Finding Amy

by Carol Steward

  Jessica heard Lidia Vance’s sweet voice in the hall. She grabbed the rail and relaxed onto the bed.

  “Jessica, how are you feeling?” She could hear Lidia, but couldn’t see her because the nurse stood between them.

  “Physically, fine,” she said, as Lidia came into view, “Deanne was supposed to bring Amy to visit after work, but I can’t reach them.”

  “That’s odd.” Lidia looked at the clock on the wall. “Would you like me to call for you?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind, that would be a huge relief. Maybe I’m dialing wrong.”

  “Ms. Mathers…”

  “You don’t seem to understand—” Jessica squinted, trying to read the nurse’s name tag “—Brittany. I don’t know where my daughter is. She’s only three.”

  “I’m sure there’s been a misunderst—” the nurse started to say, but Jessica cut her off by pounding her fist on the hospital table.

  Her dinner tray jumped, rattling the plastic bowls and silverware left from her meal. “No. Something is wrong.” Jessica’s heart raced and she shook her head. “Maybe she’s been in another accident.” Suddenly Jessica felt nauseated. “I don’t know what’s going on, but she’s not here, and the caregiver hasn’t called.” She took a deep breath. “This isn’t like Deanne at all. She calls when Amy has a runny nose, just to let me know. Something has to be wrong.”

  “Calm down, Ms. Mathers.”

  “No!” Jessica yelled. “Can’t you call the police? I just know something’s wrong. Please help me find out what’s happened to my daughter.”

  “Miss Mathers, you need to calm down or I’ll have to—”

  Lidia stepped in, cutting off the nurse this time. “I just called Sam, Jessica. He’ll be right over. Nurse, maybe if you come back after we talk with my son? He’s a detective with Colorado Springs Police Department. Maybe he can clear this up for Jessica.”

  The nurse looked at Jessica, then back to the elegant petite woman. “I’ll send my supervisor in to see if there’s anything more we can do to help ease the situation.”

  Lidia pushed the hospital table across the room after offering Jessica a drink. “We’ll get this all straightened out, Jessica.”

  Lidia gave Jessica a kiss on the cheek and held her hand. Jessica closed her eyes. She didn’t want Lidia to let go. She wanted someone to hug her and tell her this was some sort of nightmare, that she would wake up and Amy would be just fine.

  “Sam will be here soon. He’ll know what to do,” said Lidia.

  Oh goody, I can’t wait, Jessica thought sarcastically. After their disastrous dinner, she wasn’t so sure Sam would show up at all. He’d probably send the surliest officer on the force. “Thank you for coming Lidia, but you didn’t need to bother Sam.”

  “It’s no bother. He’s a few blocks away, watching a baseball game with Max. I thought of how miserable you must be up here alone, and I decided to see if I could cheer you up with some flowers.”

  “Flowers?” Jessica glanced to where Lidia pointed and her mouth dropped open. She’d been so relieved to see a kind face, she hadn’t noticed any flowers. She looked at the huge bouquet near the door and realized Lidia must have set them down before Jessica saw her.

  She noticed another smaller flower arrangement, and another. “Who sent all these arrangements? Good grief. I’ve been so upset about Amy I haven’t noticed any of them.”

  Lidia chuckled. “I’ll read the cards—if you don’t mind?”

  “Oh, no one would be sending me anything too personal. Go ahead. I need something to take my mind off Amy for a minute.”

  Lidia read get-well wishes from Susan and the staff at the shelter. Her parents sent their love along with a potted plant. Her brother’s family sent an arrangement of wildflowers… Lidia stopped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Her deep-brown eyes opened wide. “I’m not sure, but I’m guessing you know. This card is an apology, from Sam. What’s going on?”

  Jessica was as shocked as Lidia to hear Sam had sent flowers—a huge bouquet of burgundy calla lilies that matched the oriental decor in her bedroom. “I don’t know. We had dinner to discuss the auction. It didn’t go well, but he didn’t owe me any apology. I told you, you shouldn’t have bothered him.”

  “Is there someone you’d rather bother when your daughter is missing?” Sam said as he barged into the room.

