LOOK FOR ME By Traci Hohenstein
Thank you to my first readers for your invaluable input: Shirley Satterfield, Mark Weinberg, and Tanya Banks Wichterman.
Thanks to my wonderful son, Chase Satterfield, for all your help on this novella. You rock!
And last but not least, thank you to my awesome readers. You are the reason that I write! Thank you for supporting me by buying my books, suggesting them to other readers, and leaving reviews on Amazon and other reader sites. You don’t know how much that really means to me. Thank you, thank you!!!
In memory of my grandmother
Ruby Singletary Richter
PART ONE — “ROCK A BYE”
Chapter 1
He parked the beat-up truck on the corner of Harbor Way and Bal Bay Drive. It was a sultry day in South Florida and the heat lapping at his palms and forehead compelled him to keep the truck’s engine alive and the air conditioning running. He waited patiently and observed his surroundings — vast, carefully-manicured lawns painted an unnatural green lined the gray brick roads. Towering southern oaks and budding orange trees dotted the lawns and edges of the lots, as if to add a sense of privacy to the massive houses which the wealthy Miami suburbanites called home. He, however, could not be fooled by the façade that the inhabitants constructed to hide their secrets — these yuppies pried and gossiped and drunkenly confessed in such a fashion that there wasn’t an ounce of privacy to be offered by well-groomed foliage. Only the husbands left daily, piloting their fancy sports cars and luxurious SUVs to the cities hospitals and law firms and corner offices that they worked in. Most women rarely left during the work week and only if their supply of Pinot Grigio had dwindled or they needed a fresh shot of Botox. Often, when abandoned by their husbands on a Friday night, they smothered their faces with creams and powders and flocked in groups for some rooftop party in South Beach, like bored macaws in search of a new perch to sink their talons into. The children were often stuck at home, emotionally neglected, with a foreign nanny.
Disgusting, he thought to himself, these people tell themselves they are keeping their children safe, fencing them off from the baddies of the rest of the world. These gates weren’t keeping the rest of the world away from them; no, these gates were a cage — keeping them from the rest of the world.
Finally, a young girl ventured out from her porch down to the edge of the lawn. He shot up in his seat, rolled down the window, and grabbed a pair of binoculars from the passenger seat. Adjusting the range, he zoomed in on her long red hair, porcelain skin and tiny frame.
A stray breeze caused a sheet of paper to flutter around the passenger seat. He picked it up and studied the information.
The name on the paper, Mallory Scott, was in bold face font. What a beautiful name, he thought to himself. According to the report, she was three years old. He glanced up at the girl who had busied herself playing with dolls at the edge of the lawn. The picture was definitely a match.
A young woman came out onto the grass — clearly the child’s mother, her hair was a few shades lighter than her daughter’s — more of a strawberry blonde. She was, however, just as beautiful. He watched as the mom leaned over and kissed her daughter’s forehead before retreating back across the lawn to her plush chair on the front porch. While Mallory continued playing with her dolls, the mom sat idly, balancing a computer on her lap, her eyes cemented in toil.
Not today, he thought. Yet, just as he was about to leave this suburban zoo, the mom ran inside the house, perhaps to tend to something urgent. He put the truck back in park. This could be his perfect opportunity. With that neglectful mother inside and the shutters drawn shut, he could make it to sweet, little Mallory and back to his truck in less than thirty seconds. His fingers tapped furiously on the steering wheel. It was now or never.
Chapter 2
“How long has your daughter been missing?” the police officer asked her again.
“I told you, forty-five minutes!” Rachel’s mind was racing nearly as fast as her heart.
The mid-afternoon heat enveloped a growing scene outside the Scott household in the gated community of Bal Harbour. Curious neighbors stood sweating behind yellow tape, while officers asked them questions one-by-one. Everyone had thought to have seen something, and those that didn’t offered trivial gossip about the Scotts, or their gardener, or their housekeeper. Rachel’s neighbor across the street, Dianna Livingston, an elderly widow, had hustled over as soon as she heard Rachel screaming for Mallory. She’d spent thirty minutes with Rachel, walking through the entire neighborhood, shouting Mallory’s name. Now, her voice hoarse and her legs tired, Dianna sat beside Rachel on the living room couch and patted her back.
The police officer was scribbling furiously in his notebook when a knock at the door interrupted them. Rachel jumped up, her heart pounding as she rushed by the officer and into the foyer. She took the brass door handle in her hand and took a deep breath. Please be my little girl, her mind vied against all other thoughts. She flung it open and nearly collapsed into tears. There was only a short, beefy man standing before her. Once she realized Mallory wasn’t accompanying him, her eyes transfixed on the swarm of inquisitive neighbors craning their necks in an attempt to observe every miserable affair happening within the Scott household. Most bothered to fix their eyes on a passing officer or the ground when Rachel caught their glare, but some of the more intrusive neighbors seemed to stare right through her. It was the worst day of her life, yet for the neighbors it was a spectacle. A few tears rolled away from Rachel’s vacant green eyes.
“Eh-um,” the man tried for her attention. “Mrs. Scott? I’m Detective Red Cooper with Miami P.D. May I come in?”
Rachel focused her gaze back to him. “Sure,” she choked out before clearing her throat. “We’re in the living room with one of your officers.”
The officer, whom Rachel didn’t realize was lurking behind her in the foyer, looked relieved when Detective Cooper slid past her. Dianna was now occupied with making coffee in the kitchen so Rachel walked over to the breakfast table and took a seat. The officer and Detective Cooper paused in the living room to exchange the details of her daughter’s disappearance. Rachel eavesdropped on their conversation at first, but then her mind wandered deeply. She silently berated herself for the hundredth time for leaving Mallory unattended this morning. If she had only insisted that Mallory come inside with her.
“May I?” Detective Cooper’s voice brought Rachel out of her muddled thoughts. He gestured toward a chair across the table.
Rachel stared blankly into space, her face unrepresentative of the thoughts that tortured her mind.
“Of course,” Mrs. Livingston answered for Rachel, placing her hand on the detective’s back. She shot a worried glance at Rachel and placed a cup of coffee before his chair. Then she took her own seat between the detective and Rachel.
With all of the commotion just beyond the police tape that bordered her lawn, the house seemed overwhelmingly empty. Even when Rachel was home alone it didn’t seem so desolate. The air was stiller than ever, although the downstairs was an open floor plan. From her seat at the breakfast table, which overlooked the backyard, she could see the front door. The oversized kitchen to her left was occupied only by the gentle drip of a coffee machine, and the only movement in the living room on her right came from the gentle floating of a million specks of dust suspended in the air, highlighted by the slits of sunlight that penetrated the louver blinds. Maybe it wasn’t the house that was empty — maybe it was her.
“We’ve got a recent picture of Mallory,” Detective Cooper broke the silence. “Our PR department will distribute it to all of the appropriate media.”
“What about an AMBER alert?” Rachel snapped out of the terrible thoughts that had been holding her hostage.
“Unfortunately, without a vehicle or person description, we can’t do an AMBER alert,” Detective Cooper answered. “We have additional officers talking to the neighbors and security personnel at your front gate to see if we can come up with something. Until then, Mallory’s picture will be distributed to all media outlets.”
“We pay a lot of money to live here so neighborhood security better have some answers,” Rachel said, feeling sick to her stomach. “My little girl didn’t just wander off.”
“Your husband is on his way home?” Detective Cooper asked.
Rachel shook her head. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. He took a flight to Orlando this morning for a business meeting.”
“We’ve been calling him every few minutes,” Mrs. Livingston added.
Rachel stared out the window at two police officers standing on her dock, one of them smoking a cigarette. Detective Cooper followed her gaze.
“Any chance Mallory might have got to the dock?”
“No. The gate is always kept locked and we have an alarm.”
Detective Cooper retrieved a notepad from his khaki pants. “Sorry if these are repeat questions. I’m sure Officer Valencia did a thorough job going over everything.”
Rachel chewed nervously on her thumbnail. A bad habit she acquired in college she had tried numerous times to shake with expensive weekly manicures.
“Is there anything unusual that happened this morning — something outside of your normal routine, maybe?” he asked gently.
“My nanny called in sick,” Rachel answered almost robotically.
Detective Cooper glanced at the copy of the report that Officer Valencia left for him. “Lupe Gonzalez? She’s your nanny?”
“She called me about an hour before she was supposed to arrive — said she had a stomach bug.”
“We’ll send an officer over to her house to interview her. This is her correct address?” Detective Cooper showed her the copy of the police report.
Rachel nodded. Numbness ran through her bones. Her life was a nightmare that waking couldn’t cure. Her eyes began to well up again. She felt a warm hand atop hers. Looking up, her eyes met Detective Cooper’s, which were marked with genuine concern.
“Mrs. Scott? I’ve been working missing person’s cases for over twenty years. The first twenty-four hours are the most crucial. I promise you that I’ll do everything possible to help bring your daughter home. I know it’s hard right now, but the sooner you can answer all my questions, the better.”
Her cell phone vibrated on the placemat in front of her, dancing across the table. The caller I.D. showed it was her husband, Rick.
“Rachel, I got your message. What’s going on?” Rick’s voice rang through the receiver with concern.
“It’s Mallory.” Rachel choked on her words. “She’s… she’s missing. Our baby is… gone.”
Chapter 3
Rachel cried into a lavender pillow on the leather chair in her living room. Maggie, their black Labrador puppy, sat aloof at her feet. Her husband, Rick, was perched on the couch opposite her and gave the never-used marble fireplace a detached stare. His suit was badly wrinkled and his red tie hung loose around his neck. It had been twelve hours since Rachel last saw their daughter. For the first time since Mallory was born, Rick and Rachel occupied the house alone.
“It’s getting dark outside,” Rachel said, growing sick of the gut-wrenching silence. Neither of them had said a word since the last cop left nearly an hour ago. “She doesn’t have Millie or her princess blanket,” she whispered, referring to Mallory’s stuffed mermaid doll and her favorite blanket she refused to sleep without.
Rick stood up and slogged over to a hefty oak and brass wet bar they kept in the corner of the living room. Methodically, he opened the cabinet, grabbed a crystal bottle filled with amber liquid and poured it into a lowball glass waiting for him atop the bar. He grabbed a couple of ice cubes, hesitated and then decided he’d rather feel the full effect of the burn. “Rach, we’ve got to keep positive. Worrying is not going to bring her back.”
“It’s my fault. I should’ve never left her outside. What was I thinking?” Rachel hugged the pillow close to her body.
Rick downed his glass of scotch, making his eyes water for the first time since he’d been back. It was not as if he weren’t tremendously sad — he was, in fact, exasperated with sadness — it was just his way of coping; he rarely cried. Yet, he brushed the tears from his face — catalyzed by the scotch, undoubtedly, but his daughter’s disappearance definitely finished the job — and lumbered back to his wife, taking a seat on the armrest next to her. “How long were you gone?”
“I told you. Just one minute. I heard the phone ring. I ran inside, picked up the phone, saw I missed your call, and ran back out. Why do you keep asking me?” Rachel looked into her husband’s eyes. “You don’t believe me?”
“Of course I believe you. Maybe you’re just forgetting some detail…something that may help us find her.”
“I’ve been over this in my mind a million times with a million different people. I know what happened.”
“Did you leave the door open?”
“Huh?”
“When you ran inside, did you leave the door open?”
“Yes, of course. The door was open.”
“Could you see Mallory from where you were?”
Rachel paused and closed her eyes for a second. “No.”
“What about Maggie?” Rick asked, pointing at the puppy which had raised her head to the sound of her name.
“She was in her kennel.”
“Where was the phone?” he asked, referring to the portable phone. It wasn’t unusual for it to find a home in between the couch cushions or atop the bathroom sink.
“What does it matter?”
“I’m just trying to get this straight in my head.”
“The phone was on the kitchen counter, next to the sink, where I left it when Lupe called earlier.”
“Did you do anything else while you were in the house?”
Rachel sighed, frustrated. “No, Rick! I grabbed it, saw that you called, and ran back outside. Less than two minutes, Rick! That’s it!”
“How long before you called the cops?”
“Within a half hour.” Rachel stood up and started pacing the living room. Her baby blue Juicy Couture track suit still had grass stains on the knees where she had knelt down on the lawn, crying out for her missing daughter. “What are you doing Rick? Do you think I did this on purpose? I know it’s my fault!” She cracked and collapsed on the rug, sobbing uncontrollably.
Rick watched the bawling heap that was his wife and immediately regretted questioning her unduly. What was he thinking? She’d heard it all, before now. He squatted beside her and rubbed her back. “Of course not, I’m just trying to help. It’s not your fault. I was looking at this from every angle. No more questions, I promise.” He lifted her from the floor and placed her gingerly on the couch. She was shivering as though the Bering Sea flowed through her, despite the South Florida heat that shrouded them. “You’re shaking, why don’t you take a Valium? Try and get some rest.”
“I can’t. I don’t want to be out of it if the detective calls us,” she said, sniffling.
Rick fetched a glass of water from the wet bar and set it on the coffee table in front of her. “Just take half of it then. It will help calm you down.” He handed her a tiny yellow pill.
“My parents should be here soon,” Rachel said, pocketing the pill. “I want to be awake when they get here.”
“Fine. I need to make a few phone calls in my office. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
Rachel sat up rapidly and scowled at Rick. “What phone calls? What’s more important than finding our daughter?”
“Rach, we’re just sitting here, doing nothing but waiting — which is just what the detective asked us to do. I need to check in with Bruce. If we let the rest of our life pile up on us, we won’t be able to focus on finding Mallory. There’s nothing we can do right now. I’ll use my cell phone so the home line is free.” Rick leaned over and kissed Rachel on the forehead. “Why don’t you eat something? I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Rachel decided against arguing further. She watched her husband fix another drink and hurry upstairs, his scotch splashing onto the ivory staircase along the way. She tried hard not to be mad at him, but their daughter was missing and he was worried about the new dealership opening in Orlando. She was on the verge of pulling out her hair in frustration. Rachel wanted to do something. If she desired to find their little girl she would have to be fecund. Something, no, anything, would be more productive than sitting here worrying.
She stretched the stiffness from her legs, stood up and wandered into the kitchen to make some tea. In spite of the awful day, she yearned to be delighted that Dianna had left a plate of her favorite sandwiches and cookies in the refrigerator. She pulled out an egg salad sandwich and put it on a plate, feigning a smile. Then, going through the motions, she made a cup of chamomile tea. She stirred honey into her mug and fought valiantly to fend off thoughts of the misery of the last twelve hours. But memories, good and bad, kept circulating through her head. It was a continuous loop that brought only despair, and alas, her appetite vanished and she threw the sandwich into the trash with defeat.
Rachel hadn’t taken her first sip of the tea when a knock at the door forced her lips away from the mug, which crashed to the floor in her fit of surprise. She ignored the shards of ceramic floating in the yellow-brown puddle on the floor and rushed to the door. Upstairs, she heard Rick ending a phone call as his heavy footsteps reverberated down the hall. She didn’t wait for him to join her before opening the door.
“Sorry, Mrs. Scott. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Officer Valencia said, wiping sweat from his brow.
“It’s okay. Is it Mallory?” Rachel asked. She held her breath.
“We’re still looking for her. Detective Cooper is on his way here. There’s something he’d like to discuss with you. May I?” Officer Valencia gestured to come inside.
“Of course,” Rachel barely sounded out, distraught.
“Rachel?” Rick asked from halfway down the stairs. “Everything okay?”
“It’s Officer Valencia,” she replied.
Rachel motioned for Officer Valencia to follow her into the kitchen and asked him to excuse her mess. She grabbed a broom and dust pan from the pantry and began sweeping up the white shards of ceramic.
“What happened?” Rick asked, walking into the kitchen.
“Just an accident, honey. Officer Valencia nearly made me jump through the roof.” Rachel clutched the broom tightly.
Officer Valencia blushed in embarrassment. “I’m very sorry about that. And please, call me Eddy.”
“Well, Eddy,” Rick started. “What are you guys doing to find my daughter? Shouldn’t you be out looking for her? Dusting for fingerprints or something?”
“Rick!” Rachel gasped at her husband’s sudden rudeness.
“It’s okay,” Eddy said. “I understand your frustration, but we’re doing everything we can to find Mallory. And…” he trailed off.
“And?” Rick said impatiently. He puffed out his chest, holding an imposing figure in the room. “And what, Eddy? What’s going on?”
“I should wait until Detective Cooper gets here.” Eddy observed the fury building in Rick’s eyes and stammered, “But, well… we found something.”
