Lost and Found

by Margaret Lake

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Mia smiled and hoped that wasn’t just wishful thinking on Ashley’s part.

  “I’ve gotta run,” Ashley told them. “Gra … Jane wants her Jello and only raspberry will do.”

  “Sweet girl,” Cindy murmured. “Secrets, though.”

  “Mom, leave Ashley be,” Mia told her mother firmly.

  “Heavens, Mia. You know very well I don’t pry, and I certainly don’t gossip.” But she’d get it out of Andy when he came home. If it had to do with any of the Jane and John Does, Andy would know about it.

  * * *

  Paul turned Ronnie Ferris over to Forbes and Carter to get him coffee. While Ronnie was in the men’s room, Paul and Kevin went back to the cells to get Harley.

  “Now lissen here. We ain’t done nothin’ wrong. We was just tryin’ to help, yanno.”

  “Harley. Shut up,” Kevin said lightly, holding Harley by one arm. Paul had the other and they hustled him down to the conference room before he and Ronnie could see each other.

  Paul cuffed Harley to the table leg. The man was so nervous, Paul doubted if he even realized he was cuffed.

  Slowly, he unwrapped a fresh tape and inserted it into the cassette recorder, noted the date and time, then identified himself. Kevin followed suit and identified the witness and the subject of the investigation.

  “Harley …,” Kevin began.

  “Where’s Ronnie? I want Ronnie,” Harley blurted out.

  “You’ll be able to see him as soon as we finish talking,” Brown assured the man. “Now tell us …”

  “I’ll tell ya everythin’. I’ll tell ya’ right from the start. Okay? And then you’ll let me see Ronnie?”

  “Sure, Harley,” Kevin sighed. Might as well just let the man talk. Looked like they couldn’t stop him anyway.

  Harley told pretty much the same story as his cousin Ronnie, and when he got to the part about the officer being shot, he freely admitted it.

  “Why did you shoot Officer Gordon, Harley?” Kevin asked, his voice soft to avoid spooking the witness.

  “That his name? You tell him, I sure am sorry. Didn’t mean to. I get kind of worked up sometimes and my hands shake. You tell him that I’m right sorry. And tell his folks, too.”

  “I will, Harley,” Kevin said, glancing over at his partner. Paul had seen it, too. Harley’s free hand was shaking so bad, he was tapping out a drum beat on the table.

  “Tell me about the gas, Harley. Tell me why you were going to turn on the gas and walk away.”

  “Uh-uh. We wasn’t gonna do any such thing. We was arguin’ about what to do. All those extra mouths to feed and nothin’ to feed ’em with. I said to Ronnie, I said, We can’t just let them starve to death. Then he said, Well, whaddya want me to do? Turn on the gas and let ’em choke to death? That’s when Lucius ran out of the house, right when Ronnie was saying one of us should go into town and get the police to come and take care of ’em. Then we heard a brick bein’ throwed through a window. We figured Lucius was goin’ nuts, so we got all them people up the stairs and into one room so they wouldn’t be near any windows that Lucius could break and cut them up. We had our rifles and we was gonna hunt down Lucius, tie him up so he couldn’t hurt nobody, then I was gonna go for help.”

  Paul and Kevin looked at each other after that long speech, their eyes in a daze. It was Kevin that cleared his throat and said, “Would you mind excusing us for a moment, Mr. Ferris?”

  They walked out the door, closing it carefully behind them, both men sagging against the wall.

  “Have you ever heard a confession like that in your life, Kev?”

  “Nope. Never. And I hope to never hear another one like it again.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “Yeah, I think I do. Harley Ferris doesn’t have the smarts to think up a story like that. We’ll have to confirm it, of course.”

  “What about you, Andy? You heard it. Do you believe it?”

  “I agree. The guy’s too scared to even think up a lie, much less tell one,” Andy said.

  “What about Lucius?” Paul asked.

  “I didn’t have a chance to tell you, that phone call I got earlier was from the boss. The chopper guys picked up Lucius and they’re holding him for us in the jail in Graceville.”

