Take On Me

by Stacy Claflin

  As soon as he did, his own phone rang. It was Zoey. He answered and walked far enough away that he couldn’t hear Nick.

  “How did the appointment with Macy go?” Alex asked.

  “It was a mixed bag, but she did remember something.”

  Alex froze mid-step. “What?”

  “She’s convinced that Robin’s life is in danger.”

  His stomach knotted. “That isn’t a huge surprise, but why does Ayla think that?”

  “Whoever took them had told Ayla that if she didn’t do exactly as he said, he’d kill Robin. Because she escaped, she’s convinced he’s going to kill her mom.”

  “How is she holding up? Do you need me to come home?”

  “No, you can stay at work. Macy spoke with her and got her to relax, and now she’s eating lunch with my parents. I just put the babies down for naps.”

  “If you need me to come home, just say the word. We’re out looking for Parker, but I can step away for a little while if needed.”

  “Parker is gone again?”

  “Yeah. He’s having a hard time processing the news.”

  “I’m sure he is. Don’t worry about us, okay? Ayla’s distracted with my parents, and they want to show her their garden. That means she could be busy all afternoon. My mom could spend ten minutes just talking about the strawberries.”

  Alex chuckled. “That’s true. But if you need me, don’t hesitate to call. In the meantime, I’m going to call Spokane and let them know what Ayla remembers. Is there anything else?”

  “Just that. She didn't remember anything specific, besides what the abductor said.”

  “She doesn’t know if her mom was okay when she left?”

  “No, she still can’t remember anything else about what happened.”

  “And you’re holding up okay?” Alex asked. “This isn’t bringing up anything from your abduction?”

  “A little, but nothing I can’t handle. Macy did a great job helping me to work through everything and move on.”

  “Good. I love you, Zo.”

  “Love you, too.”

  He ended the call and glanced over at Nick, who was still on the phone. Since he was busy, Alex called Spokane.

  “Sergeant Hoffman here.”

  “Any updates on Ayla’s case?” Alex asked.

  “Actually, yes.”

  “What is it?” Alex exclaimed.

  “It’s not enough to put much stock in yet, but we have a reported sighting of the mom.”

  “Someone saw Robin?”

  Hoffman cleared his throat. “You know how these things go. Someone thinks they saw her. One person. Didn’t even snap a picture. Hwang and another officer are looking into it. I wasn’t going to call you until we had something solid. What about you? Any developments?”

  “Ayla thinks her mom is in danger.”

  “We already knew that.”

  “She remembers the abductor threatening to kill Robin if Ayla didn’t do exactly as he said. She escaped, so she basically thinks she signed her mom’s death warrant.”

  “The girl remembers that? An actual memory?”

  “As far as I can tell. It happened at the psychologist’s office, but I wasn’t there.”

  “And the child psychologist is your sister? The girl’s relative?”

  “Right. My sister and I are Ayla’s second cousins, though she calls us aunt and uncle right now.”

  Hoffman mumbled something. “It must help having you two around her. She knew your sister before?”

  “Yes, Macy saw her at plenty of family gatherings over the years.”

  “Good, good. Let me know if she recalls anything else that could help us find the perpetrator or the mom.”

  “Will do.”

  They ended the call, and Alex noticed that Nick was also off the phone.

  He jogged over. “Any news?”

  Nick shook his head. “I’ve been talking with the therapist.”

  “What did he say?”

  “I’ll tell you later. We need to find Parker.”

  “He’s not here. The school officers and I checked everywhere, including the roof and basement, which were both locked and inaccessible by kids.”

  Nick nodded. “Who were you on the phone with?”

  “Hoffman. There have been a couple small developments in that case, but nothing that’ll lead to Robin and Brock yet.”

  “I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. How could he do this to me? Twice?”

  “I’m sure he’s not even thinking about how his actions affect you.”

  “Probably not.” He looked at his phone. “That’s Chief Crawford. How much you want to bet he’s calling to make me step down?”

  “You know how these things go.”

  “Yep. That’s why I already put Anderson in charge of the case.” Nick answered the phone and spoke with the Chief, who only ever left city hall when a major case arose.

  Alex’s phone rang. Zoey again. He walked back over to where he’d stood before. “Everything okay?”

  “Ayla’s getting worked up. She started sobbing in the garden—I don't know if it brought back another memory or what.”

  “Is she still crying?”

  “Mom has her watching a cartoon. I don’t know what to do. I feel bad asking you to come home, but it might come down to that.”

  “If you need me to, I will. Do you?”

  “Not yet. With any luck, she’ll stay calm until Ari comes home. Then they can do puzzles or something. She perks up when Ari’s around.”

  “Okay. My ringer’s on, so just let me know.”

  As soon as he got off the phone, Nick came over. “Crawford has given me orders to return to the station.”

  Alex stuffed his phone into his pocket. “Let’s go.”

  Hopefully the two of them would make it through the end of the work day without having to leave due to bad news.

