“Yeah.” Luka skipped ahead of her, surprisingly happy.
Inside the store, they fell into their new routine. She turned and dropped a box of oatmeal into the cart. “Luke, I’m not going to repeat myself a second time. I said no. Now put that back on the shelf.”
“Come on.” His foot hit the vinyl flooring. “Tommy says it’s really cool-- I mean good.”
“Good, huh. I think you want this cereal because of the cheap toy inside.” She pointed to the grocery shelf lined with more types of breakfast meals than the world needed. “I have eighty dollars to spend on the groceries. I need things for the Thanksgiving dinner and all of next week. I’m going to buy something you or the dog wouldn’t eat. Put the box back.”
“This sucks,” he whined.
Mrs. Owens, the reverend’s elderly wife, shot a perturbed glare at her and Luka before pushing her cart past them.
Nicole snatched the box out of Luka’s grasp and shoved it onto an empty space on the shelf. Nicole steered her cart with one hand, while she latched onto Luka’s elbow and hustled him further down the aisle. Outside of Mrs. Owen’s ear shot, Nicole trapped Luka’s jaw between her thumb and forefinger and tilted his pout up toward her. “What is going on, Luka? The last few days you’ve been acting like a real horse’s butt.”
“You mean ass.”
The boy’s use of words set her back on her heels. “Where did you hear that word?”
“Billy.”
Another new friend Luka made in school recently. One that seemed to be influencing Luka more and more in ways she didn’t like. “Well, I’ll have to talk to Billy’s mom.”
His eyes widened. “Don’t. He’ll be mad at me.”
“What you said was a bad word. Don’t use it again.”
Luka’s chin hit his chest. “Okay.”
“I have a feeling something else is going on. What? You can tell me.”
“Nothing.”
“I think there is. Spill.”
Luka stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m waiting.”
“The guys called me mama whipped.”
Nicole couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her.
Luka’s expression told her he didn’t think what his friends had called him was funny at all, or her laughter. “I’m sorry. Why would they say that?”
He shrugged. “Billy said I do everything you tell me to, and Tommy and Pat agreed.”
The threesome that Luka had fallen into company with were right. She’d trained him from an early age to do exactly as she said. Doing so was the only way she could keep their identities safe when the time came for them to escape Gorgon.
Nicole sighed. Maybe the time had come to loosen the apron strings, a little, and give him a little independence and teach him responsibility. She brushed his dark bangs off his forehead. “Doing what is right isn’t a bad thing. I hope you understand that.”
Looking down at his feet, Luka nodded.
No matter what she said, her words wouldn’t erase the hurt his friends had caused. She glanced at her watch–nearly five. “I’ll tell you what. After you help me carry the groceries into the house, you can call Tommy to come over and play.”
His eyes lit up. “Can we play down in the basement?”
The place was an empty basement, except for the furnace and a few old boxes. She didn’t see the attraction, but Tommy and Luka seemed to enjoy being down there, looking for spiders, playing in the old boxes as if they were cars or spaceships, or drawing chalk roads for their matchbox cars on the concrete floor. And it was warm. “Yes, as long as you keep the spiders downstairs. No begging for a jar to put them in.”
“Okay. Can Tommy stay overnight?”
Will wasn’t in town so there was no chance of him visiting and Tommy would keep Luka busy so she could get a jump start on the holiday dinner. “I’ll ask. Let’s get the rest of the stuff I need and we can head home.” Nicole glanced at her list lying on top of the fresh vegetables and fruits she’d placed in the cart’s top rack. “I need a dozen eggs, butter and a gallon of milk. Let’s head over to the last aisle.”
“Can I push the cart?”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later their items rolled along the belt toward the scanner and Nicole struggled to open a plastic bag.
“Hi, Ms. Smith. Luke,” Tory, the bag boy said stepping up to the counter. He grabbed and flipped open the sack like a pro. The store was busy and he worked hard to cover two checkouts.
“Hi, Tory. How’s your dad doing?” Tory’s father, she’d learned while helping out at a church fundraiser, had fallen off a house roof while working. He was a self-employed roofer. The fund raiser was held to help the family out, who had fallen in hard times. The boy was working this job after school in an effort to help his family out.
“Good. He gets the cast off next week. He can’t wait to get back to work.”
“I bet. Six months is a long time to be off. And your mom?” Tory’s mother had just started cancer treatments.
“So far so good.” He carefully placed her eggs, the last item, on the top shelf of the cart. “Thanks for asking.”
“Tell them we hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving.”
“I will. You too. Bye, Luke.”
Luka waved and grabbed the cart intending to be ‘the man’ and show Tory he could push the cart.
Nicole fell instep behind Luka and didn’t see Tory’s cheery smile fade away when he picked up the milk carton they’d left behind.
***
Tory stared at the missing girl’s picture. He studied Becca Smith’s profile while she zippered up her son’s coat and then while crossing the parking lot, pushing her cart.
He needed to be sure.
“I’ll be right back. Ms. Smith forgot her milk,” he said to the cashier and rushed out the door. “Ms. Smith, your milk.”