  “I guess we’re going there next. Sure you want to hear another rambling confession?” Paul grinned.

  “Nuh-uh,” Kevin grimaced. “Anyway, let’s get Harley a trip to the men’s and a cup of coffee. Then put him back in the cells by Ronnie.”

  “Since we promised, right?”

  “We did,” Kevin agreed. “Let’s go get some dinner. Lucius can wait.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Paul agreed.

  * * *

  It was nearly midnight before Andy got home, but Cindy was waiting up for him. As dog tired as he was, it did his heart good to have this sweet woman to come home to.

  “What can I get you, Andy?” Cindy asked when her husband took her in his arms. By the sigh of relief he let out, she knew he was content just to be with her. They’d been friends for years and now they were partners and lovers in a marriage that brought them both a quiet happiness.

  “A cup of tea would be nice,” Andy said, smiling into Cindy’s soft, blue eyes. “And it would be even nicer if you sit and have one with me.”

  “I will,” Cindy beamed. “You did eat, didn’t you?”

  “Scott and I went out with the two Feds and then brought back dinner for Forbes and Carter. Carter’s that officer from Graceville I told you about.”

  “Oh, yes. The one that did such a good job with Charlie Gordon tracking down that truck.”

  “Yes, and now we have confirmation that was likely the truck that transported those seniors.”

  “Oh?”

  “Now, Cindy. That’s all I can tell you.”

  “It’s alright, Andy,” she smiled, patting his hand. “I watched the eleven o’clock news and I logged on to the Bankston Daily website.”

  “Mikey!” he growled.

  “He did a wonderful job, didn’t he?” she asked, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

  “He was supposed to keep everything under wraps until we gave him the okay!”

  “And let the TV and radio news scoop him? I don’t think so,” Cindy scoffed. “He got some great footage. And don’t worry. They blurred out the faces of the hostages.”

  You had to admire the woman, Andy thought, mentally shaking his head. She pretended that everything was just fine and dandy and no one was ever going to convince her otherwise. Not that she was a dumb blonde … well, she was definitely a blonde … but there was nothing dumb about the woman. And he knew that she’d be working on him to get the whole story.

  “So, tell me about Jane Doe and the Carons,” Cindy said, blithely pushing the plate full of warm chocolate chip cookies toward her husband.

  How in heaven’s name had she baked cookies this late at night, not knowing when he’d be home?

  “Who?” Andy stalled, biting into the soft cookie, filled with gooey chunks of chocolate. Women weren’t the only ones who felt better after a dose of the stuff.

  “We ran into them when we were visiting with Charlie in ICU. Ashley’s such a sweet young lady,” Cindy sighed. “But the poor thing kept almost, but not quite, calling Jane Doe by her name. In fact, I’m pretty sure she nearly called her Grandma. What do you think about that?”

  “I think, Mrs. Cindy Sutherland, that I now know where little Mikey got his reporter’s instincts from.”

  “The difference is that you are powerless against my charms,” Cindy laughed. “Now, tell me everything.”

  “Alright. But those people may still be in danger and we don’t want any information leaking out about them, not even their condition.”

  “You have my word,” Cindy assured him, trying her best to look solemn while crossing her fingers over her heart.

  “Right. Here’s the story.”

&n
bsp; Cindy couldn’t believe everything that had led up to identifying the woman found on the porch of that house. It was a miracle. Even more of a miracle that she’d been reunited with the child she’d given up over seventy years ago. And the final miracle, that her memory problems had been caused by overdosing of medication and malnutrition and she might make a full recovery. A miracle indeed at her age.

  By the time Andy finished the story, Cindy’s eyes were full of tears. Overcome, she rose up from her seat to sit on her husband’s lap, laying her head on his shoulder.

  “How tragic, but what a beautiful ending,” she whispered. “And you know what? I’m going to see that the others get their happy ending, too.”

  Cindy jumped up from Andy’s lap, nearly upsetting them both.

  “Just what do you plan on doing?” he choked out.

