by Rose, Willow
The boy's sister looked up at them, sucking her pacifier. The boy knew she certainly didn't understand what they were talking about. And neither did he. All he knew was that Irene sometimes came to class wearing the same clothes as the day before because her mom forgot to pack enough clothes. The boy didn't exactly understand why she had to pack any clothes for school but never dared to ask. Did this mean he had to wear the same clothes to school two days in a row? He didn't mind that much.
"Do you understand what we're telling you?" his mother asked.
The boy looked at his sister, who luckily shook her head, so he didn't have to admit he didn't.
"It means mommy and daddy won't live together anymore," she added, then looked at his dad, who had his head turned away while rubbing his hands against each other. The boy saw him clench his fist, then return to rubbing again before he turned his head back to look at them, his eyes almost glowing red.
"But…?" the boy asked, still confused. If they didn't live together, how would Daddy get food? They always ate Mommy's food at the round table together at six o'clock.
"It won't be too bad, kiddos," his dad said with a sniffle. "You'll be five days with your mom, then five days here with me."
"We've decided to split you evenly between us," his mom said. "That way you'll get just as much time with me as you get with your dad."
His father chuckled and poked the boy on the shoulder. "It'll be almost the same. Heck, you'll hardly even notice the difference."
The boy stared at his parents, wrinkling his forehead while wondering why it was so important for them to have this talk if it wasn't that big of a deal.
Chapter 10
I took Alex home and woke up Olivia, then told her to keep an eye on him. She grumbled something about her wanting to sleep more, but I didn't listen. Alex jumped onto her bed and started to blabber on about the body they had found downtown.
"Wait, Mom?" she said and sat up on the bed. "You're working again?"
I shook my head. "Not really. Just helping out."
She looked confused. Her hair was standing out in all directions. She had cut it short a few months ago, and I thought it was cute on her. She had one of those thin fairy-like faces that made a haircut like that look good. She got most of her features from her father. Not like her sister. When her younger sister wanted the same haircut, I had to explain to her that it probably wouldn't have the same effect on her since she had my rounder face shape. It hadn't come out right, and she had ended up getting angry with me.
"Oh, okay," Olivia said.
"I'll be back again soon."
"Don't forget to bring back coffee," she yelled after me as I rushed out the door and into to my minivan.
I drove back to the scene where a flock of spectators had now gathered. I spotted Matt fighting to keep people back. Photographers from local newspapers were there too now, and reporters were yelling their questions at them.
Matt looked like he could scream.
Our eyes locked and he let me come back in under the tape. "Boy, am I glad to have you back," he muttered.
"How does it look?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Still waiting for the techs. They should be here any minute now."
"Have you alerted the parents?" I asked.
He shook his head and scratched his stubble. "That was my next move."
"You might want to hurry up," I said and glanced at the crowd behind us. "It won't be long before the word is spread. The last thing you want is for them to be alerted through others."
Matt bit his lip. I remembered he used to do that as a child too when dealing with something difficult. A fond memory of him helping me learn how to ride a bike rushed through my mind.
"You could send someone else," I said. "If you don't want to leave the scene."
"No…it's not that. It needs to come from me. I’ve been on the case since the beginning and…I feel like I owe them."
"There's something I feel like I have to tell you," I said. "Last night, I went running down on the beach, and I passed by right here. I saw someone. A figure in the alley and a car. I can't help thinking that maybe…"
"Did you see who it was?"
I shook my head. "I couldn't see anything except that it was a white car. I couldn't see what type it was, but it was a four-door."
"SUV?"
"I don't think so, but I could be wrong. It was the middle of the night. It was after three o'clock, and it was very dark."
"But you saw someone here in the middle of the night? After the restaurants and bars had closed?"
I nodded. "It could have been anyone. At least that's what I thought. But now, I kind of think it might have been…whoever did this, whoever placed Sophie Williams here."
Matt nodded. "It might have been."
"Dang it," I said. "I knew I should have checked up on it instead of running away. I just…well, I wasn't armed or anything. I had this dream about…well, it doesn’t really matter, but I couldn't get rid of this feeling. It brought me right back."
Matt nodded. "That's only natural. I'll need to…"
He didn't get to finish the sentence before there was a loud scream coming from the back of the crowd. We both turned to look simultaneously. A woman elbowed her way through. Her screams made the crowd disperse and create a path for her. As I saw her face and heard her shrieks of horror, I recognized her from TV.
Sophie's mother.
"SOPHIE!"
Matt approached her. "Ma'am…"
But she didn't listen. She pushed him aside, then ran to the sleeping bag, wailing.
"Sophie! No! Sophie, no!"
Matt glanced at me, and I knew he needed my assistance, so I followed him toward the woman.
"Mrs. Williams, Jenna…"
But the woman didn't budge. She stood like she was paralyzed and stared at the dead body, her torso shaking.
"Please," she said and fell to her knees. "Please…God…no!"
