“Okay, that would be fine. I totally understand.” I scrolled back down, noticing something else I didn’t recognize. “Can you look at one other thing for me?”
“Of course,” she said, noticeably less enthused to help me than before.
“On September ninth, there’s a charge for one hundred nineteen dollars to a store called FunnyFuzzy. Can you tell me what that is?”
I heard her typing. “One nineteen…there it is. Okay, that was on your card, but you’re past the point of disputing it. You only have six months.”
“I don’t need to dispute it. I just want to know what it was,” I snapped, growing irritated with her attitude.
I heard her click. “There’s a website and a phone number here. Do you want both?”
“Yes, please.” She recited them, and I pointed at the pen in front of Dannika, holding out my hand. She passed it to me, and I jotted the information down on a scrap of paper. “Thank you so much. Listen, is there a way to close the card that the charge came from? I think it’s possible we’ve been hacked.”
“That’s definitely possible. Do you want to lock it or just close it?”
“Close it, please. And thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll close it out here in just a moment and I’ll get this request put in for more information on the transfers, too. Once we have that, someone’ll give you a call. Is this still a good phone number for you?” she asked, reading it off.
“Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you again.”
I ended the call and looked at Dannika. “They aren’t sure who the transfers were for, but I also noticed this for a store I’ve never heard of.” I pulled the laptop closer toward me and typed in the website the teller had given me. It loaded within seconds, and I furrowed my brow. What? It was a gag gift site, loaded with fake dog poo, zen garden litter boxes, giant rolls of toilet paper, fake pregnancy tests, fake bed bugs, whoopie cushions, vulgar coffee mugs, and more.
“Maybe he was getting something for someone at work?” she asked, shrugging one shoulder and looking as appalled as I felt.
“Yeah, maybe…” The site was atrocious, and anyone who could find most of it funny terrified me. I closed the laptop and hung my head back against the sofa. Dead end after dead end. Where were we supposed to look next? What options could I still dig into?
My phone rang again, and I glanced down, surprised to see the bank’s number on my screen. Dannika’s eyes were wide and fearful as she watched me answer.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Lewis? This is Deb from the bank.”
“Oh, hey.”
“Hey, I know you asked me to close out the card ending in five, seven, three, three, but we just had a charge attempt to go through. I wanted to verify with you that you wanted me to refuse it?”
My heart pounded, my nerves on high alert, as I sat up straighter. “What charge?” I asked, my breathing loud in my own ears. Dannika moved closer, and I met her eyes, hope in mine.
“It was for a flight. Six hundred seventy-nine dollars.”
I stood from the couch, the room spinning as I learned the new information. My entire body began to tremble as I paced. “Let it go through.”
“Are you sure? If I do—”
“I won’t dispute it, Deb, don’t worry. Just let it go through. Can you tell me which airline it is?”
“It’s Coastal Carolina.”
“To where?”
“I can’t see that information, ma’am.” Dammit. I slapped a hand against my temple.
“Okay, fine, let it go through.” This was my chance—my only chance to find them.
“Okay, I have. It’s approved.”
I hung up the phone without a goodbye and darted back to the laptop. “They’re going to try to get away.”
“Who?” Dannika asked.
“Whoever’s using Ben’s card. Ben, Kat, I don’t know.”
“How do you know?”
“They just used his card to book a flight.”
“Stop them!” Dannika shouted, pointing out the door.
“I couldn’t,” I told her, typing in the airport to find the phone number. “This is my only chance to track them down. If I know where they’ll be, I can catch them. I can get him back, Dani.” She didn’t look convinced. “I know it’s a risk, but I have to do it.”
“I think you should let the police handle it, Palmer. What are you going to do? Attack them? Rip Gray from her arms?”
“Whatever it takes,” I told her, and I believe we both knew I meant it. I would’ve burned the place down if it meant saving my son. I dialed the airline. When I was connected with a representative, I asked, “Hi, I just booked a flight with you, and I didn’t get a receipt in my email. If I have my card number, can you pull it up and make sure the payment went through?”
“I’d be happy to. What’s that card number?”
I opened the online banking tab again and found Ben’s card, reading it off to her.
“Thank you,” she said, typing it in. “Yes, it does look like it went through.”
“And what flight am I on? I’m just making sure I did it right.”
“Looks like you’re scheduled to leave this afternoon at three forty-five headed to Los Angeles.”
My body went numb. “And…can you tell me how many tickets I purchased? There should’ve been three.”
I heard her click something. “Yes, looks like two adults and one child who will be riding on a lap.”
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. It was true. They were taking my child across the country. If I didn’t catch them today, I might lose him forever.
“Thank you so much,” I said, my voice powerless as I hung up.
“What did she say?” Dannika asked, eyeing me with worry.
“They’re flying to Los Angeles this afternoon.”
She stood, jerking my arm up so I would join her. “We have to go. We’ll call the police on the way. We can’t let them get on the flight.”
I was already in action, running toward the bedroom.
