The Heavenly Grille Café (Heavenly Grille Cafe Book 1)

by J. T. Livingston

  Max walked to the front door and stood beside Bertie. They watched while Amanda waved and drove off.

  “What the Hell is going on, Max?” Bertie whispered, laying her head against his massive forearm.

  “I wish I knew, Bertie,” Max sighed. “I wish I knew…”

  CHAPTER 20

  -December 15-

  The Kidnapping

  Charlotte Grace Devone had ruled the roost since the day she was born on Monday, September 5, 2011, at 11:58PM.

  She had all the adults in her life twisted around her tiny, perfect fingers from the moment Kris and Amanda brought her home from the hospital. She was a very undemanding baby who captured the hearts of anyone who came in contact with her.

  At the ripe, old age of three and a half months her favorite person at the moment seemed to be Doug. Her brilliant blue eyes twinkled in obvious delight every time he picked her up. The two of them had formed an immediate connection and bond. Charlotte was especially fond of Doug’s thick dark hair and twisted it around her tiny fingers at their every encounter.

  No one was more surprised than Doug at his bonding with the baby. He had absolutely no experience with babies, yet Charlotte felt so good and natural in his arms. He knew he would do anything and everything in his power to always keep her safe. For the first time since he arrived in Monticello, he dreaded the five-year limit of his assignment at the café. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to leave Charlotte Grace behind when the time came. He wanted more than anything to watch her grow up, to watch her become the beautiful, self-confident person he felt she would become.

  Kris and Amanda, with the help of their mutual employers, had been able to work out a schedule where one of them was always with Charlotte. Kris was home with the baby during the day and Amanda took care of Charlotte when Kris worked the night shift at the coffee shop. Their combined meager incomes would not have been enough to provide everything the baby needed; and, if it had not been for the truckers’ baby fund, Kris would have needed to seek aid from the county. However, the trucker fund had continually supplied her with an extra one hundred dollars a week, more than enough to care for Charlotte Grace. She had thought the contributions would have dwindled by now, but they remained consistent, week to week.

  In fact, the truckers’ baby fund had actually begun increasing during the Thanksgiving holiday. Christmas was only ten days away and the truckers were now leaving presents for Charlotte Grace, in addition to extra money.

  The last three months had passed quickly and everyone was settling into something of a routine with the baby being at the center of all their attention. Charlotte Grace was always within someone’s sight and well protected.

  Dean Hall had become a regular visitor, stopping by many times during the week to check on his “girls.” Kris was more than cautious about getting involved with any man, especially now that she had her daughter to care for, but she soon found herself looking forward to Dean’s visits, more than she cared to admit. She knew that having Charlotte Grace was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She hadn’t done any drugs in over a year and she never thought about taking a drink, even though she was always worried that she could easily become the alcoholic her own mother had been. She never wanted Charlotte Grace to experience the childhood she herself had endured.

  Max and Bertie had gradually begun to relax. Neither of them had seen a dark sedan nor the couple that had raised the hairs on their arms several months ago. They knew Doug had seen the couple at the hospital cafeteria, but after three months, they were beginning to think that the couple had moved on. Since they knew the woman was ill, Bertie believed it was even possible that the woman had died by now.

  Regardless, life had mellowed out for everyone. Tensions were low, happiness was high, and Christmas was just around the corner.

  Life was so good; at least, it was good until Thursday, December fifteenth.

  Kris had gotten the night of December fifteenth off so that she and Amanda could do some final Christmas shopping. Bertie had offered to watch Charlotte Grace for them while they drove to Tallahassee to shop, but Kris wanted to take the baby with her. She was hoping to get Charlotte’s first picture with Santa Claus at the mall.

  Kris walked into the café with Charlotte strapped securely in her baby carrier. It was four o’clock and she was already thirty minutes late picking up Amanda. They had planned on driving Kris’ new, used car since the back seat was already situated to accommodate the baby’s car seat. Amanda was planning to purchase a separate car seat for her own car so that they wouldn’t have to continually swap the car seat from car to car.