  Jessica looked at him, surprised to find him gazing at her tenderly.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  His mother sent him a mixed look of pleasure and curiosity. She tipped her head toward the flower arrangement. “That’s what I’ve been asking.”

  “Mother, not now. I mean with Amy.” His voice exuded warmth and concern.

  Sam stood next to Jessica’s bed as she reviewed everything. “The nurses keep making excuses, that I must have been asleep when they were here, or…” she blubbered, struggling to regain composure. She wanted to be strong. Needed to be, for Amy. “Or they’ve gone to dinner. It’s nine-thirty. Past Amy’s bedtime. Something has to be wrong.” Jessica shook her head. “Deanne should have called by now if something came up. I know she understood that I wanted to see Amy as soon as possible.” Jessica’s tears let loose and she could barely breathe.

  Lidia brought a washcloth and gently ran it along Jessica’s jaw and neck. “Breathe, Jessica. It’s okay.”

  “I’m not going to tell you you’re imagining things, Jessica. Are you sure she went to the shelter today?” Tenderly, his eyes melted into hers as she shook her head. Sam offered a somber smile. “I’ll look into it right away. What we need you to do is try to stay calm.”

  She took a deep breath, trembling with fear and anger. “Something has happened to Amy! How do you expect me to stay calm?”

  Sam took hold of her hands and held them still. “Jessica. You’ve just been through surgery. I don’t blame you for being upset, but you need to relax and let me look into it. I’m going to go make a few calls. I’ll be right back. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  Sam asked several more questions, then left the room.

  If Jessica had had any hopes that she might be over-reacting, they just faded away. This was real, she knew it.

  While Sam was gone, Lidia continued to comfort her. Time stood still. The lights in the hallways dimmed, announcing the end of visiting hours. Lidia didn’t budge.

  Jessica looked at Lidia. “Where is he? Why isn’t he back yet?”

  Lidia shrugged. “He’ll be back soon.”

  Sure enough, Sam stepped into the room a few minutes later. His hair was a mess, his face pale. “Deanne and Amy never showed up at the shelter today.”

  Chapter Nine

  Jessica didn’t want to believe what Sam had just told her. “She’s missing?”

  “Technically, we don’t know where she is, exactly, so I guess you could say that. However, it could still be a misunderstanding.”

  “Don’t give me that excuse.” Jessica shook her head and felt the tears burn her tired eyes. “Don’t you ever lie to me. Amy is my daughter. My responsibility. I have the right to know what’s really happening.”

  “You know as much as we do right now, Jessica. You can’t do anything to help Amy except get stronger. I have several officers looking into this—checking hospitals, driving records, everything we can do at this point. We’ll have more answers in a while. For now, calm down and rest.”

  Sam’s words stung. Jessica was helpless. Truly unable to take care of her daughter. She closed her eyes, more confused about Samuel Vance at this moment than she ever had been. How could he be so calm? Didn’t he understand?

  “I can’t lose Amy, too. I’d rather die.”

  “I know what you mean, Jessica, but do not let the nurse hear you say that,” Sam warned.

  She opened her eyes to look at him, then closed them again.

  “I mean it. I know you’re frightened. I know it hurts. But if you think you’ve got problems now… You don’t
want to go into a seventy-two-hour hold in the psych ward. Understand me?”

  Jessica’s eyes flew open. She realized he wasn’t trying to be mean, he was only trying to look out for her. “I didn’t mean it. I’m—”

  “Yell at me all you need to, but don’t lose it with the hospital staff. I’ll be here and I’ll get you through this.”

  The supervising nurse stepped into the room with a hospital security officer. Sam confirmed that the hospital security kept surveillance tapes and arranged to look at them.

  The supervisor tried to explain the attending nurse’s intentions, that she hadn’t meant to be argumentative. Jessica nodded her head in silence, indicating she understood. She didn’t want to understand. Her daughter wasn’t here, and she didn’t need anyone’s permission to be upset. She was tired of everyone telling her to calm down.

