Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Box Set

by Willow Rose

  My mom stood like she was frozen. Her eyes stared into mine, and her hands were shaking. I waited for her to respond. I wanted a response from her, no matter what it was. I needed to know.

  She walked to me and stood so close I could smell her perfume.

  "Why, Mom? Why did you have to freeze me out when I needed you the most?" I asked.

  She swallowed like she needed to clear room for the words that were about to leave her mouth.

  "I…I couldn't look you in the eyes, Eva Rae. I simply couldn't face you."

  Tears rolled down my cheeks now, and she wiped one away.

  "Why, Mom? Why not? All I wanted was a hug or a kind word?"

  "Because I couldn't. I couldn't face you because I was too…ashamed."

  I wrinkled my forehead. That wasn't the answer I had expected to hear from her.

  "Ashamed? What on Earth are you talking about?"

  My mom looked briefly at my dad, who nodded in agreement. "It's time," he said.

  "Time for what? What is he talking about, Mom?" I asked, unable to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

  She gave me another look. Inside her eyes was the warmth I had searched for so long, the care I knew was in there, but she never let out.

  "Because I knew who took her."

  It felt like she had punched me. She might as well have. I shook my head, dumbfounded.

  "I…I don't understand."

  "It was her father," my mother said, her voice trembling. "Her real father…your real father."

  And there it was—the knockout that blew all the air out of my lungs. I heard a ringing in both my ears, and it felt like my blood had started to boil.

  "Excuse me?"

  My mom reached out for my hands and grabbed them in hers. Tears were in her eyes now too.

  "I am so sorry, baby. I am so, so sorry."

  "I…I don't understand. Dad?" I said and looked at him. I wanted him to tell me this wasn't true; I desperately needed him to tell me she was lying, to make things right again.

  He nodded. "It's true, Squirt. I will always be your father because I raised you, but I am not biologically."

  "We were young," my mother said. "He left. I didn't know he would come back for you. I married your father, and we decided to raise you like he was your real father because he was. You could never get a better father than him. But then he came back. Your real father did. He wanted half of the custody. We fought him in court and won. But then he…he came back, and he tried to take both of you. We saw him later on the surveillance video from the store. There was no doubt it was him. He came for both of you, sweetie, but he only got your sister."

  "But…so…so, you knew who did it? All this time, you knew?"

  She nodded. "The police searched for him everywhere, but they never found him. They suspected he might have taken her out of the country. He had family in Europe."

  "So...so, what you're telling me is…so, she could be alive?" I said, crying. "Sydney could be alive? I thought for sure she was dead?"

  My dad nodded. "We don't know if she is, but yes, there's a possibility that she is alive."

  "But…how…how could you lie to me like this? I grew up thinking that…that my own mother didn't love me, that she didn't want me. And then…then you were both just…lying?"

  "We did what we thought was best for you," my dad said. He said the words, but they made no sense to me.

  "I have a sister out there somewhere, and a…a dad? And you thought it would be best for me not to know? What kind of logic is that?"

  I stared at the man I had called my dad, suddenly feeling so confused I got dizzy. I leaned on a chair while gathering my thoughts. Everything I believed had been a lie so far. Everything. I had gone into the force because I wanted to make amends for what happened to my sister, for not being able to save her from the faceless man, her kidnapper and who I presumed was her killer. But now…now, it had all changed. And my dad? He wasn't who I believed he was, neither was my mom.

  And who the heck was I?

  "Eva Rae…I…" my mom said and stepped forward.

  I pulled back. I needed to get away, get out of there, out of the house where I had been lied to for thirty-five years. I couldn't trust either of them anymore.

  "I need to…I have to go. Come on, kids. We should get home."

  Alex sighed disappointedly, while Olivia, who had watched it all play out, sprang to me and held me. I leaned on her most of the walk home, none of us uttering a word, except Alex who was pretending he was saving us all from some feisty bushfire.

  Chapter 78

  THEN

  "Come on, join us in the fun."

  It was the third time the boy's mother urged him to come and play cards with them. But the boy still refused. He didn't think his sister should either. He thought she was being ridiculous, the way she laughed and had fun without thinking about the consequences.

  "I think we need to go home now," he said. "Mom and Dad might be worried now."

  "Nonsense," their mom said. "They'll be fine. Have some fun instead. You're always so serious."

  The boy didn't know how long they had been in their mother's apartment, but as he watched the clock on the wall move, it made him feel more and more anxious.

  It had gotten dark outside, and the boy knew his dad would most certainly be home by now. He always came home when it grew dark outside. And he would be mad if he found out where the boy and his sister were. Oh, boy, he would get so mad.

  "Come on; we need a third man," his mother said. Her voice sounded strange, and he wondered if she was drunk or high. Was it just a matter of time before she hurt one of them?

  Her baby sister drank from her soda and ate some gummy bears. The boy shook his head, staring at her. Didn't their mom know that little sister got too hyper when she ate all that sugar? That it wasn't good for her?

  "Don't eat that," he said.

