by Ivy Wonders
Shaking my head, I let Arrie put my coat on for me. “I’ll walk over to tell her the news and to give her my spare key. I doubt she’s ready to get out yet. It’s only eight.”
“I’ll get the car ready. You take care of that.” He kissed my forehead then we headed out.
As I walked along the sidewalk to the next apartment, I found myself looking at the screen that still lay against the side of the wall. Shuddering, I tried not to think about what Skye was doing at this moment.
Ringing her doorbell, I hoped I wasn’t waking Phyllis. She opened the door, a mug of steaming coffee in her hand. “Morning, Reagan. You need me to go sit with Skye this morning?”
I wished that was all I needed. “Phyllis, I’ve got some terrible news.” I took the mug from her, so she didn’t spill it, trying to keep control of my emotions. She gave me the oddest look as I went on. “Skye was abducted around three this morning.”
Her eyes went wide, her jaw dropped, and she leaned against the door. “No.”
“I’m afraid so.” I put my hand on her shoulder to help steady her. “Look, I know this is a lot to handle. We’ve got to get down to the police station to do a press conference. I need you to stay in our apartment in case anything happens. Maybe Skye will come home, and I’ll need you to tell me about that if it happens. We have lots to do today to get our son back, and we need eyes and ears at home.”
“We?” she asked, looking dazed.
“His father is here.” I knew I’d really thrown her for a loop with everything I’d just laid on her.
“Reagan?” Arrie called out. “We’ve gotta get going.”
Handing over the spare key, I hurried to the car. “Thank you, Phyllis. I’ll be in touch.”
“I’ll be at your place,” she called out, “praying for Skye’s quick and safe return to us.”
“Thank you.” I got into the car then Arrie took off. “I hated to do that to her. She looked like she’d been slapped in the face.”
“Yeah, I know how she feels.” Arrie sped all the way to the police station. “After this, we’ll go meet with the man I think we should hire. He’s got a lot of good reviews, plus he’s an ex-Navy SEAL.”
“Sounds like our kind of man.” I clutched the dashboard as Arrie pulled into the parking lot. “There’s one of the news crew’s vans. Looks like they’re almost ready for us.”
I’d never been more nervous. I had never been in the spotlight, and these conditions were the absolute worst. I had no idea how I’d react.
Arrie came around to help me out of the car, as I’d frozen in place. “Come on, Reagan. Let’s get inside.”
He took my hand, pulling me out of the car. “What if they ask me questions I don’t have the answers to?”
“Don’t worry about a thing.” He seemed cool as a cucumber. “I’ve had to do a few of these for the hospital. I can keep a level head.”
Clinging to his arm, I appreciated his presence in every way. “Again, Arrie, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“You’re never going to have to face even one more thing without me, Reagan.” He kissed the side of my head. “Not ever.”
A fleeting image moved through my head—the two of us, standing together at our son’s grave. Shaking my head, I wished I could stop those dire thought from taking root.
Arrie seemed so sure we’d get our son back and that nothing horrible would happen to him. I had to think that way too. No good could come from me dredging up every dark scenario imaginable.
Just as we stepped through the glass doors of the police station, the woman who sat behind the thick glass looked at us and came right out. “They want you guys back here.” She led us through several doors then to a room in the back.
There, we came face to face with six reporters and quite a few cameras. One of the feistier reporters asked, “Dr. Storey, is it true the man who’s abducted your son is the father of a former patient?”
I looked at the chief of police, who promptly took over. “Look, you guys have to give them a chance to get comfortable.” He pointed at two chairs that sat behind a long table. “Please take those seats over there, and we’ll get through this together.”
Arrie had his arm around me and led me to our seats. He pulled the chair out for me, and I sat down, looking out at all the eyes staring back at us. “I feel sick.”
Arrie sat down next to me, taking my hand and holding it underneath the table. “We’re ready to begin.” I wasn’t even remotely ready, but thankfully Arrie was, as the same eager reporter started asking questions.
