Tainted

by Tess Thompson

  “Lance says the opposite about you. He says you help people every day at the shop.”

  “He sees me as better than I am.”

  “You helped me today,” Kara said softly.

  “If that’s true, then I’m grateful.”

  “We could come again tomorrow,” Kara said. “Walk some more. Find God in each other.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I’d like that. We should go back. I’ve books to match with their perfect owner.”

  She called for Freckles to follow them. He hesitated for a moment before tearing down the sand toward them. “Let’s go, boy. Back to town.”

  Freckles took the lead as they headed back, until a fat seagull taunted him by squatting in the sand and staring at him with a beady eye. What was a dog to do but chase her?

  “Get her,” Kara shouted.

  “This dog.”

  “Impossible not to love,” Kara said.

  “Kind of like his owner.”

  Kara glanced at her but didn’t comment.

  Life continued. We lost and found, gave and received. Sometimes dogs showed up at your shop and grinned their way into your heart. Friendships developed out of shared pain. God showed up at the beach. The circle of life? Not really. More of a circuitous path of mistakes and triumphs and tragedy and joy and everything in between.

  When they reached the path to the parking lot, Kara took one last glance at the sea. “I’m going home to get cleaned up. Then, I’m going into the office. Jackson needs me.”

  And, so it went. Women kept on. After the weeping and the bargaining, there was only one choice. Keep going.

  Chapter Nine

  Lance

  * * *

  A FEW DAYS later, Lance drove Mary into the city to have the cerclage put in. Doctor Freddie was doing the procedure herself. She’d assured Lance that it was a routine procedure and that Mary would not be put under, merely numbed with an epidural. He had to hold onto a back of a chair when the doctor described how that was done.

  He waited, pacing around the lobby of the office until he received a dirty look from a cranky pregnant lady. He sat, crossing and uncrossing his legs. Next, he tried to read a book on his e-reader, but nothing captured his attention. Finally, Doctor Freddie came out to get him. Everything went well, she assured him as they walked down the hallway toward Mary’s room.

  Mary looked remarkably well, given the fact that Doctor Freddie had been up in her with a needle and thread. He shuddered but put on a smile for Mary. Doctor Freddie advised them that Mary should take it easy for the next few days and to expect cramping and a little bleeding. “Please call if you’re concerned. I’ll send a note to Jackson this afternoon to fill him in.”

  They thanked her as Lance helped her off the table and out to the car. She looked pale and a little shaky. He suggested a shake or ice cream, but she declined. “I just want to go home.”

  Home? Was she starting to think of his home as her home? Please God.

  “Do you want to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl?” he asked.

  “Definitely.”

  “I guess I do too. It will help with the nursery.”

  The next afternoon, Lance and Freckles headed into the shop after spending the early morning working on Mary’s portfolio. He hadn’t shared it with her yet, but he’d taken a little of his own play money and put it into her account. In case his plan to get her to fall in love with him was a flop, she’d have money to buy a house. He’d spent the rest of the morning reading Anne of Green Gables. He’d only meant to read a chapter, but Anne with an “e” had sucked him into the story. He’d been thoroughly enjoying the book until he came to the chapter with Matthew’s death. Matthew dead? Working the fields, he just dies right there? No, this is wrong. He’d wanted to throw the book across the room.

  Instead, he’d thought about his dad. Denial had come swift that morning the doctor had told them he’d died on the operating table. He listened in disbelief. His dad had been healthy, an athlete all his life. This had been a routine operation.

  He turned onto the main street of town. The sun disappeared behind an angry purple cloud. He sighed. Stupid rain. He was sick of it. As if he sensed his master’s discomfort, Freckles raised his head from where he napped in the back seat and let out a sympathetic yawn.

  He parked behind the shop and let Freckles to do his business before they went inside. If he could just remember the last words his father had said to him, he could have peace. All he could remember of that day was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital and the taste of the coffee from the machine. A bitter, metallic taste that would forever be tied to the day his father died.

  From a few feet away, Freckles barked and tilted his head as if to ask him what his troubles were. “I’m just feeling a little sad.” The dog’s ears pitched forward. “I miss my dad.” He bounded over to him and licked Lance’s hand. “Thanks, buddy.”

  They walked in through the backdoor. School was out for the day. He could see at least half a dozen high school kids having sodas in the café. Mary was at the desk working at the computer. She wore a knit maternity dress that showed her round bump and tall black boots. Her hair fell across her face and she had a pencil between her teeth. Always, when she worked at the computer, she had a pen or pencil between her teeth. This amused him. Why would she need a pen when at the computer?

  Freckles nudged her leg with his nose. She pushed back her hair and removed the pencil from between her lips before petting Freckles. “Hey guys. What’re you doing here?”

  “I was restless. So, Freckles suggested we come into town and take you to lunch.”

  “Restless?” She tapped her pencil against her chin.

  “Kind of sad.” He pulled Anne of Green Gables out of his bag. “This, young lady, has caused a grown man to cry and made me think of my dad.”

  “Matthew?”

  “Precisely.” He sat in the chair next to the desk.

