by Terry Keys
“Yes, David, please come back with me. I don’t think I can be without you right now,” Miranda said, her voice shaky.
The cop in me wanted to question my partner, Detective De Luca, to see what things she might be able to tell me about her brief captivity and the basement where she and Miranda had been held. The father in me wanted to set the streets ablaze and hunt Stacy down like a bloodhound. I knew the hot trail she’d surely left behind would become cold rather quickly. I was hoping to capitalize on any mistakes she might have made in her haste, as snatching my daughter was probably a spur of the moment act of desperation. I trusted Wilcrest, and I knew the boys would give this the highest priority.
Wilcrest, however, was right. Miranda needed me as a husband right now and not as a cop. It would be a balancing act from this point on, because I knew I needed to spend time tracking Stacy down before it was too late. I knew she wouldn’t hesitate to kill Karen if it suited her plans.
I sat beside Miranda and held her hand as the doctor ran test after test. My mind, however, was traveling at warp speed. Hilary had felt uneasy about Stacy from the moment she’d showed up at Miranda’s funeral. I’d considered her out-of-nowhere appearance a bit strange, but no one could have imagined this. How could I have been so blind? It all made sense now—her eagerness to become a part of our lives, to move in with us . . . And the pregnancy! What about the baby? What did that mean for me now?
And now I would have to explain it all to Miranda, including the college fiasco I thought I’d left behind. I wondered how Miranda would react to everything when I told her. Karen’s kidnapping trumped all of it, and my wife had not even started the healing process following her own abduction. I had never taken advantage of the psychiatric counseling available to all police officers, but now seemed like as good a time as any—for all of us. I held Miranda’s hand as tight as I could and just stared at her. It seemed unreal that she was here next to me again.
“David, we’ve given Miranda a once-over. Other than what’s to be expected—dehydration and malnourishment—everything seems to be okay. I’ll have you bring her back in a few weeks, and we’ll take a look at the finger she lost. We can keep her here for a few nights, or you can take her home, but you’ll need to make sure she gets plenty of rest. She’s also going to need some type of counseling. Here’s my cell phone number. I don’t usually give it out, but I figured what the hell. Call anytime. I mean anytime, David.”
I took the business card with Dr. Peter’s information and stuffed it into my wallet. I reached out to shake his hand and thanked him for everything he’d done for my family.
“Please take me home, David,” Miranda whispered to me.
I hated seeing her like this. She looked so weak, so fragile. I walked beside her wheelchair as the nurse wheeled her out to my truck, Hilary trailing close behind us.
After we got Miranda buckled in, I rounded the back of my truck, tears streaming down my face. Right now, when all should be right in my world, everything was broken. Shattered. Would our family ever be whole again?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Terry Keys is a novelist, songwriter and poet. He writes for Examiner.com and works as a project manager in the oil and gas industry. A native of Rosharon, Texas Keys spends his free time hunting, fishing and working out. He lives in Dickinson, Texas, with his wife and two children.
Please visit his website at www.terrykeysbooks.com
Twitter: @tkeys15
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Email: [email protected]