by Barbara Gee
When one of the police officers reluctantly mentioned the possibility that Haley might try to “sell” Lily to exact her revenge and get some money, JP pushed to his feet and walked quickly from the room. I started to follow, then decided he might need a little time alone.
I scooted forward in my chair and waited for a break in the conversation. “What about Willard’s sister Rosie?” I asked, looking at Sheriff Talbot. “Remember how they talked about her at the cabin? Maybe she’s the one Haley would go to now.”
“We talked to her yesterday,” Talbot said. “She denies knowing anything about Haley’s whereabouts.”
“But at the cabin Willard said Rosie’s the one who talked them into agreeing to help Haley by trying to plant drugs at my house. So they’ve obviously been in contact with each other.”
“We asked her about that. She said Haley called and asked her how to get in touch with Willard and she told her. Rosie said that was the extent of her involvement.”
“Do you believe her?” I asked.
“Not necessarily, but we asked Bobby about it and he said he doesn’t know what transpired between Haley and Willard on that. He just went along to Hidden Creek because he did whatever Willard told him to do. If Rosie was involved, Bobby didn’t know about it.”
“I think you should talk to Rosie again,” I insisted. “I can’t imagine Haley thought through this very well. She was high when she took Lily, and she probably panicked when the high started to wear off and she realized how much trouble she’s in. I feel like a longtime friend is the person Haley would turn to for help.”
Sheriff Talbot flipped back through his notepad. “I have her information here. Rosie Tusk Collins, divorced but kept her ex’s name. She lives less than two miles from our office.” He looked at his deputy. “Myla’s made a good point. I think it’d be worth going by to talk to her.”
The deputy stood. “Let’s do it.”
“Keep in touch,” said Officer Dunlop, the city cop in charge. “We’ll do the same.”
“Definitely.” The sheriff got up and looked at me. “Tell JP we’re going to do everything we possibly can to get his little girl back safe and sound. My people back at the office are putting out feelers in all the surrounding counties.”
“I’ll tell him. Thank you.”
The two men left, and after a few minutes of talking between themselves, the three cops also pushed to their feet.
“I think we have everything we need for now,” Dunlop said. “Tell Mr. Keller—” JP returned to the room just then and Dunlop acknowledged him with a nod. “We’re heading back to the office to brief our team. We’ll put together some units to check out the locations we’ve identified and we should have eyes on all of them within thirty minutes. Sheriff Talbot is going to talk to Rosie Tusk. Both our department and Talbot’s will keep in close contact with you. If you hear from Ms. Knight we’ll need to know immediately, no matter what time of the day or night.”
“Of course,” JP said. “Do you think there’s a chance she’s still in town?”
“I do. If she acted on impulse when she came here and took Lily, she’s not in the position to make a quick escape. She’ll need to ensure she has a supply of pills, for one thing, and without money that’s going to take a while. My guess is she’s still around and even driving the same rental, although it could be hidden. Ms. Garret is the one who suggested we talk to the friend, Rosie Tusk. If she’s the go-to, that could be promising.”
JP gave me an approving nod. “Good thinking. I should have thought of Rosie.” He shook hands with the three officers. “Thanks for coming. I hope you’re right about her not going far. If she did leave town, she could be hundreds of miles away in any direction.”
“We have the word out. If she’s still using that rental, it’s just a matter of time before she’s spotted.”
“No chases, though,” JP said adamantly. “I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a car seat for Lily.”
“Don’t worry. The child’s safety will always come first.”
The officers left and JP ground his palms into his eyes. When he spoke his voice was raw and tortured. “I can’t do this, Myla. I can’t bear to think about Lily out there scared and wondering why I’m not there to help her.”
I wanted to reassure him but I didn’t know what to say. A vague platitude like “it’ll be all right” wasn’t what he needed to hear.
He paced to a window and stared out, the lines of his body stiff with tension. “I want to be out there looking for her, but I’d just be driving around aimlessly. She could be anywhere. She could be a block away or three hundred miles.”
I went to him and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. “I know Haley’s not a good person, but I simply can’t accept that she’d hurt her own child.”
“But that’s the thing, Myla. She wants to hurt Adalyn and me, to make us pay for betraying her, and the best way to do that is to hurt Lily. Even if she doesn’t lay a hand on her herself, there are other ways to do it. Ways she knows would gut me.” He shook his head slowly. “When that cop said Haley might try to sell her…I can’t—” He inhaled sharply. “I can’t even go there.”
I tightened my hold and tried to reassure him. “That would take an awful lot of planning, though. You can’t just decide to traffic a child and go do it right then. You have to know people who are involved in that, right? And there’s no reason Haley would have those kinds of contacts. The best she could do is make random calls and hope the word spreads and someone eventually bites. I can’t imagine that’s happened yet. We still have time.”
JP let out a long breath. “I hope you’re right. I can’t help but wonder if taking Lily was her plan all along, but I don’t think so. The money is what brought her to town, and her anger is a by-product of her failure to get it.”