It was hard to hold my tears back. I took a couple of deep breaths while Matt looked at me for help. I signaled for him to stay back and let the woman grieve.
Jenna Williams did. She cried and sobbed and then, as she had no more tears, she turned to face Matt.
"You knew about this. Why didn't you tell me?" she hissed, tears streaming across her cheeks.
"Jenna, I…I…" Matt said.
"Who?" Jenna said. "Who did this? Why? Why, Matt?"
"I…We don't know," Matt said.
"You don't know? You don't know?" Jenna Williams said, her voice shrill and high-pitched. She looked at Matt for an explanation, but none came. He had no words.
"Yet," I said stepping forward. I could tell Matt was in over his head, so I reached out my hand. "Hello, Mrs. Williams. Eva Rae Thomas, FBI. If you come with me, I'll try and answer your questions to the best of my knowledge."
Chapter 11
"I owe you. Big time."
It was past noon when Matt came up to me. His hair was standing out in all directions, and I swear I could see a couple of grays I hadn't seen earlier. I had been talking to Jenna Williams for about an hour, explaining to her what would happen next, that they would take her body in for an autopsy and then we would know more. I also assured her that Matt and his colleagues would do everything in their power to find whoever had hurt her daughter and make sure that justice was done. Then, after trying to answer her many questions as best I could, I hugged her, then sent her off with a couple of officers who wanted to take her statement.
I smiled at Matt. "You sure do."
He handed me a cup of coffee, and we sat on a bench that leaned up against the oyster bar.
"You're gonna need to do more than just bring me coffee," I said, "but I'll take it. For now."
He chuckled, and we sipped our coffees for a few seconds, not saying anything. The place was crawling with crime scene techs, and Matt had called in all his colleagues to ensure that the scene remained clear of people. The local NEWS13 was doing a live segment a few yards aw
ay, the reporter trying to explain what had happened. Matt had given them a statement, and that seemed to satisfy the vultures for a little while at least. There were still so many unanswered questions, and I knew from experience that they would be back.
"So…I heard from Melissa that you were back," he said. "I ran into her outside of Publix two days ago."
Melissa was another of my old friends. I had known her and Dawn since we went to pre-school. I hadn't seen any of them yet. I had planned to but kept postponing it, telling myself I wanted to be unpacked first. But the fact was, I was scared to see them again. Were they still my friends after all these years? I hadn't exactly been good at keeping in contact with them.
"So, what do you make of it?" Matt asked and nodded toward the scene where the techs were still securing evidence.
I shrugged. "Hard to say before we have anything from them."
"I've never seen anything like this," he said.
"You don't say?"
He gave me a look. I shook my head. "Sorry, sarcasm is my thing now. Comes with the job…and growing up with my mother, I guess. So…how long have you been working homicide?" I asked.
"Couple of years."
"And homicide also works kidnappings?" I asked.
He shrugged. "We do everything, I guess. We've never really had any kidnappings around here before…or at least not since…you know…"
I felt a knot in my throat. "Of course."
He sent me a sympathetic look, then stared down at his coffee as he sensed I didn't want to talk about it.
"You know how it is in this town and with the Cocoa Beach Police Department. Everyone pitches in. We do a little of everything. We help tourists who had their phones or wallets stolen, we drive home drunks, remove gators if they get too close to people, take care of traffic issues downtown, and keep an eye on the citizens during Friday-fest. We did have this guy recently who was conning old ladies by selling them stuff for their pools that wasn't actually his. I got him nailed down. But that's about it. Oh, yeah and then there was that bar fight last year where a man was stabbed. I got that guy too."
"Looks like you've got quite the track record here."
"I'm their shining star," he grinned.
I bobbed my head, realizing that nothing had truly changed in twenty years around here. A few new restaurants had popped up while others were gone, but that was about it.
"So…" he said. "What brings you back here? The Hoover building not big enough for you anymore?"
I chuckled and sipped my coffee. "Something like that."
"Where's Chad?" he asked, saying his name like he was annoyed by just the mere sound of it. "That's his name, right? The guy you ran off with?"
"I didn't run off with him," I said. "I met him in college, and we got married."
He sipped his coffee. "So, where is he now?"
"Greece," I said. "Last I heard."
He widened his eyes. "Oh."
"Yeah, you can say that again," I said. "With some girl named Kimmie."
Matt nodded. "I see. And the kids?"
"They're here with me." I gave him a look. "Hey, you already knew all this, didn't you? Nothing gets past you in this town."
He chuckled and nodded. "Just wanted to hear it from your own lips."
Chapter 12
It was early afternoon before I finally made it back home, holding a package of coffee from Wahoo Coffee in my hand and a gallon of milk from Publix in the other. I could hear their loud voices as soon as I opened the door to the car. I rushed to the front door and walked inside.
"What is going on here?"
Christine looked at me, and so did Alex. She had her arm wrapped around him in a tight grip.
