His tanned face deepened to a red shade. “You want to find out the truth as much as I do. And I really believe if Erin contacted you, you’d let me know.”
Under his straightforward stare, she shifted in the chair, wondering if she would. And that question plagued her the whole way back to the White House. Would she turn in her cousin if given the opportunity? She didn’t have an answer. She didn’t trust many people. Could she trust Nicholas to look out for Erin’s best interests?
At her office door, Nicholas’s cell phone rang. He quickly answered it and frowned, turning away from her.
When he hung up and looked at her, she asked, “Was that about Erin? The case?”
“Yes, there has been another sighting—at the Capitol Building—of a woman in sunglasses and a silk scarf over her head who fits Erin’s height and build. I’m meeting Isaac there to check it out. Remember, I’m your ride home.”
“I’m not going to forget that.” She watched him hurry away.
*
On Saturday at All Our Kids, Nicholas finished another one of his stories about a brave little boy who came forward and admitted he’d eaten all the candy. Then he told another one about a special zoo with unusual animals in it.
Again Selena marveled that he could keep their attention, especially Tommy who sat near Max and petted him.
At the end, Nicholas looked at the children. “Now what I want from you are what do the animals in the zoo look like.”
Selena and Cassie passed out paper, pencils and markers for the group to begin.
As the children started working, Cassie turned toward Selena and Nicholas. “I hope you’ll stay for an early dinner.”
“I’d love to,” Selena said before Nicholas had a chance to voice his answer. She’d found a place she could donate some of her free time and wanted to get to know the children better.
For the next half hour, she and Nicholas walked around the room, helping different children with their pictures. At six, Cassie announced dinner and sent all the kids to wash their hands.
“It’s not fancy. I hope you like macaroni and cheese.” Cassie walked with Selena and Nicholas to the big dining room with two long tables. “Gavin was supposed to be here, but he was delayed and will be late.”
As the kids filed into the room, the girls sitting at one table and the boys at the other, Cassie checked their hands before they sat.
Selena positioned herself at the boys’ table and said to Nicholas, “I think we should mix things up. Don’t break too many hearts this evening.” She winked at him and sank onto her seat.
Nicholas leaned down and whispered, “The same goes for you. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to contribute to the conversation if they talk about dolls, boys.”
“I disagree. You should be able to give them great advice.”
He headed to his place at the girls’ table, and as he sat, they all giggled. He turned red and sent her a glare.
She ignored him, and after Cassie blessed the food, Selena scanned the boys on her right then on her left. At the other end of the table, a chair was empty.
“Is someone missing?” Then Selena realized there was, and it was Tommy. “Where’s Tommy?”
The guys looked around, then the oldest near her shook his head. “He was with us in the bathroom.”
“Could you go make sure he’s all right?”
A tall, skinny boy jumped up and rushed from the room. He returned five minutes later and announced to everyone, “Tommy is gone.”
NINE
Everyone in the dining room went quiet.
Nicholas shot to his feet. “Thanks,” he said to the boy who’d checked the bathroom. “You should eat your dinner before it gets cold. I’ll check the house.” He kept his voice calm while his thoughts raced with possibilities of where the seven-year-old could be.
The first place he headed was the security-system controls to see if it was on. Cassie had told him that when they were in for the night, she immediately turned the alarm on. If a child tried to go outside or someone attempted to break in, it would go off. When he inspected the box on the wall, he noticed it was still on.
Then Tommy should be in the house.
Selena came out of the dining room. “I’m helping you look. Cassie has gone to get her assistant, Virginia, from the kitchen. She’ll stay with the children while Cassie starts with the downstairs.”
“Good. Someone needs to be in the dining room to keep the kids calm. Although Cassie’s assistant is a bit high-strung and might not be the best person for that, but we need all the help we can get. We’ll search Tommy’s room he shares with four other boys then work from there.”
“Virginia seems so nice.” Selena ascended the stairs with Nicholas.