  She gave Freckles another pat before resting her hands on her stomach. Her fingers were long and slender. She kept her nails trimmed close and never wore polish. He liked that.

  Lance’s phone rang with his brother’s ringtone, startling them both. “Hey Brody, what’s up? What? Gone? Like someone took them?”

  He dropped his phone into his lap. “Mollie and Dakota are gone. Someone took them.”

  “Took them? As in, kidnapped?”

  “Kyle and Violet woke up this morning and they weren’t in their beds.”

  “Who would do such a thing?”

  “Violet thinks it’s her dad. He threatened to take Dakota last Thanksgiving. He didn’t think Violet was doing a good job with him.”

  “Why would he take Mollie?”

  “To punish them? Kyle said it got ugly between them. He had to throw the old man out of the house.”

  “How would he get in, though? The house was locked, right?”

  “Brody said Kyle’s keys went missing shortly after Thanksgiving. They think he might’ve snatched them, planning this.”

  “Are the police looking for him?”

  “Yes. Both her parents are missing. Their car is gone, and the house is closed up, like they’re gone for a long time.”

  Lance’s phone rang again. Brody. “Any news?” He nodded. “Yeah. Okay, I’ll be right there.” He hung up and turned to Mary. “Brody wants us to come out to the house. Everyone’s there.”

  Chapter Ten

  Mary

  * * *

  MINUTES LATER, they drove past the turnoff for town and up the road that led to the Mullens’ property. Rafael was at the security gate this afternoon. Instead of waving them through, he came out of the booth. Lance stopped the car and rolled down his window.

  “Brody told me what happened,” Rafael said. “I wanted to let you know I’m here if you guys need me. I was in special operations in the military. I have experience searching for the devil.”

  Mary had heard somewhere that Rafael had aided in the
capture of several high-level al-Qaeda operatives. She studied him now, curious if she could see that disciplined, tough military man in his even features. He wasn’t particularly tall, with lean sinewy muscles. More like a soccer player than a football player, if she had to put him in a category. With his dark skin and almost black eyes, she guessed he was of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent. However, he reminded her of Victor Hugo’s very French character, Jean Valjean, from Les Misérables. Tortured and righteous, his eyes portrayed a man who had witnessed great evil and sorrow as well as done things he was not necessarily proud of but were necessary to protect those he loved.

  “I’ll let him know,” Lance said. “Thanks.”

  Rafael pushed the button for the gate and they passed through.

  “You like him?” Lance asked.

  She looked over at him, disconcerted. “I don’t know him. He seems…complicated.”

  “Do you like men like that?”

  “Why would you ask?”

  “You were staring at him,” Lance said.

  “Was I? I’m curious about him, I guess.”

  Lance’s fingers had turned white from gripping the steering wheel. Her stomach turned over. He was jealous.

  “I’m not interested in a relationship with a man of any kind,” she said. “If that’s what you’re asking.”

  “But you think he’s hot?” The muscles in Lance’s neck twitched.

  She tugged the sleeve of her dress, suddenly warm. “He’s handsome, yes.”

  Lance pulled into Brody’s circular driveway. He turned to her. “The thought of you with someone else makes me physically ill.” His blue eyes bored through her like intense lasers meant to open her soul for inspection.

  “Lance, I’m pregnant. I’m hardly in the running for bachelorette of the year.” She smoothed her hands over her round belly. “Hello, I don’t think anyone’s interested when I lead with this.”

  He rested his forehead on the steering wheel.

  She put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not interested in anyone.” But you.

  They were interrupted when Kara came out of the house. Kara embraced them both before filling them in on the latest.

  “Kyle and Violet are inside. The police are trying to track down her parents. Cell phones aren’t working, or they’ve been thrown out.”

  They went inside. Violet and Kyle were huddled together on one end of the couch. Kyle’s usually dark skin was a shade of gray. Violet held a box of tissues, her face streaked with tears.

  Kyle’s phone rang. He grabbed it from the coffee table. “It’s the detective.” His hands shook as he swiped hello. “What? Really? For weeks now? All verified. Okay. So, we’re back to no leads?” He nodded and rocked back and forth. “Yes. Yes. Of course. Anything we can think of, yes.”

  Kyle hung up the phone. His eyes glazed over in panic as he turned to his wife. “It’s not your parents. They’re in South America. They’ve been there for weeks. All verified by police.”

  “Then who could it be? Who would do this?” Violet’s voice was two octaves higher than usual. Mary ached for her.

  “The detective said to try and think of anyone we know who might do this,” Kyle said. “Anyone who knows us well enough to have a key.”

  “No one but the Dogs,” Violet said.

  “Not even them. We haven’t given out keys to anyone,” Kyle said. “Not even the house cleaners.”

  That was when it hit her. Mel the nanny. The books she’d asked for. The hints about lovers with obstacles that prevented them from being together.

  “I think I know who took the kids,” Mary said, blurting it out before thinking.

  “What did you say?” Kyle asked.

  “Mel. Your former nanny. She came into the store asking weird questions about romance books about a nanny and single dad.” Mary relayed as much of the conversation as she could remember.