  The only customers in the café at the moment were Amos and Andrew. They still looked dirty and unkempt to Kris but she didn’t think twice or flinch when Amos came over and tickled the baby’s chin. Andrew looked too weak to kneel down to the carrier, so Kris placed it on the counter before him so that he could see Charlotte. Andrew didn’t touch the baby, but his eyes watered with tears when Charlotte cooed at him and offered him a smile. Kris couldn’t help thinking that it wouldn’t be long before Charlotte had more teeth than either Amos or Andrew combined!

  Doug and Max were in the kitchen and Bertie was behind the counter.

  “Hey there, you!” Amanda waved. “I’m almost finished, won’t be but a sec, okay?”

  Kris waved back. “No rush, we’ve got plenty of time, but we’re going to hit all that off-work traffic if we don’t get out of here soon.”

  Amanda untied her apron and tossed it to Bertie who caught it quickly in mid-air.

  Bertie came from behind the counter and gave Charlotte Grace a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

  Max and Doug waved from the kitchen.

  “Why don’t y’all stop back in here on your way back,” Max called out. “I’m making garbage cake for dessert tonight. I know that’s one of Kris’ favorites!”

  Kris waved back. “We may have to cut our shopping short then!” She laughed as she picked up the carrier. She and Amanda made their way out the front door.

  Amos and Andrew waved to the two women and went back to their supper of chicken and dumplings. Amos ate his with gusto, while Andrew pushed his around in the bowl, hoping his brother wouldn’t notice his loss of appetite and energy.

  Nobody could anticipate the terror that was about to unfold.

  Kris opened the back door of her car and sat the carrier on the ground while she moved some bags from the back seat to the floor board. She tossed the keys to Amanda and said, “Here, you drive, okay. I’m going to sit back here and give Charlotte a bottle so that she won’t be so fussy when we get to the mall.”

  Amanda caught the keys in mid-air. “Okeydokey!” she laughed. “Oh, shucks! I forgot something.”

  “What?” Kris said lifting her head from the back seat.

  Charlotte Grace was watching both women with what appeared to be patient enthusiasm. She lifted her arms toward Amanda.

  Amanda bent down and kissed the baby’s cheek. “I’ll be right back, I promise, sweetie. The jar is full again, Kris, and I thought it might come in handy tonight.”

  “Oh, okay, but hurry back. I really don’t want to hit all that traffic.” Kris yelled back.

  The next series of events all happened so quickly, while at the same time, seemingly in slow motion.

  Doug met Amanda at the front door. He was holding the jar of money. “I thought you might need this.”

  Amanda grinned and gave him a hug. “Aww… thanks, Doug! You’re an angel…”

  Kris’ piercing scream echoed from the parking lot, startling them both. The money jar crashed to the floor, splattering splinters of glass everywhere. They both turned at the same time and witnessed the horrific scene unfolding in the parking lot.

  Kris had been pushed head-first onto the pavement. A small trickle of blood was flowing from her nose and a cut on her forehead.

  A figure - presumably a man - dressed in black pants, a black hoodie, and a black ski mask paused momentar
ily, after having pushed Kris to the pavement, and quickly snatched up the baby’s carrier. He lifted it with one hand and immediately took off running toward a dark sedan, parked across the street.

  The sedan’s engine was idling. There was a second person, similarly dressed, behind the wheel. The back door of the sedan was open.

  The man quickly shoved the carrier onto the back seat, jumped in after it, and yelled, “GO!” to the driver.

  The speed at which Doug moved would have impressed Superman himself. No one would have thought it humanly possible for him to have narrowed the distance between the café and the sedan so quickly. He was at the sedan’s back door the moment the man yelled, “GO!” He grabbed the man’s foot as the car began speeding away, the back door still open.

  Doug stumbled but held onto the man’s foot as he was dragged another one hundred feet before the man gave one hard, final shove into Doug’s face. Doug rolled away from the car, and bounced against the pavement much harder than Kris had. He held the man’s black running shoe in his hand. The last thing he heard as the car door slammed shut and the sedan’s tires squealed their successful escape, was Charlotte Grace’s soft coo and laugh – the same coo and laugh she gave every time she saw him.