“She is and great with the kids, but she worries a lot and can get dramatic.”
In Tommy’s bedroom, three sets of bunk beds were along the walls, four beds made while one was messy and another had only a bare mattress. As Selena inspected the top bunk and then under the bottom one, Nicholas opened the closet and inspected anyplace a boy would hide.
“Nicholas, the window is open.”
He backed out of the closet and peered toward Selena, who had opened the curtains. She started to raise the window up the rest of the way, when he said, “Don’t. If someone came in here and took Tommy, there may be prints.”
Without touching anything, Selena studied the sill. “I don’t think that’s it. There’s a sheet tied at the side.” She held the drape totally back to show Nicholas one end was tied to a nearby bunk bed.
From the door with the curtains shut, it hadn’t been obvious. Using a ruler he’d found on a desk, he painstakingly lifted the window without touching it with his fingers then leaned out. “There’s only one sheet. He made it to the roof of the back porch.” Nicholas pulled back and rotated toward Selena. “I’m going outside with Max. Continue to go from room to room, and if you or Cassie find Tommy, call me on my cell.”
“Where’s Max now?”
“In the great room. I was letting him rest.” He started for the door. “I’m calling Gavin. We may need more team members with their dogs.”
Nicholas left Serena to examine the rest of the rooms on the second floor. He made his way downstairs to Cassie, still in the dining room, and whispered to her what he was going to do and to have Gavin come as fast as he could with any of the team nearby.
Cassie turned a worried face up at him. “Anything else?”
“Check the rooms downstairs,” he said as Virginia Johnson entered from the kitchen with a grim expression on her face.
The boy nearest Cassie chimed in, “We can help.”
Nicholas scanned the children, some afraid, others concerned. “I’ll find Tommy. The best thing you all can do is stay here and follow Cassie’s and Virginia’s directions.”
“Tommy was upset when we went to wash our hands,” David said.
Nicholas nodded. “Thank you for that information,” he said to the child. “Cassie, can you get the jacket Tommy wore today when they played outside?”
She hurried from the dining room and returned a minute later. Her hand shook as she gave him the coat. She walked with him to the great room.
“I didn’t want to say this, but I’m sending the guard inside after I talk with him. He’ll lock the door and turn the alarm on as a precaution.” He called Max and put the leash on him.
Pausing on the front porch, he waited until he heard the lock being clicked in place. He waved to the security guard with his dog and jogged toward him, Max trotting next to Nicholas. “I think Tommy sneaked out. I’m going to check the grounds, but I’d feel better if you were in the house until I figure out exactly what happened.”
“How long ago?”
“No more than fifteen minutes ago.”
“I’ve been on the front and left sides of the yard. I didn’t see anything and Gus didn’t indicate he was concerned about an intruder.”
“He probably wouldn�
�t since he’s used to the kids. Tommy used the back porch. I’m not sure how he got down from there yet.”
“I know. There’s a trellis with climbing roses on it. If he’s determined, he could have used that.”
Remembering the knotted sheet, Nicholas headed for the vehicle. “He is.”
“I don’t see him getting over the fence with the barbwire on top, but he could hide in the woods at the rear of the property.”
“Thanks.” When Nicholas grabbed his flashlight from the Tahoe, then rounded the side of the house, he glanced at his watch. About another hour of light left. It was April, but the nights got chilly.
When he reached the back porch, he zeroed in on the trellis and found broken-off stems, and one thorn had blood on it. Fresh.
Nicholas let Max inhale the child’s scent on the jacket then said, “Find.”
Max sniffed the air and took off toward the woods, the area heavy with foliage. Nicholas could imagine a small boy crawling into the dense vegetation and hiding. But why? Did something scare him?
Max delved into the underbrush. Pausing every once in a while, his K-9 partner smelled the air then took off again. The forest became darker with a canopy of leafing trees above him.
Nicholas turned on his flashlight and yelled, “Tommy. Max is worried about you. Where are you?” Over and over he repeated the plea for the little boy to show himself.
