Lowcountry Stranger

by Ashley Farley

  “Just take the hat off, Mom,” Jackie said when she’d finally had enough. Not only was pink her least favorite color and a poor choice for a funeral, it reminded Jackie of a happy little girl with hot-pink sneakers on her small feet, a child who was only just beginning to recover from the trauma inflicted by her cruel father.

  Unpleasant thoughts began to invade Jackie’s mind—images of Bitsy’s hands and feet tied, her mouth gagged, a crazy woman refusing to give her food and water. Jackie had meant what she’d said to Mike. She didn’t think this Chloe person would sexually molest her niece or harm her in any way; she wanted to impress Mike. She was delusional, that much was certain. She probably had some grandiose notion that Mike would leave his wife and the two of them would run off together to Tahiti, taking Bitsy with them.

  Forcing the unwelcome visions from her mind, Jackie punched in her husband’s cell number, but the call went straight to voice mail. He was still in surgery. She snuck a peek at the twins in the rearview mirror. Cooper’s face was hidden behind his large hands, and tears streamed down Sean’s cheeks. She choked back a sob at the sight of her boys in pain. She needed to stay strong for her family. All of them. She thought about Sam and her recent habit of reaching for the bottle at the first sign of trouble. She said a silent prayer, asking God to give Sam strength.

  It dawned on her then what had been nagging at her ever since the talk she’d had with her mother two nights ago. When their father died six years ago, even before that, really, everyone in the family had counted on Sam to be the tough one. The middle sister was the keystone of the family, their rock. Aside from her downward spiral into alcohol after all that had happened with Curtis the previous summer, Sam had recovered, with Eli’s help, and had resumed her place as the family rock—even when staring at Curtis’s evil face for three days during the trial in November. She had held herself together throughout the months that followed until this past week. When she broke up with the man of her dreams. When that man was held hostage during a bank robbery. When Mack died, and her son’s father, after a nineteen-year absence, showed up on his deathbed with his teenage daughter in tow, a poor girl with no family of her own, destined to become an orphan. When her sister’s husband was being stalked and her niece was kidnapped. No person, strong or weak, should have to cope with all of that.

  And what had Jackie done? She’d run off to Charleston to satisfy her own selfish needs. Her mother was right. She was neglecting her family. All of them. Not just the two loves of her life in the backseat. Whether they showed it or not, they needed her now, and they’d need her in the months and years to come. Just as her mother would need her as she grieved for Mack. Just as Annie, Jamie, and Sam would need her as they coped with the Allen situation. Just as Faith would need her as she waited the return of her daughter. Jackie’s family had allowed her a year to sort through her midlife crisis, and now she would show her appreciation by granting them the same support and understanding they’d given her.

  She turned into Faith’s driveway and drove up to the house. After putting the engine in park, she turned around to face her family. “Chin up, everybody! Faith and Mike are counting on us to remain positive. We will do whatever it takes to bring our Bitsy home.”

  Thirty-Six

  Sam

  “You really shouldn’t be in the patrol car with me, Sam” Eli said as they raced toward the main road. “Promise me, if we get into a situation you’ll stay in the car.”

  “Cross my heart,” Sam said, drawing an X on her chest with her finger. “I can’t just sit around and twiddle my thumbs while some insane woman leaves town with my niece. Tell me again the make and model of the car.”

  Eli came to a rolling stop before peeling out onto Creekside Drive toward town. “We’re looking for a silver late-model Hyundai Elantra.”

  “That pretty much describes fifty percent of the cars in Prospect.”

  “Unfortunately.” He removed a notepad from his shirt pocket and read, “South Carolina plates 3-4-9, R-S-B.” He set the notepad on the console between them.

  When Eli said, “Roger that,” Sam understood he was talking to dispatch. “We’ll check it out. I’ll call for backup if needed.”

  “What’re we checking out?” Sam asked.

  “Chloe’s house. Her address is 1502 Old Beach Highway.”

