Finding Amy

by Carol Steward

  “Tuna salad? With all of this…” Sam turned around.

  His dad pointed toward the garage. “The freezer is that way.”

  Sam lifted the tray and headed to the deep freeze.

  His father’s voice met him at the door. “We counted those.”

  “Not even I could eat ten meals of chicken cacciatore in one week, but I wouldn’t mind trying,” he muttered. He closed the door to the garage behind him, planning which night he could let his mother con him into delivering a meal. She didn’t need to know he and Jessica had already gone on one date. He didn’t want to get their hopes up. Why his father was so antsy for Sam and his siblings to get married after missing eighty percent of their childhoods, Sam couldn’t fathom. But he wasn’t about to invite any conversation about his own love life.

  While they ate supper together, Sam dodged his mother’s repeated inquiries about the bachelor auction and Jessica Mathers.

  Instead, he steered the conversation to the frustrations of work. “I noticed you talking to Alistair Barclay the other night, Dad. What do you know about him?”

  Max chuckled and the lines of his forehead creased. “If you can imagine, he thinks he’s going to run for mayor.”

  “Are you keeping an eye on him?”

  Dad shook his head. “Why? Do you think I should?”

  Sam couldn’t believe his own father was playing ignorant. He was still trying to crack his father’s “undercover” code. It seemed hopeless. The man had been in the CIA for nearly forty years. The fact he was Sam’s father didn’t mean Sam would ever understand him.

  Sam took a bite of his tuna sandwich, hoping the extra time would make his dad think Sam had information he wanted. “Nothing concrete.” He took another serving of cucumbers and onions. “Just a hunch. There’s something odd about him. He keeps unusual company, unconventional business hours, and he’s moving awfully fast with these buildings.”

  “Something illegal about efficiency these days?” His dad frowned, leaning back in the captain’s chair. “No, you’ll have to come up with something more concrete than that. He’s created jobs and helped the city come out of this recession pretty well compared to many cities. A lot of people are impressed with that alone.”

  Sam looked at his dad in disbelief. “El Rey Construction brought in their own people, and a lot of problems along with them. The Narc Unit is adding three officers, hoping to get a handle on calls. Domestic abuse has filled every shelter available.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, Sam. I’m not defending him. Be patient. Keep watching. One day he’ll make a mistake, and you’ll be there waiting.” His dad took another bite and looked at his watch.

  Sam took a deep breath and a long drink of iced tea. “You sure you’re not working again?” His dad had a sparkle in his eye that had more to do with his love of adventure than the love of his life. Sam knew his mother had come to terms with that decades ago.

  Max rested his elbows on the table and folded his hands in front of him. “You know better than to ask. What I can tell you is to trust the gut instinct that God gave you.”

  Sam understood now, especially when he saw the look in his mother’s eyes. “I’m not an agent, Dad, and if I were ever to consider it, I’d do it like you did, restricting work to out-of-town cases to keep the family out of danger. I guess what concerns me is that you’re at home now,” Sam said as he looked at his dad. “And Mom deserves this retirement as much as you do.” He pushed the chair from the table, kissed his mother’s cheek and patted his dad’s shoulder. “Thanks for dinner.” Sam carried his dishes to the kitchen and loaded them into the dishwasher.

  “You coming over for the Rockies game tomorrow night?” his dad hollered as Sam opened the back door.

  Sam smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Love you guys.”

  “Love you, Sammy,” his parents said in unison.

  Sam entered the side door of the church, ready to forget the problems of the world for the next couple of hours. He relished this time to focus on God and glorifying Him. Even if people came in the door with a weight on their shoulders, it was a few hours they could join together and let God lift their burdens.

  Sam greeted the others and turned on his keyboard. The Praise Team leader stood and looked around. “While we’re waiting on Betsy and Rob, why don’t we see if anyone has prayer requests.”

  The list was bountiful—praises as well as needs. When prayer time came, Sam added Jessica’s surgery, Travis’s grief, and protection for his brother Peter, from whom the family hadn’t heard in nearly three years.

