by Wanda Dyson
“The tall redhead you told me about?” Walter moved his arm out of Karen’s way as she set the potatoes down.
“That’s her. Well, O’Connell called me into his office this afternoon and told me that they suspect her of embezzling funds. Can you believe that?”
“You can’t be serious!” Karen spun around, her eyes wide, mouth gaping. “Embezzling?”
Ted looked up at her. “That’s what they say.” Then he turned back to her father. “And get this. . .I was under suspicion for awhile. I’m cleared now, but they actually thought I might be involved.”
Karen’s father shook his head. “After you’ve been with them for years!”
“I know. Needless to say, it unhinged me. I felt like they were staring over my shoulder the rest of the day. My head was splitting by the time I got home.”
Karen returned with the chicken and set it on the table in front of Ted. He picked up the carving knife. “And to make matters worse, we’re behind at work, so I had to bring some of it home.”
“You have to work tonight?” Karen set the bowl of steaming peas on the table and slid into her chair.
Ted sliced a section of chicken and lifted it over to her father’s plate. “Quarterly budgets are due soon. I have to work on them.”
Her father turned and looked over at her, his disapproval almost palpable. “Where’s the salt and pepper?”
Karen looked at the table, then jumped up. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“She’s forgetting everything these days,” Ted muttered.
Her father picked up his fork. “I warned you before you married her that she’s never had both feet firmly on the ground. You have to stay on her all the time.”
“I know. It’s just gotten worse since the baby.”
Karen set the salt and pepper down in front of her father. “Jess has been teething. It’s making her fussy.”
“It’s too much for her to handle. She’s never been real strong and this has her overwhelmed. Maybe I need to hire someone to come in and help.” Ted continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard her.
“No! I can do this,” Karen yelped. “I’m not overwhelmed.” Even as she said the words, she knew neither of them would take her seriously. Even the desperate tone in her voice told them that she was indeed in over her head.
She wanted so much to be a good wife and a good mother, but experience had proven her to be a dismal failure at the former, and time threatened to prove her just as great a failure at the latter. How many times had Ted needed a particular shirt, only to find that she had forgotten to wash and iron it? How many times had he found dust on the windowsills or blinds? How many times had he come home to find her rushing to get dinner on the table, only to learn she’d fixed something he didn’t care for? He’d ask her to call a doctor, a plumber, or a car mechanic and make an appointment, and she’d get caught up with bathing Jess or playing with Jess. She’d lose herself in enjoying her baby and forget everything else.
“Thought you had someone coming in.” Karen’s father eyed her with stark disapproval, and she dropped her eyes.
Ted shrugged. “Just for two or three days a week right after the baby was born, but she quit. Maybe we need someone full-time. Someone who can handle the baby and keep this place running smoothly.”
“I can do it,” Karen insisted.
Ted reached over and stroked her arm. “Honey, we’re just looking out for you, not condemning you. We know you’ve never been all that stable.”
Karen felt herself shrinking into her chair. “I’m fine. I know I am. It’s just that Jessica has been so fussy, and I spend so much time trying to make her feel better.”
“You’ll never change,” her father accused. “Quit making excuses and just accept the way you are.”
Karen flinched as she stared at her plate, her appetite gone. Maybe if she made a list of everything she needed to do every day and stuck to it, crossing things off as she finished them. . .got organized. Other women did it; surely she could, too.
But she wasn’t like other women. Even as a child, her father had regularly pointed out her weaknesses and faults. She was lazy, she was scatterbrained, she had her head in the clouds, she was irresponsible, she was stupid, she was worthless. The list was as endless as the daydreams she sank into when life got too hard.
She frequently stared at other women on the street. They seemed so smart and successful. She pictured herself just like them. Capable and admired. Someday. Someday she’d walk out of her house with a briefcase in hand, dressed in a smart gray pinstripe suit with a silk blouse with her hair neatly twisted on top of her head. Someday everyone would stop and stare and envy her. Someday everyone would look at her with respect. Someday she’d figure out how to be better at everything.
