by Clare Revell
“Hi, Sara, it’s Carole. It’s ten-forty, but I guess yer not back yet. Ring me when ye get in.”
“Message two.”
“Sara, it’s Carole again. It’s after one, so where are ye, girl? I’m getting worried here. Look, if ye dinna ring me by three at the latest, I’m going to get Dave to send out a search party, and I mean it. Ring me.”
“Message three.”
There was silence, muffled sounds and what could be a cry but it was hard to tell. But the cry sent shivers down his spine. It was almost as if…
“To hear these messages again…”
Luke turned it off, picked up the phone, and dialed the station. “This is Lieutenant Nemec. I need to speak to DCI Shepherds.”
“He’s out of the office right now.”
“Then put me through to Sergeant McArthur. Tell him it’s urgent.” There was a click and a brief pause before Dave answered.
“Hey, Luke. What’s up?”
“Sara’s missing. She went out first thing this morning and isn’t back yet.”
“What? Where were ye?”
“Sick. In bed unconscious. Check with Doc Scott. He knocked me out with something before I could say anything. Not that I was in any fit state to do so.”
“When did she go out?”
“According to the note, she left just after nine. You’d better put out an APB. The cop on duty, DC Collins, is missing, too. And there’s something on the answerphone you need to hear.”
“Doing it now. I’ll be with ye in ten minutes.”
****
Exactly ten minutes later, Dave was on the doorstep, along with two police cars, blue lights flashing.
Luke opened the door, panic filling him. A single prayer still falling from his lips. Please God….let me be dreaming.
“What happened?” Dave demanded.
“I have a migraine. I vaguely remember the doc coming, then nothing until just after two. This was on the table.” He handed the note to Dave. “She took my phone, but it’s off. I already tried it.”
Dave read the note. “Collins is nae answering his radio or his mobile. We pinged his phone, but are nae getting anything. Whoever grabbed her and DC Collins probably removed the battery so we couldn’t triangulate on the location of the phone, and find them.”
“You guys do that here, too?’ Luke’s voice rose in query.
“Aye, it’s the twenty-first century here, tae. He’s a cop. She’s a protected witness. Since we now know she has your phone, I’ll get someone to ping it tae. However, I dinna hold out much hope. If they know the trick, they’ve gotten rid of your phone, too.” He turned to the uniformed officers. “I want ye two tae start with the local chemists. Then move on tae the ones in town if necessary. The rest of ye start a house tae house. Someone must have seen her.” He glanced at Luke and spoke with a stern tone in his voice. “Ye should go back tae bed. Ye look like death warmed up.”
“Thanks. That’s actually the look I was going for. I have to find Sara.”
“Yer not going anywhere.” Dave dialed his phone. “Yes I want the following phone pinged…”
“Hello?” called a voice.
“In here, Doctor,” Luke replied.
Scott came into the kitchen. “The door was open. Is everything all right? There are several police cars outside.”
“Sara’s missing.” Luke’s voice shook as he spoke. “She’s not back from the pharmacist yet.”
“What? Antonia gave her a lift this morning. She could tell ye where she dropped her off.”
Dave nodded, ending the call. “I’ll send someone around.”
Luke rubbed his hands over his face. “What can I do for you, Doc? I assume you came here for a reason?”
“Two reasons. I told Sara I’d come back and check ye over. Ye gave her quite a scare this morning with the migraine. She thought it was meningitis. Sit down.”
“I don’t have time for a checkup, Doc. I have to find Sara.”
“Let the police handle it. They’ll find her. Sit down.”
Luke sat and let Scott check him over, listening to him talk.
“I also wanted tae see Sara again. I was concerned about her this morning and wanted tae make sure she was resting like I told her. How’s the vision?”
“Normal. Why should—?”
“Headache?”
“Not as bad as it was, but not good. Why—?”
“Nausea?”
“Not anymore. Why—?”
“Good. Take these.” Scott held out two pills.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I have my own.”
