When Wishes Collide

by Barbara Freethy

  "I barely know him," she said, certain now that telling Lindsay about their kiss would be a big mistake.

  "Like I said, you don't usually let people get that close to you so fast. When we go to bars, you practically wear a sign that says don't approach me."

  "I'm not that bad. Anyway, getting back to Wyatt… His ex-wife kidnapped his daughter a couple of years ago, and there's a possibility his little girl is running around with the kids I saw."

  "That's crazy. His ex-wife is a kidnapper?" She shook her head. "Will always said you should have called the police about those kids."

  "Don't remind me. I already feel guilty."

  "Sorry. I know you were just trying to help them because of the way you grew up."

  "I made a mistake. I'm trying to do better now."

  "At least you have something else to think about besides what happened here." Lindsay paused. "Stephan said he sent some food home with you last night."

  "Yes, and it wasn't very good. What's going on in the kitchen?"

  Lindsay made a face. "Roberto is in charge. He changes all my sauces. He thinks everything needs more garlic."

  "I can't believe Stephan is letting Roberto take over. You should be running things."

  "He knows my limits," Lindsay said honestly. "I'm good at sauces but not at managing everyone else and getting the plates out on time. We need you, Adrianna. And I think you might need the restaurant, too. It's a good sign that you're this close to the kitchen door. Want to step inside?"

  "I do want to," she said. "For the first time since it happened, I really do want to come back." She didn't know exactly when she'd made that decision but now that she'd said it aloud, she felt even better about it.

  "Good," Lindsay said with an approving smile. "You want to try now?"

  "No."

  "Adrianna!"

  "I'm working up to it."

  "All right. I won't push." Lindsay turned and then glanced back at her. "If there was something going on with you and the hot cop, it would be okay. You know that, don't you?"

  "It's way too soon for me to be thinking about getting involved with anyone."

  "So don't get involved. Just have some fun."

  "Wyatt is not looking for fun right now."

  "Then pick someone else."

  "I don't need a man. I'm fine on my own."

  Lindsay laughed. "You're so not fine. You're young, Adrianna. There are going to be other men in your life. Will would not expect you to stay single forever."

  "We're not talking about forever."

  "You never wanted to talk about forever with Will either," Lindsay said, her expression filled with speculation. "I've thought a lot about that last night when we found the ring. You were shocked. You did not want Will to propose to you."

  "I wasn't ready."

  "I could see that. It occurred to me later that you might never have been ready. Maybe Will wasn't the one. If you were really in love with him, you would have wanted to see that ring. You wouldn't have been so scared."

  "I don't know why I reacted the way I did. Will was such a good guy, the perfect guy," she said. "I shouldn't have had any doubts."

  Lindsay gave her a commiserating smile. "Those men are the hardest ones to break up with. You feel like an idiot, because a million other girls would want them, so you ask yourself, why don't I? Love isn't logical or practical or even smart sometimes. It just is. You can't help who you love … or who you don't. And you need to stop beating yourself over the head with guilt." She blew out a breath. "I've been wanting to say that for a while, but I didn't think you were ready to hear it."

  "You're right – I wasn't ready before to hear that."

  "You're getting better. You're coming back to life. I can see it in your eyes. I'm glad."

  "Me, too."

  Lindsay paused as the back door opened. "I better get back to work. I'll call you tomorrow."

  "Okay."

  Wyatt held the door opened for Lindsay, who gave him a long look on her way back into the restaurant. Then he joined her by the dumpster, his gaze showing more frustration. "No one inside recognized the kids, although you might have better luck. I got a lot of wary looks when I showed my badge."

  "I'm sure they would have said something."

  He stared back at her. "About what happened before –"

  "Let's not talk about it."

  "A few hours ago, I told myself I was not going to kiss you again."

  "I told myself the same thing."