Chapter 4
A Barbie doll lay on the table in a clear plastic bag with a red seal. For Rachel, it was surreal to see this doll with her plastic pink smile, bright turquoise eye shadow and perfectly coiffed red hair staring back at her. The doll was perpetually happy, but its owner was lost and scared.
“It’s her doll.” Rachel stared at the bag. “I bought it for her last week.” She recognized the deep red hair on the doll. “Just like my hair, mommy!” Mallory had said when she saw it on the toy aisle shelf.
“Mallory was playing with this doll this morning?” Detective Cooper asked.
Rachel put her hands to the side of her temples and tried to rub away the beginnings of a migraine. “Mallory was playing with her dolls while I worked. She has a basket full of them.” The numbness returned full force again. She felt cold. Scared. Glancing at the clock on the stove top, she realized it was almost ten o’clock. Mallory would’ve had her dinner by now. She would’ve had her bath. She would’ve been tucked in under the covers. Rachel would’ve read Mallory’s favorite bedtime stories to her. Mallory would’ve been safe in her pink princess bedroom. Rachel laid her head on the table and cried, once again.
“Can you get the basket and let’s go through it to make sure?” Detective Cooper asked Rick.
While they were waiting, the intercom buzzed on the wall at the end of the kitchen counter. The neighborhood security system was tied into all of the homes in Bal Harbour. Security could check-in visitors at the front gate and interact with the homeowners through the intercom system. Owners could also page security through the intercom for assistance, like Rachel had earlier when she couldn’t find Mallory. The security office immediately closed all the gates to traffic once Rachel called, but it was obviously too late. Somehow, someone was able to slip in and out without detection.
“Mr. and Mrs. Scott? You have visitors. Frank and Glenda Brown.”
“Thanks Earl, you can let them in.” In all the confusion, Rachel forgot to call security to let them know that her parents were coming. With Mallory missing, security was even tighter at the gate. Police officers were still patrolling the neighborhood. Neighbors, especially those with children, had their doors locked and alarms set. Like whoever took her would be coming back, Rachel thought to herself.
Rick came back, a pink wicker basket in his arms. “I’m not sure what we’re looking for.” He sat it gently on the table. “They all look alike.”
Rachel began the process of sifting through all the dolls. After a few moments of looking, she shook her head. “It’s not in here.”
“It wouldn’t be anywhere else in the house?” Detective Cooper asked.
“I looked in her bedroom and the bathroom. It’s clean.” Rick sat down beside his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“It’s Mallory’s doll. I know it.” Rachel covered her face with her hands.
“Where did you find it?” Rick asked Detective Cooper.
“A couple of miles down the road on Biscayne Boulevard. One of the county road workers found it while cutting the grass. He put it in his pocket to give to his daughter. When he got home, he showed it to his wife who had been watching the news about Mallory’s disappearance. She called the station after she realized the close proximity of where the doll was found to where your house is located and reported it.”
“How did it end up there?” Rick wondered aloud.
“Might have been tossed out a vehicle’s window,” Eddy took a stab in the dark.
Rachel stood up, frantic. “We have to go. What if Mallory is still around there?”
“We have a several officers out there now. Soon we’ll have a search team in place.” Detective Cooper placed a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Can you provide us with some clothing that Mallory recently wore? Something we can give the search team to work with?”
Rick stood up. “I’ll get her pajamas.”
Rachel waited until Rick was out of earshot. She lowered her voice and directed her question to Detective Cooper. “What are the chances we’ll find Mallory? And don’t give me any bullshit to placate me.”
Detective Cooper sighed. “The first twenty-four hours are the most critical. Ninety-nine percent of missing children are usually found within that time frame.”
Rachel slowly nodded; a single tear ran down her cheek. “It’s been over twelve hours.”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Detective Cooper repeated the well-worn mantra of law enforcement everywhere.
Rick brought down a pair of pajamas and handed them to Detective Cooper.
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch soon.” Detective Cooper put the frilly pink pajamas in plastic bag and handed it off to Officer Valencia before heading toward the door.
“Wait,” said Rachel.
Detective Cooper turned on a dime. “Yes, Mrs. Scott?”
“What about the security tapes at the guard gate? Did they see anyone just before the gates closed?”
“Nothing unusual, just residents and some work trucks. We’re checking everyone out.”
“Oh,” Rachel sounded disappointed. Work trucks were always in and out of Bal Harbour. “Thank you, Detective.”
Detective Cooper started for the door again then stopped. Outside they heard tires screech and doors slam. Everyone’s attention focused on the door as it burst open without notice.
Rachel ran over to her parents and collapsed in her father’s arms.
Chapter 5
Rachel lay in bed, unable to sleep. Her thoughts were bouncing from one thing to another. She tried to calm her frantic mind and thought back to the first time she met Rick. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and she was perusing a car dealership in Coral Gables. As a real estate agent, she had helped facilitate the sale of a defunct shopping mall with a price tag in the millions. This had been her biggest commission check to date and she thought it was time to get rid of the old clunker that saw her through college. She was checking the price tag that hung from the driver’s side mirror of a used SUV when a salesman approached her from behind.
“This is a real beauty.” The salesman slapped his hand on the top of the roof.
Rachel turned and studied the man. He was taller than her, around six feet, on the lean side, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His lips were full, like clovers, and he had a slight dimple in his chin. He reminded her of a young Harrison Ford. His name tag read ‘Rick Scott’. Being in sales herself, she knew how to handle the average pushy peddler.
“I’m sure it is,” she replied, swift at the tongue.
“What are you looking for?” he asked, far from phased.
“A nice, reliable SUV with low miles.”
Rick nodded toward the white Nissan that she drove onto the lot. “Are you trading that in?”
“Depends. Let’s talk price on that one.” She pointed over to a sleek, charcoal Lexus. She had already done her homework, coming by the lot at night when the dealership was closed. Running the vehicle specifications by her dad and looking up the Blue Book value on the SUV.
“List price is twenty-nine thousand. Want to take her for a spin?”
A few minutes later, Rachel was behind the wheel of a barely-used luxury SUV, flying down the interstate. She took comfort in knowing she would now have a respectable vehicle to tote her clients around in. But the best part was she could afford to pay cash for it and have plenty of money left over to pad her savings account.
By the time she drove the Lexus off the lot, she had scooped it at a significantly reduced price and Rick walked away with her phone number. They had their first date later that weekend.
After a six month whirlwind courtship, they were married in Jamaica. Exactly nine months later, Mallory was born. A honeymoon baby.
In that first year, when not busy nurturing their beautiful new baby, Rachel had started her own boutique real estate company that specialized in helping wealthy clients with investment properties. Eventually, she had amassed her own wealth of millions of dollars, partly with real estate commissions and partly because of her own successful property investments during the early 2000’s real estate boom.
Rick had also done well opening several luxury car dealerships throughout South Florida and was expanding north, into the Orlando area.
Overnight, as a couple, they grew into the more noticeable Miami socialite community; local celebrities amongst the upper class. Much of their time was spent juggling invitations to various events, luncheons with other prominent Miamians and, of course, dipping their feet into the South Beach nightlife. Rachel dressed in the finest clothes, had weekly facials, and spent hundreds of dollars every two months on her hair alone. Mallory was just as spoiled. Rachel couldn’t say no to her baby girl; she lived like a princess. Soon Rachel became overburdened with responsibility, but with the hiring of a nanny and a housekeeper, Rachel had a lot of help. Nearly every day she was torn between staying at home with Mallory and having to go to work. However, somehow, someway, Rachel managed to balance her work, social and home life — even if it meant losing a lead or missing a gala event.
None of that mattered now. Everything she had, everything she was — it all meant nothing. She was a husk of her former self. All she cared about was finding Mallory. And she was willing to spend every last dime to do so.
Chapter 6
“We found a landscaping truck that the Scott’s security guard identified as being in the neighborhood when Mallory disappeared. When we contacted the landscaping company, the owner said the truck was reported stolen the same morning she disappeared. They had no scheduled jobs in Bal Harbour that day,” Detective Cooper said. He settled into chair across from his boss. It had been a long twenty-four hours with Red only catching a few winks here and there. Finding the Scott’s little girl was top priority on his list.
“Security guard just let him in?” Captain Garcia asked.
Detective Cooper nodded. “The truck was parked at the Miami International Airport in short-term parking. No trace of Mallory.”
“When was it parked?” Captain Garcia asked.
“Last night.”
“Video surveillance?”
“Our team is going through it now. It’s going to take some time.” Detective Cooper shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“We don’t have time, Red. Pull everyone together and get it done. Bring in the mother and father so they can look through the tapes, too. It helps to have the family involved. They may see something we missed. Especially if the little girl’s appearance has changed.” Captain Garcia got up from his desk. “Are we clear?”
“I’m on it.”
“Anything on the doll?”
“No usable fingerprints. And they’re still processing the truck.”
“Okay. After you get ahold of the family, get back here and let’s start on those video tapes. Check flights that left around the time frame the truck was parked, especially the international ones.”
“Right.”
Captain Garcia paused before opening his office door. “With the Scott’s social status around Miami, this thing is going to blow up quickly. The media maggots love it when bad things happen to Miami’s elite. All the attention is going to be focused on us. Understand?”
Detective Red Cooper nodded and took his cue to leave. He left the Captain’s office and headed into his own. As he sat at his desk, prepared to call the Scott’s, he stared at the picture in the silver frame — the only picture in his office. His ex-wife, Trish — the third Mrs. Cooper — and he were sitting on his Harley Davidson on Route 66, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Her dark hair hung in two braids under her bike helmet that made her look younger than her forty-six years. Red had his hands around her tiny waist and a goofy smile on his face. He loved her. How did it all go wrong? He could blame the job. God knows Trish did — the eighty-hour work weeks, the two-in-the-morning phone calls asking him to come into work. It was all bullshit; deep down, he knew it was more than that.
Chapter 7
Rick couldn’t sleep. His three-year old daughter was still missing and he was a basket-case. But he couldn’t let his wife see that. He needed to be strong for her sake, or at least appear so. He quietly slid out of bed and into a hot shower. Changing into a pair of khakis and a pullover shirt, he went to make a pot of coffee.
“Where are you going?” Rachel groaned from beneath the comforter.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Rick whispered, turning around. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping.” Rachel sat up; she was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing the day before. Her hair was a tangled mess and dark circles had formed under her eyes. To Rick, she was barely recognizable.
“Want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
She followed him downstairs and sat at the table. He was sure she felt as awful as he did. Probably more so. He knew she blamed herself for what happened, even if he didn’t.
His bones ached and his joints creaked as he retrieved the sugar bowl and a carton of hazelnut creamer from the refrigerator. He placed them in front of her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
The coffee brewed in silence and after it was done, Rick poured two cups. He pondered over his agenda for the morning and knew Rachel wouldn’t be so fond of his plans. “I’m going to stop by the office for a bit,” he said, gauging her reaction.
“Why?”
“Big shipment today,” he replied quickly.
“And that’s something Gary can’t handle?” Rachel asked, referring to the general manager of the dealership. She looked at him, her green eyes narrowing — a look of displease he knew all too well.
“It’s just for an hour — two tops. If anything happens, I can be home within minutes.”
Rachel put down her mug and gripped the table. “Our daughter is missing, Rick! God knows where she is. God knows who she’s with. Who knows what they’re doing with her! And you need to go check on a fucking shipment?”
“Rach…” he watched as she threw back her chair, the frail limbs cracking apart on the black and white checkered tile. “What else can I do?” he called out. But it was useless. She had already left the room. He heard a flurry of insults leading to the door of their bedroom, which she slammed shut. If their yelling didn’t wake up his in-laws, the door slamming probably did.
Rick dumped the rest of his coffee into a silver travel mug, spilling half of it on the floor. “Dammit,” he mumbled to the empty kitchen.
“Is there something that I can help with?”
Rick turned around, startled to realize that he wasn’t alone. Rachel’s dad stood before him dressed in pleated khakis and a button down shirt. “Sorry, Frank. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Frank dismissed Rick’s comment with a wave of his hand, and then grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet. “It’s alright. I’ve been awake.”
Rick wondered how much Frank heard of his argument with his wife. “I’ve got to head into the office for a while. Rachel isn’t too happy about it but I can’t let my business go under.” Rick didn’t understand why he felt the need to explain.
“You do what you have to do. Glenda and I will take care of things around here.”
Rick knew that if anyone would understand, Frank would. He was a self-employed business man just like Rick. Grabbing his car keys and his to-go coffee mug, he rushed out of the house knowing what he needed to do.
Chapter 8
“Oh, Mrs. Scott, I’m so sorry! I should have come to work. I’ll never forgive myself.” Lupe Gonzalez, the Scott’s nanny, embraced Rachel in a hug. She had only been working for Rachel for a few months and had already developed a strong bond with Mallory. Hell, sometimes Rachel was jealous of the time that Mallory and Lupe spent together. It was difficult to see the connection that grew between Lupe and Mallory, yet it strangely comforted her.
“It’s not your fault, Lupe.” Rachel embraced Lupe and patted her on the back before letting go. “They’ll find her,” Rachel said with conviction.
Lupe sat at the kitchen table with Rachel’s mother. She opened a Pyrex dish and the smell of tomatoes and garlic wafted through the air. “I brought your favorite meal.” Lupe scooped up a large serving of chicken enchiladas and placed it on a plate. “Mrs. Rachel, please eat something.”
Why did people think they could always fix something with food? Rachel thought. Funerals, sick people, sleepless mothers with newborn babies… mothers with missing kids. Her refrigerator was stuffed with colorful plastic-ware full of various salads and casserole dishes. Plates of cookies and muffins wrapped carefully were stacked three feet high on the stark white granite counter top. Rachel reluctantly picked up a fork and took a small bite of the creamy dish.
“It’s good to see you eat something, Rachel,” her mother said. “You need to keep up your strength.” Glenda was tall and lean and wore her blond hair in a short stylish bob. Rachel looked up to her mother, who in Rachel’s eyes was strong and resilient. Glenda Brown never took no for an answer.
“I’m going out today.” Rachel pecked at another small bite. Suddenly, she couldn’t settle for moral victories. Who cared if she finally ate something? She needed to find her little girl. “I can’t sit inside another minute. If the cops can’t find her, then I will. There must be places to look that the cops haven’t thought of.”
Her mother smiled. “That’s my girl. You can’t wait. Find Mallory. Whatever it takes. I can stay here in case anyone comes by.”
“Do you want me to go with you, Mrs. Scott?” Lupe asked enthusiastically.
Rachel was about to decline the offer, but she realized that Lupe was out of job if she didn’t find Mallory. A crazy thought, yet Rachel only felt guilt and pushed it out of her mind. “Of course you can,” she said, trying to match Lupe’s enthusiasm.
“What are you planning on doing, sweetie?” her mom asked.
“First I’m going to my office to download the flyer that the lady from the National Center for Missing Children sent me. Then Lupe and I will cover as many businesses in the Bal Harbour and north Miami area as possible.”
“I thought they did that already, honey?” Glenda asked cautiously to her daughter.
“Yeah?” Rachel stared blankly at the floor before a mask of excitement covered her face. “Well, maybe they missed some. They had to… I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” she replied, sounding as hopeful as ever.
“Do you want me to get your father to go with you?”
“No, let him rest.” Rachel was worried about the stress her father was under with his granddaughter missing. He had heart problems and her mother was already begging him to retire.
The phone rang and Rachel grabbed it on the second ring.
“Mrs. Scott? This is Detective Cooper. You got a minute?”
“What’s going on?” Rachel responded quickly.
“We went through our list of work vehicles that went through the gates the morning of Mallory’s disappearance. Evergreen Landscaping was on that list. When we contacted them, the owner told us that one of their trucks was stolen the night before. They verified that no jobs were scheduled in your neighborhood this week. One of our officers found the truck this morning at the airport.”
Rachel gasped for air, her lungs felt ice cold. “Mallory? Was she in the truck?”
“We don’t know that yet, Mrs. Scott. We’d like for you to come to the station.”
“When?”
“As soon as you can. We’ve got all the security tapes from the time frame the truck was parked and it would be helpful if you took a look as well.” He paused for a moment. “You know, in case Mallory’s appearance has changed.”
Rick was, of course, at the car dealership handling some issues that he said couldn’t wait. Rachel knew that he wanted to get out of the house just as much as she did. However, throwing himself into his work so soon after his daughter disappeared was ridiculous, in Rachel’s eyes, no matter how important the task was.
“I can be there within the hour.” Rachel wrote down the directions to his station and hung up. She turned to Lupe and her mother. “Change of plans, I’m going to watch some tapes.”