  Lights flashing and siren blasting, Eli sped down Creekside through the Main Street intersection and out past Moss Creek Farm. Sam kept her eyes peeled for Chloe’s car as best she could considering the speed at which Eli was driving. Three miles outside of town, he turned off the siren. “Best not to alert Chloe to our presence, although I seriously doubt she’s here.”

  They arrived at a nondescript brick rancher set back from the main highway with few trees to shield it from passersby. “This place is too exposed to hide from the police,” Sam said.

  Eli turned into the driveway and pulled up to the enclosed detached garage. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  He peeked in the garage window first, and then shook his head, letting Sam know Chloe’s car was not in the garage. Shifting in her seat, Sam watched him make his way around the house, turning doorknobs and peeking in windows.

  “She’s not here,” he said when he climbed back into the car. He reported his findings to dispatch, ending, “Roger that.”

  “Let’s head back toward town. We can stop by Jackie’s on the way.”

  There were many places to hide in the vast acreage at Moss Creek Farm, and while neither Sam nor Eli had much hope in finding signs of Bitsy or Chloe, they searched the property from top to bottom anyway. Process of elimination.

  Sam’s initial panic had worn off and real fear was setting in. When she choked back tears, Eli said, “You’ve had a tough week,” pulling her in for a half hug as they were getting back in the car. “You need to lean on someone. Whether we’re together or not, I’m here for you. I understand how hard it is to resist the temptation to drink in times of crises. Don’t give in to it. Reach out to someone instead, anyone who can help. If not me, then your sponsor or Moses.”

  “Thanks, Eli. I appreciate it,” Sam said, sniffling. “You’ve had a difficult week too, considering the hostage situation and all. And I know how much my family means to you, especially the younger generation. Why is it that you seem better equipped to handle difficult situations than me?”

  He chuckled. “Trust me, I’m not better equipped. I’ve just been at it a hell of a lot longer than you.” He smiled down at her. “Believe it or not, thinking I had a bomb handcuffed to my wrist wasn’t the worst part of my week. Nor was Mack’s death, and I really loved that old salt. The worst part of my week was when you jabbed a knife through my heart.”

  This time she didn’t try to hide the tears. “In all the craziness that’s happened this week, I’ve done a lot of soul searching and come to some important conclusions. I miss having you in my life, Eli. This isn’t the time or place, but once Bitsy is home safe and sound, I’d like it if you and I could talk. About us.”

  He opened the car door for her. “In that case, the sooner we find Bitsy the better.”

  For the next hour, they drove around town searching in alleys and parking lots and side streets. Eli stayed in constant communication with police headquarters, and so far none of the other officers had spotted the silver Hyundai, its owner, or the missing little girl wearing the flowery sundress.

  “This crazy bitch appears to have disappeared off the face of the planet and taken my niece with her.”

  Eli turned off Creekside and pulled in beside the other police cruisers parked in Faith’s driveway. “Brace yourself, Sam. This is going to be rough. Hiding our fears from Faith and Mike will not be easy. But we need to try.”

  The police had turned Faith’s house into Command Central. Several uniformed officers huddled with Faith and Mike in the living room discussing their options. In the kitchen, Lovie had donned an apron and was making pitchers of fresh lemonade and perking pots of cof
fee. With heads bowed and shoulders slumped under the weight of the world, the four teenagers sat around the breakfast room table with Jackie, her attempts to console them falling on deaf ears.

  Sam sat down in the empty chair beside her sister. “Okay, kids, listen up. We’re not accomplishing anything by moping around.”

  Jamie looked at his mother as if she’d lost her mind. “What else are we supposed to do?”

  “Paper the town with missing person’s flyers,” Sam said.

  Jamie sat up in his chair. “That’s actually a good idea,” he said, and the others nodded their agreement.

  “Does anyone have a recent photograph of Bitsy?” Sam asked.

  Four iPhones appeared at once. The teenagers compared photographs until they decided on one Annie had taken earlier in the day. A sweet image of Bitsy with a great big toothy grin. “We need a laptop,” Cooper said, looking around the room. “I’ll see if we can borrow Mike’s.”