  He stared at her, his expression hard and unreadable. "I don't know why –"

  "I really don't think we should talk about this now," she said, cutting him off. "We need to focus on why we're here. And I was thinking that maybe Josephine, the owner of Joe's Bar, could help us. She is very connected to the homeless population. We could go see her tomorrow. I'm sure you've already checked all the shelters."

  "A hundred times, and they all have the photo from the security camera. But I'll talk to whoever you think would be helpful." He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I feel like a hamster on a wheel. I go around and around, and I never get anywhere. I've done all of this a thousand times since Steph disappeared. I feel like I've showed her picture to almost everyone in this city and another thousand or so around L.A. where Jennifer's parents live. I was convinced for a long time that she'd taken Stephanie there. There are a lot more places to hide, cities within big counties, many different police departments."

  She couldn't imagine how it felt to be two years into the search. For her, it was new, there were lots of possibilities to try, but for him, everything had been done not, once or twice but dozens of times.

  "Do you ever take a break?" she asked.

  "Not very often," he replied.

  "How do you not go crazy?"

  He sighed. "I try to concentrate on the positive outcome. But I'm human. I get tired. I think about other things once in a while. I've spent entire afternoons watching a ballgame. I've had dinner with friends."

  "And probably felt guilty the whole time," she said.

  "Yes," he admitted. "But like you said, two years is a long time. I almost lost my job the first year because I took so much time off, and I was so distracted I made mistakes. Eventually, I realized that I needed to work, not only to make money, but because I needed to do something for someone else. I needed to help another family find their answers."

  "I'm sure you helped a lot."

  For a few minutes there was nothing but quiet between them. Then a door opened further down the alley, and they both tensed. But it was just someone taking out the garbage from another restaurant down the street.

  In the distance, she could hear music coming from one of the clubs, and occasionally they heard laughter or loud voices from the nearby street, but there were no children roaming about.

  Some time around midnight, Lindsay brought them two paper cups filled with coffee and a bag of cookies. She didn’t say anything, but her pointed gaze told Adrianna there would be questions to answer in the morning.

  By one a.m., Adrianna's legs were aching and the chill in her body had turned to cold. But she no longer felt that strange about being in the alley. Her fear had dissipated. The shadows no longer seemed as scary. Maybe the same would happen if she went into the restaurant, if she faced the memories, instead of continuing to run away from them.

  "Let's go," Wyatt said abruptly.

  "You don't want to wait until two?" she asked in surprise.

  "You're freezing."

  "I can hang in a while longer."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes." Her gaze caught on a small moving shadow in the distance, one she'd seen before. "I think I see someone," she murmured. She stepped out into the light. "Ben, is that you?"

  Chapter Nine

  The shadow shifted, came closer. Adrianna moved down the alley. "I have some food," she said, holding up the bag of cookies that neither she nor Wyatt had touched.

  A moment later, Ben stepped o
ut of the shadows. She couldn't believe her eyes. It was really him. Their gamble had paid off.

  "Who's he?" Ben asked, keeping some distance between them.

  "He's a friend," she said. "I was worried about you Ben. I haven't seen you in a while."

  "Did you say you have some food?"

  "Cookies," she said, holding out the bag. "If you want more, I can go in the restaurant and get you something else." She couldn't believe those words had actually come out of her mouth, but there they were.

  "Where are the other kids?" Wyatt interrupted.

  Ben stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  She knew Wyatt was impatient to find the girls, but they would get further if they didn't scare Ben away.

  "I saw the girls you were with by the fountain in the square yesterday," she said. "They're not with you tonight?"

  "No."

  "What are their names?" Wyatt asked.

  "I don't know," Ben said, edging away.

  Adrianna had a feeling he was a breath away from taking off.

  "Was one of them named Stephanie?" Wyatt demanded.

  "Why do you care?"

  "Because she's my daughter."

  Surprised flashed in Ben's eyes. "You're lying. She doesn't have a dad."

  "She does. And I've been looking for her for a long time."