Chapter 9
Rachel shivered and wrapped her hands around the lukewarm can of Coke in front of her. Her skin chilled in a conference room that glazed her with meat locker temperatures. Rick sat rigidly next to her. Detective Red Cooper found a couple Miami PD windbreakers and lent them to the Scotts.
“Ready to start, Mr. and Mrs. Scott?”
“Yes,” Rachel said, between the chattering of her teeth.
Captain Garcia had met with the Scott’s while Detective Cooper set up the viewing room. The captain explained to them upfront that Mallory wasn’t seen on the tapes and that they were still working on identifying the man who stole the truck.
Detective Cooper sat opposite of the Scotts and pressed a button on his computer. Rachel and Rick leaned closer to the screen to get a better look. “We got the guy driving the work truck on video — this will be the one you watch first. I want to see if you recognize him although it’s not a great view. As Captain Garcia informed you, no one else was seen with this man and he hasn’t been identified yet. Here’s where he walks out of the parking lot and out of range of the camera. We think he got picked up by another vehicle — possibly an accomplice.”
“Why look through all the tapes? If Mallory wasn’t with him and he didn’t go inside the airport?” Rachel asked. She tried to focus but it was becoming a challenge battling the pounding headache of sorrow she had succumbed to. She knew what the detective’s answer would be and was sure Rick did too. Yet, however much she was prepared for it, she didn’t like it.
“Rachel,” Detective Cooper stared into her eyes with caution. “Even though Mallory wasn’t found with this man, we have reason to believe this is the guy who took her. The man at ground zero. For the first time we have something concrete, something we find substantial to resolving the case.”
Tears began to carve paths down Rachel’s face. “This man has my baby?”
“He was the one who we believe took Mallory. I know this hard for you but we need you to watch in case you notice anything… familiar.”
Rachel stared at nothingness — just like she had a million times after the day she lost Mallory. Yet, this time was different. Red confirmed what Rick and she had feared most yet knew to be true. Mallory hadn’t wandered away — she was taken. Gone. Forever.
“Who does the truck belong to?” Rick spouted off, frustrated.
“Evergreen Landscaping. It explains how he got in and out. The owner of Evergreen has confirmed that the truck was stolen. I spoke to the officer who took the report.”
The Scotts said nothing more, and after two hours of looking at tapes, Rachel stood up and stretched her back. She was ready to take a break. All they had seen was a blurry truck pulling into Miami International and a view of a pixelated white man walking off screen.
“This is the last tape.” Detective Cooper paused the program on the computer. “Do you need a break?”
“Dammit!” Rachel had finally snapped. She stood up and pounded her fists against the wall. Her daughter was gone. Taken by some strange man who did God knows what with her. Rachel kept pounding until the pain in her fists felt incredible to her. For the first time since Mallory went missing, she felt alive.
“Rachel!” Rick yelled, red-faced. He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Calm down.”
“She’s never coming home! I’ve lost my baby for good.”
Chapter 1
He parked the beat-up truck on the corner of Harbor Way and Bal Bay Drive. It was a sultry day in South Florida and the heat lapping at his palms and forehead compelled him to keep the truck’s engine alive and the air conditioning running. He waited patiently and observed his surroundings — vast, carefully-manicured lawns painted an unnatural green lined the gray brick roads. Towering southern oaks and budding orange trees dotted the lawns and edges of the lots, as if to add a sense of privacy to the massive houses which the wealthy Miami suburbanites called home. He, however, could not be fooled by the façade that the inhabitants constructed to hide their secrets — these yuppies pried and gossiped and drunkenly confessed in such a fashion that there wasn’t an ounce of privacy to be offered by well-groomed foliage. Only the husbands left daily, piloting their fancy sports cars and luxurious SUVs to the cities hospitals and law firms and corner offices that they worked in. Most women rarely left during the work week and only if their supply of Pinot Grigio had dwindled or they needed a fresh shot of Botox. Often, when abandoned by their husbands on a Friday night, they smothered their faces with creams and powders and flocked in groups for some rooftop party in South Beach, like bored macaws in search of a new perch to sink their talons into. The children were often stuck at home, emotionally neglected, with a foreign nanny.
Disgusting, he thought to himself, these people tell themselves they are keeping their children safe, fencing them off from the baddies of the rest of the world. These gates weren’t keeping the rest of the world away from them; no, these gates were a cage — keeping them from the rest of the world.
Finally, a young girl ventured out from her porch down to the edge of the lawn. He shot up in his seat, rolled down the window, and grabbed a pair of binoculars from the passenger seat. Adjusting the range, he zoomed in on her long red hair, porcelain skin and tiny frame.
A stray breeze caused a sheet of paper to flutter around the passenger seat. He picked it up and studied the information.
The name on the paper, Mallory Scott, was in bold face font. What a beautiful name, he thought to himself. According to the report, she was three years old. He glanced up at the girl who had busied herself playing with dolls at the edge of the lawn. The picture was definitely a match.
A young woman came out onto the grass — clearly the child’s mother, her hair was a few shades lighter than her daughter’s — more of a strawberry blonde. She was, however, just as beautiful. He watched as the mom leaned over and kissed her daughter’s forehead before retreating back across the lawn to her plush chair on the front porch. While Mallory continued playing with her dolls, the mom sat idly, balancing a computer on her lap, her eyes cemented in toil.
Not today, he thought. Yet, just as he was about to leave this suburban zoo, the mom ran inside the house, perhaps to tend to something urgent. He put the truck back in park. This could be his perfect opportunity. With that neglectful mother inside and the shutters drawn shut, he could make it to sweet, little Mallory and back to his truck in less than thirty seconds. His fingers tapped furiously on the steering wheel. It was now or never.
Chapter 2
“How long has your daughter been missing?” the police officer asked her again.
“I told you, forty-five minutes!” Rachel’s mind was racing nearly as fast as her heart.
The mid-afternoon heat enveloped a growing scene outside the Scott household in the gated community of Bal Harbour. Curious neighbors stood sweating behind yellow tape, while officers asked them questions one-by-one. Everyone had thought to have seen something, and those that didn’t offered trivial gossip about the Scotts, or their gardener, or their housekeeper. Rachel’s neighbor across the street, Dianna Livingston, an elderly widow, had hustled over as soon as she heard Rachel screaming for Mallory. She’d spent thirty minutes with Rachel, walking through the entire neighborhood, shouting Mallory’s name. Now, her voice hoarse and her legs tired, Dianna sat beside Rachel on the living room couch and patted her back.
The police officer was scribbling furiously in his notebook when a knock at the door interrupted them. Rachel jumped up, her heart pounding as she rushed by the officer and into the foyer. She took the brass door handle in her hand and took a deep breath. Please be my little girl, her mind vied against all other thoughts. She flung it open and nearly collapsed into tears. There was only a short, beefy man standing before her. Once she realized Mallory wasn’t accompanying him, her eyes transfixed on the swarm of inquisitive neighbors craning their necks in an attempt to observe every miserable affair happening within the Scott household. Most bothered to fix their eyes on a passing officer or the ground when Rachel caught their glare, but some of the more intrusive neighbors seemed to stare right through her. It was the worst day of her life, yet for the neighbors it was a spectacle. A few tears rolled away from Rachel’s vacant green eyes.
“Eh-um,” the man tried for her attention. “Mrs. Scott? I’m Detective Red Cooper with Miami P.D. May I come in?”
Rachel focused her gaze back to him. “Sure,” she choked out before clearing her throat. “We’re in the living room with one of your officers.”
The officer, whom Rachel didn’t realize was lurking behind her in the foyer, looked relieved when Detective Cooper slid past her. Dianna was now occupied with making coffee in the kitchen so Rachel walked over to the breakfast table and took a seat. The officer and Detective Cooper paused in the living room to exchange the details of her daughter’s disappearance. Rachel eavesdropped on their conversation at first, but then her mind wandered deeply. She silently berated herself for the hundredth time for leaving Mallory unattended this morning. If she had only insisted that Mallory come inside with her.
“May I?” Detective Cooper’s voice brought Rachel out of her muddled thoughts. He gestured toward a chair across the table.
Rachel stared blankly into space, her face unrepresentative of the thoughts that tortured her mind.
“Of course,” Mrs. Livingston answered for Rachel, placing her hand on the detective’s back. She shot a worried glance at Rachel and placed a cup of coffee before his chair. Then she took her own seat between the detective and Rachel.
With all of the commotion just beyond the police tape that bordered her lawn, the house seemed overwhelmingly empty. Even when Rachel was home alone it didn’t seem so desolate. The air was stiller than ever, although the downstairs was an open floor plan. From her seat at the breakfast table, which overlooked the backyard, she could see the front door. The oversized kitchen to her left was occupied only by the gentle drip of a coffee machine, and the only movement in the living room on her right came from the gentle floating of a million specks of dust suspended in the air, highlighted by the slits of sunlight that penetrated the louver blinds. Maybe it wasn’t the house that was empty — maybe it was her.
“We’ve got a recent picture of Mallory,” Detective Cooper broke the silence. “Our PR department will distribute it to all of the appropriate media.”
“What about an AMBER alert?” Rachel snapped out of the terrible thoughts that had been holding her hostage.
“Unfortunately, without a vehicle or person description, we can’t do an AMBER alert,” Detective Cooper answered. “We have additional officers talking to the neighbors and security personnel at your front gate to see if we can come up with something. Until then, Mallory’s picture will be distributed to all media outlets.”
“We pay a lot of money to live here so neighborhood security better have some answers,” Rachel said, feeling sick to her stomach. “My little girl didn’t just wander off.”
“Your husband is on his way home?” Detective Cooper asked.
Rachel shook her head. “I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. He took a flight to Orlando this morning for a business meeting.”
“We’ve been calling him every few minutes,” Mrs. Livingston added.
Rachel stared out the window at two police officers standing on her dock, one of them smoking a cigarette. Detective Cooper followed her gaze.
“Any chance Mallory might have got to the dock?”
“No. The gate is always kept locked and we have an alarm.”
Detective Cooper retrieved a notepad from his khaki pants. “Sorry if these are repeat questions. I’m sure Officer Valencia did a thorough job going over everything.”
Rachel chewed nervously on her thumbnail. A bad habit she acquired in college she had tried numerous times to shake with expensive weekly manicures.
“Is there anything unusual that happened this morning — something outside of your normal routine, maybe?” he asked gently.
“My nanny called in sick,” Rachel answered almost robotically.
Detective Cooper glanced at the copy of the report that Officer Valencia left for him. “Lupe Gonzalez? She’s your nanny?”
“She called me about an hour before she was supposed to arrive — said she had a stomach bug.”
“We’ll send an officer over to her house to interview her. This is her correct address?” Detective Cooper showed her the copy of the police report.
Rachel nodded. Numbness ran through her bones. Her life was a nightmare that waking couldn’t cure. Her eyes began to well up again. She felt a warm hand atop hers. Looking up, her eyes met Detective Cooper’s, which were marked with genuine concern.
“Mrs. Scott? I’ve been working missing person’s cases for over twenty years. The first twenty-four hours are the most crucial. I promise you that I’ll do everything possible to help bring your daughter home. I know it’s hard right now, but the sooner you can answer all my questions, the better.”
Her cell phone vibrated on the placemat in front of her, dancing across the table. The caller I.D. showed it was her husband, Rick.
“Rachel, I got your message. What’s going on?” Rick’s voice rang through the receiver with concern.
“It’s Mallory.” Rachel choked on her words. “She’s… she’s missing. Our baby is… gone.”
Chapter 3
Rachel cried into a lavender pillow on the leather chair in her living room. Maggie, their black Labrador puppy, sat aloof at her feet. Her husband, Rick, was perched on the couch opposite her and gave the never-used marble fireplace a detached stare. His suit was badly wrinkled and his red tie hung loose around his neck. It had been twelve hours since Rachel last saw their daughter. For the first time since Mallory was born, Rick and Rachel occupied the house alone.
“It’s getting dark outside,” Rachel said, growing sick of the gut-wrenching silence. Neither of them had said a word since the last cop left nearly an hour ago. “She doesn’t have Millie or her princess blanket,” she whispered, referring to Mallory’s stuffed mermaid doll and her favorite blanket she refused to sleep without.
Rick stood up and slogged over to a hefty oak and brass wet bar they kept in the corner of the living room. Methodically, he opened the cabinet, grabbed a crystal bottle filled with amber liquid and poured it into a lowball glass waiting for him atop the bar. He grabbed a couple of ice cubes, hesitated and then decided he’d rather feel the full effect of the burn. “Rach, we’ve got to keep positive. Worrying is not going to bring her back.”
“It’s my fault. I should’ve never left her outside. What was I thinking?” Rachel hugged the pillow close to her body.
Rick downed his glass of scotch, making his eyes water for the first time since he’d been back. It was not as if he weren’t tremendously sad — he was, in fact, exasperated with sadness — it was just his way of coping; he rarely cried. Yet, he brushed the tears from his face — catalyzed by the scotch, undoubtedly, but his daughter’s disappearance definitely finished the job — and lumbered back to his wife, taking a seat on the armrest next to her. “How long were you gone?”
“I told you. Just one minute. I heard the phone ring. I ran inside, picked up the phone, saw I missed your call, and ran back out. Why do you keep asking me?” Rachel looked into her husband’s eyes. “You don’t believe me?”
“Of course I believe you. Maybe you’re just forgetting some detail…something that may help us find her.”
“I’ve been over this in my mind a million times with a million different people. I know what happened.”
“Did you leave the door open?”
“Huh?”
“When you ran inside, did you leave the door open?”
“Yes, of course. The door was open.”
“Could you see Mallory from where you were?”
Rachel paused and closed her eyes for a second. “No.”
“What about Maggie?” Rick asked, pointing at the puppy which had raised her head to the sound of her name.
“She was in her kennel.”
“Where was the phone?” he asked, referring to the portable phone. It wasn’t unusual for it to find a home in between the couch cushions or atop the bathroom sink.
“What does it matter?”
“I’m just trying to get this straight in my head.”
“The phone was on the kitchen counter, next to the sink, where I left it when Lupe called earlier.”
“Did you do anything else while you were in the house?”
Rachel sighed, frustrated. “No, Rick! I grabbed it, saw that you called, and ran back outside. Less than two minutes, Rick! That’s it!”
“How long before you called the cops?”
“Within a half hour.” Rachel stood up and started pacing the living room. Her baby blue Juicy Couture track suit still had grass stains on the knees where she had knelt down on the lawn, crying out for her missing daughter. “What are you doing Rick? Do you think I did this on purpose? I know it’s my fault!” She cracked and collapsed on the rug, sobbing uncontrollably.
Rick watched the bawling heap that was his wife and immediately regretted questioning her unduly. What was he thinking? She’d heard it all, before now. He squatted beside her and rubbed her back. “Of course not, I’m just trying to help. It’s not your fault. I was looking at this from every angle. No more questions, I promise.” He lifted her from the floor and placed her gingerly on the couch. She was shivering as though the Bering Sea flowed through her, despite the South Florida heat that shrouded them. “You’re shaking, why don’t you take a Valium? Try and get some rest.”
“I can’t. I don’t want to be out of it if the detective calls us,” she said, sniffling.
Rick fetched a glass of water from the wet bar and set it on the coffee table in front of her. “Just take half of it then. It will help calm you down.” He handed her a tiny yellow pill.
“My parents should be here soon,” Rachel said, pocketing the pill. “I want to be awake when they get here.”
“Fine. I need to make a few phone calls in my office. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”
Rachel sat up rapidly and scowled at Rick. “What phone calls? What’s more important than finding our daughter?”
“Rach, we’re just sitting here, doing nothing but waiting — which is just what the detective asked us to do. I need to check in with Bruce. If we let the rest of our life pile up on us, we won’t be able to focus on finding Mallory. There’s nothing we can do right now. I’ll use my cell phone so the home line is free.” Rick leaned over and kissed Rachel on the forehead. “Why don’t you eat something? I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Rachel decided against arguing further. She watched her husband fix another drink and hurry upstairs, his scotch splashing onto the ivory staircase along the way. She tried hard not to be mad at him, but their daughter was missing and he was worried about the new dealership opening in Orlando. She was on the verge of pulling out her hair in frustration. Rachel wanted to do something. If she desired to find their little girl she would have to be fecund. Something, no, anything, would be more productive than sitting here worrying.
She stretched the stiffness from her legs, stood up and wandered into the kitchen to make some tea. In spite of the awful day, she yearned to be delighted that Dianna had left a plate of her favorite sandwiches and cookies in the refrigerator. She pulled out an egg salad sandwich and put it on a plate, feigning a smile. Then, going through the motions, she made a cup of chamomile tea. She stirred honey into her mug and fought valiantly to fend off thoughts of the misery of the last twelve hours. But memories, good and bad, kept circulating through her head. It was a continuous loop that brought only despair, and alas, her appetite vanished and she threw the sandwich into the trash with defeat.
