by Ivy Wonders
“Bet you hated that,” Arrie said knowingly.
“Dang right, I did.” I took a sip of the coffee he held up for me. “But Doc was right. My labor lasted an excruciating twenty-eight hours. I remember thinking I’d be there for the next two weeks until his due date arrived.”
Arrie knew better than that. “They would take the baby by C-section before they let that happen.”
“When my doctor came in to check me at lunchtime, I’d only dilated to a four.” My heart pounded as I recalled the state of fear her words had put me in. “She told me I had until five o’clock to come around or she’d be taking me to the OR. Thankfully, two hours later, the nurse checked me and said she’d be calling the doctor. Another hour later, I held Skye in my arms.”
“Six pounds, seven ounces,” Mom said. “So little, so red and wrinkly, and so wonderful.”
“Wonderful and covered in hair,” I reminded her. “He came out with lanugo. Our son looked like a baby monkey for his first couple weeks before the hair fell out.”
Arrie looked intrigued. “I’ve heard premature babies come out with hair all over them. Did you take any pictures?”
“I took tons of them.” Getting up, I grabbed onto his hand, pulling him off the couch. “Come on, I’ll show you the pictures. I’ve got them all in my bedroom.”
I put the box full of pictures in the middle of my bed then got on it to sit cross-legged. “Come on, get up here and let’s look at these, Arrie.”
He sat next to me after kicking his shoes off. “You did take a lot of pictures, Reagan.”
“I know.” I pulled out the package marked Week One. “Okay, here’s your little monkey-boy, Daddy.” I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “I can’t wait to hear him calling you that.”
“Me neither.” He took the pack and opened it up. Taking the top picture in his hand, he smiled as he looked at his newborn son. “Man, he was red and wrinkly, wasn’t he?”
“And mad, by that look on his face,” I pointed out. “For something so small, that boy made a lot of noise right from the start.”
“Strong lungs,” Arrie commented with pride, and then moved on to the next picture. “Is this his first bath?”
“Yup. You see that pained expression on my face?” I ran my finger over my face on the picture.
“What the hell, baby?” he asked with a chuckle. “You act like you’ve just seen the grossest shit ever.”
“Yeah, well, I had. Or I thought so at that moment. Later, things got much grosser.” I thought briefly about one particular poop incident that I knew had actually been the grossest my son had ever been. “Mom grabbed the camera a moment too late to capture the stream of pee your son had shot right into my face.”
Arrie nearly fell off the bed, he laughed so hard. “Oh shit!”
“Some even got into my mouth.” I shook my head as I remembered that horrible moment. “And I told Mom to take over so I could go brush my teeth. Only she was on her knees, laughing too hard to help out. It was a fiasco. But I finally gave our boy his first bath.”
Going to the next picture, he looked confused. “And why does he look like he’s trying to get away from you here?”
“Oh yeah. That was day one. We were still in the hospital.” Breastfeeding had taken a while for both of us to get used to. “See how he’s thrown his head back?”
“Yeah.” Arrie squinted as he pulled the picture up. “Is that a nipple I see there?” He looked at me with raised brows.
“Yes, it is.” I took the picture away from him. “That was our first attempt at breastfeeding, and your son was not very taken with what I had to offer.”
“Bet he got over that quickly.” Arrie ran his hand up, giving one of my tits a little squeeze. “They’re one of my favorite parts of you.”
Giggling, I whispered, “I know. But not baby Skye. He didn’t want any part of that business. Not until he got close to starving—then he latched on and sucked me dry for the next six months.”
“Good to know he got some of the good stuff.” Arrie leaned in, then kissed my lips. Pulling back, he said with a husky, lusty voice, “I can’t wait to get to the good stuff with you, baby. We’ve got so much lost time to make up for. I’ve got so much I want to talk to you about too. Not now, of course, but later—once we have our boy back.”
