Shannon wouldn’t let go, so Lori carried her into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. Shannon, safely ensconced in her mother’s lap, excitedly pointed out the Welcome Home sign and balloons. Logan and Ben set out the food and everyone stood or sat around visiting. The social worker, who arrived late due to another call out, warned them that Shannon might be clingy and insecure for a while, but she needn’t have worried.
After the first few minutes of sitting on Lori’s lap, Shannon popped her thumb out of her mouth, jumped down to chase a balloon, and asked Grandma for more ‘chockit’ cake. She and Haley were out on the porch swordfighting with Logan’s crutches right now. Kids were amazingly resilient.
Juan stopped by with a collection of cash Lori’s co-workers had taken up for her at the restaurant. He reassured her that her job was waiting when she felt well enough to return to work. Ned and Sally brought Quinn, along with their instruments. Quinn immediately joined Shannon and Haley on the porch. Ben brought Purgatory, who, after allowing the kids to mob him with kisses, immediately plopped down on the porch and went to sleep.
The party wound down with the sun. Ned and Sally lifted a sleepy Quinn into their car and headed home around 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow was a school day. Sally was taking Mavis’s class and Ned was coming over to work with Logan in the office first thing in the morning.
First thing in the morning to Ned meant 11:00 a.m., so Logan knew she had plenty of time to wake up, eat a leisurely breakfast, get ready and hoist herself up to the Fractals studio office over what used to be her garage before he got there. She might even have time to grab a cinnamon roll …
With Rita’s support, and her part time work at the New School, Logan’s Fractals Music/Math program was fully funded for this year, but it was time for the next round of grant writing. The 2017/2018 school year would be here before she knew it. Begging for money was the least favorite part of her job, but after the excitement of this last week, she was almost looking forward to spending the day plowing through some dull paperwork. At least she’d get to spend the day in a bright, sunny, warm office vs Wednesday’s location, huddled in the dark and wet, freezing, wedged between two tree roots, with a violent maniac after her.
Logan and Ben cleaned up the kitchen and Ben took out the trash while Lori and Grandma put Shannon to bed. Logan wondered if the little girl would have any trouble going to sleep, but when Lori stepped back into the kitchen, she waved her arms in the air in a silent cheer.
“Out like a light!” she stage whispered.
“I’m just going to sit with Shannon for a while,” Mrs. Stanton said, going back into her granddaughter’s room.
Lori’s mom was so loving and warm, it made Logan wish her own mother had been even remotely like that. Sometimes she wondered why she seemed incapable of loving her husband or her child, but most of the time she just accepted that particular hole in her life. It wasn’t something she dwelled on often.
She squeezed out the sponge and dried her hands on a dishtowel, one of a dozen flour-sack ones Bonnie brought when she saw Lori didn’t have any.
“Didn’t know where everything went, so we just left things drying in the rack. Hope that’s OK,” she said.
“Oh no, that’s fine,” Lori said, “I didn’t even know I had a dish rack. I can put those few things away in the morning.”
Gripping the back of one of the kitchen chairs, she looked up at her new friends, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done. For me, for Shannon. If you hadn’t arranged for her to stay with your friend, Bonnie, and Haley—Shannon just loves that girl—my little girl would have wound up in some awful foster place with strangers.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice choked, “I just can’t ever thank you enough.”
Ben nodded, coughed, and stood there, holding his cake pan. Logan wiped her hands on her jeans, then hopped over to give Lori a hug.
“We’re just so happy you’re OK and you and Shannon are home again,” Logan said.
“Ben,” Lori said, turning towards him, “do you mind if I talk to Logan for a few minutes...alone?”
“No, of course not,” he said, “Logan, do you mind bringing Purgatory with you? My hands are kinda full.”
Logan knew Purgatory would trot obediently by Ben’s side, hands full or not, but she understood. He was leaving the dog to guard. Just in case. But he didn’t want to alarm Lori or bring back any bad memories for her. When the back door shut behind him, Lori motioned for Logan to sit down with her at the kitchen table.
“Want any cake?” she said. “I think there’s some left in the fridge. I’m going to have seconds.”
At the mention of cake, Purgatory lifted his head and looked hopeful.
Logan never turned down cake.
62
With Purgatory sated and draped over Logan’s feet under the table, they got down to business and polished off the last bit of Mike’s cake. Purgatory had at least two more slices.
Once they’d licked the last bit of frosting from their forks, Lori looked up and finally asked, pointing at Logan’s eye, “Did Garrett do that to you?”
“Yes,” Logan said. “Well, indirectly.”
There hadn’t been a chance to get into this with everyone around for the party.
“He broke into the house I was staying at looking for the flash drive you hid in the dog toy, but I heard him at the window. I got away, but then he chased me through the forest. I’m so sorry, Lori. I tried to keep it away from him, but he got it. I just couldn’t hang onto it.”
“That’s OK. It wasn’t yours to protect. I am sorry I brought all this into your life. I didn’t intend to leave it there for long. I was going to tell you about it. I just knew I had to get it out of the house where Shannon was.”