  His sister grabbed another one and chewed it, loudly smacking her lips at him. He looked away. The boy walked to the window and looked outside. The darkness had settled now. There was no way he could find his way home on his own from here. Especially not in the darkness. But he had to get back somehow. He simply had to. He couldn't leave his sister here, not with her. He simply didn't dare to, so instead he snuck into the bedroom where there was an old phone on the table. He dialed his dad's number.

  "Daddy?"

  "Son?"

  He sounded angry, and the boy's heart sank.

  "Where are you?"

  "I'm…I'm…" The boy began to cry. "At Mommy's place."

  "What? You're at her place? She kidnapped you, son? Did she?" he asked.

  "N-No…"

  There was another voice on his father's end, and the boy recognized it as his new mommy's.

  "What's going on?" she asked.

  "The Thing kidnapped our children," his dad said. "Can you believe her?"

  "Oh, dear Lord."

  "I’m calling the cops," he said, then returned to the boy. "Stay where you are, son. We'll get help. Stay calm, boy, and keep a close eye on your sister. Help is on the way. Just make sure to keep an eye on your sister, you hear me?"

  "Y-yes, Daddy."

  Chapter 79

  "Christine? Christine?"

  I ran inside the house and up the stairs, then opened the door to her room. But she wasn't there. I had to control myself in order not to panic. I breathed in deeply a few times, then told myself she was fine, that she would come home soon.

  "Is she still not here?" Olivia asked as she came inside her sister's room. For the first time, I now saw concern in my older daughter's eyes.

  "I'll try and call her," she said, then left with her phone in hand. She came back a second later. "She's still not answering."

  I ran a hand through my hair, trying hard to keep calm and to focus on where she might be.

  "I'll have to call her friends now," I said, then rushed downstairs to find the list of phone numbers I had for Christine. She hadn’t mad
e a lot of friends so far, so it was quickly done.

  None of them had seen her all day. Not since school.

  Oh, dear God, no!

  "Relax, Mom," my daughter said. "I’m sure she's fine. She might just be hiding, or maybe she went down to the beach? Maybe she just went out because she was mad, and now she doesn’t dare to come home."

  I sent her a series of text messages, telling her to call me as soon as possible, then opened Mappen, the app I used to track my children, but, as suspected, it wouldn't show me where she was since it only worked if the phone was turned on. For now, it only showed me her phone's last known location, which was inside the house.

  "Okay," I said. "I'll go drive around for a bit and see if I can find her. Can you stay here with Alex?"

  I looked at the clock. "You know what? Instead, I think I'll call for someone to come over and be with you two. I don't like you guys being all alone."

  I called Melissa, but she was out of town, she told me. She and Steve had taken a couple of days off to go camping for the weekend with the kids. They had taken them out of school. I remembered that she had already told me they were going when I called her the day before. I didn't say a word about my daughter going missing. I don't know why I didn't tell her. I guess I didn't want her to worry. Besides, I kind of still hoped Christine had just run away from home, and I would find her down on the beach or maybe wandering around downtown.

  Dawn was out of the question since she was still in too bad of a condition to get out of bed, so I didn't want to bother her. Matt had enough on his plate with Elijah.

  That left me with only one option. My dad.

  I punched in my parents' number. It was my mom who picked up. "Eva Rae? Is that really you? I am so sorry about earlier; could we just…"

  "I need to talk to Dad," I said, cutting her off. I wasn't ready to accept any of her excuses or to forgive her yet. I wasn't sure I ever would be. At least not in the state I was in right now.

  "Your dad…well, he's not here right now. He left…I guess he was upset after what happened tonight. He didn't take his cell phone. It's still here on the counter."

  I closed my eyes. He was my last resort. Unless…I really didn't want to have to do this; it was the last thing I wanted to…to ask my mom for anything in this world, yet I did.

  "Can you maybe help me, Mom? Can you look after the kids while I go search for Christine?"

  "S-sure. I'll be right over."

  Chapter 80

  I left without a word to my mom. I had nothing to say to her. I simply let her in, then kissed Alex and Olivia, and left, thinking that she'd have to figure things out or else Olivia would be there to help her. If it wasn't for all the kidnappings lately, I would have let Olivia babysit Alex any day, but I just didn't like leaving them alone on a day like this.

  I jumped into my minivan, then drove off toward downtown. I drove through where all the small shops were, then turned around and drove past Juice N' Java and City Hall, searching all the parking lots outside and calling her name. Still, no sign of my princess. Then I drove to the beach. I parked by First Street, the closest access from where I lived, then ran through the heavy sand toward the deep, dark ocean. I kept cursing myself for not having ended things well with Christine, for fighting with her in the first place. Why did I say those things to her?

  It's too late now. You've played the blame and guilt game all your life and look where it got you. Nowhere. It's time to stop.

  "Christine!" I called and turned to look up toward the dunes and then back down to the water. I looked all around me, scanning the area, but it didn't help much in this darkness.

  "CHRISTINE!"