I was going to get him back. I had to. There was no other option. I’d sooner die than lose my child again.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The airport was packed. We were surrounded by frazzled travelers, irritated businessmen, and exhausted families, all in a hurry, some rather lost. We stood in the center of the open terminal, watching as the room began to fill. Outside, the police were waiting. At the first sign of Ben, Kat, or Gray, they were going to jump out of their unmarked cars and stop them. We were the last line of defense. The ones going to stop them if they somehow made it past the police outside. To my far right, another plainclothes officer stood, just in case things got out of hand, but Officer Kessler assured me she didn’t think that would be the case. I wasn’t sure if she was lying or if she just wanted to keep me calm.
Truth be told, they didn’t want us there in the first place. They wanted to handle it. But they would’ve had to arrest me to keep me away. They knew who they were looking for based on pictures, but I knew them. I knew the tiny idiosyncrasies of Ben’s face and the way he moved. I knew the way Gray smelled. I knew the evil in Kat’s eyes. I knew them better than any of the officers, and if there was any chance they were going to sneak past and get on the plane, I couldn’t let that happen. If I lost Gray again today, I was sure I wouldn’t survive it.
I spun around in circles, my eyes searching and watching the doors, the windows, traveling up to the high ceiling then back down. He had to be there.
Every time someone with strawberry-blonde hair entered, my stomach lurched, only to be let down. The flight was boarding now, the first call for it, and still I hadn’t seen them. A few people had come in carrying babies, but Gray wasn’t one of them.
I looked at Dannika across the crowded room, her expression painfully hopeful. I knew she saw the weight in my eyes. She knew what this meant. She knew I might not survive not finding him. She was holding me up by a thread, though she look
ed to be barely holding on herself.
The officer in the corner looked serious. His eyes scanned the crowd with intense precision. He checked every face, examined every piece of luggage. He was doing his job, emotionless, and I knew it was what was needed. I couldn’t keep myself in check; it was what they’d said when they warned me to stay away. I’d sworn I could. I’d argued. Fought. And as long as I felt filled with such intense, palpable hope, I’d been able to do it. Now, though, as time was winding down, the air was deflating from my chest, and we still hadn’t found them. I found myself beginning to lose it again. Every second that passed, I felt an ounce of hope dissipating. I’d been so close to him, I could practically feel him in my arms again, but I’d been wrong. I could tell it by the look on the officer’s face. By the look on Dani’s. By the sinking feeling in my gut.
When the final boarding call came and I spied Kessler walking inside, I knew. The lump in my throat was so big, I couldn’t swallow. My chest was tight as I watched her approach me, an apology in her eyes.
She shook her head slightly as she grew nearer. “I’m sorry, Palmer.”
“No,” I argued. “He has to be here. He has to. Someone booked the flight with Ben’s card… Why would they do that?”
She hesitated, watching as the officer from the far side of the room grew closer. “We don’t know. It’s…well, it’s possible it was a diversion.”
“You think they wanted me to see the charge?”
She nodded stiffly. “I think it’s likely.”
“But why? Why would they do that?”
“Wanting to distract us would be the most obvious reason. But we can try to get a subpoena to get the airline to release the IP address where the purchase was made. If we can get that—”
“We don’t have that kind of time,” I cried. “What if they’re getting on a plane right now? What if they’re taking my son?”
“I know this is scary,” Kessler said. “I do. I promise you we’re doing everything in our power. We’re working on getting the flight manifest to see if they got on the plane, but it’s very unlikely they did. If they managed to, we’ll have officers waiting in LA to pick them up when they land.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“You go home. Let us do our jobs, Palmer. I appreciate all the help you’ve given, and it’s possible you’ve set us on the right track, but all the time we’re spending talking is time I can’t spend looking for your son. Okay? It’s hard enough because he was believed to be on the boat with your husband, and right now I’m having a hard time convincing anyone he wasn’t. I’m trusting your gut as a mother, but there’s little else I can do if you don’t, at some point, let me do my job.”
I nodded, fighting back tears of rage. I knew she was right, somewhere deep, deep down, but the truth was none of them cared about Gray as much as I did. None of them were as emotionally invested as I was. None of them were sure they would quit breathing if this case went cold.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her tone softer. “I promise I’ll call you the second we have any news.”
“Thank y—” A sob interrupted my words, and I forced myself to walk away, away from the place where my hope died once again, away from the officer whose eyes said she believed this was a lost cause.
All around me, people bustled, in a hurry to start their vacation or make it to a wedding. Their next chapters were starting, but I had the strangest sensation my last chapter was ending.
Chapter Twenty-Three
That evening, the movie was droning on in the background, while Ty, Dannika, and I sat on the couch in pure silence. My mind raced a mile a minute as I tried to come up with something new to do, something new to search. There had to be something. I couldn’t give up. I refused to.
“Maybe we should go back by the girl’s house,” Dannika offered, and I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one plagued by endless worry.
“Do you think we’d find anything different?” I asked.
“What if we talked to the realtor? Maybe we could ask what happened to the current owners?”
Ty looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth twisted in thought, but he kept quiet.