  “Just making a few phone calls.” Cindy grabbed a pad and paper and started writing. “Let’s see. They’ll need clothes, of course, and I’ll set up a regular visiting schedule. They’ll need places to live and that’s going to be difficult, but maybe we can set up a … what do you call it? Crowdfunding thing to pay for their care? And then …”

  Andy just let Cindy go on. He knew she’d do what she set out to do and those people would never know the angel they had to thank for this blessing. But Andy knew. And he knew just how lucky he’d been to find love for the second time in his life.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  As soon as Mikey was dropped off at his house, he called Annie. After everything he’d seen and done that day, he needed to hear her calming voice.

  “Hey, hon, I just got back from doing something with the seniors’ story that I can’t talk about right now, but I wanted to talk to you and let you know everything’s okay.”

  Michael had put Anna on speaker as he moved around the kitchen, making a pot of coffee and searching the fridge for something he could heat up.

  “I’m coming right over and I’ll bring dinner,” was all Anna said before hanging up the phone.

  “What a gal,” Michael chuckled. “Hope she brings dessert, too.”

  While he waited, Michael called his editor. He knew he should have done that first, but there was too much to tell him and he couldn’t wait another minute before he called Anna. Now he was all business.

  “Frank, it’s me.”

  “Why does everybody assume they can say it’s me and the other person will know who it is right away. Suppose I’d been napping and was still groggy. Suppose I’d been concentrating on the story of my life and was still in the zone. Suppose I’d been …”

  “Don’t even go there, Frank,” Michael interrupted. “Did you get the footage I sent you?”

  “Sure did and it’s dynamite. Give me some text and I’ll get it up on the website before those TV fellas can swoop down on our story like the vultures they are.”

  “Downloading my notes to my laptop as we speak. I’ll send the captions to you as soon as I write each of them. Then I’ll write up the story. That work for you?” Michael was typing as he talked. He’d always been able to concentrate on more than one thing at once and that gave him an edge when he was on a deadline.

  “Just got the first one. Keep ’em coming, Michael. You’ll get a byline on this.”

  “Thanks, Frank. Here’s another one.”

  “Martha’s uploading them to the site as we speak, but we’ll also be putting out an extra. We’ll show those tee-vee meatheads what real reporting is all about,” Frank chuckled gleefully.

  Just as Michael sent the last of the captions to Frank, the doorbell rang.

  “Hey, that’s my dinner. Don’t worry. I can type and eat at the same time. Gotta run.”

  Michael didn’t wait for Frank to protest but ended the call and rushed to the front door.

  Michael was so happy to see Anna that he stepped forward to take her into his arms.

  “Watch out, Michael. This pizza box is hot,” she laughed.

  “That’s not all that’s hot,” he told Anna, looking her up and down. When he gave her a lecherous grin and wiggled his eyebrows, he knew she would laugh again.

  Michael took the box from her hand giving it a loud sniff. “Sure hope this is a Nonna’s special.”

  “I thought you might like to have one you could finish this time. At least I hope we won’t be interrupted.”

  “Um, well, I’m in the middle of writing up a story for the paper, so I’m afraid I have to eat and work at the same time.”

  “Oh,” Anna said, her eyes downcast. “Maybe I’d better go.”

  “Don’t you dare!” he told her firmly. “It won’t take me long and maybe Frank … that’s my editor … will have a few questions, but then I have the rest of the evening free.”

  “Are you sure?” Anna asked shyly. “The last thing I want to do is get in the way of your work.”

  “You’re not in the way. Never. But, you know, my job really doesn’t have regular hours.” Michael led the way to the kitchen and laid the pizza box on the table, then turned to grab her hands, pressing them to his heart.

  “Look, Annie … sweetheart … I really want to keep seeing you … if you can put up with my craziness.”

  Anna looked into those steady gray eyes and felt her heart melt.

  “I … I feel the same way, Michael,” she breathed.

  He leaned down, taking Anna into his arms, his lips just beginning to brush hers when he pulled back.