“Yes, the man who took our son is the father of one of her patients,” Arrie calmly replied. “And John Haney has been stalking Dr. Storey for some time. It’s of the utmost importance that we have everyone on the lookout for him. He needs to be brought in, whether he has our son with him or not. He is the only suspect. There’s no need to look elsewhere.”
“Is Skye your biological son, Dr. Dawson?” another reporter asked.
I cringed as I waited for how Arrie would answer that. Arrie glanced at me, then looked back at the man who’d asked the question. “His mother and I aren’t going to respond to any personal questions. Do you have anything to ask that would aid in getting our son back?”
One of the reporters finally said something that seemed helpful. “Were you suspicious when you found out that John Haney works maintenance for your apartment complex?”
I couldn’t believe it. “What?” I looked over to the officer around me, feeling lost. “I wasn’t aware of that.”
She nodded. “He’s been employed there for the last month. John Haney has a key to your apartment, Dr. Storey. So, if he has that, then why go through a window when he could’ve easily walked in and out your front door?”
Arrie and I just looked at each other as we asked ourselves the same question. For the first time, I wondered if we had the right man after all.
If not Haney, then who?
Chapter 21
Arslan
Leaving the police station, I felt more urgency than ever before to find our son. “I don’t care that Haney has a key to every apartment in your complex, Reagan.”
“But they’re right, Arrie,” Reagan agreed with what the reporter had said. “If he has a key, then why not use it instead of dealing with the window?”
Opening the passenger door, I gestured for Reagan to get in the car. After closing her door, I got in my side of the car as well before saying another word. There were too many eyes and ears from everyone funneling out of the conference, and I knew that some of them had started to turn suspicious eyes toward me. “Think about it logically, Reagan. Anyone could see him walk in the front door, and you could have easily heard him. But who would see him going through a window at the side of the apartment?”
Looking straight ahead as we drove away from the police station, she thought that over before finally looking at me. “Yeah, you’re right. The single-story units leave that side of my apartment pretty much hidden from view for the others in the complex.”
“I’m not saying Haney hasn’t used your front door at all.” I had been thinking he had probably been in her home earlier that same day to figure out which room was Skye’s. “I think he may have gone in while you guys were out and unlocked Skye’s window after making sure it was the one to his bedroom.”
“His prints would’ve been on the inside of my home then.” Reagan’s eyes went wide. “Do you think we should tell the police to dust for prints inside my apartment?”
“We could try.” I worried that the police would be looking in other directions for the culprit now, instead of keeping their focus on John Haney. They’d found no evidence of anything when they’d searched his home. The only thing odd about the man to them was his current absence.
Reagan took her cell out of her purse. “I’m calling Mom to ask her if they want to come over to be with us.”
“Good.” I knew she needed the moral support, and I knew her parents did too. “You guys can lean on each other.
”
Nodding, she made the call. “Mom, do you and Dad want to come over to my place?”
“Honey, yes,” her mother whimpered. “We’re a couple of wrecks right now.”
“We’re on our way home now. You guys come whenever you want. Bye.” Ending the call, Reagan looked over at me. “This is too much, Arrie. Do you feel like you should call your mother?”
“She doesn’t even know that I have a son, Reagan. And she’s not even in the country.” I saw no use in getting my mother riled up. Not when she had no idea that Skye existed. “She and Bill took a trip to Tahiti for the holidays. I wouldn’t want them around anyway.”
“Oh yeah.” She looked sheepish. “I keep forgetting how she’s moved on.”
“Yeah, she’s not the same woman you met back then.” I hated how much my mother had changed after my father’s death. “It’s as if she became a completely different person the moment Dad died. It’s crazy, and I don’t like it.” I hadn’t told Reagan much about my mother’s transformation. “She had a facelift, dyed her hair platinum blonde—she looks completely different. She doesn’t even dress the same. She wears that long flowy stuff.”