"Mo-om," she said and let go of him. He pushed himself free, then turned around and kicked her shin.
"Ouch, you little…" she said and ran after him.
"STOP!" I yelled. They both froze in place.
I slammed the door shut behind me. I stared at Christine. "Why are you hurting your brother?"
She made an annoyed sound, making sure I understood how unfair this was. "He…he started it."
"That's not what I asked," I said.
Christine gave me a look. I could tell she was looking for the right words to say.
"I can't believe you," I said. "When I’m not home, I expect you and your sister to look after your brother, and this is what I come home to?"
"But…but he…"
"You're the big sister, Christine. This was an emergency situation today, and I had to be somewhere else. I need to know that I can count on you in emergency situations. Now, where's your sister?"
"Upstairs," Christine said. "Doing her homework."
"Okay, then when she's not available, you need to be the responsible one, okay?"
Christine stared at me, her nostrils flaring. "But…"
"I can't do this right now," I said, exhausted. "Just for once, say, okay, Mom, will you?"
Christine bobbed her head. "Okay."
"Thank you." I looked at Alex and held up the milk. "Now, who wants cereal?"
He beamed with happiness. "Me, me! I’m starving."
I chuckled and looked at Christine. "How about you? You want a little late breakfast?"
Christine shook her head, turned around, and stormed up the stairs. I looked after her for a few seconds, then reminded myself that she was a pre-teen and it would pass. I returned to the kitchen and poured Alex some Cheerios with milk. He ate greedily and told me all the games he was planning on playing for the rest of the day, and I got exhausted just listening to it.
I glanced at the living room. It looked like a bomb had gone off in there. Toys were everywhere. The house was a mess. I looked at the clock, then sighed. I had hoped I would be able to work a little today, but I also had to unpack more boxes.
Gosh, I loathed moving.
Chapter 13
I was doing great. I really was. Two more boxes had been emptied, and their contents had found their place in my new small house. It was beginning to look like a real home.
Then I found the box with our photo albums. That's when everything broke down.
I knelt next to it and pulled them out. Most people didn't do albums anymore. I hadn't been one of them. As the kids grew up, I had made sure to have books made with all our photos, and now I was staring at myself sitting on a beach in Italy on our honeymoon. The sight of my happy and tanned self next to Chad brought tears to my eyes, and I put the album aside. But only to pull out the one from our vacation in New Orleans with our two girls, before Alex was even a thought. I couldn't help myself; I had to look through them. I couldn't believe how happy we all seemed back then…how much I was smiling. The girls were only three and five years old and the cutest things ever. In each and every picture, I beamed with pride and glanced lovingly at Chad by my side.
Had life ever been that happy? I could hardly remember feeling that way.
It wasn't just albums in the box; it was also all the photos that we had hanging on the wall by the staircase in our old house back in D.C., the children's childhood home. All those wonderful photos I had looked at every day when coming home late at night or sneaking out early in the morning to go off to work. Or at least I ought to have stopped and looked at them, but I never recalled doing so. I was so busy rushing on with my career that I had hardly noticed them in the end; the photos and those in them.
I sunk to the carpet in the living room. Leaning my back against the wall, I stared at this weird room I was in now, not knowing what I was even doing there.
"STRANGER DANGER!"
My heart literally skipped a beat. Alex jumped out in front of me, holding a lightsaber, screaming the words he had learned in school recently and that he couldn't stop yelling at me every chance he got to scare me. I had explained to him that Stranger Danger was something you yelled if a stranger came up to you and tried to grab you, not something you yelled at people to scare them and give them a heart attack. It was a silly saying,
I had always thought. It only told the kids to fear strangers, that all people they knew were safe, when, in fact, most abductions were made by people the child knew.
"Alex!" I said. "You can't do this to me. It has to stop."
The boy gave me a confused look, then swung the lightsaber at me like he was killing me. I pretended to die and made gurgling sounds. The boy laughed victoriously, turned around and left. A few seconds later, I heard him yell the words once again, and one of his sisters screamed at me from upstairs.
"MO-O-OM!"
I exhaled. I wondered if I had any more wine, then cursed myself for not buying more while I was at Publix. I wasn't very good at planning ahead. I walked to the kitchen and found the empty bottle from the night before, then sighed.
Alex yelled something from upstairs, and I turned around with the intention of going up there and yelling at them when there was a knock at my front door. I walked to open it.
Outside stood Melissa and Dawn. Melissa smiled and held up a bottle in her hand.
"We brought wine."
"And a pie," Dawn said. "To welcome you back."
Chapter 14
"I meant to call; I really did," I said as we sat down in the kitchen. Melissa found three glasses and started to pour the wine.
"We know," Dawn said and found the plastic forks and plates. She cut out a piece of the key lime pie for each of us and handed me a plate.
"I feel terrible," I said.
Dawn grabbed my arm. She looked me in the eyes. "Stop it. It's okay. You've been through hell. You're here now. And so are we. The rest is water under the bridge."