“Karen, are you listening to me?”
Karen jerked her head up and stared over at her husband, desperately trying to recall what he had been saying. The words eluded her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening.”
“There’s a news flash,” her father snapped.
Ted sighed, his impatience flowing over her like a shroud. “I asked you if you made any dessert.”
“Oh, yes.” Karen jumped to her feet, reaching for plates. “Strawberry cake. I’m sure it will be delicious.” As soon as she said it, she knew she’d made a mistake. Dread swamped her as Ted narrowed his eyes.
“When did you have time to bake a cake?”
Swallowing hard, Karen dropped her eyes. “I didn’t.”
“Then where did it come from?”
“Rene dropped it off,” she whispered.
“I didn’t hear you. And surely if I did, I didn’t hear you correctly. Did you actually say that you had that woman over here today? I thought we discussed this before. I don’t want you falling into that woman’s clutches.”
“What woman is this?” Walter asked, looking from Karen to Ted.
“She’s a neighbor. And a pest. Always sticking her nose into other people’s business. One of those women’s libbers, too. She took one look at Karen, saw a sweet young woman, and decided to make it her life’s work to convert Karen to her way of thinking.”
“Oh, no,” Karen insisted. “She’s just really nice. And I didn’t invite her over; she just dropped over with the cake and. . .”
“Like I said,” Ted repeated firmly, “sticking her nose in where it isn’t wanted.”
“She’s just out meeting people.” Karen looked over at her father, hoping he would help diffuse Ted’s anger. “They just moved in. Her husband is the new pastor at. . .”
“So she’s trying to steal you away from your church.”
“No.” Karen sighed heavily, accepting defeat. “Of course not.”
Ted waved his hand through the air, cutting through the conversation like a sword, a clear indication to Karen that the subject was to be dropped. For now. “Is the coffee made yet?”
She stepped back, eager to diffuse the tension. “I’ll put it on right away. It won’t take long.”
“Oh, well.” Ted frowned, pushing his chair back from the table. “We might as well wait in the living room.”
Karen’s father shot her a hot look as he followed Ted from the room. “You’d think she’d have learned something from her momma. Now, there was a woman who understood and appreciated what a man goes through. Always took good care of me. Had things done and ready when I needed them.”
Karen tuned her father out as she measured the coffee. Her mother had explained that a man works hard all day and all a woman has to do is take care of the home and children for him. It was her job, her God-given responsibility. Karen’s mother died of cancer when Karen was seventeen, and it would seem most of those lessons had died with her.
She’d just have to try harder. Make lists. Pay attention. She’d prove to Ted and her father that she could do this.
Karen cut thick slices of cake and set them carefully on plates. Strawberries and cream eased down off the cake and onto the plate. Ted’s
animosity toward Rene was something Karen couldn’t quite understand. From the first time the woman had stepped foot in the yard, offering a smile and an introduction, Ted had shunned her. It made no sense, really. Rene had never said one unkind word about Ted, although Karen had observed unease in the woman’s eyes when she’d shaken his hand. Ted had decided that he didn’t like the woman and had forbidden Karen from becoming friends with her.
While Karen couldn’t be rude and snub the woman the way Ted could, she tried to honor Ted’s feelings and not pursue a relationship with Rene. Rene seemed to understand. Every once in awhile, Rene would drop off cookies, a pie, a cake, or some little item for Jessica, tell Karen she was praying for her, and leave.
The coffee pot choked out its last bit of brew. Inhaling deeply, Karen smiled as the aroma filled her senses. She didn’t like the taste of coffee all that much, but she loved the smell.
Ted appeared suddenly in the doorway. “What are you doing?”
Karen lifted a plate and smiled as she held it out to him. “I was just getting ready to bring you and Daddy your cake.”
“Jessica has been screaming for the past five minutes. Didn’t you hear her? Or have you been off in one of your daydreams again?”
