by Gayle Trent
“You said you’d taken a detour on your way home from work. I simply thought it had to be something…well, something else.”
“I know you believe I deserved the treatment I received from Todd, but I didn’t,” I said. “It took me a long time and two therapists to come to that conclusion, but I finally did. Normal couples don’t give one partner complete control over their finances. They don’t go to work and come straight home without ever doing anything fun together. Or by themselves, for that matter. Normal couples go out to dinner, go to movies, go on vacations, go hiking. They have picnics and snowball fights.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.” My voice sounded small and weak when I spoke again. I didn’t like sounding that way, but I couldn’t make my voice any better at the time. “You know how you always bragged about how well I kept the house? If I didn’t keep it clean and organized, I was punished. I was forced to quit my pastry class at the community college because Todd thought I might be having an affair with the instructor. He was even jealous of a neighbor’s son who used to visit, and he refused to let me see him again.”
“How old was this neighbor’s son?”
“He was eleven, Mom. He saw in me someone as lonely as he was. We became friends. He started coming over one summer when I was off and Todd was at work, and we’d play board games or cards on the front porch. One day, Todd came home early. He was nice to the kid, but I told him he should go on home because I needed to make dinner…” I trailed off.
“And then what happened?”
“Todd broke my pinkie and dared me to associate with the boy again,” I said. “He broke the pinkie rather than another finger because I could still work with a broken pinkie. Having to shun the boy hurt worse than the broken finger, though. He didn’t have many friends, and he couldn’t understand why I’d deserted him.”
I didn’t mention it to Mom, but it was in the next few months that Todd shot me. When the boy had seen the story on the news, he and his mother had come to visit. The boy had said, “I knew he was mean to you. That’s why he didn’t let you be my friend anymore. He didn’t want you to have anyone but him.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
“I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was afraid that you and Dad would simply see it as one more failure on my part.”
“One more failure?” she asked. “What are you talking about? When did we ever call you a failure?”
“You never called me a failure, Mom. You didn’t have to. It was obvious that Violet was the golden child. She won Miss Brea Ridge. She got married to a man with an excellent job. She gave you beautiful twin grandchildren.”
“We were proud of you too,” Mom said.
“For what? I did absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.”
“You are anything but ordinary. You are beautiful and smart and talented. And strong. I always wished I could be as strong as you.”
I barked out a laugh. “Oh, yeah. I was so strong that my husband had to shoot at me and be removed from our home by sheriff’s deputies before I could muster up the courage to leave him. I was so empowered that I couldn’t divorce the man until he’d been sentenced to prison.”
“You were strong. You are strong. I’m sorry your dad and I never knew what you were going through. I wish you’d have trusted us enough to confide in us.”
“It wasn’t a matter of trust, Mom. After the first few months, he had me convinced that I deserved the treatment I given because I was ugly and stupid and immature and irresponsible. On some level, I knew that wasn’t true. But when those things are hammered into your head over and over, you can’t help but start believing them.”
“Oh, Daphne.” She started to cry.
“Please. It’s all right.”
“It’s not all right! I offered to help that monster make a new start! How could I do such a thing?”
“You didn’t know.” My own tears blurred my vision.
“I wish I could take it all back.”
“It’s time to start over,” I said. “I’m getting ready to start a new life with Ben. We can all move forward together.”
“Okay. We will. And if he ever mistreats you, you’ll tell us?”
I laughed. “I won’t have to. I’ve had therapy now. I’d tell him to hit the road and keep bouncing.”
Mom laughed too. “You sounded like your grandmother when you said that.”
“But he won’t abuse me. Ben is good to me. He truly loves me, and I love him.”
“Yeah.” She sniffled. “Everything will be better this time.”
“Yes. It will.”
* * *
I called Violet back to let her know that my talk with Mom had gone well. “I feel like we’ve really turned a page.”
“That’s good.”
“What’s wrong? You sound distracted.”
“It’s nothing. Lucas’ and Leslie’s bus bringing them home from day camp is running late today. They’re actually fifteen minutes late already, and I’m getting worried.”
“Have you called the day camp?” I asked.
“Yeah. There was no answer.”
“They’ll be home soon.” But with everything that had happened within the past few days, I couldn’t help but share her concern.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After instructing Violet to stay at home and to call me when the kids got there safely, I went to the church where they were attending day camp. No one was there. There were no cars in the parking lot, and the church bus wasn’t there either.
Still, I went to the door to see if maybe there was still someone inside cleaning up or something. I tried the door, but it was locked. I knocked, but there was no answer. I went around to the side of the building and tried another door. No luck.
I got back into my car and began driving the route the church bus would have taken to drive Leslie and Lucas home. Of course, there would have been other children to drop off, so I couldn’t be sure the exact route the bus would take. But I thought taking the direct route from the church to Violet’s house would be a good place to start.
I was halfway to Violet’s house when she called me. She was weeping and trying to talk. I pulled over to the side of the road.
“Violet! Calm down! Tell me what’s wrong!”
