Lowcountry Stranger

by Ashley Farley

  Reminding herself she was doing it for Annie, Sam reluctantly rose from her chair. Back in ICU, she approached Allen’s bed with caution. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing left between them, but she suspected Allen had unfinished business concerning Annie. His appearance had diminished considerably in the past few days. The circles under his eyes were black and his skin was now the color of a field of wheat at harvest time. He eyed the chair beside the bed, but Sam was too nervous to sit.

  “I realize I don’t have any right to ask anything of you, Sam.” He smiled a weak smile. “But I’d be awful grateful if you would keep an eye out for my daughter. She’s a kid, all alone in the world. She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of her father’s sins.”

  Sam’s bitterness toward Allen resurfaced. Damn straight he didn’t have any right to ask anything of her. Not only had he abandoned her to raise their son on her own but now he wanted her to take care of his daughter—the child he’d fathered by another woman, a woman he’d actually married. Her feelings toward Annie had nothing to do with it. She loved the girl. She’d take care of her regardless of who her father was.

  “I’m one step ahead of you. I told Annie on the way here that she has a place with us. That is, if she wants it. She’s a good girl, and we all love her.”

  A lone tear slid down his cheek. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “I’m not doing it for you, Allen. I’m doing it for Annie.”

  “I guess I deserved that,” he said, his expression resigned. “Annie told me that Jamie is here. Do you think he’ll see me?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. But I’ll ask him.” She started for the door, and then turned back around. Despite her feelings for him, her conscience wouldn’t allow her to leave a dying man on a negative note. “You have nothing to worry about where Annie is concerned. You did a good job with her. She’ll make her way in this world just fine. I promise, I’ll see to it.”

  As it turned out, Jamie opted to see Allen. He didn’t stay long and he didn’t want to talk about it when he returned, but his drooping posture and runny nose indicated an emotion-filled encounter. Sad that his second time meeting his father would end up being his last.

  Thirty-Eight

  Jackie

  Although Jackie had never admitted it to anyone, she’d always found the seafood business beneath her dignity. Much to her surprise, aside from the dark cloud of Bitsy’s kidnapping looming over them, she enjoyed working with her mother at Sweeney’s. Business was slow, typical of a Tuesday, and with Roberto in the kitchen, the twins were not needed.

  Lovie shooed her grandsons out of the market. “Go. Catch something. Anything. Shrimp, crabs, fish. The two of you need to be out on the water on a nice day like today.”

  Cooper and Sean did not need to be told twice. They grabbed their buckets and cooler and bolted for the door.

  “Thank you for that,” Jackie said to Lovie once the boys were gone. “Those two are taking Bitsy’s kidnapping hard, as are we all. But they need fresh air. They don’t do well being cooped up.”

  Lovie assigned Jackie the job of keeping the showcases stocked. She showed her where to get replenishments and how to arrange the product on the trays and shelves.

  Customers trickled in off and on for most of the day, many of them acquaintances who didn’t know Faith well enough to contact her directly but wanted to express their concern for Bitsy to someone in the family. While they appreciated the sentiments, Jackie and Lovie soon grew tired of hearing the townsfolk discuss the poor little girl who had already suffered so much at the hands of her father.

  During a long spell with no customers, Jackie took it upon herself to rearrange the showroom—positioning the produce cart, wine racks, and dry goods display in a way that made better use of the space.

  “I can’t believe what a difference these few simple changes make,” Lovie said, as she helped Jackie restack the bottles in the wine racks. “The showroom feels so much more open. You have a special knack, honey. I haven’t given you much credit for your talents in the past, and I’m sorry for that.”

  Jackie beamed at the rare compliment from her mother. “Thank you, Mom. That means a lot coming from you.”

  “I owe you an apology for the other night. I was too hard on you. You’ve really come through for your family these past few days.”

  “I think you were just the right amount of hard on me. I needed to hear those things.” Jackie blew dust off a bottle and slid it in the bottom rung of the rack. “I’ve been ignoring my family by chasing my own selfish goals. Cooper and Sean need me. I realize that now.”