Karen shoved the plate into Ted’s hands and ran down the hall toward the nursery. Sure enough, Jess was screaming, her face red from the effort, her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear you. What’s the matter, sweetheart?”
Karen lifted Jess into her arms and cradled her close, humming as she began to pace, trying to soothe.
“Does this happen often?”
Karen looked up at her husband standing in the doorway, coffee in hand, concern in his eyes. She shook her head. “No, of course not.”
“How do you know? You didn’t hear her tonight. I’m really concerned, Karen. I never thought that you’d put our child at risk, but I’m not so sure now.”
“I was just caught up with. . .”
“Your mind was wandering again, honey.” He sighed heavily. “You get lost in your mind and you don’t hear anything going on around you. I can be talking to you. Jess can be screaming. And you’re off somewhere, lost in some fantasy world.”
Karen swallowed hard as she held Jess tightly. The baby squirmed.
“Karen, don’t squeeze her so tight. You’re hurting her.”
Immediately Karen eased up on her embrace.
“She’s not a toy, Karen. Do you understand that?”
“Of course I do.” Karen could feel her lip quivering, her throat tightening.
Ted reached out and stroked Karen’s cheek, brushing away a lone tear. “Honey, I’m just concerned, okay? I worry about you and the baby. On top of that, I have all this pressure at work. It’s not a good time for you to fall apart on me.”
“I’m fine. I swear, Ted. It’s just been a bad day.”
He stared at her, searching for something. She held his gaze, practically willing him to believe her. To trust her. She wasn’t going to hurt Jess. She wasn’t.
Never.
chapter 2
Monday, April 10
Karen yawned as she shuffled down the hall, tying her robe, her slippers slapping softly against her bare feet. Fatigue plagued her. Jess had been crying nearly nonstop all weekend. Ted had merely apologized for being unable to help and spent most of his time at the office.
Even as she rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up, she was looking forward to lifting Jess from her crib and hearing those soft mews of recognition. To cradling her close and smelling that in-credible mix of baby powder, shampoo, and Jessica. To stroking those sweet little hands as she dressed Jessie in a day romper.
Karen pushed open the nursery door. The first gray light of the day slipped through the open curtains, making the Hundred Acre Wood mural on the wall appear far more haunted than harmless. The Winnie-the-Pooh mobile hung over the crib, eerily silent and still.
With an overwhelming sense of dread, she crossed the room, trying to understand exactly what could be so very wrong. Fear crawled up her spine.
When she reached down for the quilted pink comforter, Karen was surprised to find her hand trembling. She lifted the comforter, but sweet little Jessica was not curled up beneath it. She looked around the nursery. No Jessica. Not on the floor. Not on the changing table. Not in the rocking chair.
It was ridiculous to think she would be. Jessie was only seven months old—far too young to have crawled out of the crib. Her absence made no sense at all.
Karen’s stomach clenched.
Spinning on the heel of her slipper, she rushed from the room, down the hall, and into the living room. There was no cooing of contentment or whimpering for food. The playpen was empty, as was Jessie’s swing. In the kitchen, the Tigger- and Piglet-decorated highchair sat empty.
Jessie? Where are you?
The truth taunted her without a trace of mercy. Her baby was gone! Swallowing the need to scream, Karen tried to convince herself that Ted had taken Jess to bed and she just hadn’t noticed the tiny baby curled up between them.
Walking quickly and still fighting to control her hysteria, she headed back down the hall, ignoring all the pictures of Jessica on the wall.
In the master bedroom, she yanked at the covers on her bed, causing her husband to groan sleepily and roll over. Jess wasn’t there either.
“Ted? Where’s Jess?”
“Hmmm?” Ted blinked furiously as Karen snapped on the light. His dark curly hair was mussed, tufted at odd angles. He ran his fingers through it, but it didn’t help. Until he went through his daily routine of shampoo, mousse, dryer, and styling brush, it would be out of control. The curse of curly hair, he often complained.
“Jess?” He yawned as he stretched. “Crib, of course.”