  “After you talk to the police, Jessica, I think it would be best if we give you something mild to help you sleep. We’ll wait until you’re ready. And if they find Amy, we can be sure she stays here until you wake. Okay?”

  Jessica stared across the room. If they find her? Suddenly this was becoming worse than real—it was her worst nightmare. She was helpless to move by herself, and she could do nothing to locate her daughter.

  “We’ll let you know when we’re through talking to Jessica.” Sam’s reply pushed Jessica a little closer to losing control.

  Lidia returned to the opposite side of the bed with another cool washcloth. She wiped the tears from Jessica’s face. “We’re going to find her, Jessica. We won’t give up till we have. Maybe Travis could help, Sam.”

  “I’ll call him later. I’ve called another detective in, Jessica. It’s standard procedure. She’s with the Missing Persons Unit, and I’m not. It will save time in filing the reports and get everything moving as quickly as possible.” He smiled at her, then looked to his mother, the grim truth in his expression.

  “Missing? You really think she’s—” Jessica felt light-headed “—missing?”

  “Well—” He looked a bit panicky himself. “When someone isn’t where they’re supposed to be…” Sam’s voice faded away, as if he, too, were facing reality. “Don’t jump to any conclusions yet. When did you last see Amy?”

  “She was in bed this morning before I left for the hospital. Deanne agreed to get her ready and take her to the shelter when she went to work at seven this morning.” Jessica pulled a couple of tissues from the box and took a long drink of water, hoping to avoid falling apart totally.

  “So you saw Amy at what time?” Sam pulled a small tablet from his back jeans pocket, sat in the chair and took notes.

  She thought back, trying to be exact. “I had to be here at five-thirty, so it must have been somewhere around four-forty-five to five o’clock. I walked to the hospital, so I left early.”

  “You walked?” He didn’t look pleased. His gaze lingered on her and she wanted to tell him it wasn’t easy, but she’d managed all on her own. So what if it had taken her forty-five minutes to make the ten-minute walk? “Do you know what she was wearing?”

  “She was in her pink shorty pajamas, I suppose, but surely Deanne put play clothes on her for the day.”

  “What is Deanne’s full name? For our records.”

  “Deanne Jones,” Jessica said.

  The detective arrived, and Sam filled her in on what was going on. “Jessica Mathers, this is Detective Rebecca Hilliard.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Mathers. I’m with the CSPD Missing Persons Unit.” The woman, unlike Sam, wore her badge and gun in plain sight.

  “Hi.” Looking from Sam to the pretty officer next to him, Jessica realized how awful she must look after surgery and after crying for the last few hours. She pulled her sheet higher, even though she felt warmer by the minute.

  “Could we open the window?” Jessica asked.

  “They don’t open.” Sam felt her forehead, then handed the washcloth to his mother to rinse in cold water again. “If you’re hot, maybe the nurse should check you. It feels cool in here to me.” He looked at the others, who nodded in agreement.

  Lidia handed the freshly rinsed cloth to Sam, then left to get the nurse, despite Jessica’s refusal.

  “I’m fine, I don’t want any more medicine. I have to stay awake, for Amy,” Jessica said to Sam.

  “You may have a fever, or an infection. It doesn’t hurt to check it out.” Sam tried to reason with her as he reached to place the cool cloth on her neck.

  “Speak for yourself.” Jessica took the cloth from Sam and wiped her own face. “You’re not the helpless one.”

  Detective Hilliard asked Sam to fill her in on what he knew so far. He hadn’t missed anything, even though Jessica hadn’t seen him take that many notes. Sam’s phone rang and he left the room while Rebecca continued asking questions.

  “Jessica, what do you know about Deanne Jones?”

  Jessica wanted to cry, but refused to look helpless in front of the police. Sam had already inferred that she fell short of perfection on the mothering scale. This was one more vote for his argument. “She is the child-care provider at the Galilee Women’s Shelter.”

  “Did she go to work today?” Rebecca asked.

  “I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But according to the phone call Sam made, she didn’t. I didn’t think to call them, because I didn’t get worried until after work hours.”