  Sam warmed up on the keyboard while waiting for the college kids to arrive. Steve gave an overview of what songs they would sing this Sunday based on Pastor Gabriel’s scheduled sermon. Betsy and Rob ran into the room, apologizing for keeping everyone waiting.

  “There’s a standoff with police!” Betsy’s eyes grew large, and she looked at Sam. “Sorry, I forgot, this is your break from work. There’s something happening that we should pray for.”

  Sam shrugged. “It’s okay, Betsy, I always keep the officers in my prayers, but I’ll say an extra one tonight. If they need me, they know how to reach me.” He released the cell phone from his belt and held it in the air. “Let’s pray this stays silent.”

  Everyone laughed and settled into practice. Sam was more distracted than usual, unable to get his mother’s comment about Jessica out of his mind. He wondered if Jessica had ever been involved in the church, or if she’d never been introduced to the Lord.

  It was one thing to walk away from Him, another altogether to never have known what one was missing.

  Practice wound up for the night and he drove home, wondering how Jessica and Amy were getting along. He glanced at the clock, realizing it was far too late to call, especially the night before her surgery.

  He pulled into the garage, eyeing the basketball. He listened to his phone messages while he dialed Travis and locked his gun in the cabinet. “You feel like shooting some baskets before it gets too late?”

  His older brother and his German shepherd, Cody, walked the not-quite-two blocks almost as quickly as Sam changed into his grubby shorts and shirt.

  The sun had gone down and a breeze blew through Manitou Springs. Sam turned on the porch light and met them outside with a bucket of water for Cody and lemonade for himself and Travis.

  Sam passed the ball to Travis. “One-on-one or Horse?”

  “I don’t know—how bad do you want to lose?” Travis sent up a warning shot. “I’m hot tonight.”

  “Who isn’t?” Sam retrieved the ball and dribbled to the half-court line. “So what’s up?”

  “I hear we both were conned into that bachelor auction.” He stole the ball from Sam and made another shot.

  Sam shook his head. “So this is how it’s going to be, huh?” He dribbled and jumped, spinning while under the basket. “Two points, and you didn’t see it coming.”

  “Thought I’d give you a chance to warm up. No fun playing alone.” Travis took the ball out, and Sam reached in for a steal. “Reach,” Travis said, claiming a foul.

  Sam took a step back, then rushed the basket and blocked Travis’s shot.

  “I hear Mom’s trying to set you up with Jessica Mathers.”

  Sam lost his footing, and Travis called him for traveling. He slammed the ball to the ground. “You going to keep distracting me?”

  Travis laughed. “All’s fair in love and war.”

  “A Vance never forgets. And you know what they say about paybacks.” Sam called time-out and drained his glass of lemonade. Travis removed his shirt, and Sam noticed Natalie’s baby ring on the gold chain just as Travis took it off. He stepped inside the front door and set it on the shelf. Sam wondered if Travis would ever recover from the loss.

  “Jessica and I had dinner last night to plan the date. I think Mom’s got her wires crossed on this one.”

  “The date was a bomb, huh?” Travis took a swig of his drink and headed back for the
court.

  “It had a few problems. Actually, I like Jessica, but she has quite a history. Her husband was a drinker, probably abusive, though she won’t admit it.”

  Travis hit the rim, and Sam tipped the rebound into the hoop. “She left him, I presume?”

  “He killed himself in that car accident a year or so ago. The one that ejected the baby in the car seat—” Sam stopped, worried that the simple mention of a child would upset Travis.

  Travis took the shot, but missed and elbowed Sam for the rebound. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that. What a fluke that fate brought you together again.”

  Sam interrupted the conversation to call the foul and take his shot from the free-throw line. “That’s what Jessica and I thought, but now she hasn’t returned my calls. Sounds like she and Mom are getting pretty chummy.”

  Travis started to respond, but Sam called Travis on another foul and stole the ball. “Calls, as in plural?” Travis stole the ball back and missed because he was laughing. “Cody, get Sam, get ’em.”