“Luke—”
Luke massaged his temples. “Doc, I don’t want to fight. I’ll take the meds I took last night and if my prescription ever turns up, then I’ll take those.”
He moved over to the cupboard and pulled down the bottle of pills. He shook two into his hand and took them with a mouthful of water. He turned his hard gaze on Scott, finally finishing his sentence. “Why should Sara be resting?”
“I checked her over when I was here this morning. She was exhibiting several signs of pre-eclampsia.”
Luke paled. Oh no, Lord God, please protect her. Let us find her in time. “Amy, my sister-in-law, had that with her first. We nearly lost them both.”
“Depending on her blood pressure, I was going tae admit her. The babies have nae grown or moved much for the last two weeks.”
“I knew she was having dizzy spells and still being sick, but I assumed that was normal for her.” Luke shot Dave an agonized stare. “We have to find her.”
Dave returned the gaze then turned to Scott. “How dangerous is pre-eclampsia?”
“It can kill. The only real treatment is tae deliver the baby.”
“Sara is only twenty-seven weeks. The twins won’t survive if they’re born now.” Luke’s stomach churned with worry.
“There is that possibility, but if we can get her in tae hospital and on steroids, the babies stand a much better chance. I ken of a twenty-nine weeker who is now the most intelligent child in his class.”
“We have to find her first.” Luke massaged his temples, his head once more beginning to pound.
“I want tae give ye another shot.”
“No more sedatives. I need to find Sara.”
Dave shook his head. “Let us find her, Luke. Ye need to sleep off the migraine. Yer no good tae anyone like this.”
“I’m fine, Dave. I need to talk to Antonia and Daniel and let Carole know, and Mary is arriving at some point this evening. She’s coming to stay for Christmas.”
“I’ll ring Carole and talk tae Antonia and Daniel. I’ll tell ye what they ken. Ye rest until Mary arrives. And if ye won’t take the order from me, Lieutenant, the doc here outranks even ye.”
Luke sighed. “Fine, I’ll lie on the couch.” He looked at Scott. “The pain meds I took will be fine. I can’t afford to be knocked out again. Look what happened last time.”
****
Two hours later, Luke heard a car pull up and pushed himself to his feet. He moved to the door and flung it open. “Sara?” His face and heart sank. “Mary. Hi, come in.”
Mary’s smile vanished. “What’s wrong? Why did you think I was Sara?”
Luke took her case from her. “She’s missing.”
He led the way inside and shut the door. The shock on the older lady’s face mirrored the way he felt.
“Missing? What happened? I thought she was safe here.”
Luke led her into the lounge and sat her down. “I’ve gotten sick. Sara called the Doc out, and he sedated me. Gave her a prescription for me, and she went out to get my medication. I’m sorry, Mary.”
“She went on her own?”
“The cop on duty out front wasn’t there when I woke. I assume he went, too, but there’s no sign of him, either.” Luke took a deep shuddering breath. “I was so mad at her yesterday. I felt so sick, and she insisted on going to this party next door.”
“She didn’t go alon
e?”
“No, no. I went with her. Why did she have to go out this morning?”
“You told me why.”
“That makes it my fault.”
“No, it doesn’t. Luke, getting sick wasn’t your fault. I promise you that.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Mary hugged him. “It’ll be all right.”
He hugged her back. “No, it won’t. You see, she’s got pre-eclampsia, and that could kill her.”
“Her grandma had it too, it runs in families. It tends to skip a generation. When did you find out?”
“The Doc checked her over this morning when he came out to see me. He came back this afternoon to admit her, depending on her blood pressure.” Luke ran his hands though his hair. “If only I’d picked up on it. I knew she wasn’t gaining weight like she should be. I should have taken her to the Doc sooner.”
“It wouldn’t have helped. Her grandma was a midwife, and her grandpa was a doctor, and even they didn’t pick up on the fact she had it until it was too late.” She rubbed Luke’s arm. “We have to trust she’ll be all right. God will keep her safe.”