  "He's telling the truth, Ben," Adrianna added. "If you know where the girls are, you have to tell us. We just want to help."

  "I said I don't know where they are."

  "When and where did you see them last?" Wyatt asked.

  His harsh tone made Ben bolt, and Wyatt was after him in a split second. Ben didn't get more than ten yards before Wyatt grabbed him and spun him around and up against the wall.

  Wyatt was in full cop mode, and she doubted he even saw that Ben was a twelve-year-old boy. He was just someone who was stonewalling him.

  "I asked you a question," Wyatt said. "Start talking."

  She could see the fear in Ben's eyes, and for a split second, she flashed back on herself as a kid and another cop breathing down her neck. "Wyatt, stop, you're scaring him," she said, walking quickly down the alley.

  "He's not going anywhere until he tells me where the girls are."

  "A woman took them away," Ben said, his eyes wide with fear.

  "What woman?"

  "My mom's friend."

  "When was this?"

  "A couple of weeks ago."

  "Where did they go?"

  "They didn't say," Ben said, struggling in Wyatt's grip.

  "And you have no idea where they are now?"

  "No."

  "You better not be lying," Wyatt warned.

  "I'm not. I swear."

  "Wyatt, ease up," she said, moving closer to them.

  Wyatt shot her a dark look, as if he did not want her interference, but she didn't care. They were getting nowhere fast with his tactics. He stepped back, but he didn't let go of Ben's arm.

  "Ben, where are you staying?" she asked, sending the boy a reassuring smile.

  "Around," he said vaguely.

  "Why don't you come home with me tonight? I can fix you something to eat, and you can tell us everything you know about the girls."

  "I can't go home with you. You're a stranger."

  "My name is Adrianna Cavello, and this is Wyatt Randall."

  "So what?"

  "So, we may be strangers, but we want to help you. Is someone waiting for you?" she asked.

  "Yeah, sure. There are lots of people waiting for me."

  "Well, then they can wait," she said, not believing him for a second. His face and hands were dirty and so were his clothes. She'd bet any amount of money that he'd been spending a lot of time on the street. "I just live a few blocks away," she added. "What do you say? It's cold out here, don't you think?"

  "Is he going to be there?"

  "Damn right I am," Wyatt said.

  "Forget it," Ben retorted.

  "You look like a smart kid, Ben, so I'll lay it out for you," Wyatt said. "We can either go to Adrianna's apartment or we can go to the police station."

  "I knew you were a cop," Ben said sullenly.

  "Then you should know better than to argue with me. It's your choice. What's it going to be?"

  "We don't want to hurt you, Ben," Adrianna said reassuringly. "I promise you can trust me on that."

  He didn't look like a kid who knew how to trust anyone, but he was caught between two bad choices, and he knew it.

  "All right," he said. "I'll go with you, but I don't know anything."

  "Don't even think of running," Wyatt said as he let go of Ben's arm. "Because the next time I catch you, you're going to jail."

  She frowned at his rough tactics. "He's not going to run," she said firmly. "Come on, Ben, walk with me."

  She was grateful that she didn't live far away, because she suspected that with every step Ben was concocting a plan to get away from them. But Wyatt was sticking to his other side, and she had no doubt that he would make good on his promise to chase Ben down if he was foolish enough to run.

  She was relieved when they reached her building. Once they entered her apartment, she felt even better. Hopefully Ben would be able to tell them something that would help them find Stephanie.

  "I'll make you some food," she said. "What do you like to eat?"

  "Anything," he said, following her into the adjacent kitchen.

  "How about scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon," she suggested.

  "That sounds okay," he said carelessly, but his eyes lit up at the thought.

  "I love eating breakfast at night," she said. "It used to be a treat I shared with my mom."

  "I like breakfast any time," he said.

  Glancing past Ben, she saw the impatient frown on Wyatt's face. He wanted to get straight down to business, but she sent him a silent plea to go easy.