“Do you think it could work?” I asked.
“Realtors are talkers. They want you to feel at ease. It’s worth a shot,” Dannika said.
“I don’t think she’d tell you specifics. Or that this girl would’ve told her realtor specifics if she was really trying to be hidden,” Ty pointed out, slowing down his speech when he caught a glimpse of the scowl on Dannika’s face. He added quickly, “But we can’t totally rule it out.”
Dannika picked up her phone from the arm of the couch and looked at me. “What was the address again? We’ll call.”
I told her, the address now burned into my memory. The last place I saw my son alive. The last place I may ever.
She typed it in, and I watched her thumb scroll across her lighted screen. “I’m not finding the realtor listing. Do you remember the name of the company?”
I shook my head, another wave of defeat washing over me. “It was blue and red…” A sigh escaped me, and I rested my elbows on my knees, chin in my palms. How could I have not thought to remember something so potentially important?
“It’s okay,” she said. She stood, grabbing her keys from the basket on the shelf over the fireplace. “Let’s go.”
“Wait, we’re—okay,” Ty said, not bothering to argue. I jumped into action, and he followed suit, flipping off the television and light as the three of us raced out the front door without a second’s hesitation.
The drive to Crestview was a bit shorter than normal, as Dannika lived on that side of Oceanside, but we drove it in complete silence. Everything around me seemed to be silent lately. People just didn’t know what to say. The police, Howie, my parents, Ty and Dannika. Everything had fallen by the wayside. Who cared about menial, everyday things when your family was missing? How could I carry on a conversation about a movie or laundry or dinner when my child was with a stranger?
Somehow, Dannika and Ty’s silence carried less weight than anyone else’s.
We pulled up in front of the house, which looked much the same as the last time, its blinds open, rooms empty. The sign had blown over in the yard, but I read the name off and typed it in.
I left her a voicemail and Ty made a lap around town as we waited for a callback. In the town square, I noticed one sole business open: Sassy Snips.
“Hey, can you stop for a second?” I asked, and Ty immediately slowed, pulling into a parking space across from the store. I pushed my door open from the back seat. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
They nodded, looking confused, but I didn’t look back as I crossed the street and hurried into the shop. Toshia was washing out a bowl of dye in the back corner of the empty store while Carolyn swept up.
“Can we help you?” Carolyn asked, squinting her eyes. She was trying to decide how she knew me, but recognition flooded Toshia’s eyes.
“Did you decide to come back for those highlights?” she asked, an uneasy smile on her face.
“I’m sorry, no. I just…I had something come up, and I had to leave in a hurry. I was actually here to see what you could tell me about the client you were helping while I waited. Kat.”
“Kat?” she asked. “Why?”
Carolyn stopped sweeping as I walked past, watching the interaction curiously. Toshia shut off the water and smacked her hands against the side of the sink before drying them off.
“You said she lives around here, right? Does she come in often?”
“Why are you asking?” she pressed.
I knew I couldn’t tell her the truth. She would protect Kat at all costs. So, I lied. “I legally can’t tell you, but it’s really important that I find her. I believe she may be in danger.” It surprised me how easily the lie came.
Toshia’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god.”
“Do you know how I can get a hold of her?”
&nb
sp; She shook her head. “I really don’t. She just moved out of her parents’ rental place yesterday. Her husband’s job ended, and they moved back home.”
“Back? Back where? I thought she lived here?” She looked over my shoulder, where I knew Carolyn must be standing. “It’s really important, Toshia.”
“They have a house in Red River. I honestly don’t know the address. She grew up here in Crestview, but when she got married, they moved away. Her husband’s latest job took him away for a year, so she moved back home and rented her childhood home from her parents. It was the first I’d seen of her in years.”
“Okay.” I sucked in a breath, thinking quickly. “And you said her name’s Katie, right? Do you know her last name?”
“Katherine, technically. But Katie or Kat, yes. Her last name was Thompson before she got married… I’m not sure if she ever changed it. I’m sorry, I really don’t know much else. Have you checked her blog? Her mom says she’s always on it.”
“I have. She hasn’t posted much lately.”
“With her husband home, the new baby, and the move, that makes sense. I can give you her parents’ address, but they’re probably in Red River—”
My breathing caught at her words, my fingers clenching into a fist. “Wait. What do you mean? What new baby?”
She nodded. “They just adopted a baby. They’d had a really hard time having one… I didn’t know they were adopting, but it was perfect timing, really, with his job ending.”
I swallowed, my vision beginning to blur. “You said her parents are gone, too?”
“Oh, I don’t know that for sure. Kat’s been telling everyone they were getting ready to adopt a baby. The paperwork was all finalized; they were just waiting on the placement, which she said would be any day. When I drove by Friday afternoon, it looked like they were over there packing up her stuff. So, I’d say they finally got the little one, and now that her husband’s home, they’ll be moving back to Red River. If I know her parents, I’d say they took them up to Red River to help them settle in. I don’t know when they’ll be back. They just live around the corner, the house next door to Kat’s. Do you want the address?”
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