“Boho chic,” Reagan called it. “Wow, she was all power pantsuits back then, wasn’t she? And she had the same hair color as you, Arrie. I can’t imagine how much bleaching it takes to keep it platinum blonde.” Looking out the window, she wondered aloud, “I wonder if she was ever happy with your father.”
“Me too.” The thought had often come to my mind. “I’ve often wondered if she had anything to do with Dad getting sick, too.”
Shrugging her narrow shoulders, Reagan looked at me. “I wouldn’t do that it if I were you, Arrie. For one, you could never prove that. For another, she’s still your mother, and you shouldn’t think such bad things about her.”
“When I was little, Mom used to do these little things I didn’t understand,” I recalled how she’d accidentally made us sick sometimes. “Up until Dad hired a cook to cook for us at all times, Mom made our meals. She’d leave meat sitting out for too long sometimes and other bad food practices. For the first five years of their marriage, we all got food poisoning at least three times a year.”
“Including her?” Reagan asked.
Nodding, I had to admit that Mom had gotten sick too. “Yes, even her.”
“Sound like she just didn’t really know what she was doing. Not everyone has common sense. Maybe she just didn’t have the intelligence you and your father did. It doesn’t make her a bad person. Maybe after his death, it gave her freedom from feeling so dumb around you both. Maybe that’s why she wrapped her life so quickly around this other man.”
“Maybe.” I thought about how Bill would always get on my father’s case for calling Mom out when she’d said something wrong. “Bill never tried to make Mom feel stupid. I have to admit, while Dad didn’t do it on purpose, he had a knack for correcting anyone when they were wrong. It never bothered me. I like to be corrected when I’m wrong, so I can learn from it. Mom just looked kind of embarrassed when he’d do that to her.”
“So there you are.” Reagan smiled at me. “Your mother didn’t do anything nefarious, and she just finally feels free to be herself. No reason to hold that against her. I’d really like it if you could get over your bad feelings for her. For Skye’s sake. I’d love for your mother to be in his life. He’s her only grandchild, after all. It wouldn’t be right to give her any less access to our son than my parents have.”
Nodding, I knew Reagan was right. “After this is all over and we tell Skye about everything, I’ll tell my mother and let her know she’s more than welcome to come meet him.”
“That’s all I’m asking.” Reagan looked at her apartment as we pulled to a stop in front of it. “I really want him back home before tonight, Arrie. I don’t think I can sleep until he’s safe with me.”
“Baby, I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.” I meant it, too. “The PI should be here soon to meet with us. If he’s as good as I hope he is, I’ll get him right to work.”
Nodding, she got out of the car, heading up the sidewalk to the apartment. I got out and came up beside her, putting my arm around her. She laid her head on my shoulder. “I can’t stand this. I don’t know how people live like this for weeks, sometimes even years.”
“I have no idea. And I never want to find out.” I opened the door to find the next-door neighbor cooking away in the kitchen. The house smelled wonderful. “Do I smell cinnamon rolls?”
“You sure do,” Phyllis said as she came out of the kitchen. “So you’re Skye’s father? Boy, what a resemblance.” She held out her hand as she came to me. “Phyllis Stanley. Nice to meet you.”
“Dr. Arslan Dawson.” I shook her hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
Backing up, she headed back toward the kitchen. “I’m going to bring out some platters of food and put them on the coffee table for you guys to nibble on. I know neither of you probably feels like eating, but you need something in your stomachs. I’ll keep it smelling yummy in here to try to wake those appetites up. And I’ve got some fresh coffee in here too. Decaf—I’m sure your nerves are already frazzled enough.”
Hugging Reagan, I kissed the top of her head. “She’s great.”
Slipping her arms around me, Reagan hugged me back. “She is.” She put her head on my chest. “The sound of your heartbeat makes me feel better somehow.”
“I understand, baby,” Moving to go sit on the sofa, I assured her that I felt the same. “I need to feel you too.”