  “But she’s not even living here anymore,” Violet said. “I saw her a few weeks ago and she said she was moving to San Diego.”

  “She could’ve been lying,” Lance said.

  “We know she was a liar,” Kara said. “Right?”

  “And she had access to your house at one point, right?” Mary asked.

  “Not the rental house, no,” Kyle said.

  “When did you notice the set of keys missing?” Mary asked Violet.

  Violet looked over at Kyle. “I’m not sure. Sometime around Thanksgiving. We figured they’d been lost during the move.”

  “Was this before or after you fired Mel?” Mary asked.

  Kyle paced back and forth between the couch and Violet. “It was around the same time. I think anyway.”

  Violet lurched to her feet. “Kyle, do you remember how she used the bathroom off the kitchen?”

  He shook his head, no.

  “I do,” Violet said. “We waited for her in the foyer while she ran back to use it. She could’ve grabbed the keys then.”

  “But why would she do this?” Violet asked. “Revenge?”

  “Money, probably,” Lance said. “Most things come back to money.”

  “Or love,” Mary said. “In this case, unrequited.”

  “She did hit on me pretty hard,” Kyle said.

  “That’s an understatement.” Violet crossed over to Kyle and slipped under his arm, visibly shaking like the leaves on the trees outside the windows.

  “I think she’s obsessed with Kyle,” Mary said. “This is a way to get his attention. I don’t think it’s about money.”

  “What do we do? Where do we find her?” Violet asked.

  “I have a feeling she’s going to reach out to Kyle. One way or the other,” Mary said. “And I don’t think she’ll harm the children. This is a fantasy in her mind that she and Kyle are supposed to be together. Wherever she is, she’s imagining that Kyle’s going to meet her there and run away with her and the kids.”

  “It seems so farfetched,” Kyle said. “I mean, Violet and I are married now. We’re pregnant. How is that not a big red flag that I’m not interested?”

  “She’s delusional,” Lance said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

  “If anything happens to them, I’ll kill her with my own hands.” Kyle’s voice broke.

  “I just read a novel about something similar,” Mary said. “Same thing. The nanny was obsessed with the husband. She had this fantasy life built up in her mind that the two of them were going to run away together. When she took the baby, she went to the place where she thought the husband would want to be with her. In this case, it was his office. I know it sounds weird, but she thought she would just show up there and they would leave together. Is it possible she’s thinking something like that?”

  “I can’t think of anywhere that would be,” he said. “I never went anywhere with her.”

  “Did you ever tell her anything about what you liked to do?” Lance asked. “She could’ve taken it as a signal that you wanted her to meet you there.”

  “I did tell her about my property,” Kyle said. “One day I caught her looking at the plans. It’s the only thing I ever shared with her that was personal.”

  Kara and Brody came into the room with coffee and sandwiches. “Honor and Zane are on their way over. Jackson called too and said that he and Maggie are flying home from L.A. this evening and will be here as soon as they can.”

  They filled them in on Mary’s theory. “If she’s right, we need to get the police over here to help us figure out what to do,” Brody said.

  Kyle had already punched some numbers into his phone and walked out of the room.

  While he was gone, they tried to get Violet to eat a sandwich, but she couldn’t. “There’s no way I can keep anything down.” She began to cry. Mary led her over to the couch and helped her sit. Her stomach made her unsteady. She and Kara sat on either side of Violet.

  Kyle returned. “Detective Ryan’s on his way. He says they can track her phone, figure out where she is. If we’re right that it’s her.” />
  A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Brody said.

  Brody came in with a stout man in a suit, introducing him as Detective Ryan.

  “Good to meet you.” Detective Ryan wore round glasses that mimicked his round face. Neatly combed hair slicked back with gel made him appear as if he’d just gotten out of the shower.

  Detective Ryan wasted no time with pleasantries. “You have this girl’s number?”

  Kyle nodded. “Yes.”

  “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to call her, feel her out. Real nice like. If you’re right and she’s done this in some bizarre attempt to get your attention, play nice. Lead her on a bit.”

  “And if it’s not her?” Kyle asked.

  “Then we move onto the next plan,” Detective Ryan said.

  Kyle sucked in a deep breath. Violet shuddered.

  “Put your phone on speaker,” Ryan said.

  Kyle did as asked. The phone rang three times before she answered.

  “Is it really you?” Mel sounded victorious, like a woman who’d just won what she wanted. Mary’s stomach curdled with anger.

  “Hey Mel. Listen, this is going to sound kind of weird.”

  Before he could continue, she jumped in. “I did something crazy. For you. Please don’t be mad.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I missed the kids so much. Since she pushed me out of their lives. I just had to see them, so I took them for a little joy ride. That’s all. Just up the road from Cliffside Bay.”

  “Are they all right?” Kyle’s voice stretched to the brink of panic as he clearly tried to keep up the act.

  “They’re fine. I took Dakota to McDonalds. He said his mother never allowed him to have junk food.”

  Kyle looked over at Violet, his eyes wild.

  “You should’ve asked if you could visit with them,” Kyle said.