Rachel hadn’t taken her first sip of the tea when a knock at the door forced her lips away from the mug, which crashed to the floor in her fit of surprise. She ignored the shards of ceramic floating in the yellow-brown puddle on the floor and rushed to the door. Upstairs, she heard Rick ending a phone call as his heavy footsteps reverberated down the hall. She didn’t wait for him to join her before opening the door.
“Sorry, Mrs. Scott. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Officer Valencia said, wiping sweat from his brow.
“It’s okay. Is it Mallory?” Rachel asked. She held her breath.
“We’re still looking for her. Detective Cooper is on his way here. There’s something he’d like to discuss with you. May I?” Officer Valencia gestured to come inside.
“Of course,” Rachel barely sounded out, distraught.
“Rachel?” Rick asked from halfway down the stairs. “Everything okay?”
“It’s Officer Valencia,” she replied.
Rachel motioned for Officer Valencia to follow her into the kitchen and asked him to excuse her mess. She grabbed a broom and dust pan from the pantry and began sweeping up the white shards of ceramic.
“What happened?” Rick asked, walking into the kitchen.
“Just an accident, honey. Officer Valencia nearly made me jump through the roof.” Rachel clutched the broom tightly.
Officer Valencia blushed in embarrassment. “I’m very sorry about that. And please, call me Eddy.”
“Well, Eddy,” Rick started. “What are you guys doing to find my daughter? Shouldn’t you be out looking for her? Dusting for fingerprints or something?”
“Rick!” Rachel gasped at her husband’s sudden rudeness.
“It’s okay,” Eddy said. “I understand your frustration, but we’re doing everything we can to find Mallory. And…” he trailed off.
“And?” Rick said impatiently. He puffed out his chest, holding an imposing figure in the room. “And what, Eddy? What’s going on?”
“I should wait until Detective Cooper gets here.” Eddy observed the fury building in Rick’s eyes and stammered, “But, well… we found something.”
Chapter 4
A Barbie doll lay on the table in a clear plastic bag with a red seal. For Rachel, it was surreal to see this doll with her plastic pink smile, bright turquoise eye shadow and perfectly coiffed red hair staring back at her. The doll was perpetually happy, but its owner was lost and scared.
“It’s her doll.” Rachel stared at the bag. “I bought it for her last week.” She recognized the deep red hair on the doll. “Just like my hair, mommy!” Mallory had said when she saw it on the toy aisle shelf.
“Mallory was playing with this doll this morning?” Detective Cooper asked.
Rachel put her hands to the side of her temples and tried to rub away the beginnings of a migraine. “Mallory was playing with her dolls while I worked. She has a basket full of them.” The numbness returned full force again. She felt cold. Scared. Glancing at the clock on the stove top, she realized it was almost ten o’clock. Mallory would’ve had her dinner by now. She would’ve had her bath. She would’ve been tucked in under the covers. Rachel would’ve read Mallory’s favorite bedtime stories to her. Mallory would’ve been safe in her pink princess bedroom. Rachel laid her head on the table and cried, once again.
“Can you get the basket and let’s go through it to make sure?” Detective Cooper asked Rick.
While they were waiting, the intercom buzzed on the wall at the end of the kitchen counter. The neighborhood security system was tied into all of the homes in Bal Harbour. Security could check-in visitors at the front gate and interact with the homeowners through the intercom system. Owners could also page security through the intercom for assistance, like Rachel had earlier when she couldn’t find Mallory. The security office immediately closed all the gates to traffic once Rachel called, but it was obviously too late. Somehow, someone was able to slip in and out without detection.
“Mr. and Mrs. Scott? You have visitors. Frank and Glenda Brown.”
“Thanks Earl, you can let them in.” In all the confusion, Rachel forgot to call security to let them know that her parents were coming. With Mallory missing, security was even tighter at the gate. Police officers were still patrolling the neighborhood. Neighbors, especially those with children, had their doors locked and alarms set. Like whoever took her would be coming back, Rachel thought to herself.
Rick came back, a pink wicker basket in his arms. “I’m not sure what we’re looking for.” He sat it gently on the table. “They all look alike.”
Rachel began the process of sifting through all the dolls. After a few moments of looking, she shook her head. “It’s not in here.”
“It wouldn’t be anywhere else in the house?” Detective Cooper asked.
“I looked in her bedroom and the bathroom. It’s clean.” Rick sat down beside his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“It’s Mallory’s doll. I know it.” Rachel covered her face with her hands.
“Where did you find it?” Rick asked Detective Cooper.
“A couple of miles down the road on Biscayne Boulevard. One of the county road workers found it while cutting the grass. He put it in his pocket to give to his daughter. When he got home, he showed it to his wife who had been watching the news about Mallory’s disappearance. She called the station after she realized the close proximity of where the doll was found to where your house is located and reported it.”
“How did it end up there?” Rick wondered aloud.
“Might have been tossed out a vehicle’s window,” Eddy took a stab in the dark.
Rachel stood up, frantic. “We have to go. What if Mallory is still around there?”
“We have a several officers out there now. Soon we’ll have a search team in place.” Detective Cooper placed a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Can you provide us with some clothing that Mallory recently wore? Something we can give the search team to work with?”
Rick stood up. “I’ll get her pajamas.”
Rachel waited until Rick was out of earshot. She lowered her voice and directed her question to Detective Cooper. “What are the chances we’ll find Mallory? And don’t give me any bullshit to placate me.”
Detective Cooper sighed. “The first twenty-four hours are the most critical. Ninety-nine percent of missing children are usually found within that time frame.”
Rachel slowly nodded; a single tear ran down her cheek. “It’s been over twelve hours.”
“We’re doing everything we can,” Detective Cooper repeated the well-worn mantra of law enforcement everywhere.
Rick brought down a pair of pajamas and handed them to Detective Cooper.
“Thank you. We’ll be in touch soon.” Detective Cooper put the frilly pink pajamas in plastic bag and handed it off to Officer Valencia before heading toward the door.
“Wait,” said Rachel.
Detective Cooper turned on a dime. “Yes, Mrs. Scott?”
“What about the security tapes at the guard gate? Did they see anyone just before the gates closed?”
“Nothing unusual, just residents and some work trucks. We’re checking everyone out.”
“Oh,” Rachel sounded disappointed. Work trucks were always in and out of Bal Harbour. “Thank you, Detective.”
Detective Cooper started for the door again then stopped. Outside they heard tires screech and doors slam. Everyone’s attention focused on the door as it burst open without notice.
Rachel ran over to her parents and collapsed in her father’s arms.
Chapter 5
Rachel lay in bed, unable to sleep. Her thoughts were bouncing from one thing to another. She tried to calm her frantic mind and thought back to the first time she met Rick. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and she was perusing a car dealership in Coral Gables. As a real estate agent, she had helped facilitate the sale of a defunct shopping mall with a price tag in the millions. This had been her biggest commission check to date and she thought it was time to get rid of the old clunker that saw her through college. She was checking the price tag that hung from the driver’s side mirror of a used SUV when a salesman approached her from behind.
“This is a real beauty.” The salesman slapped his hand on the top of the roof.
Rachel turned and studied the man. He was taller than her, around six feet, on the lean side, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His lips were full, like clovers, and he had a slight dimple in his chin. He reminded her of a young Harrison Ford. His name tag read ‘Rick Scott’. Being in sales herself, she knew how to handle the average pushy peddler.
“I’m sure it is,” she replied, swift at the tongue.
“What are you looking for?” he asked, far from phased.
“A nice, reliable SUV with low miles.”
Rick nodded toward the white Nissan that she drove onto the lot. “Are you trading that in?”
“Depends. Let’s talk price on that one.” She pointed over to a sleek, charcoal Lexus. She had already done her homework, coming by the lot at night when the dealership was closed. Running the vehicle specifications by her dad and looking up the Blue Book value on the SUV.
“List price is twenty-nine thousand. Want to take her for a spin?”
A few minutes later, Rachel was behind the wheel of a barely-used luxury SUV, flying down the interstate. She took comfort in knowing she would now have a respectable vehicle to tote her clients around in. But the best part was she could afford to pay cash for it and have plenty of money left over to pad her savings account.
By the time she drove the Lexus off the lot, she had scooped it at a significantly reduced price and Rick walked away with her phone number. They had their first date later that weekend.
After a six month whirlwind courtship, they were married in Jamaica. Exactly nine months later, Mallory was born. A honeymoon baby.
In that first year, when not busy nurturing their beautiful new baby, Rachel had started her own boutique real estate company that specialized in helping wealthy clients with investment properties. Eventually, she had amassed her own wealth of millions of dollars, partly with real estate commissions and partly because of her own successful property investments during the early 2000’s real estate boom.
Rick had also done well opening several luxury car dealerships throughout South Florida and was expanding north, into the Orlando area.
Overnight, as a couple, they grew into the more noticeable Miami socialite community; local celebrities amongst the upper class. Much of their time was spent juggling invitations to various events, luncheons with other prominent Miamians and, of course, dipping their feet into the South Beach nightlife. Rachel dressed in the finest clothes, had weekly facials, and spent hundreds of dollars every two months on her hair alone. Mallory was just as spoiled. Rachel couldn’t say no to her baby girl; she lived like a princess. Soon Rachel became overburdened with responsibility, but with the hiring of a nanny and a housekeeper, Rachel had a lot of help. Nearly every day she was torn between staying at home with Mallory and having to go to work. However, somehow, someway, Rachel managed to balance her work, social and home life — even if it meant losing a lead or missing a gala event.
None of that mattered now. Everything she had, everything she was — it all meant nothing. She was a husk of her former self. All she cared about was finding Mallory. And she was willing to spend every last dime to do so.
Chapter 6
“We found a landscaping truck that the Scott’s security guard identified as being in the neighborhood when Mallory disappeared. When we contacted the landscaping company, the owner said the truck was reported stolen the same morning she disappeared. They had no scheduled jobs in Bal Harbour that day,” Detective Cooper said. He settled into chair across from his boss. It had been a long twenty-four hours with Red only catching a few winks here and there. Finding the Scott’s little girl was top priority on his list.
“Security guard just let him in?” Captain Garcia asked.
Detective Cooper nodded. “The truck was parked at the Miami International Airport in short-term parking. No trace of Mallory.”
“When was it parked?” Captain Garcia asked.
“Last night.”
“Video surveillance?”
“Our team is going through it now. It’s going to take some time.” Detective Cooper shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“We don’t have time, Red. Pull everyone together and get it done. Bring in the mother and father so they can look through the tapes, too. It helps to have the family involved. They may see something we missed. Especially if the little girl’s appearance has changed.” Captain Garcia got up from his desk. “Are we clear?”
“I’m on it.”
“Anything on the doll?”
“No usable fingerprints. And they’re still processing the truck.”
“Okay. After you get ahold of the family, get back here and let’s start on those video tapes. Check flights that left around the time frame the truck was parked, especially the international ones.”
“Right.”
Captain Garcia paused before opening his office door. “With the Scott’s social status around Miami, this thing is going to blow up quickly. The media maggots love it when bad things happen to Miami’s elite. All the attention is going to be focused on us. Understand?”
Detective Red Cooper nodded and took his cue to leave. He left the Captain’s office and headed into his own. As he sat at his desk, prepared to call the Scott’s, he stared at the picture in the silver frame — the only picture in his office. His ex-wife, Trish — the third Mrs. Cooper — and he were sitting on his Harley Davidson on Route 66, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. Her dark hair hung in two braids under her bike helmet that made her look younger than her forty-six years. Red had his hands around her tiny waist and a goofy smile on his face. He loved her. How did it all go wrong? He could blame the job. God knows Trish did — the eighty-hour work weeks, the two-in-the-morning phone calls asking him to come into work. It was all bullshit; deep down, he knew it was more than that.
Chapter 7
Rick couldn’t sleep. His three-year old daughter was still missing and he was a basket-case. But he couldn’t let his wife see that. He needed to be strong for her sake, or at least appear so. He quietly slid out of bed and into a hot shower. Changing into a pair of khakis and a pullover shirt, he went to make a pot of coffee.
“Where are you going?” Rachel groaned from beneath the comforter.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Rick whispered, turning around. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping.” Rachel sat up; she was dressed in the same clothes she was wearing the day before. Her hair was a tangled mess and dark circles had formed under her eyes. To Rick, she was barely recognizable.
“Want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
She followed him downstairs and sat at the table. He was sure she felt as awful as he did. Probably more so. He knew she blamed herself for what happened, even if he didn’t.
His bones ached and his joints creaked as he retrieved the sugar bowl and a carton of hazelnut creamer from the refrigerator. He placed them in front of her and planted a kiss on her cheek.
The coffee brewed in silence and after it was done, Rick poured two cups. He pondered over his agenda for the morning and knew Rachel wouldn’t be so fond of his plans. “I’m going to stop by the office for a bit,” he said, gauging her reaction.
“Why?”
“Big shipment today,” he replied quickly.
“And that’s something Gary can’t handle?” Rachel asked, referring to the general manager of the dealership. She looked at him, her green eyes narrowing — a look of displease he knew all too well.
“It’s just for an hour — two tops. If anything happens, I can be home within minutes.”
Rachel put down her mug and gripped the table. “Our daughter is missing, Rick! God knows where she is. God knows who she’s with. Who knows what they’re doing with her! And you need to go check on a fucking shipment?”
“Rach…” he watched as she threw back her chair, the frail limbs cracking apart on the black and white checkered tile. “What else can I do?” he called out. But it was useless. She had already left the room. He heard a flurry of insults leading to the door of their bedroom, which she slammed shut. If their yelling didn’t wake up his in-laws, the door slamming probably did.
Rick dumped the rest of his coffee into a silver travel mug, spilling half of it on the floor. “Dammit,” he mumbled to the empty kitchen.
“Is there something that I can help with?”
Rick turned around, startled to realize that he wasn’t alone. Rachel’s dad stood before him dressed in pleated khakis and a button down shirt. “Sorry, Frank. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Frank dismissed Rick’s comment with a wave of his hand, and then grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet. “It’s alright. I’ve been awake.”
Rick wondered how much Frank heard of his argument with his wife. “I’ve got to head into the office for a while. Rachel isn’t too happy about it but I can’t let my business go under.” Rick didn’t understand why he felt the need to explain.
“You do what you have to do. Glenda and I will take care of things around here.”
Rick knew that if anyone would understand, Frank would. He was a self-employed business man just like Rick. Grabbing his car keys and his to-go coffee mug, he rushed out of the house knowing what he needed to do.
Chapter 8
“Oh, Mrs. Scott, I’m so sorry! I should have come to work. I’ll never forgive myself.” Lupe Gonzalez, the Scott’s nanny, embraced Rachel in a hug. She had only been working for Rachel for a few months and had already developed a strong bond with Mallory. Hell, sometimes Rachel was jealous of the time that Mallory and Lupe spent together. It was difficult to see the connection that grew between Lupe and Mallory, yet it strangely comforted her.
“It’s not your fault, Lupe.” Rachel embraced Lupe and patted her on the back before letting go. “They’ll find her,” Rachel said with conviction.
Lupe sat at the kitchen table with Rachel’s mother. She opened a Pyrex dish and the smell of tomatoes and garlic wafted through the air. “I brought your favorite meal.” Lupe scooped up a large serving of chicken enchiladas and placed it on a plate. “Mrs. Rachel, please eat something.”
Why did people think they could always fix something with food? Rachel thought. Funerals, sick people, sleepless mothers with newborn babies… mothers with missing kids. Her refrigerator was stuffed with colorful plastic-ware full of various salads and casserole dishes. Plates of cookies and muffins wrapped carefully were stacked three feet high on the stark white granite counter top. Rachel reluctantly picked up a fork and took a small bite of the creamy dish.
“It’s good to see you eat something, Rachel,” her mother said. “You need to keep up your strength.” Glenda was tall and lean and wore her blond hair in a short stylish bob. Rachel looked up to her mother, who in Rachel’s eyes was strong and resilient. Glenda Brown never took no for an answer.
“I’m going out today.” Rachel pecked at another small bite. Suddenly, she couldn’t settle for moral victories. Who cared if she finally ate something? She needed to find her little girl. “I can’t sit inside another minute. If the cops can’t find her, then I will. There must be places to look that the cops haven’t thought of.”
Her mother smiled. “That’s my girl. You can’t wait. Find Mallory. Whatever it takes. I can stay here in case anyone comes by.”
“Do you want me to go with you, Mrs. Scott?” Lupe asked enthusiastically.