  He had come so close but, in the end, he had failed to protect the baby girl that had come to mean so much to him. Doug pushed himself up on his knees and looked toward Heaven. He dropped the man’s shoe and covered his eyes. His strong, muscular body shook with raw emotion and quickly crumbled as reality slowly sank in.

  Charlotte Grace was gone.

  CHAPTER 21

  -The Kidnappers-

  Jack and Susan Peterson

  The sky was still blue.

  The birds still sang.

  The breeze still swayed.

  The evening meal still simmered on the stove.

  Kris was still screaming and being restrained by Doug by the time every available law enforcement officer in the county arrived within the next thirty minutes.

  Amanda was tucked between Max and Bertie, who were trying their best to console and reassure her.

  Andrew and Amos were both on their knees, in prayer.

  Officer Dean Hall was the first police officer to arrive. He had been on his way to the café for a quick cup of coffee when the call from dispatch came in over his radio. When he heard that a baby had been kidnapped from the parking lot of the Heavenly Grille Café, the contents in his stomach turned sour and he thought he would be physically sick. Somehow he knew in his heart that the baby involved was Charlotte Grace.

  The first thing he saw when he swerved into the parking lot was Kris kneeling on the pavement beside her car. He saw that Doug kneeled behind her, holding onto her with a firm grip. He saw Max, Bertie, and Amanda standing just outside the café door. The only other vehicles in the parking lot were Amanda’s Trooper, the café’s van, and a vintage 1963 Dodge pick-up truck belonging to the Brown brothers.

  Kris choked on a scream when the police car screeched to a stop. She shook herself from Doug’s hold and took off running into Dean’s open arms. She was crying and heaving so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. She grabbed him around the waist before her legs defied her.

  Dean held on to her as she crumbled back to a kneeling position. He kissed the top of her head and looked at Doug who was quickly approaching them, as was Amanda. Dean took Kris’ face between his two hands and waited until she opened her eyes. Her tormented expression broke his heart. “Kris, come on. Let’s go inside. You’ve got to tell me exactly what happened.”

  Three more police cars poured into the parking lot and began securing the area as Dean led Kris inside the café.

  It was four thirty-five in the afternoon and Kris’ nightmare was just beginning.

  By four forty-five in the afternoon Jack and Susan Peterson had driven the dark sedan inside a deeply wooded area and switched vehicles. Jack had removed the license tag, any trace of the vehicle’s identification number, all personal items, and had wiped the car clean of any fingerprints. The only thing he left behind was Charlotte Grace’s baby carrier and a note inside it that read: WE WILL NOT HURT THE BABY. WE WILL LOVE AND TAKE CARE OF HER ALWAYS. WE ARE SO VERY SORRY, BUT SHE IS BETTER OFF WITH US.

  Jack was sweating profusely as he maneuvered their switched vehicle south onto the interstate. Susan sat in the back seat with the baby. Charlotte Grace cooed and smiled, and held onto Susan’s extended finger.

  “Oh, my God… I can’t believe we got away with it…” Susan whispered hoarsely. She turned her head away from the baby as a coughing spasm began deep in her chest. She reached in her jacket pocket for the inhaler she always kept close by.

  Charlotte Grace must have thought the inhaler was a toy. She wiggled her little fingers toward it and cooed again.

  “She’s such a happy baby,” Susan said as a stream of tears began flowing down her cheeks. “Oh, God…Jack…what have we done? Quick, turn around! We’ve got to take her back. We can’t do this…”

  Jack Peterson tried in vain to steady hands that were trembling so bad he had trouble holding onto the steering wheel. He took two deep breaths and said. “It’s too late for that, Susan; you know that…we’ve taken this too far now. We have to stick with the plan. It will work. You’ll see... and the mother? Well, she’s young and healthy. She can have more children. No, my love, we have no choice. We have to stick to our plan. You know what you have to do now, so do it quick before we run into any road blocks.”

