“Ok, here it is.”
William watched the screen closely. Geraldine seemed to know where the security camera was, but she used her left hand to fiddle with her hair to hide her face—the hand that wore her unique wedding ring. Ellie looked fine and healthy. There seemed to be no agitation in the child at all. “Well, she’s not afraid, she looks happy and normal. This is good,” he muttered. “I need a copy of that tape please.” The next scene showed Geraldine handing over cash and receiving a large store bag in exchange. “And it was cash.”
Minutes later, William forced himself out the door and onto the street. Aggie was going to the residential home. He’d start there. It seemed the most reasonable action.
His phone rang non-stop as he drove through the streets, onto the loop, and then through the quieter areas of Rockland to the home. The FBI wanted all information he’d gleaned. Aggie wondered if it was violating the restraining order to see Douglas. The next call was from Megan, telling him that a woman matching Geraldine’s description was seen alone in a grocery store approximately ten blocks from Willis & Foster.
“I’m turning back. I’ll go to the home if I don’t get anything from the store. Can you call ahead and have them get any video from the parking lot or the store?”
Megan assured him she would before disconnecting. William did something he rarely had the chance to do and flipped on his lights, making a sharp U-turn on a yellow light. “We’re getting close, Mrs. Stuart. I knew it was you.”
~*~*~*~
The residential home looked nothing like any residential home Aggie had ever seen. Located in the older upscale area of Rockland, it wasn’t very far from the house she’d sold back to the Stuarts after Allie and Doug died. The place was enormous but certainly not large enough to house more than a dozen people—if that many.
“At least Mr. Stuart is getting good care in a nice place in the absence of his wife,” she muttered as she rang the doorbell and waited for the intercom to answer.
To her surprise, the door opened, and a young man wearing slacks, dress shirt, and tie stood there. “May I help you?”
Aggie suddenly felt very out of her element. “Well, I hope so. I understand Douglas Stuart is a resident here.”
“I’m sure you’ll understand when I tell you that we do not give out personal information like that. Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
He studied her suspiciously for a moment and then asked, “Are you on his list of approved visitors?”
“I doubt it. He is my children’s grandfather—I’m their aunt. My sister—”
“Are you Aggie Milliken?”
Her heart sank. Geraldine had probably told horror stories about her. “Yes.”
“Come in, please. I’ll take you to Mr. Stuart’s room. He’s having a bad day today, but maybe a familiar face will help.” Her hesitation must have been obvious, because the young man beckoned her encouragingly. “The sheriff’s department called and told us you were coming—and why. I’m very sorry.”
He led her up a grand staircase to a wide hallway. The house felt nothing like the nursing homes she’d sang in as a child at Christmas and Easter. The furnishings, décor, and even the air seemed to wear an engraved announcement that read, “Expensive.”
The young man knocked on a door at the corner of the house and then led her into a small sitting room. “I’ll get Mr. Stuart. He’s always happy to have visitors, but it’s usually just people visiting others here stopping in for a minute out of courtesy.”
Aggie allowed her eyes to roam the room as she stood just inside the door. Her hands nearly shook with nervousness. Mr. Stuart had always been pleasant to her, but would he be now? Would he blame her for being shut away in this place?
Two pictures sat on the mantel, one on each side of a vase of fresh cut flowers. On the right, a slightly younger and even more imposing Geraldine stared back at her—nearly mocking her with the merest hint of a smile. On the other, the previous year’s Christmas picture with Allie, Doug, and the children.
“Allie?” Mr. Stuart’s voice startled her, making her drop her purse.
“Mr. Stuart! You look… well.”
“Don’t call me Mr. Stuart. Geraldine isn’t here. You can call me Douglas when she’s not around.”
“Ok… Douglas,” Aggie said. “Do you remember me? I’m Allie’s sister.”
“Allie’s sister? The little girl at the wedding with bucked teeth? I don’t think so, Allie. I’m not easily fooled.”