Logan nodded. She had so many questions. She knew what was on it, but why were those files so important? Did Lori put them there? What did they mean? Why was Garrett so desperate to get them back? What would he do with them now?
Lori took a deep breath, then spoke again, answering some of her unasked questions.
“I can’t even begin to tell you how it all started. When I met Garrett, he was a good man. Bright, funny, romantic, and very loving. I know that’s hard to believe now. He was so male. Or what I thought a male should be. Strong, take charge. But after we married, things changed.”
“It’s an old, tired story, I know. I can’t believe I let it go so far, get that bad.”
“I had a good job, you know,” she said somewhat defensively, as if expecting Logan to judge her. She straightened up in her chair.
“I managed the accounting department for one of Garrett’s clients. He was just starting out then. When he walked into the office, I’d never seen anyone so handsome. Gave me the full court press. Swept me off my feet.”
Lori pushed her fingers through her hair, pulling the skin tightly back from her face.
Logan just listened. She wasn’t judging. After all, she’d fallen for Jack and never knew he cheated on her for years.
Lori looked up, as if the explanation for all those years was hidden above the kitchen cupboards.
“Then, well, he just seemed angry with me all the time. I knew he was not happy about something, and it was up to me to guess what it was. I had to drag it out of him at first, but then he’d just drop comments all the time. I had too many friends, the wrong friends, friends who were a bad influence on me. Work was taking too much of my time away from home. I couldn’t be a good wife and work, too. So, I stayed home. When I did what he wanted, it was always wonderful for a while. He started making more money and gave me, and Shannon when she came along, everything.
“Then came the blowups. Never predictable, although in hindsight, they really should have been. I was on edge all the time. I never knew when he was going to blow, and when he did, it was always my fault.”
&
nbsp; Lori looked at Logan, begging for understanding. Logan let her talk. She didn’t think Lori had ever had the opportunity to completely unpack it all, to understand it herself. She’d probably been too busy surviving. First at home, living with an abusive spouse, then running away, trying to establish a new life for herself and her child.
“I remember the first time he hit me. It shocked both of us. He was so sorry and said he’d never do that again. If I just hadn’t made him so mad. Worn that dress,” she sighed. “One of his friends complimented me on it and it made him furious. He insisted I was coming onto him, but I wasn’t! I didn’t even like the guy.
“Anyway, over time it happened more often and got worse. He just lost control. But I knew he loved me, and in spite of everything, part of me loved him. I wanted to help him. I thought if I could just be better, perfect enough, we could go back to how it used to be, when we first got married.
“I don’t know how or when it happened, but all of a sudden, I woke up one day and realized I was alone. Completely alone and in prison,” she said, “In hindsight I can see it’s all textbook. So obvious, but when you’re in it, things aren’t so clear,” she said.
“So, you don’t want to hear my whole sob story. I just wanted to explain about the files. I tried to get away before, but I always went back, or he found me and dragged me back. Threatened me with losing Shannon.”
She rolled her eyes, “Stupid. I know!”
“I knew if I were going to get away and stay away I’d need insurance—some kind of leverage.
“Garrett is a hedge fund manager. Good at it, too. But the economy tanked, we got overextended, and he got greedy. I suggested we sell the house—we didn’t need all that, but he refused. Little by little, he started making riskier investments and eventually took on some shady clients. I didn’t know all this until after I saw the files. Garrett often worked from home and when I was in his office one day, his laptop was open and it was all there. I used to do the books, so I knew what I was looking at.
“He was money laundering. I was married to a criminal! It gave me the guts to leave. That and the fact that I knew Shannon would be next.
“Anyway, with this kind of dirt on him, I thought maybe he would finally let us go, leave us alone. So I copied the most damning files onto a flash drive, made my plans, and left.”
“How did he know you had the flash drive? How did he find you? Is that what he came for that night?” Logan asked.
“I’m not sure how he knew we were in Jasper, but I called my mom. I’m guessing he had her phone bugged and traced the call. He’s had Neal put trackers on my car before. He was my driver. My babysitter, really. But Neal was a nice guy. Garrett had power over him. He was out on parole. One call from Garrett and he’d be back in prison. He had to do whatever Garrett told him to do. I’d like to believe he wouldn’t have helped him otherwise.
Lori remained quiet for a minute, then continued.
“When Garrett came to get us, to bring us back, he thought we had no choice and would get in the car peacefully. I told him I wasn’t going back this time and made the mistake of telling him I had some leverage. When he saw I meant it, that I was never coming back, he went to get Shannon. When I tried to stop him, that’s when he lost it again with me.”
They both sat there, silent, witnesses to Garrett’s fury.
“I should have told you about all this, but I didn’t know who I could trust,” Lori said. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
She looked at Logan again, as if seeing her for the first time.
“You look awful!”
Logan laughed, breaking the tension.
“Oh! I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. It’s just that your eye and everything,” she said, gesturing towards Logan’s face.
“That’s OK, Lori, I’ve looked in the mirror. He did a number on my face, but I’ll heal. And my knee would probably have needed surgery eventually anyway. Might as well get it over with. It’s all good.”
The two women reached across the table simultaneously and Logan squeezed Lori’s hand, then got down to the problem at hand.