  Wyatt took a seat at the counter. He pulled out the photo of his daughter and handed it to Ben. "Is this one of the girls you were with?"

  "It kind of looks like her," he said.

  "What's her name?"

  "Emily," Ben said, apparently deciding that saying he didn't know wasn't going to work anymore.

  "Emily what?"

  Ben shrugged.

  "She's not your sister, is she?"

  "No, she's not."

  Adrianna spun around at that answer. "So the other girl is your sister?"

  "Sara is, yeah," he said. "Emily was just staying with us. Then her mom came and got her. She took Sara, too." Ben paused. "Can I have that banana?"

  "Of course," Adrianna said, pushing the fruit bowl across to him.

  "Where were you staying when this woman came to get Stephanie?" Wyatt asked.

  "She said her name was Emily," Ben replied.

  "Emily – whatever," Wyatt said impatiently.

  "We were staying at a motel – the Fantasy Inn."

  "Who was with you?"

  "My mom and the girls and sometimes Rudy hung out there."

  "Who's Rudy?" Wyatt asked.

  "Some old dude who bangs my mom."

  "Where is your mother now?" Wyatt asked.

  "She's out somewhere."

  As Ben continued to make short answers, Adrianna could sense Wyatt's anger beginning to burn. She paused from scrambling the eggs to say, "Here's the thing, Ben. We think Emily is in trouble and that the woman she was with might have kidnapped her."

  Ben stared back at her. "She said she was Emily's mom," he repeated.

  "She is her mother. She's also my ex-wife," Wyatt said, "And she stole Steph – Emily from me. She didn't have custody because she was a drug addict. She couldn't take care of our child, so the courts gave me custody. Her name was Jennifer."

  Ben looked confused. "I don't know anything about that."

  "What was the relationship between your mother and the woman who took Emily away?" Wyatt asked.

  "They worked together at a club."

  Wyatt sat up straigh
ter. "What's the name of the club?"

  "Ricky's. My mom said she was a waitress, but she's a stripper. She thinks I'm too stupid to figure that out." He paused. "Can I have cheese on my eggs?"

  "Of course," Adrianna said, as she poured the eggs into a fry pan. She grabbed cheese out of the fridge and started grating while the bacon was in the microwave. It felt good to be cooking again, and it also felt good to be getting somewhere. Ben had finally given them information they could follow up on.

  "Ricky's was closed down last month," Wyatt said. "What's your mother doing now?"

  "I don't know."

  "Why did your sister go with Emily?" Adrianna cut in. Something about the situation wasn't adding up. Why would Jennifer want to take another child with her?

  "Because Emily was screaming she wouldn't go unless we went with her, but the woman said she couldn't take both of us, so she took Sara."

  "And left you alone?" she asked, outraged at the thought.

  Ben shrugged. "I'm old enough to be on my own."

  "How old are you?" Wyatt asked.

  Ben straightened on the stool. "Sixteen."

  Wyatt shook his head. "Try again, kid."

  "Fine, I'm fourteen."

  "I'm betting you're closer to twelve."

  "What does it matter to you?"

  "You don't seem to have anyone looking after you."

  "My mom's around. She's just out tonight."

  "And the other nights when you went begging for food."

  "She's had a hard time. She does the best she can," Ben said.

  Adrianna inwardly sighed. Ben was protecting his mother, even though it was clear his mother wasn't interested in protecting him.

  "I need to find the girls," Wyatt said. "Where should I look, Ben?"

  "I tried to find them already," Ben replied. "They weren’t in any of the usual places. The lady said she'd bring Sara back when my mom got home."

  "And when is that supposed to be? Don't tell me you don't know."

  "I don't know," Ben said with a sullen expression.

  "Can you give me a list of the places you used to go?" Wyatt asked.

  "I'm tired."

  "You'll feel better after you eat something," Adrianna said, setting a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Ben and another full plate in front of Wyatt.

  "I'm not hungry," Wyatt said, looking down at the food in bemusement.