The young man helped Mr. Stuart into a comfortable-looking wingback chair and promised to send up something to drink. Just as he left, he caught Aggie’s eye. “I’ll be back in about ten minutes. I’m afraid that’s all the time Mr. Stuart has. We keep a strict routine here…”
“Thank you.”
Aggie waited until the young man left and then turned her attention back on Douglas. “Did you have a nice Christmas, Mr.—Douglas?”
The faraway look in the man’s eyes disappeared as if on command. With perfect clarity of mind, he shook his head. “They try here, of course, but it isn’t home. I don’t know when Geraldine will be finished with her project and come to visit again. Sometimes it’s nice to have the reprieve but—”
A gentle knock sounded on the door and a plump woman, dressed too nicely to be a maid or a nurse stepped in with a very small tray holding two mugs and a covered bowl. “Hot chocolate?”
“That was fast!”
The woman smiled but didn’t respond. Instead, she lifted the lid of the bowl and offered Aggie the spoon. “Marshmallows?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“I know you don’t want them, do you, Mr. Stuart?”
“What?” The man stared blankly at his cup as if unsure what he was to do with it. “I—” He frowned and glanced at the two women in his room. “What are you doing in here? I am tired of strangers wandering through my quarters. It’s bad enough that I’m trapped in this strange place; you’d think I’d at least be left alone.” His face grew stony as he threatened, “My wife won’t tolerate me being disturbed. You should leave. She’ll be here any minute and will not like to find you here.”
Without taking a single sip of her hot chocolate, Aggie gave the man a brief hug and hurried out of the room. Across the house, down the stairs, and out the door she flew, anxious to get away from such a disturbing scene. He was going downhill rapidly! The young man chased after her, catching her just as she reached Tina’s car. “Are you all right?”
“He’s just so different than even six months ago. I never saw a hint of any kind of dementia then, and now he is in and out of lucidity within seconds.”
“He started going downhill just after Thanksgiving. Once his wife quit visiting, he couldn’t hold onto reality.” He opened her door for her as Aggie punched the unlock button on the key fob. “Will you be back?”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t know me. I doubt it’d help.”
“Consistency helps more than anything. He can still make friends, and at times when his memory is clear, he’ll appreciate knowing you’ve been there.”
Though tempted, she shook her head again. “I have a restraining order against his wife. I don’t know if that allows me to see him or not. If he ever needs anything though…” Aggie dug into her purse for her ever-present stack of sticky notes and a pen. Scribbling her name and phone number on the top note, she peeled it off and handed it to him. “Just call. We’ll find a way to help. Meanwhile, I’ll ask my lawyer about visits.”
The man folded the note and tucked it in his shirt pocket. “I hope you find the child, Ms. Milliken.”
She nodded. “We will. Now that we know Geraldine has her, we’ll find them. At least Ellie is safe—reasonably anyway.”
“If they do show up, everyone knows to call immediately. We’ll lock the gates behind them.”
She eased herself into the car, inserted the key, and rolled down the window before pulling the door shut. “Thank you.�
�� Her eyes took in the house and grounds once more. “Mr. Stuart always seemed like a kind man. I’m very glad he is in such a nice place.”
The car turned over, and for once, with the windows lowered, Aggie heard it. She gave the man a slight wave and put the car in gear, pulling through the rest of the wide circular drive and back onto the street. A glance in her rearview mirror caused her to shudder when she realized that such a beautiful place was the ultimate in grandiose prisons for Douglas Stuart—a place to be locked away and out of the way until he died.
The streets were familiar enough—likely the result of her getting lost so often in her first days at Allie’s house as ad-hock mother—that Aggie found herself following them back to the street where her sister had lived. She passed the house where Cari and Lorna picked the tulips and tried to rip the “rocks” off the bottoms and wondered if the woman had replaced them yet.
