and go back to a fast food burger joint they’d passed a couple of blocks south.
They wanted to review everything one last time and get something to eat.
Just in case it was their last meal.
It made Hannah’s heart hurt just a bit as Tony turned around and they passed the building by, knowing that in all probability Samson was in there somewhere needing his mommy.
At Billy Bob’s Bangin’ Burger Barn Tony ordered two identical meals: double meat cheeseburgers with fries and small cokes.
They sat down to eat but picked at their food.
It turned out neither was hungry after all.
There were a couple of promising signs. One of the unmarked police cars they’d seen in front of the building had Ohio plates on it.
Two men in suits were sitting inside.
The local police presence they’d requested was already there.
That was a good thing.
They didn’t know if Rebecca was there yet.
They didn’t see a car with “U.S. Government Official” plates.
Of course, it could be parked around back or on a side street, or she might have brought a rental.
The parking lot at CPS was almost empty.
; They couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad.
Probably too soon to tell.
“Is your phone fully charged?” Tony asked her.
“Yes. Five bars. I topped it off in the car.”
“And you’ll scream my name at the first sign of trouble?”
“I promise.”
At ten before the hour they tossed most of their food into the garbage can and walked out to the car.
It was now or never.
Chapter 48
They’d gone over a wide variety of “what if” scenarios on the way from Little Rock to Akron.
Partly it was a good time killer, for the pavement running beneath the wheels of their car moved by painfully slowly. They were anxious to get their son back and to put this sad saga forever behind them.
And partly it was because they knew there was a possibility this was a trick on Rebecca’s part.
Hannah wanted more than anything to trust the woman.
She seemed terribly sincere and remorseful, Hannah said.
But Tony would cut Rebecca no slack, now or ever.
In Tony’s mind she would always be the evil woman who supervised Hannah’s torture, and who stole their baby.
Tony would never forgive her for that; nor would he ever trust her again.
It was the sole bone of contention between him and his wife.
In his view Hannah gave Rebecca way too much credit.
It wasn’t her fault, she knew.
Hannah’s, that is.
He knew that Hannah wanted so much to take Rebecca at her word because she knew Rebecca held all the cards. In order to find and recover their son they needed Rebecca’s assistance.
Like it or not, Hannah maintained, Samson’s life and their future was in Rebecca’s hands. They had no choice but to trust her.
If it was up to Hannah, she’d have gone headlong into an unknown environment, hoping against hope that Rebecca was being straight with them.
If it was up to Hannah they might have walked right into an ambush.
They might have learned when it was too late that Samson wasn’t really there after all; that he might not even be alive.
And that they were being taken prisoner again, now that the spotlight was off them.
Or maybe even worse.
Maybe they’d just be killed then and there.
“Maybe Rebecca is the vengeful type,” Tony suggested. “Maybe she’s outraged that we outed her and her team. Maybe she just wants to get us both together so they can kill us out of revenge.
“All they have to do is shoot us and then plant a gun on us. Then say we resisted arrest.
“Cops do it all the time in this country. It’s all over the news. It happens in every city in the nation, and they get away with it too.”
“Tony, I refuse to believe that.
“If you saw the look on her face you’d want to believe her too, I believe she genuinely feels remorse for what they did to us.
“And that she wants to make it right.”
“Hannah, you can’t trust anything she has to say. She might be the best actress in the world. You have to be leery of people like that. They’re trained to deceive people, to take advantage of them.”
“I know all that, honey. But we need her to get Samson back. To just refuse to work with her means giving up on Samson and I’m not willing to do that.
“Like it or not, like her or not, we have to work with her and hope she’s being truthful. There’s just no other way.”
They decided to apply an old principle from a past president of the United States, who was famous for his wary stance regarding the Soviet Union and their sometimes false promises.
They decided “trust but verify” was their best option.
That was why they stayed the night in an undisclosed location instead of the hotel room Rebecca procured for them.
That was why they turned their phones off that night, lest Rebecca dream up some kind of “emergency” to get them to come to CPS sooner than planned.
That was why they took Bud’s advice and arranged for the local police and a women’s group to be there.
There was one additional precaution they were planning which didn’t come from Bud.
They were planning to separate. Only one of them would go in, just in case it was a trick.
The other would stay outside, ready to stop traffic at the busy thoroughfare which ran past the CPS office.
And to cause a great scene if necessary.
Once they decided to take that additional step and to separate before the meeting, the only question was which one of them would go in.