  Afraid

  Every muscle in Alex’s body ached as he stepped through the front door. The aromas of a hearty stew greeting him, making his mouth water. There were definite advantages to living with his in-laws, and Valerie’s cooking was one of them.

  “Dad, we’re about to eat!” Ari called. “Mimi made her famous stew!”

  “It smells delicious.” He hung his jacket and headed to the apartment to lock his gun before sitting at the table. Everyone sat talking, except Ayla. She rested her chin on her palms. Her face was pale, with shadows under her eyes. Alex rested a hand on her back. “How are you holding up?”

  She sighed. “Tired.”

  “Me too. We can rest after eating.”

  Ayla nodded.

  He kept an eye on her as everyone ate. She just picked at the meal, only eating when Valerie looked her way.

  After everyone was done, Alex tapped Ariana. “Let’s wash the dishes.”

  She pouted but then agreed.

  Alex scraped a dish. “Did you hear about Parker?”

  “Yeah. Everyone at school’s talking about him.”

  “Do you have any ideas where he might’ve gone?” Alex put the dish in the washer.

  “Not really.”

  “We spend a lot of time with them. I thought maybe you’d have an idea where he likes to go.”

  Ari shrugged. “I don’t really talk to him a lot. I’m usually with Ava or Tinsley when we hang out with them.”

  “See if you can think of anything. Something he might’ve mentioned offhand. Maybe a place he said he liked or wanted to visit.”

  “I’ll see what I can think of,” she said. “I’m sure Ava or Hanna would know more than me. They live with him.”

  “None of them knew he has a girlfriend.”

  “You mean Jasmine?”

  Alex gave her a double-take. “You knew?”

  “It’s not like he told me. I just saw them holding hands the other day.”

  “See? You know more than you think.”

  “Maybe.”

  After they cleaned the kitchen, Alex found A
yla in the living room playing peekaboo with Laney and Zander. He waited until she was done before helping her get ready for bed then tucking her in. They made small talk, and although Alex was hoping she’d talk about either the appointment with Macy or her memories, she spoke of neither.

  He handed her the doll. “I heard you had an eventful day.”

  She pulled it close. “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Ayla squeezed her eyes shut.

  “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

  She grabbed his hand but didn’t open her eyes.

  Alex waited a minute to see if she’d say anything. When she didn’t, he spoke. “I had an eventful day, too. Do you remember Captain Fleshman? He was with me when I picked you up from the hospital.” He paused, seeing if she’d respond, then continued. “His son left school today without permission and nobody knows where he is. The captain is really worried about him.”

  Ayla opened one eye.

  “Do you know what that makes me think about?”

  “What?”

  “That your parents must miss you very much.”

  She opened her other eye. “If my mom is even alive still.”

  “I think she is.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She’s a fighter, like you are. I’ll bet she got away, too. She’s probably even looking for you right now.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what I think. She misses you just as much as Captain Fleshman misses his son. Just like he won’t stop until he finds Parker, your mom will keep trying until she finds you.”

  “And then she’ll be sad I don’t remember her.”

  “Maybe by then, you will.”

  Ayla frowned. “Seeing her pictures didn’t help me remember her.”

  “There’s a big difference between a photo and a person.”

  “I guess.”

  “There is.”

  After a pause, Ayla asked, “What about my dad?”

  “I know he misses you, too.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I remember them—just like you will soon.”

  “What if I don’t?” Her eyes grew wide.

  “They’ll still love you every bit as much. Even if you never again remember anything before you stepped out of the woods, they’ll keep loving you. And you know what?”

  She shook her head.

  “You will build new memories. You’ll still be a family, and you’ll have the rest of your life to spend with them.”

  “It sucks that I can’t remember anything.”

  “I’m sure you will. The fact that you have memories of me shows that you still have access to everything from before.”

  Ayla shrugged.

  He brushed some hair away from her face. “Don’t worry about any of that now, okay? Just get some rest. It sounds like you really need that.”

  “Probably.” She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. “Can you tell me a story? Do you know any I listened to as a kid?”

  Alex tried to remember. “I’ll tell you one I used to tell Ari when she was small. It was one my dad used to tell my sister and me. I might’ve told it to you when I stayed at your house.”

  Ayla nodded, then he recounted the story as best he could. He either did a great job or a terrible job because she breathed heavily and let go of his hand before he was halfway through.

  He sat there for a minute before getting up and getting himself ready for bed. His muscles still ached and his eyelids were starting to close. He went out to the living room, where Zoey and Ariana sat with the babies, watching a comedy.

  Alex kissed Zoey and took Laney from her. “I’ll get the twins to bed.”

  “Sounds good. They both just had milk. Are you going to sleep, too? You look wiped out.”

  “Yes to both.” He took Zander from Ari in the other arm and kissed her goodnight before heading back to the apartment and changing them. They babbled to each other for a few minutes then fell asleep.

  Alex fell asleep just as quickly.

  Screaming woke him. He bolted upright and looked around. It took him a moment to realize Ayla was the one yelling. He flung off the covers and leaped over to her bed. “It’s okay. You just had a bad dream.”