  Cody stood at the edge of the grass and tipped his head. He knew better than to get in between them while they were playing basketball. Sam tucked the ball under his arm and collapsed on the grass, playing the “get ’em” game with Cody. Cody growled fiercely as he and Sam wrestled, then backed away when commanded to do so. He stood at attention, guarding Sam.

  “Good boy, Cody. Forget the game, let’s go inside. Let’s get you a snack.” Sam liked to reward Cody’s control. The German shepherd jumped and yipped as they headed to the house. If the time ever did come when they needed him to attack for real, Sam often wondered if he’d do it.

  “I called to make sure she was getting along okay.” Sam explained how the date had ended and that she was going in for surgery. “What did you think of her?”

  Travis thought a moment. “We met at the Stagecoach, but thankfully it was Mom’s day off. Jessica was a little too cheery, if you know what I mean.”

  “Like the life of the party?” Sam offered. “What did she drink?”

  Travis nodded. “Yeah, that’s about it. I don’t know what she had, she asked for her usual.”

  Sam disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a towel over his shoulder, a treat for Cody and a bag of frozen grapes. “Which looked like, what?”

  “Looked like a glass of wine, maybe. Though it was pretty pale for a red wine, but a little too red for zinfandel, come to think of it. Why?” He poured himself another glass of lemonade and chugged it.

  Sam felt better. “I’ve seen her at the café a lot this month, and she’s seemed exactly the same. Kind of like she’s flirting. She wasn’t like that with me, but we took her daughter, since it was a last-minute suggestion. I didn’t figure she’d have time to get a sitter.”

  A smile flickered on his brother’s face, and Travis quickly wiped it away. “She wasn’t flirting, but maybe…”

  “Maybe what?” Sam snapped too quickly and too defensively for someone who’d gone out with the woman once. Nevertheless, he didn’t like to hear doubts, especially when it came to Jessica flirting with other men.

  Travis silently called Cody and started scratching his ears.

  “Maybe some guys would have taken it personally, if they liked the cheery young type. I’m not the best person to notice that sort of thing. I hardly noticed it when my own wife flirted with me. Used to make her even madder than…never mind.”

  Sam was surprised by Travis’s admission and didn’t know what to say. His brother had shocked everyone by returning from college married to his girlfriend’s best friend, Allison. They’d never figured it to be a love match, but when Natalie had arrived, they’d had hope the marriage would turn around. Sam leaned his head back on the sweaty towel. “You can’t change the past, Trav. But I can’t say I’m not happy that you didn’t find Jessica as attractive as I do.”

  “I didn’t say she’s not attractive, I’m only half dead. She’s pretty, but that cheeriness would kill me, even from a sister-in-law—just to warn you.” His dark eyebrows lifted mischievously.

  “Don’t put the cart before the horse. No one mentioned marriage,” Sam argued.

  “Just calling it like I see it, Sammy. I’m heading home.” He stood and crossed the room, leaving Sam in a mild state of shock.

  Marriage?

  When he realized Travis was at the front door, Sam felt guilty letting him leave. He hadn’t responded to Travis’s mention of his marriage. Maybe his brother had wanted to talk. Sam just didn’t know how to tell Travis to get on with life without hurting him. They had already lost one brother with Peter’s disappearance; Sam couldn’t stand the thought of alienating the only one he had left.

  “Thanks for the game.”

  Travis nodded. “Thanks for not pushing. Forget I said anything, would ya?”

  “You’re outta luck there—a Vance never forgets.” Sam closed the door, too much on his mind to sleep. He found plenty of chores to keep him busy until he finally gave up and decided it was time to go to bed.

  Just as he was dozing off, he had a brilliant idea. “If Jessica doesn’t understand this message, we don’t stand a chance.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jessica closed her eyes, shutting out the bright lights and noise of the operating room. She counted backward, eagerly anticipating the day when she could carry her daughter without suffering days of intense pain. “Ten, nine, eight…”

  When she woke later in her own hospital room, she didn’t remember anything from post-op, yet there were plenty of reminders: machines beeping, an IV pole, rails along the sides of her bed. A nurse checked her blood pressure and smiled.