  “You shouldn’t give up on what you’ve worked so hard to achieve,” Lovie said, handing her another bottle.

  “I’m not. I’ll have plenty of time for me when my nest is empty. It is the boys’ senior year, and I want to enjoy these last months with them before all our lives change.”

  Bill stopped by the market midafternoon to see Jackie. “I never would have believed it, if I wasn’t seeing it with my own eyes. The distinguished interior designer is peddling seafood,” he said, a playful smirk on his lips.

  “She’s been here for less than a day and already she’s transformed the place,” Lovie said.

  Bill looked around the showroom. “I thought something was different. Somehow it seems bigger.”

  “Jackie waved her magic wand. Problem is, now I’m going to have to pay her triple what I pay Sam.”

  “For you, my services are free,” Jackie said, planting a kiss on top of her mother’s head.

  Lovie walked out from behind the counter. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to talk. I need to discuss a new recipe with Roberto.”

  “But… What if a customer comes in? I don’t know how to work this thing,” Jackie said, running her hand atop the cash register.

  “I’m sure you can figure it out,” Lovie said, winking at Bill on her way to the back.

  “I’m proud of you, Jack, for helping out your family.” Bill leaned back against the counter. “Has there been any word from Faith? I’ve just come from making rounds at the hospital. The abduction is all anyone can talk about.”

  “So far, there have been no ransom calls or notes from Chloe. And very little response from the Amber Alert. The more time that passes, the more afraid we all become. Staying busy is all anyone can do. Except poor Faith. I don’t know how she’s coping.”

  “Bitsy was doing so well, poor kid. She’d just started talking again.”

  “I can’t bring myself to think about what kind of torture she’s having to endure and what kind of lasting repercussions the situation will have on her. We’re lucky to have Moses standing by, not only for Faith and Bitsy but for Sam as well.”

  “Speaking of Sam, where is she?”

  “She took Annie and Jamie to Charleston to see Allen. Sam got a call from his doctor this morning. The end is near.”

  Bill looked up in surprise. “That’s too bad. I have to say I’m relieved for Jamie, though. At least now he doesn’t have to make the difficult decision about having surgery.”

  “Thank goodness. I was concerned about the decision he might have made.”

  “Annie is going to need our support,” Bill said, rubbing the back of his neck. “And not just financially, although I’m happy to help with her father’s medical bills and funeral expenses. Hell, I’ll even pay for her to go to college, if that’s what she decides she wants.”

  Jackie reached for his hand and squeezed. “That’s very generous of you. Thank you.”

  “And if she needs a place to stay, she can live with us.”

  She jerked her head back. “But… I thought. The other night, you said—”

  “Having Annie live with us wouldn’t be my first choice for all the reasons we talked about the other night. But I’m not going to turn her out on the street. We’ll make it work, if it comes down to it.”

  She smiled warmly at him. “You’re the best. You know that?”

 
He reached across the counter and ran his finger down her cheek. “I have a lot of making up to do.”

  “Keep it up. You’re doing a good job.” Jackie kissed her fingertips and brought them to his lips. “I’ll talk to my sisters. I’m sure they feel the same way we do about taking Annie in.”

  “The most important thing is for her to know she has a family she can count on.”

  Thirty-Nine

  Faith

  Faith was going out of her mind with worry. She wanted to yank her hair out, rip the skin off her arms, claw at her eyes. She felt an urgent need to run—to look in every window and under every dock in search of her baby. But the police officers refused to let her leave the house.

  “I should have told Bitsy to stay away from Chloe,” she told Mike repeatedly. “Why didn’t I warn her?”

  “Because you didn’t want to frighten her after all she’s been through,” he reassured her over and over again. “If anyone’s to blame here, it’s me. I should have told you sooner about Chloe. I should have reported her behavior to the hospital administrators.” His list of should-haves was long. But, while Faith didn’t blame Mike anymore than he blamed her, the guilt they both experienced prevented them from being able to offer one another much comfort. For the most part, they avoided each other, choosing to pace the floor at opposite ends of the house.