Just as we sat down, the front door opened and a man and woman came flying in. “Reagan, have you heard the news?”
Pulling her head off my chest, Reagan asked with confusion, “What news, Mom?”
“They’ve found a small body in the bottom of a ravine just outside of town.” Her mother turned and fell into the arms of her husband. “I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s my baby boy.”
Reeling from the news, I held Reagan that much tighter. “It’s not him; it’s not him,” I kept chanting quietly.
Reagan began crying, clutching my arms, and moaning as the pain filled her, “No, no, please. God, no.”
A knock at the door had Phyllis running from the kitchen, wiping her eyes as she’d overheard the horrible news. “I’ll get that. You guys try to relax. We don’t know anything yet. Don’t give up hope.” She opened the door, and there stood a man of about five feet. A gold chain hung around his neck and he had one front tooth of the same color.
As my eyes took him in, I already knew he was not the man for us. “I’m sorry, Mr. Baxter. We won’t be needing to do an interview.” I wasn’t up to asking the man any questions about his expertise. His appearance alone told me he wouldn’t be worth the time.
“I’d love the chance to tell you what I can do for you, Dr. Dawson,” he called out as Phyllis kept him outside the door.
She looked back at me and saw my expression, then took care of him herself. “Let’s step outside, and you can tell me about your ideas. They’ve got some news that’s shaken them up.” She closed the door behind them to give us privacy.
Reagan pulled her head off my shoulder to look at me. “He’s not going to be any help. The police don’t seem to be any help. Arrie, what are we going to do? And it might already be too late.” She broke down again, and I grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.
I only wished I knew what more we could do. “Well, for starters, I’m going to go into that kitchen, and I’m going to put some of that food Phyllis has made on a plate, and you and I are going to eat as much of it as we can. Then we’ll call the station and ask about the body they found. Once they confirm that it’s not our son, you and I are going to brainstorm until we come up with a plan of action.”
She wiped her eyes as she nodded. “Okay, I’m with you. We’re smart. We can figure something out.” She looked at her parents, who sat down on the sofa next to the one we were sitting on. “Mom, Dad, this is Arrie.”
>
Getting up, I shook both their hands. “Mr. and Mrs. Storey, I want to thank you for all you’ve done for my son all this time. And even though I’ll be taking my place as that boy’s father for the rest of my life, you’ll never lose what you’ve built with him. As God is my witness, I will never get in the way of what you have with our son.”
Reagan’s mother reached out, taking my hand. “Thank you, Arrie. I can see you’re a good man and that our daughter and grandson are in capable hands.”
Now, to show them all just how capable these hands really are.
Chapter 22
Reagan
After a few bites of the homemade cinnamon roll, Arrie urged me to talk, trying to keep my mind off the body that had been spotted in a ravine outside of town. We’d called the police station and they’d said they didn’t have any information for us yet, that they were still investigating what they’d found. They said they would inform us if the body matched Skye’s description, but to keep our eyes on the news—that that would likely be the quickest way for us to get information on what was happening at the ravine.
Until then, Arrie told me, there was no use thinking about the worst-case scenario.
He asked me to tell him about the night Skye was born. “It was a crappy, stormy night, and the labor and delivery department at Virginia Mason Hospital was packed. It was just like your son to decide he’d be joining us two weeks early.”
“At midnight, no less,” Mom added.
“And I’d come down with a terrible cold. So I had to stay home,” Dad recalled. “Boy, I hated that.”
Mom leaned her head on Dad’s shoulder as they sat next to each other on the other sofa. “I hated that you missed it, too.”
Arrie’s eyes told me that he also hated that he’d missed it. “So it was just you and your mother there?”
Nodding, I could see it all in my mind as if it had happened yesterday. “They had the lights low. You know how the nurses like to keep it dimly lit at night. My obstetrician told them I wouldn’t have the baby for hours. She said she’d come in first thing in the morning.”