Luke shrugged, rubbing his hands together.
Mary took a deep breath. “I spoke to her on the phone last night. She said a friend of hers she’d met online was here in town for a few days, and he wanted to meet her. He told her she’d mentioned in an email where she was living.”
Luke stared at Mary in horror. Surely Sara wasn’t that stupid. “Tell me I didn’t hear you right? She wasn’t going to go meet him?”
“No, no. She told me it was wrong, and she hadn’t told him where she was. She checked her emails and she’d said nothing. She also said you’d say not to go.”
“Too right I would.” He paused. “Online? What was his name? Did she say?”
“Oscar I think. She said she’d had a few emails from him. She’d known him since before she ever met Jamie, she said around years or so last night, and they’d chatted once or twice.”
“Sara, what have you done?” Luke pushed himself up, went into the other room, and turned on the computer.
Mary followed him. “What are you looking for?”
“Her emails and chat logs. I need to know what she said.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Not hungry.”
“You’ve been around Sara too long. I’ll take my things upstairs and then make you some tea. It’s not an option.”
Luke sat down at the computer. “Yes, Aunt Mary.”
****
Luke sat in the kitchen staring at the cold food in front of him. He held a cold mug of coffee in his hand. He found more than he bargained for. At least Sara hadn’t told this Oscar where she was or that she’d meet him. The question was who had told him?
The doorbell rang. Luke leapt to his feet and ran to open it. His face fell. “Oh, hi, Dave.”
“Hi, yerself. How are ye doing?”
Luke shrugged. “Did you find her?”
Dave shook his head and laid a hand on Luke’s arm for a moment. “Nay, we dinna. No’ yet.” He moved through to the kitchen and put the bags on the table. “Hello, Mary.”
“Hello, Dave.”
“Her shopping was left by the war memorial. A street cleaner handed it in when he saw the drugs.”
Luke pulled open the first bag. “How do you know it belongs to Sara?”
“Credit card receipts, yer prescription and her hat were in there. The Guv said ye could have it.”
“I don’t want Sara’s shopping. I want her.”
“I ken ye do.”
Luke clenched his fists. He had to stay in control.
The doorbell rang again. Dave got up and answered it, coming back in with another man. “Luke, this is Frank Chaney, our computer expert. Ye wanted him tae go over yer hard drive.”
Luke jerked his head and then winced slightly, regretting the movement. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, you can take him through. The files he needs are on the desktop.”
Luke opened one of the bags as Dave and Chaney left the room. He pulled out the box on top, turning it over. The golden angel smiled up at him. Luke opened the box and took her out. He ran gentle fingers over her, then stood up and walked into the lounge.
The tree was in darkness. Luke turned on the lights and set the angel on the top of the tree. He stood there. It was perfect. Sara had noticed there was something missing, even though he hadn’t, and fixed it. The tree was complete. The way he was complete with her around. “Where are you, Sara?”
Dave came up behind him. “We’ll find her.”
“Yeah, but will you find her in time?”
“Anyone would think ye were in love with her.”
Luke turned to him, a sickening hollow, gauntness filling him. “I am,” he admitted. “I have been since the first day I met her. Even though she can be annoying and stubborn and never does what she’s told. I have tried to fight it, but it’s no good. I can’t treat her as just another case number. I’ve tried, but...” He broke off, his eyes glistening. “I love her, I let her down, and I lost her. If I hadn’t gotten this stupid migraine, she wouldn’t have gone.”
Dave shook his head. “That’s rubbish. Ye dinna let her down. She went out tae get yer prescription. That’s all. Austin got lucky. He could have grabbed her on the way tae church as easily. I have tae go check all the CCTV footage from the town center. I’ll be back later.”
“Lieutenant? Sergeant?” A voice from the doorway called.
Luke charged into the dining room, Dave close behind him.
Part of him grateful everyone pronounced lieutenant correctly. His heart would break if someone said it the same way that Sara did. “What have you found?”