“I agree,” I told him. “I think she found out Willard and Bobby were arrested, and she knew she was most likely next. That fear put an end to her short-lived sobriety. She got high and channeled all her rage and frustration toward you and her mother, and suddenly kidnapping Lily seemed like a good idea. A way to make you both pay.”
“And with no plan and no money, maybe the cops are right. Maybe she’s still close by.”
I nodded. “It wouldn’t be smart for her to seek help from Rosie because she’s the obvious choice, but if Haley’s under the influence, she might not be thinking logically.”
JP scrubbed his face with his hands. “Let’s hope Rosie’s home when Talbot gets there. I should’ve gone along, in case Lily’s there.” His head fell back and his eyes closed. “Please, God, let her be there.”
Jude and Ava arrived then, with Hank and Camilla right behind them. JP hadn’t expected his parents, and I could tell it meant a lot to him to have them there. I went to the kitchen to make coffee while JP updated everyone. A few minutes later he came to tell me Louise had called to let him know Adalyn was stable. However, the doctor wanted to keep her at the hospital a little while longer for observation.
I gave him a relieved smile. “Stable is good. Did you tell her we’ve taken over Adalyn’s house?”
“Yeah, she said we should stay here. She said it’ll help Adalyn feel like she’s contributing to the search in a small way.”
The doorbell rang and he went to answer. I heard Janna’s voice, but no Beckett. I supposed it was wishful thinking to expect him to be around the second time Janna was summoned.
“How’re you doing, girlfriend?” Ava came into the kitchen and hugged me. “You okay?”
I nodded. “For the most part.”
She gave me a worried look. “You sure?”
I’d been keeping a tight rein on my emotions, but Ava knew me too well. I couldn’t fool her, and she’d keep pushing until I let her in.
I relented. “I honestly don’t know. I’m trying to be strong and supportive, but seeing JP suffering like this is almost more than I can take. When Adalyn told us Lily was gone—oh, Ava, his face. I can’t even
describe it. He knows panicking won’t do any good, but I can tell it’s there, right under the surface. He can’t stand the thought of Lily being scared or hurt.”
“None of us can, but it’s obviously worse for him. Plus, he just went through all this with you.”
I cringed. “I know. I hate that. And I can’t help thinking this is my fault. I’m afraid what happened at the cabin set Haley off. Made her desperate.”
“Don’t even go there, Myla,” Ava said sternly. “Haley’s unstable. There’s no way of knowing exactly why she did this.”
I pushed my emotion back down. “I just hope we hear from someone soon or JP’s going to go out looking himself, just because he feels he has to do something.”
Ava grunted. “Jude’ll be right there with him. Those two don’t like inaction, that’s for sure.”
She helped me carry the coffee and mugs to the living room. JP was seated on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor. Camilla was beside him, rubbing his back in big, slow circles.
There was an air of suppressed energy in the room, like everyone was ready to jump out of their skin. Waiting for the phone to ring really sucked. Would it be good news, bad news, or just word that there was no news at all?
JP initially refused a cup of coffee but changed his mind a few minutes later. He drank it standing up and checked his phone twice, like he was afraid he’d somehow miss the call when it did come.
Camilla asked to see Lily’s room so I took her down the hall, along with Ava and Janna. They all smiled at the vibrant blue, green, and purple décor. I looked at the bed and felt my eyes fill when I saw the little nest in the blankets just the size of Lily’s small body.
Had she been afraid when she was awakened by a stranger? Had Haley told her she was her mother? And how had Haley felt when she’d seen her child for the first time? Was there any tenderness at all, or had Lily remained simply the means to an end, as she’d always been?
I stared at the bed, vivid images of a scared and crying little Lily flashing through my mind. Was she still crying? Was Haley pretending to be her friend, or was she lashing out at the girl in lieu of JP?
Camilla came over to stand beside me. “Is there anything missing that you know of?” she asked softly.
I nodded. “The police officers asked that. JP said she brought her blue horse home with her, and it’s not in here, so we’re hoping that means she has it with her.”
Camilla gave a soft gasp. “The horse I gave her?”
“Yeah. It’s her favorite.”
She pressed a hand to her chest and bowed her head. I was silent as she prayed for her little granddaughter. Janna looked over, then circled the bed to hug her.
“We’re going to find her, Mom.”
“We have to,” Camilla said, her voice full of pain. “She’s just a sweet, innocent little girl. And I can’t bear to see JP suffering the way he is. He can’t lose her.”
Her sentiments were mine exactly.
***
JP heard from Sheriff Talbot an endless thirty minutes later. He put the call on speaker so we could all hear.
They’d found Rosie at home and questioned her extensively. She was still claiming she hadn’t seen Haley in over a week and knew nothing about Lily’s abduction. Talbot wasn’t inclined to believe her, considering she also claimed she’d had nothing to do with Haley getting Willard and Bobby to scope out my house in Hidden Creek, and we knew for sure that wasn’t true. Talbot said she’d grown increasingly nervous during the conversation and he figured without Willard to protect her she was going to make a mistake, probably sooner rather than later. He had a man watching her house who would follow her if she left, and of course monitor who came and went.