  “Holy cow!” he yelled. “Frank is waiting. I’ve got to finish the story. Sorry, honey.”

  “Uh-uh,” Anna said, tugging him back around to face her. “In a minute. There’s an unfinished story here, too.” And standing on her toes, Anna pulled his head down to hers to share their second kiss, and it was every bit as blissful as she remembered.

  * * *

  Paul and Kevin returned to their hotel room, tired in body but not in spirit.

  “Pretty good day’s work, partner!” Paul said, a sparkle in his eye.

  “Agreed,” Kevin replied, pulling off his necktie. “But you know, our work has just begun.”

  “I know,” Paul said, sitting to pull off his shoes. “The big guy and his van, not to mention the blond non-eater.”

  “We’ve put out an APB on the van. Tomorrow, their descriptions and a description of the van will go out on the news.”

  “Somebody will have seen something,” Paul nodded.

  “We can’t rely on that. People don’t like to get involved, do they.” Kevin shook his head, knowing getting a tip on these two guys was a long shot.

  “We’ve got to get sketches from Tweedledum and Tweedledumber and see that they get spread throughout the state. Maybe, confronted with an actual sketch, someone might be startled into identifying one or the other.”

  You mean like, “Oh, no, officer. I don’t know anyone like that,” Paul mocked in a falsetto.

  “Take a good look, ma’am,” he went on in a deep bass.

  “I don’t believe it,” he squeaked. “It looks just like my cousin Mildred’s second boy.”

  “A comedian. Just what we need,” huffed Kevin, but he couldn’t help grinning at Paul’s antics.

  “So, what do we do while the boys in blue are out pounding the pavement to find our suspects?”

  “Nothing,” Kevin told him. “The boss will probably pull us off the case until something breaks. In the meantime, the public is aware of what’s been happening and if there are any more places illegally caring … or not caring … for the elderly, they can call the tip line.”

  “Then we tuck our tail between our legs and vamoose to our safe little office and our safe little desks.”

  “I know how you feel, Paul,” Kevin nodded, taking off his jacket and hanging it up. “But the patrol cops are much better equipped to handle this kind of manhunt. When they’ve got these two guys … and they will … we’ll be back.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise? Sheesh,” Kevin exploded. “What are you? My four-year-old?”r />
  Paul burst out laughing, knowing he’d scored one off his partner. “Not me. Time for beddy-bye, old man.”

  * * *

  Mia got in line at the security desk, holding two vases of flowers in her arms. One was for Charlie and the other for Ashley’s great-grandmother. Charlie was destined to get the anthurium (a very manly flower) and Fuji mum bouquet, while she’d picked soft, pink sweetheart roses for Julie.

  Mia couldn’t wait to see Julie to see how much she’d improved under her friends’ care. Reuniting Julie with her family had turned into a true fairy tale. Now if they could only find Mrs. Caron’s father. That would be the icing on the cake.

  On the other hand, there was Charlie Gordon. Mia was starting to feel uncomfortable around the man and she wished her mother had been able to come with her this morning. But Cindy had had to get back to work.

  Cindy loved her job at Bankston Department Store. She’d been there since she graduated high school and was now head of the entire children’s department, including toys, furniture, clothes, anything at all to make childhood a joyful experience. And Mia had to admit that her mother had found her niche in life and experienced every minute of it to the fullest. There was no one better than her mom at enchanting children and she hoped that soon, Mikey would give their mother five or six grandchildren to enchant as well.

  “Ms. Broderick,” Mia heard from behind her, whirling to face the speaker.

  “Oh. Agent Brown. Agent Corwin,” she said, wishing the anthurium’s little yellow peter (yes, it was nicknamed the Peter Plant) wasn’t tickling her nose.

  “Visiting, I see,” he said, nodding at the flowers. “And I’m sorry to see you have more than one friend to visit.”

  “Yes, I … I … um, better go,” Mia muttered. Thank goodness the security guard hadn’t asked for her ID because the logistics of not dropping the vases while fumbling for her driver’s license would absolutely be too much.