She turned from lifting a bag into the trunk. “Oh, my. Thanks. You saved me a trip back here. I’m just about out.” She took the carton and tucked it inside a bag.
“No problem,” Tory said, studying her. Her eyes were the same and her nose.
She looked at him quizzically. “Is something wrong?”
It couldn’t be her. Ms. Smith was much older than the picture. “No. Again, have a nice Thanksgiving.”
“Thanks.”
Tory watched as she pulled out of the parking space and headed east on Main Street. What if he was wrong and it was her? The ad offered a quarter of a million dollars for any information that would lead to her rescue.
Rescue from whom? As far as he knew, Becca Smith lived with her son and no one else.
He shook his head. He had to be wrong.
Disappointment edged in on Tory’s dreams as he headed back inside. He sure didn’t want to work here, bagging groceries for the rest of his life.
His family sure could use the money and going to college would be in his future again, if he was right. It was a phone call. That’s all.
~~
Chapter Thirty-three
Damn. With everything on her mind, she’d forgotten to stop for gas. Just one more thing she’d have to do tomorrow. Nicole shifted the bag in her arm and fished for her keys.
She barely had the back door open before Luka and Billy raced under her arm and through the kitchen. “Hey, I thought you two were going to help carry in the groceries?”
“We will. I want to show Tommy the new truck Will bought me. We’ll be right back.”
And there went her help she thought, watching the boys tear through the living room and rounding the steps with Max barking on their heels.
She grabbed the milk from the bag and placed the carton in the refrigerator. “Bring the truck downstairs, Luke. You’re going to play in the basement and not in that bedroom,” she called after them.
“Okay,” Luka yelled.
She closed the refrigerator and glimpsed at the clock. It was five forty-five.
Hot dogs would be dinner tonight, and then she was going to attempt to make her stuffing and bake her first apple pie. Damn. She wished she’d helped her mother in the kitchen more. She really wanted to impress Will.
While walking to the car for the rest of the groceries, her heart grew heavy. She missed her family. She missed the traditions and festivities of the holidays they always participated in. She’d give anything to be with them again and to have Luka experience the love they would surely shower over him.
Maybe next year they would be together.
~~
Chapter Thirty-four
At six-thirty, the special ring for Gorgon’s mock hotline number blurred. A grin bloomed on his face. He’d dropped the thirty-pound weights he curled to the floor, swiped the sweat from his brow with the towel that hung around his neck, and snatched the cell off the coffee table. Clutching the phone next to his ear, he cleared his throat, dispelling the angst coating his tongue and said in a professionally calm tone, “MP hotline. Gregory speaking. How can I help you?”
“Hi. My name is Tory Fisher. I’m calling about a picture I saw on a milk carton. Is this the right number?” The caller’s voice cracked the way guys’ voices did when they were becoming men.
His knees suddenly weak, Gorgon lowered to the couch, knowing in his heart that this was the call he’d prayed for every night. His Katrina and Luka would be found. His family would be one again. He swallowed the excitement rising in him. “Yes, sir. This is the missing person’s hotline. What MP are you identifying?”
“MP?”
“Sorry. Missing person.”
“Oh, right. I saw her on a milk carton. The name is Nicole, but I know her as Becca Smith. She’s a lot older than the picture though. And she has a kid. Maybe it isn’t her.”
Gorgon’s pulse drummed against his temples. He heard the indecision in the kid’s tone and bit down on his lip to keep the desperation churning inside his gut from expelling in a cry. He couldn’t lose this guy until he found out where in the hell Katrina and Luka were. “Really! A son?”
“Yeah,” the kid responded, fortunately not catching Gorgon’s slip of tongue. The teen had never mentioned the child’s sex.
He had to earn the kid’s confidence. “Son of a bitch,” he bellowed between clenched teeth.
“What?”
He’d hooked the young man. Now to pull him in. “Look. Can I be honest? This job makes me sick. Too often these runaways get mixed up with the wrong people. They don’t realize who they’re dealing with until it’s too late. Before they know what is happening they’re doing things, drugs or acts-something they would’ve never done before. Their lives become a living hell. They’re pimped out. They have no choice but to do as they’re told and sometimes the girls, they get pregnant. Makes me sick when we find them and it’s too late.”
“Ms. Smith doesn’t seem like that. She seems really okay. She’s always happy, smiling.”
Katrina was happy. He remembered the way his kitten smiled and laughed while playing with Luka. Gorgon’s molars ground together. How could she be happy without him? “Somehow she must’ve gotten out.”
“On second thought, I think I’m wrong. She can’t be the same person. I’m sorry for taking up your time.”
“Wait.” Gorgon shot off the couch, clenching the phone like a life line. “Nicole’s parents have been looking for her for years. If this woman you call Becca is her, don’t you think they deserve to know she is okay? Think about your own parents. I’m sure they’d walk through fire to learn what happened to you if you’d disappeared. Nicole’s parents have been in hell for a long time.”
Silence filled the phone. Gorgon held his breath waiting for the dial tone to start up. Had he lost the kid?
Finally, a sigh filled his ear and relief washed through him.