  Cooper got up and returned a minute later with Mike’s laptop. “He has Photoshop, which will make it easy.”

  Sean rolled his eyes. “Easy for you.”

  In a matter of a few minutes, Cooper had transferred Bitsy’s image to Photoshop and created a simple flyer with all the pertinent contact information.

  “Let’s get this to FedEx to make copies.” Sam stood and the others followed her lead.

  Eli offered her a thumbs-up from across the room. “Use yellow paper,” he mouthed. “It shows up better.”

  All those on flyer detail migrated to the driveway. “Whoa, not so fast,” Jackie said when the four teenagers made a move to get in the same car. “We’ll cover more ground if we divide up. Cooper and Sean, you take everything south of Main Street. Jamie and Annie are responsible for north of Main. Sam and I will hit the restaurants and marina east of Creekside.”

  They convoyed to FedEx where they printed two hundred copies of their Missing Bitsy flyer on bright yellow paper and purchased three rolls of duct tape. Once again they separated into groups. For the next two hours, they posted flyers to telephone poles and handed them out to dinner patrons coming and going from the restaurants on Main Street and along the waterfront. They spoke to shoppers at the hardware, liquor, and grocery stores, and to moviegoers at the nearby theater.

  Jackie and Sam made their last stop of the evening at the Harris Teeter. After taping their remaining two flyers to the doors at both the main entrances, they went inside and purchased deli trays, four dozen fried wing dings, five bags of salad, and three roasted chickens.

  Bill was waiting for them when they got back to Faith’s, along with Moses and several of Mike’s coworkers from the hospital. The local television news team was preparing to interview Mike and Faith for the eleven o’clock broadcast, and two agents had appeared from the FBI office in Columbia.

  So far, they’d received no ransom calls from Chloe or tips from the Amber Alert. “She’s gone into hiding,” Moses said. “I imagine she’s somewhere close by. She’s making a point to Mike. We just need Chloe to tell us what that point is.”

  Thirty-Seven

  Sam

  All family members and close friends spent the night at Command Central with the exception of Jackie and Bill who took a visibly fading Lovie back to the farm for some much-needed rest. The majority of those remaining caught a few winks here and there. Jamie, Cooper, and Sean managed a couple of hours crammed together in the queen-size bed in the guest room while Annie curled up on the floor next to Bitsy’s bed. Sam spent much of the night trying to comfort her sister who vacillated between fits of anger, uncontrollable sobbing, and shivers of fear—never letting go of Bitsy’s pink shoes. The only words that seemed to offer any solace came from Moses. He sat with Faith off to the side, murmuring words of encouragement only she could hear.

  Her family’s presence offered reassurance to Sam as well. Just being close to Eli gave her strength. Even though they barely spoke, they locked eyes across the room more than once, transmitting signals of support to one another. He’d been out looking for Bitsy for most of the night, and then came straight there once his shift ended.

  Sam was dozing in one of the oversized chairs in the living room when her phone vibrated in her lap, a few minutes past seven the following morning. She took the call from Allen’s doctor outside to the porch.

  “I hate to disturb you so early in the morning, but Allen is asking to see his daughter.” Dr. Garcia paused, breathing loudly into the phone. “There’s never an easy way to say this. He doesn’t have much time left.”

  Sam’s mind raced as she considered the logistics of getting Annie to Charleston. “I have a business to run, Dr. Garcia, and I’m tied up with a family emergency of an entirely different sort. If I can juggle a few things, I might be able to get her there late this afternoon.”

  “It’s impossible to predict these things, Ms. Sweeney. But my guess is that that might be too late.”

  “I understand, Doctor. I’ll figure something out.”

  When she went back inside, she found Jackie and Lovie in the kitchen with a tray of Danishes and three four-pack carriers of coffee from the Island Bakery.

  Lovie grew still at the sight of Sam’s concerned face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Has something happened?”