  “No!” She shoved him away.

  He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s me. Uncle Alex. You’re safe.”

  She punched his chest. “Go away!”

  Zoey hurried over and turned on a desk lamp. “Are you okay, Ayla?”

  Ayla hit Alex again, this time fisting him in the eye. “No!”

  He let go of her and backed away, gently touching what would surely be a nice shiner in the morning.

  She breathed heavily and eyed Alex.

  Zoey sat near her, but not within reach. “Ayla, we don’t hit. We need you to tell us what’s wrong.”

  Ayla glared at Alex and shook her head.

  Alex tried to push his shock aside to think of something to say. What had gone wrong? Why did she suddenly seem like she hated him?

  Zoey scooted a little closer. Ayla didn’t swing at her, but she didn’t say anything, either. Alex and Zoey exchanged a look.

  One of the babies fussed. Alex went over and fixed Laney’s blankets. He had no idea how the twins had slept through all the noise.

  Zoey whispered with Ayla, who continued glaring at him. Alex went over the evening’s events, examining every small detail, but none of this made sense. Ayla had been perfectly happy with him. She hadn’t shown any signs of anger or aggression toward him.

  The only thing that had changed was she’d had that session with Macy—who wanted Ayla to stay with her. Had his sister done something to turn their cousin against him? That seemed out of character, but at this point, he wasn’t going to brush the idea aside.

  In fact, he found his cell phone and called her, despite the late hour. It was time to talk about this.

  Confront

  Something poked Macy, waking her. She rolled over, willing it to stop.

  “Macy,” Luke whispered. “Your phone.”

  “They can call back.”

  “It’s Alex. He’s called twice.”

  She forced herself to sit and find the phone on the headboard. Caden hadn’t wanted to fall asleep until late and now this. At least she didn’t have work in the morning. Thank goodness for being part-time. She accepted the call. “Alex, what’s going on?”

  “I need you to tell me exactly what you said to Ayla today.”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes, right now.” He sounded angrier than she’d heard him in a long time. “What happened in your office?”

  “Is something going on with her? Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine, but seems to think I’m the embodiment of evil.”

  “Really?” Macy exclaimed. “Well, out in the waiting room, there was an issue with another mom. Did Zoey tell you about that?”

  “Yes, but I’m asking about the actual session. What did you say to her?”

  “I didn’t turn her against you, if that’s what you’re asking. If you want me to come over and help with her, you could try a different approach.”

  Luke rested a hand on her leg. “Is everything okay?”

  She nodded and waited for her brother to change his tune.

  He didn’t. “I just need to know what you said to her.”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary. She didn’t want to say much, so I employed some relaxation techniques. Then she remembered the threat on her mom’s life. Got upset over that, worried that she’d done something to get Robin killed.”

  “That’s it? Nothing that you’re leaving out?”

  “No! I treated her like any other patient and remained neutral the entire time. If you’d prefer, I can refer her to one of my colleagues. But then someone would have to pay. I saw her during my lunch break—because I care.”

  Alex muttered something she couldn’t make out.

  “What�
��s going on?” she demanded. “I’ll help if I can, even though you seem to think I’m out to get you.”

  “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on! She went from clinging to me to assaulting me. You can’t blame me for trying to figure out why that happened. And at this point, the only thing I can figure is that she saw you. I thought you might have some insight.”

  “She’s probably acting out because of her fear for Robin’s life. Now she blames herself for escaping. It’s a lot to take in.”

  “So, what am I supposed to do?”

  “Ayla won’t talk to you at all?”

  “No! I tried comforting her, and she hit me and yelled for me to go away. Usually, I’m the only one who can calm her down. Now she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

  Macy took a deep breath. “What’s she doing now?”

  “Zoey’s talking to her, but she isn’t saying anything. Just glaring at me.”

  “Do you want me to come over and see if I can talk to her?”

  “I don’t know what would be best, besides having her parents show up and her actually remembering them.”

  “I’m more than happy to come over, but I need to know that you don’t think I’m trying to sabotage your relationship with Ayla. I just want what’s best for her. If it’s staying with you, then great. If it isn’t, she can stay with us. We already have a room set up since we’re applying to be foster parents.”

  Alex took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I took my frustration out on you, Mace. I know you don’t have a mean bone in your body.”

  “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be over.”

  “Thank you.”

  They ended the call and Luke turned to her. “Something to do with Ayla?”

  Macy nodded. “She’s lashing out at Alex, and nobody knows why. At this hour, I’m thinking she had a nightmare that triggered something—a memory, a fear. She’s already worried that escaping put Robin’s life in danger. The only new memory is the abductor threatening her mom’s life.

  Luke kissed her cheek. “Do you want me to drive you?”

  She shook her head. “Caden’s finally sleeping. Stay with him. I hope I won’t be too long. If nothing else, I can at least help her relax and fall asleep. Are you still okay with her staying here, if it comes down to that?”