“I guess you’re right. What do you need? Will this take long? I’m at work and on my break.”
“Not long at all.” Gorgon switched ears, expelling the breath he’d held and stretched the tension from his fingers. “You’re doing the right thing.” He grabbed a pen and pad. “Okay, for my records and so we can issue the reward money, if she turns out to be Nicole, I need to know your name and address and where we can find this girl. Um, woman.”
While writing down the information, Gorgon’s grin grew. He’d found his kitten and his son. They’d be home for Christmas just as he had said. He couldn’t wait to see his father’s face.
~~
Chapter Thirty-five
Baked apples and cinnamon scented the kitchen. Nicole smiled. The pie looked perfect, if she did say so herself. Just like Sharon’s—maybe prettier. She hoped it tasted as good as it looked. She wanted Will to enjoy every bite, if he did stop by. She hoped he would.
The phone rang.
Nicole glanced at the stove’s digital clock. Darn. Nine twenty. She’d told Tommy’s mom she’d bring him home at nine. She grabbed the phone. “Sue, I’m so sorry.”
A deep chuckle filled her ear.
“Sorry. I’m not, Sue. I can call back later, if you’re waiting for a call.”
Warm bubbles floated through Nicole at hearing Will’s voice. “No. It’s okay. I picked up Tommy on the way home. Luka wanted someone to play with, and I promised Sue I’d bring Tommy home at nine. I’ve been so busy and just noticed the time.”
“Oh. What were you doing?”
He sounded tired and she wondered what was going on that she hadn’t seen him in days. He’d tell her, if anything had to do with her and Luka. Otherwise, his work was none of her business. Will had other cases. Like the teenaged twins on the news that had disappeared in New York a few weeks ago. While not directly his case, she was sure Will was in contact with whoever was in charge.
And that poor little nine year old who also disappeared around the same time. Both sets of parents must be going nuts. Especially with the holidays upon them. Her heart broke for them.
“Nicole, are you there?”
“Yes, sorry I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“Nothing really.”
“So what have you been doing tonight that you forgot about the time?”
“Making stuffing for the turkey and I baked an apple pie.”
“You did. Yum. I love apple pie.”
“Well, if you come over, I’ll serve you a warm piece.”
“That sounds too good an invitation to turn down.” He exhaled. “But I’m just leaving work and need to be back here very early tomorrow. I think it would be in my employer’s best interest if I just head home to bed. I wanted to check in with you and make sure you’re okay.”
She couldn’t hide the disappointment she felt when she responded. “Is that the only reason you called?”
“No. I miss you.”
Warmth threaded through her. “You’ve seen me.”
“From a distance. Not the same as holding you. And not for a few days.”
“Luka will be fast asleep by the time you get here,” she said seductively.
He sighed. “You’re killing me, you know that?”
“Does that mean you’ll change your mind?”
“I can’t.” He yawned. “But I’ll see you Thursday.”
Joy lifted Nicole to her toes. “You’re definitely coming for dinner. What about your family?”
“I told them I had to work and wouldn’t be able to make the drive in time for dinner. It’s a good four to five hour drive so they understand. They know I’m having dinner at a friend’s house though.”
“Gary and Sharon’s?”
“No. They know about Gary. I told them I was seeing someone and I was having dinner with her.”
Her eyes widened, along with her grin. “You did?”
“Sure. And I can’t wait.”
Her entire being was like warm butter. She could just pour herself through the phone line and wrap herself in Will’s strong arms. “Me neither.”
“You better get Tommy home. I’ll see you soon.
”
“Okay.”
“Nicole.”
“Yes.” The phone beeped in Nicole’s ear signaling another call was waiting. “Damn, that must be Sue.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got to get going anyway. See you Thursday.” Will hung-up without giving her a chance to say something more, which was probably for the best, because with the energy she had flowing through her right now, she could talk all night.
She hit the flash button and said in response to Sue’s greeting, “I’m so sorry. I was so busy and then I got a phone call and lost track of time. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
A few minutes later, Nicole rushed the boys and Max out the door and headed to the car to take Tommy home.
~~
Chapter Thirty-six
The sky’s deep velvet folds looked like they’d been dotted by an overzealous God. A half-moon positioned near the canvas’s center was surrounded by a trillion twinkling stars. Nicole’s lungs hiccupped with her deep drag of the crisp, late fall air.
Max rustled leaves as he sniffed the backyard like a dog on a search and rescue mission, crossing back and forth between lawn’s edge and the dry mums bordering the back of the house.
Luka ran up the back steps and yanked the screen door open. “Can I have a cookie?”
“You and Tommy had a snack.” Nicole jiggled her keys, searching under the dim light for the right one to unlock the back door.
“I’m still hungry.” Luka turned the knob and the back door opened. “Can I? Please. I’ll brush my teeth right afterwards. I promise.”
The hairs on Nicole’s arms stood on end. She could’ve sworn she’d pulled the door tight. “Luka, stop.”
He slid to a stop next to the counter. “What?”
Cautiously she stepped inside. She held her finger up, signaling for him to remain quiet and looked around. “I thought I had locked the door.”
Seized By Darkness Page 24