“No!” Karen felt the hysteria rising now, clawing at her. “She’s gone! I can’t find her anywhere!”
Ted sat up, rubbing his face as he stirred from sleep. “Ridiculous. Too young to get up and walk away.”
“I know that!” Karen snapped. “But I can’t find her!”
With a heavy sigh, Ted rose to his feet. Tugging at his red plaid pajama pants, he strode with defined purpose across the room and out into the hall. He was confident. Assured. And prepared to prove her wrong.
Karen desperately wanted him to prove her wrong. She stood and waited, wanting him to walk back into the room with Jess cradled in his arms and laugh at her foolishness. For once, she wouldn’t mind if he raised that eyebrow and smirked at her, mocking her fears.
Ted returned. Alone. “What did you do with the baby, Karen?”
“Nothing!” she screamed, clenching her fists. “She’s gone!”
The bewilderment on his face gave way to a new kind of determination. “Call the police. I’ll get dressed.”
Karen snatched at the phone and dialed. “Someone stole my baby! Please help me!”
By the time Karen had gone through her story three times and given her address twice, Ted had returned to stand behind her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. She leaned back into him as she listened to the dispatcher assure her that someone was on the way.
Her hand dropped and Ted reached down to take the phone from her. “They’re coming,” Karen mumbled as Ted put down the phone.
“Why don’t you get dressed?” Ted instructed. “I’ll make coffee.”
Karen swiped at her tears. “I don’t understand, Ted. How could someone take our baby?”
“The police will find her.” He gently pushed her forward. “Get dressed.”
Karen nodded and stumbled into the bathroom. Get dressed. Have coffee. It was all too normal. Yet nothing was normal. Nothing would be normal until Jessica was home in her arms. Who would take her? And why?
She went through the motions of brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and slipping into clothes. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of Jessie. It wasn’t as if she’d been negligent and left Jess unattended somewhere in the par
k or in the car. Her baby had been safe and sound in her own crib.
Polly Klaas had been asleep in her bed and it hadn’t been safe at all. Someone had taken her and killed her. Karen’s hand flew to her mouth, choking back a sob. And little Danielle VanDam. She had been taken from her bed, too. And found dead.
Oh, God, please, not my Jessica. Don’t let this be happening!
“Karen?”
Ted’s voice cut through her thoughts. She turned and fled to the kitchen where he was pouring coffee into blue mugs. “Ted! What if we never get our baby back?”
Ted set down the coffeepot. “Don’t go looking at worst-case scenarios before the police even arrive.”
That confidence again. Optimistic, unwavering, and strong—the result of being an only child, she was sure. Ted’s parents had given him every opportunity to succeed, every encouragement to overcome, every resource to believe in himself above all else. Ted didn’t know how to lose.
Karen nestled her head against Ted’s shoulder. “I want my baby home. I want Jess home safe and sound. I don’t think I could stand it if I was to lose her. I’d just die.”
“Don’t think like that.” Ted stroked her back and then pulled away. “The police will find Jessie and everything will be fine.”
“What if. . .”
“Don’t, Karen. Don’t even think it.” He stepped back, reaching for his coffee mug. “If you look for trouble, you’re bound to find it. Stay positive.”
She nodded and he rewarded her with a warm smile of approval. “That’s my girl. Trust me, sweetheart. We’ll get our baby back.”
Two police officers arrived a few minutes later. They didn’t offer any such assurances. After briefly interviewing Karen and Ted, they called for more help. An hour later, Karen and Ted had been pushed aside to wait in the living room while two more uniformed officers, a crime photographer, and a detective wandered through the house. “Gathering evidence,” they said.
It was the detective who had Karen trembling. He was a tall man with dark hair and green eyes, but he wasn’t the least bit friendly. She almost felt as though he had judged her and found her guilty of some unspeakable crime. One of the police officers told her Detective Johnson was good at his job. She reasoned that was because of his icy stare. What criminal wouldn’t confess when faced with that?