Max stopped at a big bush, sat and barked.
“Tommy, are you in there?”
Silence.
“Everyone is worried about you.”
A faint sound of sobs drifted to him. Nicholas knelt, parted some branches and shone the light into the dimness.
Tommy lifted his tear-stained face. “I can’t go back.” His words quavered as the green leaves did in the breeze.
“I thought you loved being here.”
“Not anymore.”
Nicholas’s lungs seized his next breath and didn’t release it for a full minute. “Did something happen today at the house?”
“I don’t want anyone I care about being hurt. I’m not brave like the boy in your story.” Tommy sniffled and knuckled his eyes.
“No one is going to get hurt. We won’t let it happen.”
“I’m fine. I’m staying right here, hiding.” Tommy scooted back toward the oak tree the underbrush butted up against, determination evident in his crossed arms and his lower jaw jutted out.
“Okay.” Nicholas twisted toward Max and said, “Stay.” Then he crawled between the branches, fully loaded with leaves, and squeezed his body next to Tommy. “If you don’t go, I won’t, either. Here’s your jacket in case you get cold.” He held it out to the boy.
Tommy snatched the coat and quickly donned it, then went back to hugging his arms against himself.
“Is it okay if I call and let everyone know you’re safe? Cassie is mighty worried. So are Selena, Virginia and all the kids.”
“Kent doesn’t.”
“Your bunk mate?”
“Yeah. He makes fun of me crying. Says I’m a big baby.”
“When did you cry?”
Tommy dropped his head, staring at the ground. “This morning.”
“What made you cry?”
“The bad man.”
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Tommy nodded his head several times.
“He’s coming for me. I can’t let him hurt anyone. I lost…” His bottom lip trembled, and he twisted away so Nicholas couldn’t see his face.
“What did you lose?” he asked in a soft voice, wanting to hug the frightened child.
“Everyone I love.”
“Who?” Nicholas touched his arm.
“Mommy. I don’t have a daddy. I don’t have nobody.” He swiveled his head toward Nicholas, his eyes shiny. “Then Mr. Mike was killed. He was nice to me.”
“How do you know Mr. Mike was killed?” He must be referring to Michael Jeffries.
“I saw…” His eyes grew wide. “Cassie told us.” He lowered his head.
“Tommy.” Nicholas waited until he had the boy’s attention. “Did you sneak out of the home when Mr. Mike was killed?”
A long silence filled the air. An owl screeched nearby, and Tommy threw himself at Nicholas. The child clung to him. Slowly the boy’s shaking body relaxed.
Nicholas hurt for Tommy. If he had witnessed the murder, the trauma would give anyone nightmares, especially a young child. “Tommy, I can help you, but you need to tell me. Did you sneak out of the house that night? It was cold. You would have needed a coat, hat—gloves.”
The boy tightened his hold on Nicholas.
“Did you? You aren’t in trouble. In fact, you can help the police find the bad man.” He needed to call Selena and let her know he’d found the child, but he didn’t want to stop Tommy from telling him what the team had been trying to get the boy to say since Michael’s murder.
Tommy buried his face in the crook of Nicholas’s arm.
“You know, Tommy, I lost my parents when I was a child. It was hard on me. They died in a small-plane crash in another country. I don’t have much family, either.”
The child stirred and pulled back in order to look at Nicholas. “You’re alone, too?”
“God is always with me. He was when I was a child, too. When I was upset or sad, I turned to Him. When something troubles me, I give it to the Lord.”
“I pray to Him every night.” He drew away. “Are you sure He listens?”
“Yes.”
“Then why am I still having nightmares?” Tears welled in Tommy’s eyes.
“Maybe you’re trying to remember something that’s important. Talking about it can help. Have you sneaked out like tonight before?”
Tommy nodded, one tear released to slip down his cheek.
“Tell me about it.” Nicholas held his breath, hoping the child would voice his fears.