Rachel was about to decline the offer, but she realized that Lupe was out of job if she didn’t find Mallory. A crazy thought, yet Rachel only felt guilt and pushed it out of her mind. “Of course you can,” she said, trying to match Lupe’s enthusiasm.
“What are you planning on doing, sweetie?” her mom asked.
“First I’m going to my office to download the flyer that the lady from the National Center for Missing Children sent me. Then Lupe and I will cover as many businesses in the Bal Harbour and north Miami area as possible.”
“I thought they did that already, honey?” Glenda asked cautiously to her daughter.
“Yeah?” Rachel stared blankly at the floor before a mask of excitement covered her face. “Well, maybe they missed some. They had to… I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” she replied, sounding as hopeful as ever.
“Do you want me to get your father to go with you?”
“No, let him rest.” Rachel was worried about the stress her father was under with his granddaughter missing. He had heart problems and her mother was already begging him to retire.
The phone rang and Rachel grabbed it on the second ring.
“Mrs. Scott? This is Detective Cooper. You got a minute?”
“What’s going on?” Rachel responded quickly.
“We went through our list of work vehicles that went through the gates the morning of Mallory’s disappearance. Evergreen Landscaping was on that list. When we contacted them, the owner told us that one of their trucks was stolen the night before. They verified that no jobs were scheduled in your neighborhood this week. One of our officers found the truck this morning at the airport.”
Rachel gasped for air, her lungs felt ice cold. “Mallory? Was she in the truck?”
“We don’t know that yet, Mrs. Scott. We’d like for you to come to the station.”
“When?”
“As soon as you can. We’ve got all the security tapes from the time frame the truck was parked and it would be helpful if you took a look as well.” He paused for a moment. “You know, in case Mallory’s appearance has changed.”
Rick was, of course, at the car dealership handling some issues that he said couldn’t wait. Rachel knew that he wanted to get out of the house just as much as she did. However, throwing himself into his work so soon after his daughter disappeared was ridiculous, in Rachel’s eyes, no matter how important the task was.
“I can be there within the hour.” Rachel wrote down the directions to his station and hung up. She turned to Lupe and her mother. “Change of plans, I’m going to watch some tapes.”
Chapter 9
Rachel shivered and wrapped her hands around the lukewarm can of Coke in front of her. Her skin chilled in a conference room that glazed her with meat locker temperatures. Rick sat rigidly next to her. Detective Red Cooper found a couple Miami PD windbreakers and lent them to the Scotts.
“Ready to start, Mr. and Mrs. Scott?”
“Yes,” Rachel said, between the chattering of her teeth.
Captain Garcia had met with the Scott’s while Detective Cooper set up the viewing room. The captain explained to them upfront that Mallory wasn’t seen on the tapes and that they were still working on identifying the man who stole the truck.
Detective Cooper sat opposite of the Scotts and pressed a button on his computer. Rachel and Rick leaned closer to the screen to get a better look. “We got the guy driving the work truck on video — this will be the one you watch first. I want to see if you recognize him although it’s not a great view. As Captain Garcia informed you, no one else was seen with this man and he hasn’t been identified yet. Here’s where he walks out of the parking lot and out of range of the camera. We think he got picked up by another vehicle — possibly an accomplice.”
“Why look through all the tapes? If Mallory wasn’t with him and he didn’t go inside the airport?” Rachel asked. She tried to focus but it was becoming a challenge battling the pounding headache of sorrow she had succumbed to. She knew what the detective’s answer would be and was sure Rick did too. Yet, however much she was prepared for it, she didn’t like it.
“Rachel,” Detective Cooper stared into her eyes with caution. “Even though Mallory wasn’t found with this man, we have reason to believe this is the guy who took her. The man at ground zero. For the first time we have something concrete, something we find substantial to resolving the case.”
Tears began to carve paths down Rachel’s face. “This man has my baby?”
“He was the one who we believe took Mallory. I know this hard for you but we need you to watch in case you notice anything… familiar.”
Rachel stared at nothingness — just like she had a million times after the day she lost Mallory. Yet, this time was different. Red confirmed what Rick and she had feared most yet knew to be true. Mallory hadn’t wandered away — she was taken. Gone. Forever.
“Who does the truck belong to?” Rick spouted off, frustrated.
“Evergreen Landscaping. It explains how he got in and out. The owner of Evergreen has confirmed that the truck was stolen. I spoke to the officer who took the report.”
The Scotts said nothing more, and after two hours of looking at tapes, Rachel stood up and stretched her back. She was ready to take a break. All they had seen was a blurry truck pulling into Miami International and a view of a pixelated white man walking off screen.
“This is the last tape.” Detective Cooper paused the program on the computer. “Do you need a break?”
“Dammit!” Rachel had finally snapped. She stood up and pounded her fists against the wall. Her daughter was gone. Taken by some strange man who did God knows what with her. Rachel kept pounding until the pain in her fists felt incredible to her. For the first time since Mallory went missing, she felt alive.
“Rachel!” Rick yelled, red-faced. He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Calm down.”
“She’s never coming home! I’ve lost my baby for good.”
PART TWO — “CHANGES”
Chapter 10
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? We’d stay another week but your father has that doctor’s appointment. I can come back afterwards,” Rachel’s mother rambled, packing her luggage.
“It’s okay, Mom. You guys have stayed long enough.” Rachel picked a grey sweater off the bed and folded it before putting it in her mother’s suitcase. “It’s been three months. I think it’s time for you to get back to your own life.”
“I’m just sorry that we couldn’t help more. With your father’s health…” Glenda’s voice trailed off.
Rachel hated seeing her parent’s get older. Mallory’s disappearance had put a toll on everyone. Yet, physically, it had shown most in Rachel’s father. He had a mild heart attack the year before and was on several different medications. Every two months he had to visit his cardiologist for a check-up.
“Mom, its fine. You’ll be back for the holidays and that’s just around the corner. Go home, take care of Dad. We’ll be okay.”
Her mom gave her a hug. “What are your plans, honey?”
Rachel sat on the chaise lounge in the guest room, her eyes resting on a mystery novel sitting on the nightstand. She had danced around the idea of selling her real estate business — but then what would she do? Rick had pretty much gone back to work full-time running his dealerships. He was even planning his first trip to Orlando since Mallory’s disappearance. Keeping busy distracted his mind off his missing daughter, Rachel supposed. She wanted to do something more useful with her time. Selling real estate didn’t appeal to her anymore, hell nothing did. With millions of dollars in the bank, she could pretty much do anything she wanted.
“I don’t know yet, Mom. Maybe I’ll come visit you and Dad soon.” She knew as soon as the words were out of her mouth she wouldn’t do it, but just the notion pleased her parents. Rachel wasn’t ready to leave the house just yet. She had to stay put, just in case Mallory was found.
Rachel finished helping her mom pack then went to wake her dad from his nap. After a quick lunch, she helped load their car and waved them away as they began the four and a half hour drive back to Tampa.
Finally in their absence, she made peppermint tea and settled down on the couch to watch the news. Turning to her favorite station, she watched a reporter interview the neighbor of a local missing boy, instantly striking a familiar, harsh note in her heart. She remembered seeing this story a few days ago. She turned up the T.V. and listened to a neighbor give his opinion on the family of the missing boy.
She was reminded of the scrutiny that the police department originally put on her and Rick when Mallory went missing. It was typical: look at the family first. Of course, Rachel thought it wasted a lot of time that could be spent trying to find the real kidnapper.
The young boy that was missing was believed to be kidnapped by his own father. The husband and wife were going through a bitter divorce and custody battle, the reporter announced. Rachel reached for a pen, writing down the woman’s name — Janine Jensen. Janine lived nearby in Coral Gables. Rachel opened up her laptop and tapped into the property records website that she had frequently used during her real estate days. Two addresses came up under the name Scott and Janine Jensen. She investigated further and found that one property was a vacant lot and the other was a single family residence. After copying the latter address, she went in search of a phone number. She found a listed number in the white pages and wrote that down as well.
She dropped her pen on the table and leaned back in her chair. “What am I doing?” she wondered aloud. For whatever reason, she felt a need to reach out to this lady. In the back of her mind, she supposed, it had something to do with Mallory. But she had learned to force those thoughts out of her tortured mind. If anyone knew what Janine was going through, Rachel did. She should call the woman. If anything, offer some comfort. Before she lost her nerve, Rachel picked her cell phone off the table and punched in the number. The call connected but she got a busy signal. Rachel tried a few more times over the hour, every time getting the hopeless beeps of a busy signal. Janine probably had the phone off the hook. Reporters, nosy neighbors, and nut jobs were probably plaguing her. Nothing new to Rachel, of course. She felt silly, even, forgetting the situational pressures Janine was most definitely under. She had experienced them herself, after all.
Tomorrow, decidedly, she would make the drive down to Coral Gables and visit Janine.
Chapter 11
The pink stucco house mirrored the rest of the dwellings on the street — one story homes with red-tiled roofs, two car garages, and small manicured yards with requisite palm trees. Rachel parked her BMW in front of the Jensen’s home. There weren’t any cars in the driveway and the street was fairly deserted for this time of day. She supposed that most people were at work, being that it was ten in the morning. This was definitely a working class neighborhood where most people had two or three jobs. For the first time in a long while, Rachel took a fresh breath and felt calm. It was the feeling of nostalgia — yards were kept clean, kids played in the streets after school, and dinner time was at six sharp. Rachel grew up in a similar neighborhood in Tampa.
Fighting her nerves, she grabbed her purse and walked to the front door. She wasn’t even sure if the lady was home.
Rachel rapped on the eggshell-colored door and waited for what felt like an eternity. A radio was blasting Top 40 music not far behind the door. She knocked harder. Just as Rachel was admiring the colorful pansies planted in the bed that surrounded the tiny front porch, the radio cut and the door opened all at once. A smell of herbal incense wafted through the door.
“If you are some kind of reporter, I’m not interested,” said the lady who opened the door. It wasn’t an aggravated tone that she used, it was one of tiredness. A tired, worn out, please-leave-me-the-hell-alone demeanor exuded from her.
“No worries.” Rachel replied after an awkward silence. “I’m not. But I’ve had my fair share of them lately.”
Janine stared at Rachel; her expression became inquisitive before radiating a surprised understanding. “You’re that lady whose daughter disappeared a few months ago. Ummm, Rachel Scott, right? I remember seeing you from the news.”
“Yep,” Rachel said, hesitantly. “That’s, uh, me.” She feigned a smile. “May I talk to you for a few minutes?”
“Oh, gosh. Yes, of course,” she rambled, opening the front door wider. “Come on in.”
Rachel followed Janine into her living room. She studied Janine, who was dressed in faded jeans and a worn t-shirt. Her hair was long and dark, streaked with a few bits of gray. The first expression that Rachel got of Janine was that she was laid back, carefree, and easy going.
Rachel took the couch and Janine occupied the rocking chair across from her. A tabby cat hopped onto her lap.
“I apologize for imposing on you. I tried calling several times first,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, the reporters keep calling. I’ve got my cell phone on stand-by in case the police or my bastard soon-to-be ex-husband decides to call.”
Rachel twisted with discomfort in her seat. This wasn’t entirely what she expected, but it felt necessary, nonetheless. “I imagine its tough dealing with that.” Rachel forced herself to relax and settled back in the couch and crossed her legs. “I saw your story on the news and wanted to come by and give you my support. I’d like to help…” Rachel trailed off. “But I’m not quite sure what I can do.”
“Well, thank you. What happened to, um, Mallory, right? If you don’t mind me asking, that is… I mean, the little I know came from what I saw on the news.”
Rachel, despite feeling sore about it, recounted the moment Mallory went missing and the days that followed. “It was hard. Hell, it’s still hard — never stopped being hard. Every morning I wake up and the first thought that goes through my mind is, ‘My daughter is gone’. It’s a hellish version of that movie, Groundhog Day. You know that movie?”
Janine nodded.
“I do the same thing every morning. I check the website that I set up for Mallory to see if anyone posted a comment. I check my email to see if anyone reported a lead. I call the detective on the case, asking for any new information — which is never there. Then I get in my car, ride around town, and stare at all the faces of any girls that even closely resemble Mallory. I talk to people on the street about her, even if it’s the hundredth time. Then I come home, eat dinner, go to bed and do it all over again in the morning.”
“I’m so sorry,” Janine said softly.
“It’s okay. If it isn’t too much, could you tell me what happened with your son?” Rachel asked. “If you feel comfortable with telling me, of course.”
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen?” Janine blew her nose with a tissue. “I’ll make us something to drink and we can talk about Jack there.”
Chapter 12
“It started last Saturday. I had to work late so my neighbor Pattie offered to keep Jack overnight. She lives on the next street over and has a boy close to Jack’s age. We trade babysitting all the time. Jack’s dad, Scotty, asked to come by for his birthday, which was the following day, but I refused. As I’m sure you’ve heard we’ve been going through a pretty nasty separation. Scotty has some, um, problems. Anyway, I got a call Sunday morning from Pattie.” Janine held the cup of tea up to her lips and lightly blew on it before taking a sip. “She went to wake up the boys for breakfast and noticed Jack wasn’t in his sleeping bag. After looking around the house, Pattie called me thinking I’d come by in the middle of the night — we have each other’s house keys — which, of course, I didn’t. I called Scotty while driving over to Pattie’s house hoping that he had picked up Jack. He didn’t answer the phone. When I got to Pattie’s house, we called the police.”
“Did you ever hear from Scotty?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah, he finally called me later that evening. He said he was out of town on a business trip and he didn’t know where Jack was. At this point, I was frantic. Scotty was my last hope. Even though we were going through a bad situation with the divorce and custody issues, I’d hoped that Jack was with his father and not some stranger.”
Rachel recalled hoping that someone she knew had picked Mallory up — a neighbor, the nanny, someone familiar to her.
Janine continued, “Scotty came by the house the next morning and met with the police. He gave them an alibi and insisted that he didn’t know what happened to Jack. Hell, he seemed as distraught as I was.”
“Do you believe him?” Rachel asked.
“No, I don’t. I don’t think the police do either. He’s lawyered up and has refused the polygraph. There were no signs of a break-in or force entry at Pattie’s house.”
“What did Pattie’s son say? They were sleeping in the same room?” Rachel asked.
Janine got up from the table and filled a plate with thumbprint cookies. “I just made these this morning. They’re Jack’s favorite.” She shivered as sat them on the table. “Her son didn’t hear anything. They stayed up late watching a movie in his room and fell asleep sometime after ten o’clock.”
Rachel chewed a piece of the strawberry jam-filled cookie. “Who is handling your case?”
Since Mallory went missing, Rachel found out more than she ever wanted to know regarding the protocol that the Miami P.D. followed for a missing person’s case. She felt like she knew nearly everyone on Detective Cooper’s team.
“Investigator Jamie Brewer — he’s been good with following up with me.”
“I’ve met him. He seems pretty thorough.” Rachel nibbled on her cookie.
A moment of silence passed before Janine spoke up. “So, here we are today. Scotty isn’t cooperating, other than to say he didn’t have anything to do with Jack’s disappearance and that he’s…” Janine made quotation marks with her long, slender fingers, “looking for him on his own.”
“The police have been to his house?”
“He lives in an apartment in Hialeah. And yeah, they’ve been there.”
“If Scotty did have Jack, where would he be keeping him? If not at his apartment…?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know… he has a sister that lives near Clearwater. His mom is deceased and he's estranged from his father.”
“Have you called Scotty’s sister?”
“No, I don’t even have her number. I’ve only met his sister a couple of times. She’s on welfare and has her hands full with five kids. I did give Detective Brewer all of the information I had on her.”
Rachel mulled over the information for a second. “My parents live in Tampa. I was thinking of going for a visit. I’d be happy to drive by his sister’s house, if you have her address… you know — see what I can find out.”
Janine was quiet for a moment as Rachel began to regret her involvement.
“Why are you doing this?” Janine asked.
“Offering to help you?”
“Yeah. I mean, you don’t even know me.”
“Because I can’t just sit still while there’s another missing child out there. My daughter is gone. But I have to keep busy. The police have exhausted every lead on Mallory but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep looking.” She took Janine’s cold hand in her own. “We can help each other.”
Janine’s eyes began to well up, but she caught herself. “I read that you’re a big real estate broker. Don’t you have to work?” she refuted.
Rachel thought about that for a minute. She had asked herself the same question many times. She’d worked hard over the last few years building her business. She had been at the top of her game. But, now, she was thinking about giving it all up to help other people find their missing loved ones. Why not? She had the money. She had the resources.