Tony didn’t like the idea of sending Hannah in by herself.
But it made sense that it would be her.
After all, Rebecca was more familiar with Hannah than she was with Tony.
Tony was still furious with Rebecca. There was a good chance he’d verbally attack her; and a good chance she’d call the whole thing off and refuse to cooperate.
Tony also had to agree that Samson should meet his mommy first, before his daddy.
She earned that privilege by carrying him around inside of her for all those months.
When they arrived at the CPS office they turned their cell phones on and Hannah called him.
Then she placed her phone on speaker and put it in the left breast pocket of the cotton blouse she wore.
Tony would be able to hear every word she said, and every word said by those close to her.
If it got ugly he’d know immediately.
He’d run into the street and stop traffic.
He’d tell everyone in their cars he wouldn’t move until the news media showed up.
No cars would be able to leave the parking lot of the CPS office. They could grab Hannah, but they couldn’t take her anywhere.
It would be their last stand if Rebecca was playing them.
But it turned out she wasn’t.
Not at all.
What Tony heard over his phone wasn’t drama; it wasn’t ugly or hostile.
What he heard coming over his phone was Rebecca hugging Hannah and begging for her forgiveness.
He heard as Rebecca presented a valid certificate of birth from the City of St. Louis, duly recorded and registered.
It was delivered by one of her operatives less than an hour before.
He heard as Hannah presented her driver’s license to prove that she was indeed the mother recorded on the document.
He heard the clerk notice that Hannah’s hands were shaking and ask her if she was okay.
His eyes teared up when he heard his wife’s answer:
“I’m fine. But I’m nervous. I’ve never seen him before.”
Tony heard an attendant say, “Here you go, Mom,” as she handed the baby off.
He heard Hannah start blubbering, and then her words, “He’s so handsome. He looks just like his Daddy.”
He didn’t realize it for several seconds, until a tear dropped to the ground.
But he was crying too.
Tony was a man who seldom cried.
He thought it wasn’t a manly thing to do.
“Only sissies cry,” he’d told Hannah more than once.
Yet here he was, on the sidewalk a mere thirty yards away from the office where his wife was holding their son for the very first time
He was crying unashamedly, making a spectacle of himself to passersby.
And he didn’t care.
“Tony?”
At the sound of his name his attention turned solely back to the phone and the sounds coming over it.
Finally, the words they’d agreed to ahead of time came over the phone.
They were music to his ears.
“Tony, you can meet me at the car. I’m bringing him out.”
It was their pre-arranged “all clear” signal.
It was finally over.
Chapter 49
Rebecca offered to pay for the hotel room, should Hannah and Tony wan
t to stay the night in Akron before heading back to their home in Arkansas.
But they respectfully declined.
Akron was a nice city, they agreed.
But for the rest of their lives it would remind them of one of their very worst nightmares.
And although their reunion with Jacob was one for the memory books, they couldn’t wait to put the city of Akron behind them.
“No offense to you or to Akron,” Hannah said. “But we just want to get out of here.”
“I understand,” Rebecca said.
“Do you mind if I stay in touch? Drop you a line occasionally just to see how you’re doing?”
Hannah looked to Tony, who almost said something spiteful.
But he somehow managed to hold his tongue.
Hannah took that to mean he didn’t mind.
Or was at least ambivalent to the idea.
“No,” Hannah told the woman who’d caused her so much pain and misery, but who ultimately came through for her.
“We don’t mind at all.”
A CPS representative came outside with them, to ensure they’d properly secured their new car seat.
“You’d be amazed at how many new parents install them incorrectly,” she said.
Once the seat passed muster everyone said their goodbyes.
Everyone except for little Samson.
All the activity and new faces had worn him out. He was sleeping soundly.
By the time Tony and Hannah were back on the road with their son and fifty miles outside of Akron, a different kind of drama was playing itself out in the woods east of Wilson, Wyoming.
Sam Snead was the grouchy old man Julianna and Dave encountered as they worked the roads and paths intersecting with Highway 22.
He was typical of the headstrong “off-the-gridders” who lived in the mountains and wilderness areas of Wyoming and Montana.
As a general rule they wanted little to do with outsiders.
They considered those who lived in civilized society in cities and small towns soft and somehow inferior, because they lacked the skills and wherewithal to survive on the land.
All they wanted from outsiders was to be left alone, to be allowed to live out their lives in the great outdoors, at one, as they say, with nature.
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