Running my fingers lightly over his cheek, I tried hard not to cry or to think about any negative outcome. “I’ve missed you so much. You have no idea. I can’t quit saying how happy I am that I’ve found you again. And even happier that you don’t hate me for what I’ve done. You’re a dream, babe.”
Taking my hand in his, he held it to his face as he gazed at me. “You’re a dream come true, Reagan Storey. Together, we can do anything. We have to believe that with everything in us. We can move mountains if we have to. We can do whatever it takes to get our son back.”
Gulping, I knew we could do this. Whatever it took to get Skye back, we would find a way to achieve it. “I believe you, Arrie.”
His eyes searched mine for the longest time before he said, “I couldn’t have found you again—couldn’t have found out about a son—just to have either of you taken away from me so soon. I believe that with all my heart, Reagan. This will end happily. I know it will. We will find our happy ending.”
“I just want to find our happy right now.” I smiled. “I’ll take whatever comes after that. But, for now, I just want this part to end well. I want my son back in my arms so I can hold him tight and not let anything take him away from me ever again.”
Arrie let me go then leaned back as he rested the palms of his hands on the bed. “I’ll make sure of that. I’ll get us all bodyguards if I have to.”
“We’re going to look a bit odd, having bodyguards sitting outside of a thousand-dollar-a-month apartment.” I shook my head and laughed.
“We’re not going to be here much longer.” He pulled me to lie back on the bed with him. “I’ve already been looking at homes. Homes we can raise our family in. And as soon as you pick one of them out, we’ll get it.”
I had an idea of what kinds of homes he’d looked at. “Let me guess—mansions? Estates? Palatial estates?”
“You know how I roll, baby.” He grabbed me by the waist, picking me up then sitting me on top of his lap to straddle him. “We’re going to have the best of everything for our kids.”
“Kids?” I asked as I ran my hands over his shoulders, then down to rest on his impressive biceps.
He curled a strand of my hair around his finger. “Yes, kids. Plural. We’ll need lots of room for them. And sometime or another we’ll be adding a couple of cute little dogs to our family. Just like in my dream. I know we’re going to get our son back, baby. I’ve seen the future, and he’s in it.”
My heart swelled so much I could feel it in my throat. “Oh, Arrie! I pray you’re right.” Then I fell on him, trying my best not to break down again.
A loud knock came at the bedroom door, and I sat up abruptly. “Yes?”
“Come here, quick,” Mom said. “There’s something on the television about the body from the ravine.”
The wind felt like it had been knocked out of me as Arrie lifted me then placed my feet on the floor. He took my hand, leading me out of the room and into the living room where my parents and Phyllis stood in front of the television.
“Don’t worry, baby; it’ll all be fine. The police would have called us if they had something to tell us,” Arrie reassured me, but I wasn’t convinced.
Staring at the screen, I saw one of the women reporters we’d met earlier that day. She held a microphone near her quivering lips as rescuers pulled something up from the other side of the road. Over the guardrail, they lifted something that looked like a body. Only it didn’t move right. “It’s stiff.”
“It’s cold out,” Arrie reminded me. “Rigor mortis can set in much more quickly when it’s cold and the body is left out in the elements.”
I knew that. I’d just put it out of
my head for a moment. I didn’t want to believe that my son could be in that black bag. Holding tightly to Arrie’s arm, I had to bury my face in his shoulder as the authorities moved in to remove the black trash bag from something that certainly looked like a small body.
Dad whispered, “Is it bad that I’m hoping it’s a small adult person instead of a child?”
“Hush now,” Mom shushed him. “Of course, no one wants that to be a child.”
I finally started listening to what the reporter was saying. “The authorities are currently investigating what appear to be human remains held within a black trash bag. They have currently cordoned off the area, hoping to give privacy to the suspected victim and his or her family. Many are wondering if the remains could belong to Skye Storey, a young boy who has been missing since the early hours of this morning”
The circle of bodies around the bag parted, and one of the officers jogged up to the reporter. “We have great news. There’s no body in that bag. Someone has thrown away a child-sized mannequin. That’s the good news. The bad news is, the hunt for Skye Storey continues.”