“The question is, what will he do now?” Logan asked. “Are you and Shannon going to be safe? Now that he has the flash drive, do you think he’ll be back?”
“I don’t think so. Even Garrett must know when he’s beat,” she said. “He knows I’ll never go back. No, I think now that he has the files back, he’ll just get back to keeping that client of his happy and making more money.”
“Then,” she said, pushing her chair back as she got up, “he’ll probably go out and find another little chickadee to impress and keep under his thumb.”
“Don’t you want to press charges for the assault?” Logan asked.
“No, I realized in the hospital that I don’t need the flash drive. The assault is what I have over him now, I can always press charges later, within whatever the statute of limitations is on that. I’ll have to check. As long as he steers clear of me and Shannon, I’ll leave it be. I’m not into revenge.”
Logan hoped Lori wasn’t being too optimistic. She didn’t think it was revenge to make sure the guy got what was coming to him.
Logan’s first instinct was to nail the bastard and press charges herself in Oregon for Garrett’s attack on her: breaking and entering, assault, attempted murder, or whatever she could throw at him, but she’d never been in this exact situation before. She’d have to talk with Rick. He knew a lot more about what these guys did—how they reacted—than she did. She didn’t want to further enrage him. It might make him come after Lori again. Or her.
She wanted to ask Lori if she was planning on keeping her new name or going back to her old one. If she reclaimed her actual identity, she’d also get her college degree, driver’s license, and social security number back. The works, her whole life. But it was late and they were both tired. Plenty of time for all that.
They talked about Shannon some more and how she was doing, then Logan yawned.
“Past my bedtime, Lori,” she said. “Better get this guy home.”
She nudged Purgatory’s shoulder with her toe.
“Come on, big guy, your Daddy’s waiting for us.”
Pushing herself up from her chair, standing on her left leg, Logan tucked her crutches under her armpits, and let herself out the back, reminding Lori to lock and latch it behind her. Ben had installed deadbolts for her on both front and back doors.
63
A blood-curdling scream jolted Logan awake. It was still dark. Since he had an early morning job, Ben had gone home already, taking Purgatory with him. Grabbing her crutches, Logan hopped as fast as she could down the stairs, trying not to fall and break her neck.
The screaming came from the front, not the back, of Lori’s house, so Logan threw the deadbolt on her front door and, hoping her knee brace would be enough, tossed her crutches and flew down the sidewalk. She knew she was probably doing more damage to her knee, but the Cortisone shot gave her mobility and she took it.
The action was centered on Lori’s front porch. The porch light lit up the scene. The Welcome Home sign fluttered wildly above the door. Three people were locked in a deadly embrace. Shannon was hanging onto Lori, who gripped her daughter as tightly as she could, desperately trying to hold on. Mrs. Stanton flailed at Garret’s head, but Logan watched, helpless, as Garrett unpeeled the little girl’s arms from around her mother’s neck, ripping her away from Lori, then sprinted across the front lawn with the little girl in his arms. Engine running, a Volvo was waiting at the curb, driver’s side door open. Garrett threw Shannon in across the front seat, jumped in after her, and screeched away from the curb.
Grandma swore and Lori crumpled onto the porch, letting out an unearthly wail.
Logan dialed 911 just as Ben and Purgatory came running around the corner. Ben had a gun. Wow! She’d have to ask him about that later
.
It seemed to take forever, but Detective Singh, someone Logan hadn’t met before, was there in just over five minutes. He addressed himself to the distraught mother, now sitting inside at the kitchen table, being comforted by her mother.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Delaney...” Singh began.
“Please don’t call me that. I want nothing to do with that last name. It’s Wright, Lori Wright.”
Her mother squeezed her shoulders. They were all in this together. They’d face it together as a family. And Garret was definitely not part of that family anymore. They had finally gotten Lori to calm down enough to function. Logan hoped she could keep it together. She remembered how panicked and desperate she felt when Amy went missing at sea in a storm, with a murderer on the loose, only a year ago.
“OK, Ms. Wright, I understand,” Singh said, speaking directly to Lori. “I just wanted to assure you that everything is being done that can be done to locate your daughter and bring her safely home. We’ve issued an Amber Alert. An arrest warrant is already out for your...for Mr. Delaney...and all cars are out, including Detective Andrews and Diaz, but we need your help.”
“OK. What can I do?” Lori said.
“You gave us the make and model of the car your husband was driving, the Volvo, but do you have any idea where he may be taking her? Do you have any property here? A vacation home, perhaps, or another place Mr. Delaney has been or may feel safe at?
“No, nothing. We live—lived ... in Seattle. We’ve never been here before. I don’t think Garrett has, but he travels some for business. I don’t really know ... That’s why I chose Jasper,” she said, fighting back tears, hands clenched in front of her on the table. “I didn’t think he’d find us here.”
She began to sob.
Logan went to the living room and brought back a box of tissue. Lori blew her nose.
“OK, let’s go over this again,” Singh said. “From the time you first saw him ... What did he do, what did he say? Did he explain why he took Shannon?”
Vanishing Day Page 22