JP asked if the sheriff believed Haley had contacted Rosie, and Talbot said he did. Rosie had been extremely nervous when they showed up, and she hadn’t seemed surprised to hear that Haley had taken Lily. He couldn’t say whether Rosie had helped or not, but if she was still vulnerable to Haley, as Willard had indicated at the cabin, then at a minimum she probably knew where Haley was.
Unfortunately, Rosie had a lot of experience covering for her brother, so she knew how to be careful with what she said. In spite of the sheriff being able to make her nervous, she hadn’t said anything that would help. Not yet, anyway.
I looked at JP. His jaw was clenched and his expression was hard. I could tell he was done with this sitting around, so I wasn’t surprised at his next question.
“Can I talk to Rosie myself?”
The question took Talbot by surprise. He was silent for a moment, then asked why JP wanted to do that.
“I remember her from back in high school. We were friends when I was dating Haley. Even back then Rosie was a “yes” girl. Haley called the shots and Rosie went along with it, no questions asked. She was loyal and mostly content to live in Haley’s shadow, but there was one thing she was willing to cross Haley to have.”
“And that was?” Talbot prompted.
We were all staring at JP and he looked uncomfortable but determined. “Me. She made that clear whenever we found ourselves alone. I never took her up on the offer, but maybe that desire to one-up Haley is still there. Or maybe she’ll feel bad when she sees how this is affecting me. Either way, I think it’s worth a shot.”
Jude interjected. “But she helped Haley drug you at the reunion party.”
“Yeah, but maybe she was hoping that would all backfire on Haley,” JP said. “Or maybe I’m wrong and that ship has sailed, but I’d still like to talk to her. At least let me try.”
“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt,” the sheriff said thoughtfully. “You want to drive on over here to the department and we can go out there together?”
“I’ll leave now,” JP said immediately, latching on to the chance to do something.
“I’ll go with you,” Jude said when JP hung up. “I’ll wait in the car while you’re at Rosie’s, but I’m going along.”
JP didn’t argue. He gave me a quick hug and then he was gone.
***
Waiting was even worse without JP and Jude. For a while the five of us sat there in silence, each caught up in our own thoughts, but I couldn’t stand that for long. We needed something to talk about, so I asked Janna how soon she thought her organization’s new house would be ready.
She perked up a bit. “We’re about six weeks away from opening, but I actually have a surprise I was going to share with you guys the next time we got together.” She grimaced. “I wasn’t expecting these circumstances, but I guess I might as well go ahead and tell you.”
“We could use a nice surprise right about now,” Camilla said.
“Okay then, would you believe we had another house donated?”
We all just looked at each other, too surprised to respond right away.
“Another one?” Camilla finally asked. “Another whole house?”
“Yeah, it’s crazy, right? The Victorian house was the first one donated since the original place twelve years ago. And now just a few months later we have a third one.”
“Can you handle another one?” Hank wondered. “It’ll take even more staff.”
“Well, there’s no stipulation that we have to keep it, so if nothing else we’ll sell it and use the proceeds for operating costs. But we’re really hoping to be able to expand and actually use it. We might even change our minds about using part of the Victorian for trafficking victims and use the new house solely for that. It could be more effective than mixing trafficking with domestic abuse. And here’s the really great part—this is why I wanted to tell you in person. Guess where the new house is.”
We all just looked at her blankly again and she grinned at Ava and me. “Hidden Creek. It’s right behind the Methodist church. That’s where you two go to church, right?”
Ava’s jaw dropped. “Olive Wenger’s place. That has to be the one. She passed away a year ago. She was ninety-five and still living at home on her o
wn. I think she died in her sleep—actually I’m sure she did because Priscilla and the gang were all talking about how that’s the best way to go.”
“Yes, it was owned by a Wenger,” Janna said. “Her daughter inherited the house and was getting it all ready to sell, and then she was at the coffee shop in Hidden Creek and saw a poster for one of our benefit auctions. She looked up our organization and what we do, then called the chairman of the board and got the donation process started. We had a board meeting yesterday evening and he gave us the news.”
We peppered Janna with questions. Lily was still at the forefront of our minds and I kept my phone clutched tightly in my hand, but having something else to think about helped pass the torturous time of waiting.
When Camilla heard Hank’s stomach growl, we realized it was late afternoon and none of us had had lunch. Hank volunteered to go out and pick up an assortment of subs. Camilla, always the nurturing mother, told him to be sure he got enough for JP and Jude so they could eat when they returned.
Hank was still out when JP finally called. He told me only that things were looking up and he and Jude were on their way back to the house and would fill us in when they got here. They pulled in right behind Hank and helped him carry in bags filled with subs, chips, and bottled drinks.
My heart was racing as they came in. JP still looked tense, but I could tell he was doing better than when he’d left the house.
“What’s going on?” Camilla asked before anyone else could. “Have they found Lily?”
JP motioned for us to follow him into the kitchen, where he laid his bags on the counter. Then he told us that they were pretty sure they knew where Haley had gone, and as soon as it was confirmed, Sheriff Talbot and his deputies would pick JP up and take him there. The municipal police would have to be the ones to go in, as the city limits were out of Talbot’s jurisdiction, but JP would be there waiting for Lily when it was over.