As she neared the house, her throat constricted to see the driveway, the garage with its door halfway down—the opener must still be sticking—and the car that sat parked inside. The temptation to park and stare at it for a few minutes was strong, but the gates were shut and it would look suspicious for a car to be idling in the entrance to the drive.
With one last glance at the window that had once been “her” room, she turned the car around and headed back down the street. She’d only made it about three houses down when her eyes widened and her foot stomped on the brake. Aggie didn’t even bother to make another U-turn. She threw the car in reverse and punched the gas, backing down the street at a speed she usually would never have attempted. She peered through the gates once more, staring intently into the garage. The silver car inside looked like the back end of a Mercedes—exactly the kind she’d seen drive away from her house all too often.
Fumbling for her phone, Aggie took a deep breath, slid it open, and called William, whispering, “I think I found them.”
“What?” His voice sounded a little garbled.
“I said,” she repeated, assuming he hadn’t understood her, “I think I found them. I’m at Allie’s old house—it’s near the residential home, so I drove by. I think I see Geraldine’s car in the garage. The door is half open and I’ve just got a perfect angle for it.”
“Why are you whispering?”
She snickered at the ridiculousness of the idea. “I don’t know. I’m making sure she can’t hear me?” She swallowed her excitement and asked, “What do I do?”
“Back out and park down the street where she can’t see you. If she leaves, call me again. I’m only a couple of miles away. I’m calling the Rockland police now. This is almost over, Aggie.”
~*~*~*~
The scene felt ripped from a movie. Police cars and black, unmarked vehicles raced as swiftly as safety allowed down the residential streets of one of Rockland’s oldest neighborhoods. Children stopped on their scooters and bicycles, pointing. Drapes were brushed aside while curious neighbors craned their necks to see what was happening outside their doors. Younger people with less pride stepped outside and strolled down the street for a better look. Cell phones buzzed with tweets and texts.
Aggie waited for just one car. The rest could do their thing, but until she saw William, she had no intention of moving. The last thing she needed was to invalidate her own restraining order, and it seemed like she’d been told that would happen if she got too close. It wasn’t worth the risk.
While she waited, she sent Luke a text message, called her father, and then called Tina and asked that she let Tavish know his sister would probably come home soon. Either way, she was fine. William said he’d seen her and she was fine.
Her fingers drummed the armrest. She dragged her purse from the floor and fished around the back seat for a plastic grocery bag. Miraculously, Tina’s car had one. Chauffeuring her children had destroyed the woman’s pristine interior. Systematically, she plowed through her receipts, tossing most, and filing one or two in the checkbook she rarely used. It was at least good for that.
Gum wrappers, mint wrappers, empty tic-tack boxes, and a torn diaper she’d meant to use at night with duct tape ended up in the bag. She pulled hair from her brush, both fascinated and revolted at the kaleidoscope of colors in it. “I remember the days when I wouldn’t have dreamed of using a brush someone else had touched,” she muttered as she dropped the hairball into the bag.
One clean purse later, she started in on the door pockets, console, and floorboards. Who knew how long it had been since the last cleanout—since Christmas if the wrapping paper under the passenger seat was to be believed. As she worked, she sang. “…be it by water or by fire. O, make me clean, O make me clean! Wash me, Thou, without within…”
“Aaak!” A tap on the window startled her. Aggie made an exaggerated frown as she opened the door. “You scared me.”
“I’ve never heard that hymn.”
“It’s a bit obscure, but I learned it one year and every now and then…” She shook her head. “Off subject. How’s Ellie? Do they have her yet? Can I take her home?” Her neck craned around him as she tried to see something.
“They’re inside. I asked them to let me bring Ellie out myself. I need to serve that restraining order for you too before they haul her off.”
A sick feeling filled her gut. “Oh! I didn’t think about that. Will she go to jail?”
“Definitely.”
“Can I post bail for her without violating anything?”