Arrie and I locked eyes as we both let out our breaths. We knew we had gotten lucky this time, but that time was running out for us to find our son.
But at least we have it.
Chapter 23
Arslan
As wonderful as it was to hear that no human remains had been found, we still had to find our son. And there’d yet to be a single lead in the case.
How is it possible that not one person in all of Seattle has seen or heard a single thing?
Calls of caring and compassion for Reagan began to come in from the hospital. She’d taken off to the bedroom to take them without everyone having to hear her conversations. That left me alone with her parents. With nothing else to do but wait, we had all the time in the world to talk.
Reagan’s father cleared his throat to begin the task of finding out just who I was. “So, Arrie, our daughter has told us next to nothing about you. Do you mind giving us a brief history?”
“Yeah, she’s tight-lipped, that one.” I thought I’d give them the highlights instead of the dreary details. “Okay, I’m thirty-two, from the East Coast, a neurosurgeon. My father passed away recently, leaving me with a substantial inheritance.”
“Sorry to hear that,” her father said. “And your mother?”
“She’s still around. Healthy as ever.” I realized it had been some time since I’d spoken to her. “Well, as far as I know, she’s healthy. I’m going to give her a call when we get Skye back. You know, to let her know she has a grandchild now.”
Her mother asked, “Any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. Only child,” I answered. “Just like Reagan.”
“So, an inheritance?” Mr. Storey finally said. “I suppose, then, that you aren’t as swamped with student loan debt as Reagan is. Or was the inheritance not enough to cover your debt?”
“Um, it was enough.” She hadn’t told them a damn thing about me. “You see, my father came from old money. Money he invested wisely and turned into billions. I inherited half of his fortune after his passing, and I can assure you guys that you won’t even have to worry about Reagan’s finances again. Her student loans are one of the first things I’ll take care of for her.”
Her mother clapped her hands. “That would be awesome. She makes a good salary now, but it wasn’t easy for her to put herself through school and raise a son. She had to take out a lot of loans to make it work.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” I knew most doctors paid off student loans for the first ten or so years after they began practicing medicine, and I imagined that Reagan’s situation must have been even worse than the average doctor. “She won’t have any financial burdens with me.”
“Arrie,” Reagan called out from the bedroom. “Can you come here, please?”
Getting up, I walked into the bedroom and found her pale and shaking. Her voice hadn’t even hinted at her nervous state when she’d called out, so I was taken off guard.
Taking her in my arms, I asked, “What is it, baby?”
“He called me, Arrie.” She looked up at me with frightened eyes. “It is Haney. And Skye is still alive.”
Taking a deep breath, I tried to think about what that meant. She looked too afraid for that to be the good news it should have been. “Okay. What does he want, Reagan? Did you offer him money?”
“I offered him a billion dollars, and he said he didn’t want money.” She shook her head slowly. “He said he was going to kill Skye and me. Then he’s going to kill himself.”
I couldn’t believe the man would turn down that much money. “He’s really crazy then.”
“He’s beyond crazy.” She shuddered. “And I know you won’t understand this, but I’d rather die with Skye than live without him.”
Stunned, I let her go as I ran my hands over my face. “Baby, please don’t think that way.”
“I can’t think any other way.” She put her hand on my shoulder to get me to look at her. “Losing his daughter made that man crazy and I’d be just as crazy if anything happens to my son. I mean, our son.”
I didn’t like the direction she seemed to be heading in. “What did he say to you, Reagan? You’re not handing yourself over to that psycho. I won’t let you.”
“This isn’t up to you, Arrie. I’ll do anything to try to get him back.” She turned away from me and I took her by the arm, turning her back to make her look at me.
“I want to know what he told you.” I wasn’t about to let her do anything on her own.