  “Not to Bitsy, no. But I just got a call from Allen’s doctor. They don’t expect him to make it through the day.” Sam turned to Jackie. “Can you take Annie to Charleston? I thought about closing Sweeney’s because of what’s happening with Bitsy. But the market is such a hubbub of local activity, I think it’s best to keep the lines of communication open.”

  “That makes sense,” Lovie said. “Someone might have seen or heard something. The locals can always count on one of us being at the market.”

  “On the other hand, this thing with Allen is pretty important.” Jackie stirred cream into one of the coffees and handed it to Sam. “I think you should be the one to take Annie to Charleston. Jamie may want to go with you as well. He may want to say goodbye to Allen.”

  “I ran the market fine by myself for years,” Lovie said. “I can do it again today.”

  Ignoring her mother, Jackie said to Sam, “I can help out. I might not know how to handle the money, but I’m sure there’s plenty I can do. And Cooper and Sean will pitch in. We need to do something constructive anyway besides hanging around here waiting for the phone to ring. I’m sure Faith will be glad to have us out of her way.”

  The tension drained from Sam’s body. “If you’re sure you don’t mind. I’d really like to be the one to take the kids to Charleston.”

  Jackie squeezed Sam’s shoulder. “I don’t envy you, sis. This will be a difficult day for Annie.”

  “I hope this crazy bitch has brought Bitsy home by the time we get back.” Sam inhaled a deep breath. “We should get on the road. Let me go wake up Jamie and Annie.”

  Initially, Jamie put up mild resistance to going to Charleston. “I don’t want to see him again, Mom.” But Sam convinced him he should be there to support Annie.

  They stopped in at Sam’s for a quick shower and change of clothes. Once they were on the highway to Charleston, Annie said, “Tell me again what the doctor said.”

  “He asked me to bring you to Charleston, that your father wanted to see you.”

  “Do you think maybe he’s ready to perform the transplant?” Annie asked.

  Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Sam reached for the girl’s hand with the other. “Annie, honey. Your father is not well enough for the transplant. You need to try and prepare yourself. He doesn’t have much time left.” Sam thumbed away the crocodile tear that spilled out of Annie’s right eye and ran down her cheek. “I know how hard this is on you, how much you love your father. But I want you to know you are not alone. You are part of our family now. You have a place, here in Prospect with us.”

  Jamie leaned in between the seats. “That’s right. No way am I letting my sister go, now that I’ve found you.”

  A
nnie smiled at them through her tears, then turned away and stared out the window for the rest of the drive.

  When they arrived at MUSC, Annie hopped out in front of the cancer center and hurried up to see her father while Sam and Jamie went to park the Jeep. “I hope Allen doesn’t ask to see me,” Jamie said when they were in the garage elevator on the way back down. “Because I don’t know what I’ll say.”

  “The choice is yours, honey. But I don’t want you to have any regrets.” Sam looped her arm through her son’s as they crossed the street and headed toward the cancer center.

  “I don’t care whether he’s on his deathbed or not. Nothing he says will change the way I feel about him. I have no respect for him. He’s a coward for abandoning us the way he did.”

  When they reached the revolving front door of the building, Sam stopped walking and turned to her son. “We need to remember that Annie’s experience of her father was entirely different from our experience with Allen. Today is all about her. It won’t be easy, but you need to try and put your feelings aside.”

  “Did you mean what you said about her coming to live with us?”

  “Of course. The poor girl has no money and nowhere to go. I can’t just put her out on the streets. I have grown to love her. She’s a good kid. She deserves a chance.”

  “I feel the same way.”

  “And I see no sense in tarnishing her memories of her father by talking bad about him. He’s the only family she’s ever really known.”

  “That’s fair,” Jamie said after a brief silence.

  They sat in the waiting room on Allen’s floor, waiting for Annie to come out. When she finally did, her face was puffy and her nose red from crying. “Daddy wants to see you, Sam,” she said, plopping down in the chair next to Jamie.