“Th-they…they’re…k-kidnapped.”
“What? No. That can’t be.”
“J-just…got…a call.” She cried out with a moan of frustration and horror.
“Sit tight. I’m on my way. They’re okay, Vi.”
The first person I called was Jason.
“What?” That he answered with one word and a clipped tone told me he already knew what was going on.
“Have you called the police?” I asked.
“Yes. They’re meeting us at the house.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Everything will be fine.” The platitude sounded as hollow as the one I’d told my sister.
I called Ben.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
Hearing his sweet voice was the last straw for me. I began weeping.
“Daphne, what’s going on? Where are you?”
“I’m on the side of the road.”
“Have you wrecked?”
“N-no.” I took a deep, shuddering breath. “I was out looking for the bus from day camp. Lucas and Leslie are missing. Violet said…” Another whimper. “They’ve been kidnapped.”
“I’m on my way to you. Don’t drive.”
“I have to drive. I’m almost to Violet’s house. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m on my way,” he said. “Have the police been notified?”
“Yes.”
“Daphne, please be careful.”
* * *
Why on earth would someone kidnap Leslie and Lucas? That’s the question I asked myself over and over as I continued driving to Violet’s house. She and Jason seemed to be doing all right financially, but they weren’t the type of rich people wh
ose children got ransomed for huge sums. It had to be something else.
When I arrived at the house, the police were asking the same questions I’d been asking myself on the drive over. Both Officers McAfee and Hayden were standing in the living room. Hayden was talking with Violet, and McAfee was talking with Jason.
“When he called, he only said he had the children. He said he’d call back soon with instructions,” my sister was saying through her tears. “He has my babies!”
“We know, Violet,” said Officer Hayden. I remembered that the Hayden children went to school with Lucas and Leslie. “We’ll get them back.”
I’d never felt more helpless in my life. I went to her and put my arm around her shoulders. She turned and clung to me as she sobbed.
“Please.” My eyes bore into Hayden’s. “What can we do?”
“We’ve put out an Amber Alert, so Lucas’ and Leslie’s photographs will be all over the news and social media. We’ve blocked the roads into and out of Brea Ridge. We will find them.”
“Thank you.” I was impressed that they’d worked so quickly to get these measures into place.
Ben arrived. He shook Officer Hayden’s hand before hugging me. Since I was still hugging Violet, his embrace encompassed us both.
The phone rang, and we all stiffened.
Officer McAfee held up a hand. “Everybody quiet! Ms. Armstrong, answer the call, and put it on speaker. We need to hear everything that’s being said as well as any background noise.”
Ben and I stepped back from Violet. Her little face was so wan and haunted.
I squeezed her shoulders as the phone rang again. “It’ll be okay.”
She nodded, answered the phone, and put it on speaker. Jason moved over to hold her hand.
The caller was using something to make his voice sound mechanical and unrecognizable. “Mrs. Armstrong, your children miss you.”
“Please let me talk with them! I need to know they’re all right!”
“Not quite yet. But, rest assured, they are fine. At the moment.”
“We’ll do anything you want,” Violet said. “Please just don’t hurt my babies.”
McAfee slid a slip of paper across the table. It said, Ask him what he wants.
“Wh-what do you want?” Violet asked.
“I want your sister to call off her wedding.”
Everyone looked at me as if I’d suddenly grown a second head.
“Done,” I said, loudly enough so the caller could hear. McAfee looked aggravated that I’d spoken, but I didn’t care. I went on. “The wedding is off. Now just bring the children home or tell us where we can pick them up.”
“You talk a good game, but I want assurances,” said the caller. “I want your marriage license. You have it already, don’t you?”
“Yes, but it isn’t with me,” I said. “I’ll get it and exchange it to you for Lucas and Leslie.”
The line went dead.
“What was that?” Officer Hayden asked.
“Is there something you’d like to tell us, Ms. Martin?” McAfee put an uncomfortable distance between the two of us. “Your ex-husband shows up and then ends up murdered in his hotel room. His alleged partner is found shot to death. And now your niece and nephew have been kidnapped. And all of this somehow involves your wedding.”
Ben put a protective arm around me. “Just a minute. This isn’t Daphne’s fault. She didn’t ask for Todd to victimize her yet again. And she certainly wouldn’t put Lucas and Leslie in danger for anything.”
“I’m not saying this is her fault,” said Officer McAfee. “I’m just wondering if there’s a secret admirer we don’t know about.” He addressed me. “Have you had any phone calls, anonymous letters or gifts, anyone acting differently toward you?”
“No.” I looked at Violet and Jason. “I swear, I don’t have any idea why this person wants me to call off my wedding, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get the kids back safe and sound.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“We have to go on the assumption that the caller hung up in order to give you time to get the marriage license and that he’ll call back.” Hayden joined the now tight circle that included me, Ben, and McAfee. “Do you already have the license or were you bluffing?”
“I have it,” said Ben.
“Can you get to it quickly?” asked McAfee.