  When her family left for work on Tuesday morning, Faith was thankful to be alone with just Mike and the FBI agents in the house. She was tired of everyone hovering over her, catering to her every need except the one they couldn’t fulfill. But as soon as they left, she wished them back again. The silence became unbearable, while the murmurs from the two FBI agents huddled together at the dining room table were worse than mosquitos swarming her head on a hot and sticky Lowcountry day.

  A few minutes after noon, the ringing of Mike’s cell phone shattered the silence. It rang once and then stopped. Thirty seconds later, Faith’s phone rang once and then stopped. This pattern continued off and on for the rest of the afternoon. Even though the screen read “caller unknown,” the FBI agents were able to trace the calls to four different numbers from four different disposable phones.

  “That’s our girl,” the older of the two FBI agents said. “This is good news. She’s engaging us. Now we need to find a way to draw her out.”

  They tried to catch her voice, but Chloe always managed to hang up before they answered the call. She never stayed on the phone long enough for the call to go into voice mail, but they changed their greetings anyway, begging Chloe to please release their daughter.

  By the time her family returned a few minutes after six that evening, Faith’s nerves were raw. The incessant ringing of the phone had driven her to the brink of madness. She was saddened for Annie’s loss, but she was relieved to have a distraction.

  “I’m so sorry about your daddy.” She embraced Annie and held her tight rubbing her back while she sobbed.

  Annie pulled away from her after a few minutes. “Here I am slobbering all over you when you’re the one who needs comforting. There’s nothing more I can do for Daddy, but I’m not leaving this house until we find Bitsy. I refuse to lose another person I love.”

  Faith welcomed Annie’s presence. They comforted each other in a way the others couldn’t understand. The two settled into a quiet corner in the living room where they could discuss the possibilities of where Chloe might be hiding Bitsy.

  “I’m surprised the Amber Alert didn’t produce any leads,” Annie said. “I guess that means she didn’t go very far in her car.”

  “Which gives me hope that they are somewhere close by,” Faith said.

  “Have the police searched Chloe’s house?”

  Faith nodded. “They broke in this morning. There is no sign of Chloe or Bitsy anywhere.”

  “Is Chloe’s stuff still there?” Annie asked.

  “Yes, which the FBI takes as a sign she’s planning to come back.”

  Neither Faith nor Annie considered themselves experts. They had the FBI agents and local police officers assigned to their case for that. But talking through the various possible scenarios offered Faith a glimmer of hope that her daughter might still be alive.

  Later that night, Faith and Annie retreated to Bitsy’s room where they stretched out side by side on the bed. Picking up where she and Bitsy had left off in Charlotte’s Web, Annie read out loud to Faith until she fell into a deep sleep.

  A few minutes past two the next morning, Faith sat bolt upright in bed. She nudged Annie, who was snoring softly beside her. “Wake up, Annie. I know where they are. I know where Chloe is holding Bitsy. It makes perfect sense.” She smacked her forehead with her palm. “I’m so stupid. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?”

  Annie shook her head in an attempt to wake up. “What’re you talking about? Why didn’t you think of what sooner?”

  “Chloe was at my wedding reception. She introduced herself to me that night. She looked different. Her hair was a different color or something.” Faith kicked back the covers and hopped off the bed. “That’s right. It’s all coming back to me now. Mike told me she had dyed her hair brown and begun wearing those awful green contact lens.” She paced back and forth at the foot of the bed. “But that night at the wedding, I specifically remember her talking about what a lucky girl I am to be marrying a doctor and working my way up from a ‘trailer in the woods to a beautiful new house on the water.’”

  Annie’s doe eyes grew huge. “I can’t believe she said that to you. And you’d never met her before?”

  “Not before that night. I ignored her at the time. I’ve met a lot of callous people in my day. I just assumed she was one of them. And with all the excitement of the wedding, I didn’t give her a second thought. But now it all makes sense. She had this whole thing planned from the start.”