  Rebecca’s pager beeped. She paused a moment in her questioning to glance at it, then looked up from her notes. “Where is Amy’s father?”

  Jessica felt the room spin. “He died sixteen months ago.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Rebecca paused to look at Sam as he entered the room.

  “She’s not at any of the hospitals and Amy’s doctor hasn’t had any call regarding Amy,” Sam announced. The room fell silent.

  A few minutes later, Detective Hilliard continued her questioning. “Can you give us a description of Deanne?”

  Jessica felt tears sting her eyes and closed them to force the tears away. “She’s about five-six, slender, very neat appearance…shoulder-length brown hair, I think. It’s curly, and it may have highlights. Brown eyes. She has a large, deep scar on the right side of her face. She wears a lot of makeup to try to cover it.”

  “Do you know how she got that?” Sam interrupted.

  “I heard that she was burned in a fire. I’ve never asked.”

  Rebecca had been taking notes and looked at Jessica. “Any particular shape to the scar?”

  Jessica touched the right side of her face. “No, it pretty much covers the entire jaw.” When asked what Deanne had been wearing that morning, Jessica couldn’t recall anything specific.

  The detective continued writing. “We need to know who all may have had contact with Jessica recently.”

  Jessica listed the people at the shelter, including staff and several residents.

  “Has anyone shown extraordinary interest in Amy recently?”

  Jessica looked at Sam. “No, several people have shown concern about Amy’s not talking, but, no, even that’s not out of the ordinary. She’s very shy.”

  Rebecca returned a faint smile. “Has Amy ever wandered away from you or the child-care provider?”

  Everything was hitting Jessica at once. “No,” she whispered.

  “Is she happy at home?”

  Jessica gasped for breath. “What are you getting at? Of course she’s happy.”

  “These are standard questions, Jessica. We have to ask them,” Sam explained. Anguish showed in his eyes and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I know this is difficult.” Detective Hilliard offered to get Jessica a drink of water before they continued. “How long have you known Deanne?”

  “I met her two months ago, when I started working at the shelter full-time.”

  “Do you know how long Deanne has worked there?” Rebecca’s long ponytail trailed over her shoulder when she bent her neck to take notes.

  Jessica shook her he
ad, feeling like the neglectful mother that Sam seemed to think she was. Just because she trusted people without checking out their rap sheet didn’t mean she was irresponsible. Surely the shelter had checked into all of that before they hired Deanne.

  “Have you been around anyone who might have just met Amy recently?” Rebecca paused, and Jessica mentally walked backward through the last few weeks. “A new boyfriend or—”

  “Just Sam.”

  The room became dead quiet. Sam stared at her in disbelief. Lidia looked pleased as punch, and Detective Hilliard stood frozen in astonishment.

  Jessica looked at them, growing warmer by the minute. “What did I say wrong?”

  The silence lengthened. Finally Sam tried to respond. “You, um…” Sam’s words caught in his throat.

  “You admitted that Sam’s your boyfriend.” Lidia’s smile left no doubt as to her opinion on the matter.

  Jessica’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She reached for her water and choked on the lukewarm liquid. “I what? No…” Her eyes widened and she looked at Sam accusingly. “No, I didn’t say anything of the sort! What did you ask?”

  “I asked about anyone new, such as boyfriends…” Rebecca’s words faded.

  “I guess I didn’t hear that part.” Jessica looked at him, then up at the flowers. “We…I don’t have a boyfriend, new or old.”

  After another pause, Detective Hilliard asked a few more minor questions, then closed her notebook and promised to get back to them as soon as she could. “Jessica, I need to confirm that we have your permission to search your residence for evidence related to your missing daughter. I would also like to know if there is a photo we could use to issue an Amber Alert.”

  “Of course you have my permission. There are photos in the album on the shelf behind the television, but the most recent is in the frame on my dresser. I took a full roll at the shelter last week. I think that’s still on the table by the door.”

  “Thank you. I’ll get back to you soon.” Rebecca smiled.

  Sam followed the detective out of the room. “Becky, wait just a minute. About Jessica, we had dinner, it was business,” he told Becky.