William shook his head. “Her lawyer will take care of it. Stay out of it, Aggie. She knows it’s wrong. Don’t let your—”
“I really think she’s gone a little insane since Doug died. Perhaps if they put her in the same home with Mr. Stuart…”
William’s phone made a funny sound—much like the entrance sounds in small stores. “Ok, I’ll be right in.”
He opened the door for her and pointed to the front of the car. “Stay there. Let her come to you. We do not want anyone to be able to say you stepped too close.”
His words irritated her. Why was she, the other victim in all this, being held hostage by rules intended to protect her? Other “mothers” were able to run to greet their returned children, but she’d be shackled to the stupid vehicle by the invisible chain of the law.
The sheer volume of law enforcement at the house astounded her. News vans slowly converged on the neighborhood, all hovering around the gates for a story. Thus far, no one had noticed her there alone, and hopefully they wouldn’t.
At the sight of William leading Ellie down the driveway, the crews began shouting questions, but he kept an arm around her and continued toward the gate. Relieved tears flooding her eyes, Aggie tried to watch his expression, but he was too far away to see clearly. Then a reporter turned to see what had captured his interest.
A shout of, “There she is” panicked Aggie. As half the reporters rushed toward her, William pointed and called, “Get in the car!”
She didn’t hesitate. The door barely pulled shut when the first microphone was thrust at her. Never had Aggie appreciated the safety of glass and steel more.
Ellie’s confused face wrung Aggie’s heart. They were so close, and yet it seemed an age before William ordered the reporters and cameramen to back away, and he pushed Ellie inside the car. “Go! Don’t stop until you get home—even to hug her,” he added as he saw her reach for the girl.
For a moment, she almost complied. However, the scared confusion on Ellie’s sweet face was enough to ignore him. She crawled between the seats to the back and wrapped her arms around the bewildered child. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine, Aunt Aggie. What’s wrong and why are all these people here? The police are in there.”
“We’ve been looking for you for days. The news is just excited that you’re ok. We’re all excited that you’re safe.”
Ellie wiggled from her arms and stared at her. “Why? The restraining order is over. Grandmother said—”
“It was, but William gave her the new one now.”
“I said what?” Aggie’s eyes slid to see if the reporters heard her. From the way they leaned closer, it seemed as though they did.
“Remember? When Josh came to get me while she was flying back from Curacao?” The child smiled. “I thought it was Luke.”
Quickly, Aggie reached for the horn and blared it. William turned, his face darkening at the sight of the car still there. He jogged back to the vehicle and pulled the door open. “What are—”
“Get in.”
Once William was squished in with Ellie between them, Aggie pointed to Ellie. “Tell William what you just told me.”
“About Josh?”
“Aggie, we’ll question her after we’ve processed Geraldine. Take her home.”
“Processed? What’s wrong with Grandmother?”
William’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong with her?” Frowning, he added, “It’ll be ok, just go home, and tell me about it all later.”
Without another word, William jumped from the vehicle and pounded the door before threading his way through the crowd and back to the house. Aggie stared after him. “Well, ok then.”
“Are you taking me to see Grandfather?”
“What about your grandpa?”
“I was supposed to go see him, but he wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so we had to wait until today. Grandmother bought me new clothes—”
“I just came from his home. He’s doing well.” As she spoke, Aggie crawled into the driver’s seat and started the car. The reporters stepped aside as she edged her way into the street. Several vehicles followed, but most stayed to wait for an announcement by the police. And of course, they wanted to get footage of the kidnapper’s trek to the police station.
“I don’t understand why you couldn’t just take me. Why did I have to come with Grandmother?”
“I don’t think you have the full story yet, Ellie.”
Once out of the neighborhood and onto the city streets, Aggie concentrated on not plowing through the cars in her way as she drove to the loop. Twice Ellie asked a question, but Aggie’s non-committal, “I’ll explain when we get home,” silenced them both.
Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) Page 23