  Knowing that Charlotte Grace’s red hair would have made her more distinguishable than most babies, Jack and Susan had come prepared with temporary hair coloring – black like their own – in a spray container. Susan searched through the duffel bag that sat on the back floor board and found the container. She put on a pair of latex gloves, shook the can, sprayed the contents onto her hands and began working it through the thin wisps of hair on Charlotte’s tiny head. She was careful not to rub the spray onto the baby’s scalp.

  The sudden change in the baby’s appearance was remarkable.

  Jack pulled into a rest area and Susan changed the baby’s wet diaper and removed her clothing. She gave them to Jack who put them into a plastic bag and dropped them into a nearby garbage container. Susan rummaged through the duffle bag again and took out a pink shirt with the name “KELLY” embroidered across the front, along with matching pink pants, socks, and shoes. She gathered Charlotte’s thin locks of hair together and secured them with a pink and white hair clasp.

  “Well, don’t you look pretty… Kelly…” Susan whispered as she held the baby up for Jack’s inspection.

  The baby held up her arms to Jack.

  Jack took the baby and held her close. He looked at his wife, whom he loved more than anything in the world, who was dying, and had only months to live. He closed his eyes, and thought, “Dear, God, I am so, so sorry... please forgive us for what we have done.”

  Before they left the rest stop, Jack threw one more item into the trash bin – a single, black running shoe.

  Susan gave the baby a rattle to play with and she moved to the front seat alongside her husband of sixteen years. She placed her hand over his as he backed out of the parking space. “I know it’s wrong and that we’ve done a terrible thing, but… it’s going to be okay, Jack. You’ll see…”

  Jack sighed deeply and smiled at his wife. “It has to be, Susan. You’re right. We have done a horrible, horrible thing today, one that God may never forgive us for, and…that’s why it’s even more important that we do everything in our power to make it up to this little girl.”

  It was Susan’s turn to sigh. “Jack… you keep avoiding the issue and we haven’t really talked about what will happen after… well, you know…”

  “After you die?” Jack confirmed.

  Susan swallowed hard and nodded.

  “Well, I can’t really just give her back then, can I?” he attempted to be light-hearted about the situation. “So, I’ll do the only thing I can do. I
will continue to raise… Kelly… as our daughter, and will provide her everything she needs in life. I will show her pictures of her mother and tell her every day how much her mother loved her… how much her mother hated to leave her…” His attempt at light-heartedness failed and a sob escaped from his throat.

  Susan touched his cheek with one hand and wiped away a tear from her own. “Thank you, Jack. Thank you for letting me do the one thing I’ve always wanted…to be a mother. I never thought I would get to hold my baby in my arms.”

  Jack looked over at his wife, her face so pale and her body growing frailer every day. “Why don’t you try to get some rest, love? We still have several hours before we reach Tampa. We’ll stay in a hotel tonight and meet the movers at the new house tomorrow. Then the Peterson family can begin their new lives. Go on now; close your eyes and rest.”

  He glanced in the rearview mirror at the tiny baby who was already resting peacefully in the comfortable pink car seat. “Kelly has beaten you to it. See? She’s already dreaming sweet thoughts about her new mommy.”

  He looked over at his wife, whose purple-tinged eyelids had already closed. “I’m going to Hell for this...” he thought as he slowly merged with the flow of traffic headed south on I-75.

  CHAPTER 22

  -Heaven-

  The Angels Pray for Charlotte Grace

  Bertie, Max, and Martin formed a circle among themselves and bent their heads in another silent prayer. So many prayers had been said since Charlotte Grace had been abducted three days ago; today would be the fourth day that Kris had mourned over the loss of her baby. Everyone who knew Charlotte Grace was tormented by the absence of the baby’s laughter and the twinkling blue eyes that seemed to follow you from room to room.

  Prayers are a powerful form of support on earth, so one can only imagine the impact they have in Heaven; however, even angels cannot alter destiny’s path. Only one person has the power to do that, and Bertie, Max, and Martin all knew that it was not their place to question the destiny that God had chosen for Charlotte Grace Devone. Their prayers, instead, centered upon the baby’s safety and continued good health. They prayed for Kris, but they also prayed for the couple who had ripped Charlotte from her mother’s loving arms.