“I could go back to selling real estate, I suppose. But that doesn’t hold the same appeal to me that it used to. I don’t know how to help you understand my intentions other than telling you that my life has changed the minute my daughter went missing. I feel like I must try to do something to right the wrong in this world. I want to help other people find their missing loved ones. I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it, but I’d like to try.” Rachel shifted in her chair, struggling to find the right words. “I want to start by helping you find Jack. No strings attached. No money out of your pocket. What can it hurt?”
Rachel got up and walked toward the refrigerator. There was a picture of Janine’s family on the stainless steel front. A Rick Scott Imports magnet held the picture firmly in place. “This is my husband’s dealership,” Rachel said. Thousands of magnets had been given out since the dealership’s grand opening but it was still weird seeing one in a stranger’s home.
“Yeah, Scotty used to work there.”
Rachel’s stomach dropped as she spun around and stared at Janine. “When?”
“It’s been over three years since he was fired.” Janine fiddled with her mug. “Scotty bounces around from job to job. He’s not known for being reliable but he is a great mechanic.”
Rachel thought about the coincidence but quickly dismissed it. Her husband owned several car dealerships and employed hundreds of people around south Florida. So it wasn’t uncommon for Rachel to encounter a former employee from one of his businesses. Still, with a nagging feeling, Rachel thought she should probably mention this to Rick.
Chapter 13
Rachel stood in front of her husband with her hands on her hips. They were in his home office which was the only messy room in the whole house. Files and papers were stacked high on every available surface. Rick refused to let the housekeeper clean his office for fear that she would throw some valuable piece of paper away.
“Where are you going?” Rick asked again, looking up from his computer.
“If you would please get off the internet and pay attention to me, I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.” Rachel continued to glare at her husband.
“Sorry, I’m just up to my eyeballs in red tape with this new ad agency. The proofs for the new…”
Rachel cut him off mid-sentence. “I’m going to Tampa to see my folks and bringing a friend with me. Her name is Janine Jensen and her son Jack may have been kidnapped by her estranged husband. She believes her husband is hiding their son and maybe planning on moving out of the country with him. We’re going to stop in Clearwater to visit her sister-in-law. See if maybe she knows something about his disappearance.” Rachel inhaled deeply and crossed her arms over her chest. She decided to drop the other bomb on him. “Her husband used to work for you. Scotty Jensen. You fired him a few years ago.”
“What?” Rick stood up from his chair. His large frame towered over the desk. “You’re kidding right?”
“Nope.”
“So let me get this straight. Some guy who we fired a few years ago is involved in possibly kidnapping his own son. You’ve made friends with his wife and want to help her get her son back?”
“That about sums it up. I didn’t know about her husband working for you until today, though.”
“Why the hell are you getting involved with someone else’s problems, Rach? This is not like you. You have a business to run. We have our own daughter to find. I don’t want you to go!” he snapped.
“I didn’t think you would and I’m not asking for your permission. This woman needs my help and I want to do it. And I haven’t given up on finding our daughter.”
“I think you need to leave this business to the police. It’s their job, it’s what they do. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Rachel tried to reason with her husband. “The police have limited resources, not to mention hundreds of cases to handle. They’re overworked and underpaid. We’re just going to pay her sister-in-law a visit. That’s it. Nothing dangerous.”
Rick sighed. “Fine. You’re not going to listen to me anyway.” He slammed his laptop shut and walked out of the room without looking at her. “I’m going to the gym.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. Going to the gym was the equivalent to ditching Rachel and her feelings. She watched as he left the room. Their relationship was slowly suffering. Rick was becoming more concerned with work and Rachel was becoming obsessed with righting the wrongs of the world, whether it directly affected her or not.
Chapter 14
The apartment complex was located on the south side of town. A pale brick building that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Rachel parked in the nearly empty lot and left the car running. She turned to Janine. “Are you ready for this?”
“Yeah.” She picked at her nails. “I don’t know if this will turn out to be something or not. I hate if I wasted your time.”
“You’re not wasting my time. I offered, remember?” Rachel said, before turning off the car.
“Ok,” Janine hesitated. “Let’s do this.”
Rachel followed the cracked sidewalk, careful to step around broken pieces of concrete, until she found apartment 315.
“Here we go,” Rachel said. She could hear a cartoon show blaring through the T.V. and her nose caught the smell of fried chicken. She knocked hard on the door three times and stepped back.
After a bit of yelling, the door creaked open. A little girl with bright pink pajamas and dirty feet stood before them. Her long blonde hair hung in tangled waves with a small tiara on top of her head.
“Hi,” the little girl greeted them.
“Mom! It’s those ladies from social services again!” A voice yelled from behind the girl. The voice belonged to an older boy, who looked to be around nine or ten years old.
“No, we’re not from social services…” Rachel began to explain.
“Marcus, it’s me. Your aunt Janine.” Janine stepped forward and pushed the door open wider. “Can you get your mom for me?”
Rachel could now see deeper inside the tiny apartment. The front door exposed a minuscule living room crammed with toys amongst other stuff. Two more kids were sitting on the green shag carpet, playing with toy cars. A woman wearing a ratty robe came from a back room, a cigarette hanging from her bright pink lips and her mousy brown hair entangled into a ponytail.
“Hey, Natasha. It’s Janine.”
Only awkward silence answered her.
“Um, Scotty’s wife, remember? Can we come in?”
Natasha narrowed her eyes at Janine and Rachel. “Jan, I reckon I ain’t surprised. Ain’t nobody know where your son is if that’s why your here. I done told the police I everything I know.” Natasha’s large frame was blocking the entrance and it appeared she had no intention of letting them in.
“I just want to talk to you. Can we come in?” Janine asked again.
Natasha focused on Rachel, looking her up and down.
Rachel was glad she dressed way down today. Dark jeans with a faded polo shirt and Ked sneakers, her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her makeup was at a minimal. She followed Natasha’s gaze to her ring finger where her four carat diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight.
“Who’s your rich friend?” Natasha asked Janine, snidely.
Sometimes you just can’t hide who you really are, Rachel thought.
“I’m Rachel.” She held out her hand to Natasha who seemingly intensified her glare before stepping aside to let them in, ignoring Rachel’s hand.
“Kids, to your room! Off the couch. Take your sister with y’uns.”
The three boys carted off their sister into the back room. Rachel sat gingerly on the sofa, worried by the many unidentifiable stains and cigarette burns.
“I ain’t seen that no-good brother of mine in over two years, so I don’ reckon I know what good this is gonna do.” Natasha spat from opposite of the couch, on an equally nasty recliner. Rachel winced at Natasha’s dirty feet. An unnatural black crust carpeted her soles beneath protruding toenails so sharp they could cut diamonds. “Your boy ain’t here, that’s for sure.”
“We were hoping you could tell us something that will help find him,” Janine said.
“Like what?”
Janine looked at Rachel for help.
“Like, if you know some friends he may have in the area. You grew up here, right?” Rachel asked.
“The only friend Scotty may still talk to is holed up on the other side of town. Last I heard Scotty owes him some money. That boy is no good son-of-a-bitch… I doubt he’s seen him lately.”
“Who would that be?” Janine asked.
“Adam Bloomfield. He’s works over at the Pier House Marina.”
Chapter 15
Rachel and Janine shared a plate of seafood nachos at the Pier House. The sound of sails gently flapping in the breeze and the cool, salty air on their skin was admittedly distracting their worried minds. But they hadn’t so hastily forgotten the purpose of their visit — they were waiting for Adam Bloomfield to get off work. Rachel had asked to see him at the dock master’s office, but the dock master had informed them that Adam was out on his employer’s boat, The Loan Ranger, and wasn’t expected to return until six. So, Rachel and Janine decided to take refuge at the Pier House restaurant until Adam returned from business.
“I can’t find an address for Adam.” Rachel put her Blackberry away and plucked a piece of shrimp off the pile of tortilla chips.
“He probably rents.”
“Right. Well, when was the last time you saw Adam?”
“At Scotty’s ten-year high school reunion. I barely remember him. Scotty doesn’t really have a lot of close friends but he and Adam have kept in touch over the years. Scotty would meet him for a drink after work if Adam was in town. Haven’t seen him since the reunion, though.”
“Do you know how long he’s been working as a deck hand?”
“I do remember Scotty telling me that Adam’s been working around boats since their high school days. I guess it’s pretty lucrative with the tips and all.”
“Did your son ever meet Adam?”
Janine shook her head. “Not that I know of. Scotty took Jack fishing a couple of times while I was working but I don’t think Adam went with them.”
Rachel checked her watch. It was almost five. “After we finish eating, should we take a walk down to the marina? Wait for him there?”
Janine drained the rest of her wine. “I’m ready when you are.”
They paid the check and headed directly to the boat slips. Rachel counted five yachts of various sizes that were docking for the night and another two that were heading out for a sunset cruise.
“There’s the boat.” Janine pointed at an all-white, forty-two foot Brewer sailboat idling into slip number forty-nine. The Loan Ranger was emblazoned on the hull.
A man with dark leathery skin, a lanky build, and sandy blond hair hopped onto the dock and tied the line to the bollard. “Is that him?” she asked Janine.
“Yeah, I think so.” Janine waited until he was done securing the boat and then walked to the bow. “Adam!” she yelled and waved her hand at him.
Adam looked down at Janine, his hand shielding the last rays of sun shining down on them. “Yeah?”
“It’s Janine. Janine Jensen.” She waited for some kind of recognition. When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “Scotty Jensen’s wife.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s up?” Adam wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Adam looked around before answering. “Sure. Give me fifteen minutes. I need to clean up then I can meet you at the bar.”
Janine nodded and she and Rachel began walking back toward the restaurant. “This is a little awkward. Do you think he will tell us anything useful?”
“Maybe. But then again, maybe not.” Rachel made her way to the same bar stool she occupied before and sat down.
“What do I say to him?” Janine took the seat next to her. “For all I know, he’s calling Scotty right now and telling him that I’m here.”
“I’d start by asking him when he last saw Scotty. Also, if he’s ever met your son.” Rachel ordered two iced teas while they waited. “After that, see where it goes.”
They sat at the bar for nearly thirty minutes, nursing their drinks. They were just about to go find Adam when he finally showed.
“Now’s your chance,” Rachel whispered. Rachel noted that he had changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, and his hair was still damp from his recent shower.
“’Bout time,” Janine mumbled.
“Hello, ladies.” Adam sat down on a bar stool next to Rachel and ordered a beer from the tap. “Y’all need anything?”
They both declined. Janine quickly introduced him to Rachel. “It’s been awhile,” she tried to sound friendly to the man who possibly knew where her missing son was.
Adam took a long draw from his beer. “It has. How’s Scotty?”
“He’s okay I guess. We’re going through a divorce right now. So I don’t see him that much.” Janine picked nervously at her napkin.
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam sipped his beer again, the foamy head of which now rest on his upper lip, ignored.
“I know you’re curious as to why I’m here,” Janine began.
Adam smiled at her. “I am.”
“My son, Jack… he’s missing.”
Adam flagged the bartender down for another beer, his face void of concern.
Janine hesitated, but Rachel gave her an encouraging nod. “I’m contacting all of Scotty’s friends and family to see if they know anything about Jack’s disappearance.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that. I haven’t talked to Scotty in ages,” Adam said. He looked into his mug as if searching for the right words to say. “How old is your son?”
“He’s three.”
“Huh. I knew you had a son, but I’ve never met him.”
“When was the last time you said you talked to Scotty?” Rachel jumped in.
“A couple of years ago — I was down in Miami, getting ready for a trip to the Bahamas. He met me at the marina and we had a couple of beers. That was it. I tried calling him at the dealership the next time I was in town, but they said he didn’t work there anymore. His cell phone was disconnected.” Adam finished his beer and laid two five dollar bills on the bar. “I hope that helps.”
“When was that? The last time you were in town?” Rachel asked.
“This past June.” Adam got up from his seat. “If that’s all ladies… I need to get back to work.”
“Well, thanks for your time. If you hear anything about my son, please give me a call.” Janine handed him a flyer with Jack’s picture and wrote her cell phone number on the back.
Adam took the flyer, folded it over several times before sticking it into his back pocket. “Nice to meet you gals.” He nodded to Rachel and patted Janine on the back. “Good luck with everything.”
Janine waited until he was out of ear shot. “Well? What now?”
“I don’t believe him.” Rachel grabbed her purse off the bar.
“Why not?”
“He’s lying to us. He said the last time he saw Scotty was two years ago. You told me that Scotty was fired at the dealership over three years ago. So how come last June when Adam came in town, he called the dealership looking for Scotty? Shouldn’t he have known that Scotty didn’t work there two years ago when he last saw him?”
Janine thought about it for a minute. “You’re right. But… he could’ve gotten his dates wrong. Or maybe Scotty didn’t tell him that he lost his job.”
Rachel shrugged. “Call it women’s intuition or whatever you’d like, but I still think he’s lying.”
Chapter 16
Back at their room, Rachel decided to take a hot shower while Janine checked in with her house sitter. She lathered up her hair with strawberry-scented shampoo and thought about what she was going to say to Rick when she got back to Miami. Even before her impromptu trip to Clearwater, they’d been living separate lives. Rick had spent an increasing amount of time at the dealership while she combed every corner of the internet to try and unearth a lead on Mallory. She read through the forums on missing persons websites, walked the site where Mallory’s doll was discovered to look for more clues, and cruised through the airport and bus terminals searching the faces of children. She would end her day at Detective Cooper’s office to check in with him. At first, Rick was patient with her. He would even accompany her on her outings. Then his enthusiasm fell off. Soon, he stopped altogether. One weekend, she told him that she was considering selling her real estate and property management business. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, but real estate just wasn’t in her heart anymore — nothing was. Rick was furious with her. He thought she was nuts to give up such a lucrative business that she’d worked extremely hard at for so long. She couldn’t make him understand that with Mallory gone, nothing was worth living for. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand he just didn’t want to.
She stepped out of the shower, dried off, and slipped on a pair of cotton drawstring pants and a matching shirt. With a towel wrapped around her wet hair, she walked out of the bathroom.
“Feel better?” Janine asked her.
“Yeah, thanks. How’s everything at home?”
“Good. My house sitter said that Scotty stopped by this afternoon to see me.”
“What did she tell her?”
“That I was out of town visiting friends.”
Rachel contemplated that for a minute. “Do you think our friend Adam tipped him off that we were here asking questions?”
“Probably.”
“If Adam has anything to do with this, we better find out soon.”
“Think we should call Detective Cooper?” Janine asked.
“So far, we really don’t have much to go on other than womanly instinct.”
“And the fact that Adam lied to us.”
Rachel shrugged. “Doesn’t really mean much to a police officer. Like you said, Adam could’ve had his dates wrong.”
“Right.” Janine rolled her eyes.
“Let’s see what tomorrow turns up. Then we can hand over what we know to Detective Cooper and he can take it from there.” Rachel took a brush and worked on detangling her hair. “After we have breakfast with my parents, we can head back to the marina. We’ll talk with Adam one more time before we head back to Miami.”
“I hope we come up with something.” Janine sat on the bed next to Rachel, flipping through the channels on the T.V. “I feel like I’m running out of options.”
“We’ll find Jack. You’ll see. Just have to keep the faith.”
Chapter 17
The sailboat rocked gently with the chop of the water. It was a 1985 Sea Sprite and was Adam’s pride and joy. He had spent every last dime he’d made meticulously renovating the interior with exquisite cherry and teak woods, new appliances, and lighting. The money he was getting from doing a favor for his old pal was going to come in handy. Adam was looking forward to using that cash to finish the exterior of the boat. Then he could take a few months off to sail around the Bahamas.
Adam pushed a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and a pile of grapes to the little boy. “Eat up. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“I’m not hungry.” The little boy didn’t look up from the portable DVD player. He brushed away the dark hair that fell into his pale face.
“You need to eat something.” Adam reached down and closed the DVD’s lid.
“Hey! Put it back!” the little boy protested.
“After you eat your sandwich and drink the milk I gave you, then you can finish watching your movie.”
A tear rolled down the little boy’s cheek as he took a tentative bit of the sandwich. “When am I going to see my mommy?”
Adam turned his attention to his own sandwich — a pimento cheese and ham. “I told you. We’re meeting your dad tomorrow. He’s going to take you on vacation.”
“I don’t wanna see my daddy. I want my mommy.”
“You’ll have to ask your dad about that, Cowboy. Now eat up if you want to watch your movie again.”
“My name’s not Cowboy,” the boy whispered under his breath.