“He said not to tell a single soul where he has Skye. He said I’ve got an hour to get there. He’s only giving me one chance to see my son and say goodbye to him. He said that’s only because he got to do that with his daughter.” She gulped, but no tears formed in her eyes.
“But he wants to kill you both?” I shook my head. “And you’re just going to allow that to happen?”
“No.” She reached behind her, pulling the gun out of the back of her jeans. “I’m going to kill Haney first.”
“When have you ever fired a gun?” I doubted she’d ever shot the thing.
Shaking her head, she told me what I already knew. “No, but I won’t be that far away from him when I pull the trigger. He won’t know I have it, and if I surprise him at close range, I’m confident I can get the job done. And then I’ll bring your son home to you, Arrie.” Staring into her eyes, I knew she thought it was equally as likely that she wouldn’t bring either of them home.
I had to go sit on the bed to gather my thoughts. “I’ve shot a handgun before. Only at a target in a shooting range, but I’ve shot one. And I’m not about to let you go do this alone.” I looked into her eyes so she could understand how deeply I cared for her and our son, even though she’d only been back in my life for a few days. Even though I’d known about my son for even less than that. “If I lose you two, then I’m lost as well. So, I’m going to go with you, and I am going to kill that man.”
“And if they put you in jail?” she asked.
“That would be a travesty of justice, but if it comes to that, it would be worth it to have you both safe.” I had faith I wouldn’t be incarcerated for taking out a crazed kidnapper who’d threatened the lives of my son and the woman I loved.
“I was going to get you to cover for me with my parents. They can’t know what I’m doing.” She sighed. “I know them. They’ll call the police and tell them what I’m up to. And I believe Haney when he said he’ll kill Skye if the police found out. They’ll probably pull up to the warehouse with their sirens shrieking and guns blazing.”
“I agree.” She and I had to do this on our own if we wanted to have a chance in hell of getting our son and Reagan out of this alive. “We can tell them we’re going to grab something from the store. Or maybe a pizza.”
She looked at me with pursed lips as she thought about that. “They’ll never buy that. But what if we tell them I got a call abou
t Lannie? We could say we’ve got to go check on him, both of us—since we’re both his doctors.”
“I think he wouldn’t mind us using him in this cover-up.” I thought about my friend and how he still had a long way to go. “Give me the gun and all the bullets I can carry. I’m not going to get close enough for him to see me if I can help it. Hopefully, I can take him out from behind.”
She went to get another clip out of a different drawer. “Here, fill this one up too.” She grabbed the bullets out of yet another drawer and placed them on top of the dresser.
I filled the clip that was already attached to the gun, which she’d only partially filled. Then I filled the spare one and put it in my pocket before slipping the gun into the waistband of the back of my jeans. “Let’s go.”
“At least you’ve got that black jacket. That should help keep you hidden.” Reagan opened the bedroom door, calling out to her parents. “We’ve got to go to the hospital. Our patient is having some issues, and we’ve got to be there. You guys stay here. I’ll call as soon as we’re free to find out if you’ve received any news on Skye.”
“There’s no one else to see to him?” her mother asked as she got off her chair.
“No,” I took over. “He only has us. No one else can make any decisions about him. But the police have our numbers, and they’ll call if they find out anything. And like she said, we’ll give you a call as soon as we can to see if anything happens here.” I looked at Reagan before adding, “We shouldn’t be gone more than an hour.”
Reagan nodded. “Yeah, an hour—tops.” She got her jacket off the hook by the door. “Come on, let’s hurry, Arrie. I don’t want to keep anyone waiting.”
Following her out, I couldn’t help but notice how stunned her parents looked. “Everything’s going to be fine, guys. Just relax, and we’ll be back soon.”
Getting into my rental car, I pulled out of the parking area, heading north on the street in front of the complex as Reagan directed me. “Okay, now turn right. Let’s see where this man has our child and let’s get him back.”