Chaney pointed to the screen. Sara’s email inbox was open and the orange IM window was flashing. He clicked on it, and the window came up on the screen.
“Hi, doll. Nice to see you at last,” it read.
Luke stared at it. Did the sender of the message mean him or Sara? There was no way he’d know anyone was checking their email. Unless…He sighed as he realized Sara had set the chat mode to visible so every time she logged into her email she was contactable.
“It’s him.” He waved Chaney aside and sat down, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Who are you?”
“Oscar157. You can see that. Just as I can see that you are Charis139.”
“What is your name, and what do you want?”
“You know my name, and I have what I want.”
“Austin? Where is she?”
“An intelligent cop, but not clever enough. Maybe I am and maybe I’m not. All you need to know is that I have her, and the clock is ticking.”
The connection clicked off.
“Trace it,” Luke ordered. “I want ISP logs, names, addresses, the works.”
“Aye, sir.” Chaney logged off then got up and went to the phone.
“Chaney, do what you have to, but the computer stays here, in case he tries to contact me again.”
23
Luke watched the news in silence with Mary sitting beside him, her knitting needles clicking.
“Concern is growing tonight for pregnant Tannoch woman, Sara Nemec, who went missing this morning. Jessica Simmons has this report.”
The shot changed to a picture of a female reporter, standing in the snow by the cordoned-off war memorial. “Mrs. Nemec was last seen around eleven o’clock this morning when she stopped for coffee while doing some last minute Christmas shopping here in Tannoch town center. Her bags, left by the war memorial, are the last sign of her. DCI Shepherds of Tannoch CID is leading the investigation.”
DCI Shepherds image filled the screen. “Our main concern is that Mrs. Nemec has pre-eclampsia. This is a serious medical condition which can become life threatening tae both mother and unborn baby if no’ treated. We are appealing for her or for anyone who may know where she is tae contact us.”
Not wanting to hear anymore, Luke
took the cups out to the kitchen. He washed and set them on the draining board. Then in a fit of rage and despair, he picked up a cup and hurled it to the floor.
“You are supposed to break them before you wash them, darling. Not afterwards.”
“Any more helpful suggestions?”
“Nothing comes to mind.”
“What did you just call me?”
“Darling. Slip of the tongue. It won’t happen again.”
Luke slammed his hands against the sink, sending the other cup smashing to the floor as well. “Sara.”
He sank to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest, unable to contain his emotions any longer. “I’m sorry, Sara. What have I done?”
Resting his elbows on his knees, he buried his face in his hands. Torrents of emotion flooded him, overwhelming him with their intensity. He sat there, giving in to his feelings for the first time since he realized Sara was missing.
Mary came into the room and put a hand on his shoulder. As he looked up, she lowered herself to the floor, praying the words he was unable to vocalize. Then she smiled at him. “Maybe you should try to sleep.”
Luke shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Staying up all night isn’t going to help find Sara. Dave is out there searching for her. You need to sleep off that headache before you end up really sick.”
“OK.”
Mary smiled. “Go on, and lock up as you go. I’ll bring you up some cocoa. Sara liked cocoa on the nights she couldn’t sleep.”
“I know. Thanks.”
Luke went upstairs to Sara’s room, flicking on the light. The teddy bear he bought her sat on the bed. He picked it up, pressing it to his face. The smell of her perfume filled his senses. He hugged the bear close as he gazed around the room. His eyes fell on an envelope on her bedside table. It had his name on it. He opened it and took out the Christmas card she had written.
“Luke. I had to buy this as it sums up so well how I feel about you. There is so much I want to say to you, about how much I care for you, but this isn’t the right time or the right place. Except, I love you. Happy Christmas. Sara.”
“Oh, Sara,” he whispered. He set the card down and crossed the room to the door, not knowing how he should feel. Unable to cope with the influx of emotions, he turned off the light and walked over to the window. He stood there and gazed out at the view Sara loved.