Adam knew the little boy’s patience was wearing thin. He was happy to help out his old buddy Scotty and the money he was getting for “babysitting” the kid was nice, but now he worried. The presence of the kid’s mother was unsettling to him. Scotty had told him about the custody problems and that Janine was emotionally abusing the kid, but Adam began to doubt if that held any truth. Janine was nice enough the first time that he met her and she seemed really concerned today about her son. It wasn’t easy to figure people out, especially what their demeanor was like at home, but she didn’t seem like someone who would be abusive to her son.
He finished his pimento sandwich in three bites and threw the paper plate in the trash.
“All done?” Adam asked, noting the boy had eaten almost all of his meal. “Then throw away your trash.”
“No!”
“Look, kid. You want to finish your movie?”
“I want my mommy!” The boy started to cry again.
Adam ran his hands through his hair. This was getting to be a little more than what he bargained for. He threw away the remnants of the little boy’s meal before turning on the DVD player.
“I’m going to step out and make a call. You stay here at watch your movie.” Adam swiped his cell from the kitchen counter and made his way onto the deck. He carefully stepped around the stern and placed his call.
“Scotty, its Adam. We all set for tomorrow?”
“Glad you called. Change of plans. Can you meet me at Bruster’s Marina instead? Same time?”
“That’s another hour away.”
“So leave early.”
“It’ll be an extra hundred. Gas and all.”
Scotty grunted on the other end.
“Look, that’s not all. I had a visitor earlier today. You told me there wouldn’t be any problems.”
“What visitor?”
“Your fuckin’ wife, Scotty. Janine and some lady came to my work.”
There was a pregnant pause on the other end. “What did she want?”
“I think you know the answer to that, man.”
“Just answer the damn question, Adam!”
“She was asking if I had seen her kid around.”
“My kid. Jack is my son.” Scotty let out a long sigh. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her that I didn’t know anything. You know me, if I tell you I’ll keep my mouth then I will.”
“What about Donna?”
“My girlfriend? Donna ain’t gonna say nothing. She only babysat your kid twice while I was working. She thinks Jack is my nephew. No biggie.”
“Okay,” Scotty breathed heavily into the phone. “How is Jack doing?”
“He wants his mom,” Adam said, exasperated. “What’s really going on here?”
“Just get my kid down here. On time. Tomorrow. Don’t worry about Janine — I’ll handle her.”
Adam snapped his cell phone shut and had to stop himself from throwing it into the water. He may be doing his old buddy a favor and he may be getting paid for said favor, but he didn’t need to be treated like an imbecile. Tomorrow he would deliver Jack to his dad, get his money, and he and Scotty would be even. He could care less if he saw Scotty again. This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth.
Chapter 18
“Your parents were very nice,” Janine said as they drove back from Clearwater. Breakfast with Rachel’s parents only took a couple of hours.
“Thanks.” Rachel blew out a breath. “I feel bad because I don’t get to see them that often. It seems like I always have something going on. With real estate, I worked eighty hours a week before Mallory was born. Then when she came along, I cut back on my hours and spent every chance I could with my daughter. After she went missing, I threw myself into finding her. It made a huge impact on my parents; especially my dad who is still recovering from a heart attack.” Rachel made the turn onto the Clearwater toll bridge and directed her car towards the marina where Adam worked.
“Now I’m taking up your time to help me find Jack.” Janine reached in her bag and pulled out a tube of lip balm.
Rachel glanced at her new friend. “Remember, I offered to do this. I want to help you.”
“Right… thanks.” She applied the lip balm generously. “I’m just not used to people wanting to help me. Everything I have is because I worked hard for it.”
“I can understand that. I’m no stranger to hard work myself.”
“Think Adam is still at the marina?”
“Hopefully. I think it’ll pay off to make one more visit to him before we head back to Miami. If nothing turns up, we can call Detective Cooper and see where they are on the case. Maybe he’ll have some suggestions.”
The marina parking lot was pretty deserted that morning. Rachel easily found a parking space close to the docks. When they got out of the car, Rachel spotted the dock master who had given her Adam’s whereabouts the day before.
“Morning, Mr. Dickerson,” Rachel greeted him with a smile.
“Good morning. Still looking for Adam?”
“We saw him yesterday. Thought we’d say goodbye before we left town.”
“Well, you just missed him. He took off for Miami with his nephew.”
Janine and Rachel exchanged puzzled glances.
“Nephew?” Janine asked.
“Yeah. Little boy — about two or three? Dark hair. Adam said he was taking him home today.”
“You didn’t say anything about a boy staying with Adam when we spoke yesterday,” Rachel said to him.
The dock master shrugged. “You didn’t ask.” He narrowed his eyes. “Is there a problem?”
Janine started to say something, but Rachel put her hand on Janine’s arm. “No problem. We didn’t realize he was heading back to Miami so early. Did he drive?”
Mr. Dickerson turned his attention back to the water. “Far as I know. His sailboat is still docked. Such a shame. It’s a good day to be on the water.”
“Well, thanks for your help. Have a good day.” Rachel held onto Janine’s arm and guided her back to the car.
“What was that about?” Janine pulled her arm away.
“Sorry, I didn’t want him to call Adam and warn him or something.” Rachel unlocked the car door. “Come on.”
“But what about my son?”
“We’ll head to Miami. I’ll call Detective Cooper on the way and tell him what we’ve found out. Let him handle everything from here. Maybe he can run Adam’s driver’s license and find out what kind of vehicle he drives.”
Janine jumped in the car. “Okay, let’s hurry. There’s no telling what Scotty has planned.”
Chapter 19
The drive from Clearwater to Miami usually took Rachel about four and a half hours. However, she made it back in less than four. She called Detective Cooper on the way and told him what they found out about Adam hiding Janine’s son on the sailboat. Detective Cooper asked them to come straight to the station so he could meet with them. In the meanwhile, he said he was going to get the local Clearwater P.D. over to the marina to interview the dock master and acquire the information on Adam so they could alert the highway patrol.
Janine began to cry. “I should feel relieved, but I don’t. Not until I get Jack away from that monster.” She rubbed her hands nervously. “I can’t believe that asshole did this me!”
“Scotty never gave you any indication that he would take Jack away from you?” Rachel asked delicately. She wanted to find out exactly what kind of man they were dealing with. Up until now, Janine had been pretty quiet about her relationship with her husband. Rachel understood they didn’t have a particularly pleasant marriage — a lot of people didn’t. And now they were in the middle of a divorce — a lot of people were. But to take your child away from his mother without a good cause was baffling to her. Why would someone want to do that? Maybe she did bite off more than she could chew with offering to help Janine.
Janine brushed the tears away from her face. “Scotty was abusive, more emotionally than physically. Though, he did knock me down once.”
“Once is enough,” Rachel muttered and shot a sideways glance at Janine.
“Well, I didn’t realize how conniving he really was until he did this. I guess it goes to show you that you really don’t know someone as well as you thought you did.”
Rachel parked in the lot across from the Miami P.D. Once inside, a receptionist escorted them to Detective Cooper’s office.
“Have a seat,” Detective Cooper gestured to the worn chairs in front of his desk.
“Did they find the bastard?” Janine asked impatiently.
“Not yet. We have the highway patrol on alert with the make and model of Adam’s truck. If he left when Mr. Dickerson said they did, then they are probably already here in Miami. We also have an officer staked out at your husband’s place of residence, but we don’t think he’s home. Do you have any idea where your husband may have set up a meeting place?”
“No, I don’t know or I would be there,” Janine said, the frustration growing in her voice.
“And no knowledge of Scotty owning a boat or any type of marine vessel?”
“We used to own a Hobie Cat but Scotty sold that when he lost his job.”
“Okay. Here’s the thing.” Detective Cooper picked up a pen and twirled it between his fingers. “When dealing with this type of situation… when one spouse has taken their child and there’s no clear custody arrangement in place… it’s hard to intervene legally.”
“But Jack is with a stranger!” Janine fought to keep her emotions in check.
“We don’t know the exact dynamics of the situation. I have to admit, this is a little sticky. Unless you can prove otherwise, your husband has a legal right to the child just as much as you do. If he asked this guy Adam to babysit his child while he was working or something, then there is nothing we can do about that…”
“What about-” Rachel started, but was cut off by Detective Cooper.
He held up his hand. “Please, let me finish. If Scotty has Jack, and asked Adam to watch him for whatever reason, then there isn’t much we can do about that since there is no clear custody agreement in place. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t assist you in finding your son. What we can do is charge your husband with obstruction of justice for lying to us about your son whereabouts. When we questioned him, he said he didn’t have Jack and didn’t know where he was.”
Janine seemed to relax a little.
“What I suggest is that you call your attorney, if you haven’t already, and tell him about what happened. See if you can get a temporary protective order,” Detective Cooper suggested.
“I’ll do that right away,” Janine agreed. “Until then, what can we do to help with the search? If Scotty leaves the country, I may never find Jack.”
Rachel rubbed Janine on the arm, comforting her. “We’ll find him.”
“We’re doing the best we can.” Detective Cooper stood up from his chair abruptly and began rubbing his hand across his chest. His face turned several shades of red.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked, growing concerned.
The detective reached for a roll of antacids on his desk and popped two in his mouth. “Yeah, yeah. Indigestion, part of the job. Now, I have to hit the streets.” He walked them back to the reception area. “We’ll call you as soon as we know something.”
“What now?” Janine asked as they left the building.
Rachel could tell Janine was beginning to break down. The not knowing gets you every time, Rachel thought. She knew that better than anyone. “Do what Detective Cooper suggested. Call your attorney.”
“Okay.” Janine waited until they got in the car and called her attorney. Rachel waited while Janine discussed the issue with him.
“Well, what did your attorney say?” Rachel asked when Janine got off the phone.
“He’s drawing up the temporary custody order now,” she said excitedly. Then, the excitement abruptly drained from her. “This really doesn’t matter if I don’t find him soon though.”
“It does matter because we are going to find him,” Rachel assured her.
Janine looked down when her cell phone rang, her face expressed concern.
“Who is it?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t recognize the number. It’s from Miami, though.”
“Answer it!”
Rachel watched as Janine gripped the phone tighter, her face turning red. Whoever was on the other end had Janine jumping in her seat with excitement.
Chapter 20
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. And I promise no police.” Janine snapped the phone shut and grabbed her purse. “We have to go.”
“Who was that?”
“Adam,” Janine said breathlessly. “He admitted to having Jack and had second thoughts about helping Scotty. They’re at Bruster’s Marina where he’s supposed to meet Scotty in a few minutes. He made me promise that I wouldn’t turn him in.”
Rachel followed her out the door. “Maybe we should call Detective Cooper, just in case…”
“No!” Janine said firmly.
This was the most agitated Rachel had seen Janine since they met, yet she dare not question her. “Okay, I’ll drive. I know where this is. You can explain on the way.”
The drive to the marina took a little over thirty minutes with the heavy traffic. Rachel tried to keep Janine calm by talking to her. “We used to take our boat into another marina just down the street from Bruster’s Marina for maintenance and stuff,” she said.
“Adam said that he was supposed to meet Scotty at the marina. Why is he not answering his phone?” Janine nervously tapped her cell phone on her knee. Rachel’s distractions were not working. “I’m wondering if Mr. Dickerson gave him a heads-up and now he’s worried that he’s in trouble with the law.”
“I still think we should call Detective Cooper. What if this is some kind of trap?” Rachel asked, turning down the street that would take them to the marina.
“No! I don’t want to jeopardize getting my son back. Rachel, you promised you would help.”
Rachel pulled into the lot and slammed the car into park. “Okay, I just want to know what we’re walking into here.” She looked around for any signs of Adam or Scotty. “Where to now?”
“You can wait in the car. As a matter of fact, I’d feel better if you did. I don’t want to drag you into this any further than I already have.”
“Too late.” Rachel gave Janine what she thought was a reassuring smile. “I told you, I want to help. I’m here on my own accord. And I’m not waiting in the car.”
“Adam said to meet him at the restaurant next door.” Janine opened her door. “Wait, I see him!” Rachel saw a little boy holding the hand of the tall skinny man. It was definitely not Adam — it was Scotty, Janine’s husband. Rachel recognized him from a family picture she saw on Janine’s refrigerator.
“Janine, wait a…” Rachel started to say. It was too late. Janine started to sprint across the parking lot toward her son.
Chapter 21
Rachel froze. Adam was nowhere in sight. A look of shock draped from Scotty’s face; he wasn’t expecting Janine to show up to the marina which meant that he didn’t know that Adam had betrayed him. Scotty pulled Jack in close with a bear-hug. The boy was yelling for his mom but Scotty wouldn’t let him go.
Shit, Rachel thought, this isn’t going to end well. She looked around the parking lot for help but didn’t see any. Trying to maintain a level head, she walked quickly toward Janine and her family, hoping to keep the situation from blowing out of control. Scotty had been caught and he didn’t look like he was ready to give up so easily. The closer she got, the more pungent the hatred in Scotty’s eyes.
“Jack and I are leaving and there is nothing you can do it about, Janine!” he spat. “I have a right to him just as much as you do. I’ll let you say good-bye but that’s it.”
“You can’t do this Scotty. I’m his mother. You can’t take him away from me,” Janine pleaded with her husband. “Jack, you need to come with me.” Still standing a few feet away from her husband and son, she held her arms out to Jack.
Rachel’s heart was breaking with every passing moment. Jack was clearly confused. He was trying fiercely to break free from his father but Scotty maintained a strong hold on him. Janine was in tears, trying to reason with her husband. People had started to come out of the marina’s restaurant to see what the commotion was. Rachel walked a few feet closer and stood beside Janine.
“And who the hell are you?” Scotty asked. His attention was momentarily distracted from Janine.
“I’m, uh,” Rachel felt like she had made a mistake. She was starting to second guess herself. It was wrong for her to come here. For once, since Mallory’s disappearance, she agreed with Rick — this was a bad idea. “I’m a friend of Janine’s,” Rachel acknowledged.
Scotty’s eyes flickered between the girls as he picked Jack up and held him tightly. “Okay… okay. Pleased to fucking’ meet ya. We’re going to leave now. Jack, say ‘bye’ to your mom.”
“No!” Jack yelled, wriggling in Scotty’s grasp.
“Is everything okay here?” a woman asked from the emerging crowd.
“Everything is fine!” Scotty screamed at her, dragging Jack toward the boat slips.
“Mommy!” Jack screamed as Scotty continued to walk away from them.
Janine followed them and turned to Rachel. “You have to do something. He can’t take my baby away from me!”
Rachel pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and found it wasn’t necessary — two police cars, sirens wailing, came screeching into the parking lot. Rachel turned and ran to the nearest police car, shocked when she saw Detective Cooper get out of the first one.
“Scotty has Jack and they’re headed down to his boat. Janine is following them!” Rachel said hurriedly and pointed toward the docks.
“Does he have any weapons?” Detective Cooper asked.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see any.” Rachel looked for Janine, but couldn’t see her anymore. “He was extremely agitated though.”
Detective Cooper motioned for another police officer to follow him. “Stay here,” he shot at Rachel.
Rachel held her breath while the detective and his officer quickly make their way toward the boats. As she leaned against the squad car, she heard a loud pop then a scream — a child’s scream.
Chapter 22
Rachel was rooted to the spot. Jack was screaming, “Mommy! Help me!” The other officer that was standing at the squad car next to her suddenly took off. She looked around the parking lot at the growing crowd. Rachel couldn’t stand just waiting around while hearing a child screaming. Screw Detective Cooper, she thought. She had to go.
Rachel hesitated for a bit before quickly making her way down the boardwalk to the further boats. Following Jack’s screams, she turned a corner and saw Janine standing near Scotty’s boat at the end of the dock. Another scream — this time it sounded like Scotty. Rachel picked up the pace and started walking faster to the boat.
“Let him go, now!” Detective Cooper shouted in the distance.
Suddenly, Jack ran out from the back of the boat to his mother’s outstretched arms. Janine squeezed her son tightly before picking him up and running down the boardwalk toward Rachel.
“What happened?” Rachel asked Janine. “Are you okay?”
Janine just shook her head in disbelief. “Scotty… He… he’s gone crazy!”
Rachel walked Janine back to her car, where they sat in the back seat. Jack was softly crying while Janine stroked his back and whispered softly in his ear.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked from outside the open door.
“He’s fine. We’re just a little shaken up. We’ll be okay.” Janine rocked in her seat. “I’ve got Jack back and that’s all that matters.” She smiled gratefully at Rachel. “Thank you.”
Rachel looked up in time to see the police officer marching Scotty down the boardwalk in handcuffs with Detective Cooper trailing behind. They brought him to the first patrol car and thrust him into the back seat. After slamming the door with a thud, Detective Cooper walked toward Rachel and Janine. Rachel’s eyes fixated on Scotty for a second. He was staring back at her with a smile that sent shivers down her back.