“Yeah.”
“Good.” McAfee walked back to the center of the room, giving us a little breathing space. “When the kidnapper calls back, we’ll tell him we have the document, and we’ll set up the swap.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch him then,” Hayden said.
McAfee shot his partner a dirty look, making me guess that Hayden wasn’t supposed to have said that. Still, I knew the man was just trying to reassure Violet and Jason.
A wave of weariness washed over me. Ben must’ve felt it because he moved me over to the sofa and had me sit down. He sat beside me, and I rested my head against his shoulder. If only I could go to sleep, wake up, and tell Leslie and Lucas about this horrible dream I’d had in which they’d been kidnapped.
* * *
Before we heard from the kidnapper again, Myra, Mark, and China all showed up at the Armstrong house. We learned that China had heard the Amber Alert go out over the police scanner and had gone to Myra’s house. Mark was still there, so they all came to Violet’s house together.
“You say you heard about the Amber Alert over the scanner?” Officer McAfee asked China.
“Yeah, but if you’re worried about the roadblocks, that information didn’t go out.”
He frowned. “Then how do you know?”
“Because it only makes sense,” she said. “If you didn’t put roadblocks in place, you’re an idiot. I know good and well that you aren’t an idiot, Mac.”
He chuckled. “I appreciate that. All right, Ms. York. We all know you can think like the police. Think like the kidnapper. What does he want?”
“Well, I’ve been pondering that. What has he said he wants?”
McAfee nodded in our direction. “Their marriage license. He doesn’t want Ben and Daphne getting married.”
China looked up at the ceiling. “All right. Let’s set out everything we know for certain. First, Daphne was targeted by a scam artist. Then her ex-husband showed up. After Todd got killed, we found out he and Monty were working together to sabotage the wedding. Now, even after they’re both dead, there’s still somebody out there who wants nothing more than to stop this wedding.”
Violet gasped. “The man who murdered Todd and his partner has my babies?!” She screamed.
“We don’t know that.” Jason took Violet firmly by the shoulders. “You have to stop thinking the worst!”
It tore another piece of my heart to shreds to see Jason break down in tears and Violet cling to him.
“Todd’s gone,” I said. “And there’s no more money to be had from wedding planning or any of that. What possible reason would anyone have to not want Ben and me to get married?”
“Maybe it’s that old girlfriend of yours,” Myra said to Ben. “This might not be about Daphne at all.”
A few months ago, Ben’s former college flame—Nickie Zane—had launched a new magazine called All Up in Your Business. She was a widow now and had made him a lucrative deal to come work for her in Kentucky. He’d ultimately turned her down and proposed to me.
He was clearly irritated that Myra had brought the subject up now. “I highly doubt Nickie would have orchestrated Todd’s visit and Monty Harlow’s deception in order to stop my wedding to Daphne.”
“I agree,” said Mark. “The question we must answer is who would benefit if your marriage didn’t take place.”
China tapped her fingertips together. “The only way any scenario would make sense would be if it took one member of the equation completely out of the picture. What good would it do an admirer to stop the proceeding if the couple will just carry on as they were until another license i
s obtained? Whoever is behind this—”
She stopped, and I was certain she had been about to say that the person was desperate. But she didn’t want to use that word when Violet and Jason were already so distraught.
Still, she was right. Whoever was doing this was desperate.
“You think he wants either Ben or me to leave Brea Ridge, don’t you?” I asked China.
“That’s exactly what I think.”
“But why?”
Mark took Myra’s hand, and together they walked toward the kitchen. He jerked his head slightly to indicate that Ben, China, and I should join them.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We need to work quickly. I know the police are doing all they can do, but it would be great if we could get some sort of idea of who’s doing this.”
“Agreed,” said Ben.
“Daphne, who would benefit if you left Brea Ridge?” Mark asked me.
“I don’t know. Another cake decorator, I suppose.”
“Ben, same question.”
Ben scoffed. “Neil Grant, I guess. He’d take over the top spot at the Chronicle.”
“He was on the list,” I murmured.
“What list?” Myra asked.
“The list of alumni from the University of Tennessee. I looked it up to see if there was anyone living here that Todd might’ve known from school.”
“I’ll start looking into this Neil Grant,” said Mark. “Come on, Myra. Let’s leave out the back.”
“I’m coming with you,” said China. “There’s nothing more I can do here.” She stopped in front of me and squeezed both my hands. “We will find them. We will.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“It just occurred to me that I didn’t see Neil after lunch,” Ben told me, as he took out his cell phone.
When his call went to voicemail, he called the receptionist at the Brea Ridge Chronicle and learned that Neil called in after lunch. He’d said he wasn’t feeling well and was going home to rest.
“We need to talk with him.” I glanced over my shoulder at Violet and Jason, who were talking with Officer Hayden. “I don’t want to interrupt. Let’s go out through the kitchen. I’ll leave Violet a message saying that we’re going out to look for the kids and to call us if they hear anything.”