  Nothing but the howling wind answered. A dog barked in the distance, probably from one of the beach houses or a balcony belonging to one of the condos north of me.

  "Where are you, baby girl?" I asked into the darkness.

  Frustrated, I sank to my knees, then sat down in the heavy sand, head slumped between my shoulder blades. I felt so tired, so exhausted.

  "Where are you?" I mumbled as tears rolled down my cheeks. As my eyes got used to the darkness, I spotted a big grey heron that was staggering along on its long skinny legs in the shallow parts of the water, looking for fish to eat.

  Like he had heard my cries, Matt suddenly called. I sniffled and picked up.

  "Matt?"

  "I’ve been thinking," he said. "You might be right; it could be an inside man. I hate to say this, but while sitting here by Elijah's bedside, I keep thinking about Cooper. He had a huge crush on you back in high school and always resented me for being with you back when we dated because I knew about his crush. What if he wanted to hurt me all along? His parents are divorced; they split just last year, and he surfed with Sophie Williams down by the pier. He also helped build the senator's pool house, he told me. To earn extra money."

  I exhaled, wiping tears from my eyes. "Matt…I…Christine is missing." As I said the words, I broke down, sobbing. "I think he might have her, Matt. I’m scared."

  "Christine is missing? Why didn't you call me?" he asked, sounding almost angry with me.

  "I don't know. I’m not very good at asking for help, I guess. But now I’m doing just that. I need you, Matt. I need your help. Please."

  Chapter 81

  Matt took charge of the situation. He called in help from all the CBPD officers and had every patrol on the streets within the next half hour. He called Phillip at the fire station and asked them to pitch in. Luckily, Phillip wasn't holding a grudge against me and said they'd organize a search team. They'd take the trucks out and drive around in the streets and look for Christine. They even called in the only K-9 in the department, the German Shepherd, Buster—who went by the nickname the Major—to go through the bushy areas, the parks and areas surrounding the canals. Two officers went out on a boat to sail through all the canals in case Christine had fallen in. Patrol cruisers in the neighboring towns of Cape Canaveral and Satellite Beach were on the lookout too.

  Seeing Matt work his magic made me calm down, and soon I managed to push all the desire to give up along with all the anger over what I had learned about my parents tonight aside. It had to wait.

  "All right," he said and smiled at me. "I have literally everyone searching for her; even the coast guard will send out helicopters, and I’ve put out an Amber Alert. We'll find her. Don't you worry."

  I swallowed and forced a smile. "Thanks, Matt. I mean it."

  "Believe me; I want to do this. If anyone knows what you're going through right now, it’s me. I want to find your daughter and hopefully also get the bastard who hurt my son and put him behind bars for the rest of his life. This is very personal for me."

  I swallowed, thinking about Elijah and how close it had been. I kept imagining Christine alone and scared, crying and calling for me. It broke my heart.

  "Let's go," Matt said. "We might as well get out there and look for her too."

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a deep hug. He held me tight, then kissed the side of my head, while whispering, "We'll find her; don't worry, Eva Rae."

  We both got into his police cruiser, then drove off. We drove through town once again, and I stared at all the dark empty shops, wondering if Christine could be wandering around or maybe hiding somewhere. If she really had run away from home, then maybe she was just sitting somewhere, not wanting or maybe daring to go home. But where? Where could a twelve-year-old girl hide at this time of night?

  We drove down a couple of residential streets, and Matt drove past the houses slowly, so I could look out the window and see if I could spot anything out of the ordinary. The streets looked so calm, so normal. Inside all those houses, people were asleep; families were dreaming sweet dreams, sleeping heavily, the parents knowing that their kids were safe in their beds.

  "I don't even know what I am looking for," I said.

  "Let’s just continue," Matt said and drove up Minutemen Causeway, the main street that went straight through the
entire town, past the schools and ended at the country club's golf course. We drove all the way to the end of it and looked at all the residential houses down there. It was one of the wealthier areas in Cocoa Beach and the houses were bigger here and many of them facing the big river instead of small canals like the houses in my neighborhood.

  Having a canal in the backyard seemed very grand, and it was really nice, but most houses in Cocoa Beach had that. River views were the ones that were more expensive, and after that came ocean views. Living on a barrier island made it possible for almost everyone to have some type of water in their backyard.

  "She's not here," I said.

  I grabbed my phone and held it between my hands. My eyes were fixated on the screen as I was willing it to ring and dreaming of her name appearing on the screen. Under my breath, I began praying for her to call and tell me she was sorry and to come get her.

  But, of course, she didn't. The phone remained dark and lifeless.

  "How about I take you back?” he said. "You haven't slept much lately and, frankly, you look like crap, no offense."

  I nodded. "None taken."

  "I'll keep looking, and we have literally everyone out here," he said. "You can take a nap if you want to." He reached over and put his hand on top of mine, then squeezed it. "I am not giving up till…"

  I was listening to his kind words when my eyes fell on something—or rather someone—running across the street and into a yard. Matt saw it too and paused.

  "What the heck was that?" he asked.