“I wasn’t stealing the gloves. I was only borrowing them.”
“Whose?” The child’s blue glove found near the crime scene at Harland Jeffries’s house?
“David’s. He was sick and couldn’t use them. They were brand-new and my favorite color. Blue. I lost one. I’m having bad dreams ’cause I did.” More tears ran down his face. “I’m bad.”
“No, you aren’t, Tommy. You were only borrowing them.”
“I wasn’t gonna be gone long.”
“What did you do when you sneaked away? How did you lose the glove?”
“Bad. Bad.” The child kept shaking his head.
What was he referring to? What he did? The man in his dreams? “No, you aren’t.”
“Bad man. He hurts people.”
Was he talking about the man who had tried to get inside the original foster home on Jeffries’s property? Or someone else? Michael Jeffries’s murderer?
“What did he do, Tommy?”
“Nothing. I don’t know.” Fear gripped Tommy. He scrambled away until the tree trunk halted his progress again. He hugged his arms to him and began rocking. “I’ve got to get away.”
“Come, Max.” The rottweiler scooted under the bush until he wiggled his way to them.
“Max is here. You are okay.” Nicholas spoke in a soft, soothing tone, giving Tommy time to calm down. “No one is going to let anything happen to you or the other kids. Nothing has at this home. You’ve been safe.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m calling to let everyone know I found you. Cassie and the others will want to know you’re okay.”
As though sensing the child was troubled, Max snuggled close to Tommy, who began petting him.
Nicholas called Selena’s cell. When she answered, he said, “Tommy’s fine and with me. We’ll be back soon.”
“Your captain and Isaac Black arrived a few minutes ago. Isaac is outside with the guard. He was going to walk the perimeter of the fence. You might see him on the way back. Gavin will let him know about Tommy.”
He lowered his voice. “Everything all right there?”
“No problems, except the kids are all concerned about Tommy.”
“See you soon.” Nicholas slipped his cell into his pocket. “Ready to go back? Your friends are going to be glad to see you.”
“Kent isn’t.”
“He might be. They were worried. Ready to head back?” he repeated.
“Yeah. Can I lead Max?”
“Sure. He always loves playing with you.”
Nicholas made his way out from the underbrush and waited while Max and Tommy crawled out. They started toward the house, Nicholas shining his flashlight to illuminate the path. Out of the woods, Nicholas glimpsed Isaac and his beagle, Abby, emerge from the trees near the fence line.
A few minutes later, the front door opened and Cassie scooped Tommy into her arms. “Don’t do that again. You scared me. Promise me?”
“I won’t.”
Cassie plucked a leaf from Tommy’s sandy-brown hair. “First, the children want to see you, then you can go into the kitchen and eat some dinner. Virginia saved you a plate. After that, a bath and bed.”
Tommy moved inside, and the kids swarmed around him, all talking at once.
Cassie turned to Nicholas. “Thanks. I’m so glad you were here when it happened.”
“So am I.” He spotted Gavin, escorting Tommy toward the kitchen, the leash to Max still in the boy’s hand. “He’s scared the bad man from his dream will get him. Will hurt you all. He’s upset that Kent is making fun of him crying when he wakes up from a nightmare. I don’t know if that had anything to do with him leaving tonight or not. As you’re aware, he’s very fragile right now. He almost told me about the bad man. He did admit he sneaked out and lost one of David’s gloves. He feels guilty about that.”
“At least that’s a step forward. I’ll talk with him. Put his mind at ease about the bad man. I wonder if the man is the one who shot Michael and Harland or if he’s the one Tommy remembers from the attack on the original foster home.”
Nicholas frowned, remembering when that happened. “We can’t let anyone know that Tommy was the boy who dropped the glove near the murder scene.”
“I’ll see what I can do to get more from him. Gavin will help, too.”
“Where’s Selena? We need to leave. I know it’s getting close to bedtime for the kids.”
Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 #1 Page 12