  “Where is this trailer?”

  “On the outskirts of town. I had it on the market for a while, but I didn’t get any offers. I’m not surprised. No one wants to live in the woods in the middle of nowhere. And I can’t say I blame them. If the town expands, the property might be worth something one day.” Faith headed for the door. “We’ve gotta get out to the trailer. You go check to see if Eli or one of the other officers is still here while I wake up Mike.”

  Faith found Mike in their bedroom, lying flat on his back staring up at the ceiling. “I know where Bitsy is,” she said, rummaging in her handbag for her car keys. “I’m almost positive Chloe has taken her out to my trailer.”

  He sat up straight. “What gives you that idea?”

  Car keys in hand, she waved him on. “I’ll explain on the way.”

  A trail of cars—Eli’s police cruiser, the FBI agent’s unmarked sedan, and Faith’s Buick—convoyed through town and onto the old highway that led to her property. At three in the morning, the roads were deserted and pitch-black with no moon to guide them. Eli parked his cruiser at the entrance to the dirt road that led to the trailer. He walked over to Faith’s car and motioned for her to roll down the window. “We’re going in on foot, so as not to alert Chloe of our presence. I want you to wait here.” Faith started to object and he shot her a look. “I mean it, Faith. Your daughter’s safety depends on you waiting in this car.” He tapped on the roof of the SUV. “Let us do what we’ve been trained to do.”

  “Okay, fine. But keep me informed. I’m going out of my mind here, Eli.”

  “I’ll text you updates as they happen.” He pointed to the road in front of her. “Park over here on the shoulder, so you’re out of the way.”

  She pulled over to the side of the road and killed the engine. “He has exactly ten minutes. If I don’t hear from him by then, I’m going in.”

  Mike reached for her hand. “Be patient, honey. You heard Eli. Let them do their jobs.”

  Annie leaned over from the backseat and squeezed Faith’s shoulder. “The last thing Bitsy needs is for something to happen to her mom.”

  Faith settled deeper in the seat. “I know.
You’re right. But this waiting is killing me. What if I’m wrong? What if she’s not in there?”

  “Then we’ll keep looking until we find her,” Mike said. “But this is the best lead we’ve had.”

  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.” She sought Annie out in the rearview mirror. “Maybe our conversation earlier stirred something in my subconscious.”

  Annie held up her hands, her fingers crossed.

  The first text arrived nine minutes later: “We’ve detected movement in the house. Sit tight.”

  Faith read it out loud to Mike and Annie, and then pressed the phone to her chest. “I’m afraid to breathe.”

  “Hopefully it won’t be too much longer.” Mike stroked her matted hair. “Whatever happens, honey, whatever condition Bitsy comes home in, we will deal with it together.”

  “I’d like to help if you’ll let me,” Annie said in a sad tone.

  Lost in her own turmoil, Faith had forgotten that this sweet teenage girl had watched her father die only hours ago. She turned around to face Annie. “We will need your help most of all. You’re the one Bitsy will want to see first. You have a place with our family, in our home, Annie.”

  Faith was relieved when Mike nodded his head and winked at her. Although they’d talked about what would happen to Annie if her father passed away, they’d never discussed the possibility of her coming to live with them.

  “Thank you,” Annie said, her voice almost a whisper.

  When ten more excruciating minutes passed without word from Eli, Faith said, “I’m going to see what’s happening.”

  “Not alone, you’re not,” Mike said, and the three of them jumped out of the car.

  Matching each other stride for stride, they hiked the long dirt driveway in silence, the shroud of darkness offering protection. When they rounded the last bend and the trailer came into sight, they ducked behind a woodpile to shield them from view. From their vantage point, they could see the two police officers crouched down on the front porch. They assumed the two FBI agents were around back. Another few minutes ticked by before a loud bang—the sound of the trailer’s front door being kicked down—penetrated the silent night. They saw shadows of figures moving around inside, but it was impossible to tell if any of them was Bitsy.