  “Amy here yet?” Jessica’s throat and mouth were dry, making her tongue feel double its normal size.

  The nurse set a jug of ice water on the tray by Jessica’s bed. “No one has been here yet. Is Amy a friend?”

  Jessica shook her head. “Daughter.” Her eyes drifted closed and she slowly slid back into a world without worries that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pull herself out of. She needed to see Amy, but sleep won.

  “Get some rest, Ms. Mathers. I’ll be back in a little while.” The nurse placed the medication button in Jessica’s hand. “This will dispense a dose of morphine through your IV. Press the button anytime you feel pain…”

  “’Kay.” The drugs made her sleepy, and before she knew it, a couple more hours had passed. The certified nurses’ assistant arrived with a dinner tray. Where had the day gone?

  “Evening, Ms. Mathers. Can I help open anything for you?”

  Jessica forced her eyes open. “Why? Can’t I do it myself?” She moved her arms, just to prove to herself that the surgery hadn’t left her paralyzed. Doctors had laughed at her cynicism, but now that the surgery was successful, she could finally joke about what could have gone wrong.

  “Of course you can, I just thought I’d offer to help.”

  Jessica opened her red gelatin and smiled. “Is my daughter here yet?” She set the plastic dish on the tray and looked at the clock, ignoring the meal.

  “I haven’t seen anyone. How old is she?”

  “Three.”

  “What a fun age.” The CNA chatted away. “Wouldn’t you like to try our tantalizing beef broth, gelatin du jour, or an Italian ice?” She laughed at her own silliness, until she saw Jessica’s tears. “Sorry, but you can’t imagine how awful it is to bring hospital meals to starving patients. Every now and then I bluff them into enjoying it. Is something wrong?”

  Jessica forced a smile. “It’s not the food. I’ve been waiting for Amy to get here.”

  “I see.” She asked about Amy, then promised to stop back in after she’d delivered the rest of her dinner trays. “Try to eat. That’s probably why they’re not here yet—they’re eating, too.”

  Jessica sank back into the bed, then reached for the phone and dialed her home number, letting it ring until the answering machine picked up. She dialed Deanne’s number with no better result. Think
ing that they may have been detained at the shelter, she tried there, too. No answer. She shifted in the bed and looked at the clock, whose hands pointed to the opposite poles. If Deanne got off work on time, they should have left the shelter at four. Now it was after six, and Deanne hadn’t even called.

  The nurse returned before Jessica had eaten anything. Jessica didn’t give her a chance to get two words out. “Any sign of my daughter yet?”

  The nurse looked at her watch. “They probably went to eat and lost track of time.”

  Jessica looked at the clock and nodded.

  “Let’s try sitting on the edge of the bed. Maybe you’d have an easier time eating that way.” After a complicated ordeal of moving one object, then a wire, then another object, Jessica sat upright for a few minutes, then tried walking while the sheets were being changed.

  The nurse helped her back into the clean bed, and Jessica collapsed, then pressed the morphine button and dozed again. When she woke and saw nearly two hours had passed, panic set in. Where could they be? Had they been in an accident and no one knew how to reach Jessica? Had Deanne remembered to take Amy’s backpack, which included the card with Amy’s vital information?

  The phone finally rang, and she answered. She heard her parents’ voices, clear from Italy.

  “We won’t keep you, honey,” her father said. “We just wanted to make sure the surgery went okay.”

  Jessica said nothing about Amy. She didn’t need to worry them. Not yet, anyway.

  The nurse entered again. “Why don’t we get you up and go for another walk?”

  The last thing Jessica wanted to do right now was move, let alone get out of this bed. “I don’t want any setbacks before Amy’s visit. Can’t we wait?” Deanne had agreed to bring Amy to visit right after her shift at the child-care room. Where could they have gone?

  “Not really, Ms. Mathers. The doctor’s schedule is quite rigid. If you want to go home tomorrow, we need to get busy.” The nurse checked Jessica’s vitals and turned to get another gown for her to wear as a robe.