“We’re going to take him down to the station. Janine, you can meet us there,” Detective Cooper said, oblivious to the silent exchange going on between Rachel and Scotty.
“She just got reunited with her child. Can’t it wait?” Rachel turned her attention back to Detective Cooper.
“She can bring Jack with her. We’ll need to talk with him, as well.”
Rachel turned to Janine. “Want me to come with you? I can stay with Jack while you talk with them.”
“Are you sure? I know you must be ready to go home. This has been a long, emotional three days.”
“I’m sure. I can drive you home after you’re done.” Rachel gave her new friend a quick hug. “I’ll call my husband on the way to the station.”
Janine nodded. Rachel closed the door and then slipped into the front seat. “We’ll meet you there,” she said to Red.
A long sigh of relief escaped Rachel’s lungs and she backed out of the marina parking lot and steered the car toward downtown Miami.
Chapter 23
The warm, sudsy water invited Rachel to slide underneath the bubbles. She held her breath for as long as she could and let the warmth of the water ease her fatigued muscles.
She hadn’t returned home until nine o’clock that evening. After staying with Janine and her son at the police station, she drove them home. Scotty was charged with child endangerment and obstruction of justice and was booked into jail. However, Detective Cooper warned them that Scotty could be out in a matter of twenty-four hours and would likely get probation since he didn’t have a past criminal history.
When Rachel got home, she found it empty and dark. Her calls to Rick that day had, so far, been unreturned. She found a note on the kitchen counter.
Gone to Orlando for a meeting. Be back late tonight.
— Rick
Rachel reached for a white fluffy towel and stepped out of the tub. She knew that Rick was upset with her over many things — because she was thinking about selling her real estate business, because she got involved with a stranger’s business, and because she was spending all of her free time and money on trying to find their own child. Rick couldn’t understand why she didn’t let the police do their job and why she couldn’t just move on with her own life.
Rachel thought oppositely — she didn’t understand why Rick didn’t spend more time helping her find their daughter. Rick just threw himself back into running his car dealerships and pursuing new business. For him, it was all about money. It was all about moving on. It made Rachel’s stomach turn. He wanted Rachel to move on with her life, go back to running her real estate business, and that pissed her off.
She toweled off and slipped on her robe. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she ran a comb through her long locks, becoming angry. Tugging at the tangles in her hair, she thought about the conversation that had to take place when Rick returned from Orlando.
Rachel had decided what she wanted to do with the money she was going to receive from the sale of her business. It turned out to be a lucrative deal — over one million dollars for the real estate and property management business plus monthly residuals of ten percent of the gross business for the next five years. Her property management business currently brought in around a hundred grand a month in leases and most of the commercial leases had ten years left on them. She would have ten grand a month in income for the next five years at minimum. It was more than enough for her to live on comfortably. The million dollars of profit could easily buy office space, equipment, and manpower. Rachel smiled and felt more relaxed. She could make this work. Now the only problem was — would Rick support her? If not, she was prepared to do it on her own. She would find out soon enough. Tomorrow morning, Rachel was going to confront Rick with her decision. A life changing one for both of them.
Chapter 24
The next morning, Rachel settled herself across the breakfast table from Rick. A plate of muffins and a pot of coffee sat between them as Rachel picked at her breakfast. Rick had come home sometime in the middle of the night and slept on the couch. She took a deep breath, and said the words she knew Rick dreaded to hear.
“We need to talk.”
Rick slowly put down the newspaper. “Okay.”
“I have a buyer for the real estate business. It’s the guy from Keller Williams who has been hounding me to sell for the past few months. He’s willing to pay my asking price.”
“You really want to do that?”
“Yes, I do. I’m starting a search and rescue company with the money I’m receiving from the sale.” Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. It was all out in the open now. She’d made up her mind and it felt good to tell Rick what her future plans were.
“Rachel, you know nothing about search and rescue. Are you out of your mind?” Rick slammed his hand down on the newspaper.
“That’s why I’m going to hire the best in the business. You know what Detective Cooper told me when he was assigned to Mallory’s case?” Her voice filled with anger before continuing. “Florida ranks third in the United States for missing people and most of those are children. Children, Rick. Helpless kids are being torn away from their families.”
“I’m sure some of those are runaways. Not every situation is like ours, Rachel. A lot of people disappear on purpose. Probably running away from a bad situation.”
“Right, I know that. But I can help those who weren’t — the children who were taken from their home forcibly. People who vanished under extraordinary circumstances. Elderly people who wander away from their homes. Kids who were abducted from playgrounds.”
“What knowledge do you have to help these people? You can’t even…” Rick stopped when he realized the words he was about to say.
“I can’t what, Rick?” Rachel stood up angrily, throwing her chair back. She glared at him. “I can’t find my own daughter! Is that what you were about to say?”
“Rachel, please sit back down. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’ve done everything possible to find Mallory.” Rick softened his voice. “But we can’t stop living our life. It’s time to move on.”
Rachel stomped around the table and got within an inch of Rick’s face. “I will never, ever let go. Ever. Unlike you, I haven’t given up. I will find our daughter if it takes the rest of my life.”
“Is that what you think? That I’ve given up on Mallory? I love her, too, Rachel. I spent many hours wandering around Miami looking for our daughter! I want her home just as bad as you do. But I know my limits. I can’t spend every day wallowing around in self-pity. I have to do something or I’ll go crazy thinking about it. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on her. I’ll always have hope.”
“Wallowing around in self-pity? Is that what you think I do? I can’t go back to work Rick. It has no meaning for me anymore. I can use this money to help other people. And while I’m doing that, I can still look for our daughter.”
“That’s what the police are for. It’s their jobs to look for missing people. Not yours.”
Rachel sighed. “Were you not listening to me? The police don’t have the manpower or the funds to look for every missing person — they just don’t. I know I can’t help everyone but I can start with one person. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a difference. I helped Janine find her son.”
Rick refilled his cup with coffee. “No matter what I say you are still going to do this anyway.”
“I’ve already started. I’ve booked a trip to Texas. There’s an organization that helps locate missing persons. They have training sessions for people who want to volunteer. I’m going to learn as much as I can from them and then come back to Miami to start my own organization.”
Rachel had already thought about asking Detective Cooper to help. He had mentioned retiring from the police force and starting a private investigation service. He would make a good asset to her team.
“Then why are we discussing this if you’ve already made up your mind?”
“Because I want your support, Rick. I need to know that you’re behind me a hundred percent.”
Rick stood up and poured the rest of his coffee down the kitchen sink. He kept his back to her. “I’m sorry Rachel. I don’t think this is the best idea. I can understand donating some money to this Texas organization. But putting your life on the line to help other people… that’s not you. That’s not going to help bring Mallory home.”
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Rachel walked over to Rick and touched him on the shoulder. “I need to do this Rick. For myself, for Mallory. Why can’t you understand that?”
Rick pulled away, gathering his briefcase and newspaper from the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry Rach. I just can’t support you on this one.”
As Rick walked out of the house, Rachel slid to the floor. Her back resting against the kitchen cabinet, she started to cry. The sound of Rick’s car pulling out of the driveway caused her to sob louder. Rachel knew at that point, she’d lost her husband forever.
Chapter 25
The Route 9 was a busy restaurant in Coral Gables. It was one of Rachel’s favorite places to have lunch with clients. She sat across from Janine and gave her the news she’d been reluctant to share with anyone.
“Rick and I have separated.” Rachel reached for a corn muffin and placed it on her napkin.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?” Janine asked, a guilty feeling welling up inside her. She felt somewhat responsible for their breakup.
“No, but thanks. Just having someone to talk to helps.” Rachel lathered her muffin with butter.
“Well, I’m here anytime you need to talk about anything. I owe you so much for your help in getting Jack back from his father.”
“You don’t owe me anything. How’s Jack doing?”
“Good. He’s back in school. We’re seeing a therapist. She’s really nice. I think it’s helping him get over what Scotty did.”
“That’s good to hear. When is his court date?”
“He already had a hearing. Plead not guilty to all charges. His trial doesn’t start for another three months.”
“Has he seen Jack since then?” Rachel asked.
Janine pushed the salad around on her plate. “Only once. His attorney was able to get supervised visitations. We meet once a week at his attorney’s office and Jack gets to see his father for one hour. I don’t like it, but right now there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“It’ll get better.” Rachel put her own fork down. She wasn’t as hungry as she thought.
“I’m sorry. I’m probably being insensitive. I have my son back safe and sound and you’re still looking for your daughter.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’m glad that Jack is home safe.”
“I don’t know what to do about work. I need to find a new job that will let me work around Jack’s preschool schedule. I still don’t feel comfortable leaving him at home with a babysitter. Who knows what Scotty will try to pull again? He’s not the type to give up so easily.”
“I have an idea. Actually, that’s why I wanted to meet you for lunch.”
“What’s that?”
“The sale of my business went through. I’ve got the money in my account…”
Janine raised her hand. “I can’t take any money from you Rachel. You’ve already done enough for us.”
“I’m offering you a partnership. Starting tomorrow, I’m officially starting Florida Omni Search, a search and rescue organization that helps locate missing persons. I want you to join me.”
“But I don’t have any money to contribute.”
“It’s okay. We’ll work something out. I figured I would buy the office space and equipment needed to get up and running. Then we can work on getting donations to fund our services.” Rachel pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and laid it on the table. “This is Texas Search and Rescue Ops located in Dallas. They have a training session that I’m going to next week. It covers everything from searching in different types of terrain, setting up group searches, working in tandem with law enforcement, and types of equipment needed for certain types of search and rescue missions. I’ve already met with the owner and we discussed setting up a similar operation here.”
“Sounds great, Rachel, but I don’t know where I would fit in. I don’t know anything about this kind of business.”
“You have experience in office management?” Rachel asked.
Janine nodded. “I used to work in a medical office.”
“Well, you can help set up the office, get all our equipment lined up, prepare whatever accounts we need. I’ll put you on the payroll. We can deduct an agreed amount from each paycheck to put in for your partnership. We own the company together.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but why are you doing this for me?”
“Looking for Jack gave me a purpose. It was the most fulfilling thing I’d done since I lost Mallory. I think you and I will work well together.” Rachel noticed Janine was still hesitant. “You can work flexible hours and bring Jack to the office when you need to.”
“This all sounds too good to be true, Rach. I’m one of those people that never had any good come to them. Can I think about it?”
“The ball’s in your court.” Rachel signaled for the waiter to bring the check. “I’m leaving tomorrow to head to Texas and I’ll be back in two weeks. You can let me know then.”
Janine sat in thought for a minute. “No, I don’t need that long.” She smiled broadly. “I’ll do it. Why not? Sounds like a great way to begin a new chapter in my life.”
Rachel nodded, smiling back. “We’re both beginning new chapters in our life.”
A new chapter, Rachel thought to herself. However, it soon faded. Tears began to form in her eyes. She remembered Mallory — her smile, her warmth, her voice. If she didn’t look for her, she was failing. Every moment Mallory was without her dolls. Every moment Mallory was without her favorite blanket. Every moment Mallory was gone. Rachel longed to hold her daughter in her arms one more time. To kiss her tiny freckled nose and tickle each of Mallory’s tiny toes.
Every minute of her life without Mallory was pure torture. Rachel hoped that helping other people finding their missing loved ones would help ease that pain. She was ready to turn the page and find out.
Chapter 10
“Are you sure you’ll be okay? We’d stay another week but your father has that doctor’s appointment. I can come back afterwards,” Rachel’s mother rambled, packing her luggage.
“It’s okay, Mom. You guys have stayed long enough.” Rachel picked a grey sweater off the bed and folded it before putting it in her mother’s suitcase. “It’s been three months. I think it’s time for you to get back to your own life.”
“I’m just sorry that we couldn’t help more. With your father’s health…” Glenda’s voice trailed off.
Rachel hated seeing her parent’s get older. Mallory’s disappearance had put a toll on everyone. Yet, physically, it had shown most in Rachel’s father. He had a mild heart attack the year before and was on several different medications. Every two months he had to visit his cardiologist for a check-up.
“Mom, its fine. You’ll be back for the holidays and that’s just around the corner. Go home, take care of Dad. We’ll be okay.”
Her mom gave her a hug. “What are your plans, honey?”
Rachel sat on the chaise lounge in the guest room, her eyes resting on a mystery novel sitting on the nightstand. She had danced around the idea of selling her real estate business — but then what would she do? Rick had pretty much gone back to work full-time running his dealerships. He was even planning his first trip to Orlando since Mallory’s disappearance. Keeping busy distracted his mind off his missing daughter, Rachel supposed. She wanted to do something more useful with her time. Selling real estate didn’t appeal to her anymore, hell nothing did. With millions of dollars in the bank, she could pretty much do anything she wanted.
“I don’t know yet, Mom. Maybe I’ll come visit you and Dad soon.” She knew as soon as the words were out of her mouth she wouldn’t do it, but just the notion pleased her parents. Rachel wasn’t ready to leave the house just yet. She had to stay put, just in case Mallory was found.
Rachel finished helping her mom pack then went to wake her dad from his nap. After a quick lunch, she helped load their car and waved them away as they began the four and a half hour drive back to Tampa.
Finally in their absence, she made peppermint tea and settled down on the couch to watch the news. Turning to her favorite station, she watched a reporter interview the neighbor of a local missing boy, instantly striking a familiar, harsh note in her heart. She remembered seeing this story a few days ago. She turned up the T.V. and listened to a neighbor give his opinion on the family of the missing boy.
She was reminded of the scrutiny that the police department originally put on her and Rick when Mallory went missing. It was typical: look at the family first. Of course, Rachel thought it wasted a lot of time that could be spent trying to find the real kidnapper.
The young boy that was missing was believed to be kidnapped by his own father. The husband and wife were going through a bitter divorce and custody battle, the reporter announced. Rachel reached for a pen, writing down the woman’s name — Janine Jensen. Janine lived nearby in Coral Gables. Rachel opened up her laptop and tapped into the property records website that she had frequently used during her real estate days. Two addresses came up under the name Scott and Janine Jensen. She investigated further and found that one property was a vacant lot and the other was a single family residence. After copying the latter address, she went in search of a phone number. She found a listed number in the white pages and wrote that down as well.
She dropped her pen on the table and leaned back in her chair. “What am I doing?” she wondered aloud. For whatever reason, she felt a need to reach out to this lady. In the back of her mind, she supposed, it had something to do with Mallory. But she had learned to force those thoughts out of her tortured mind. If anyone knew what Janine was going through, Rachel did. She should call the woman. If anything, offer some comfort. Before she lost her nerve, Rachel picked her cell phone off the table and punched in the number. The call connected but she got a busy signal. Rachel tried a few more times over the hour, every time getting the hopeless beeps of a busy signal. Janine probably had the phone off the hook. Reporters, nosy neighbors, and nut jobs were probably plaguing her. Nothing new to Rachel, of course. She felt silly, even, forgetting the situational pressures Janine was most definitely under. She had experienced them herself, after all.
Tomorrow, decidedly, she would make the drive down to Coral Gables and visit Janine.
Chapter 11
The pink stucco house mirrored the rest of the dwellings on the street — one story homes with red-tiled roofs, two car garages, and small manicured yards with requisite palm trees. Rachel parked her BMW in front of the Jensen’s home. There weren’t any cars in the driveway and the street was fairly deserted for this time of day. She supposed that most people were at work, being that it was ten in the morning. This was definitely a working class neighborhood where most people had two or three jobs. For the first time in a long while, Rachel took a fresh breath and felt calm. It was the feeling of nostalgia — yards were kept clean, kids played in the streets after school, and dinner time was at six sharp. Rachel grew up in a similar neighborhood in Tampa.
Fighting her nerves, she grabbed her purse and walked to the front door. She wasn’t even sure if the lady was home.
Rachel rapped on the eggshell-colored door and waited for what felt like an eternity. A radio was blasting Top 40 music not far behind the door. She knocked harder. Just as Rachel was admiring the colorful pansies planted in the bed that surrounded the tiny front porch, the radio cut and the door opened all at once. A smell of herbal incense wafted through the door.
“If you are some kind of reporter, I’m not interested,” said the lady who opened the door. It wasn’t an aggravated tone that she used, it was one of tiredness. A tired, worn out, please-leave-me-the-hell-alone demeanor exuded from her.
“No worries.” Rachel replied after an awkward silence. “I’m not. But I’ve had my fair share of them lately.”
Janine stared at Rachel; her expression became inquisitive before radiating a surprised understanding. “You’re that lady whose daughter disappeared a few months ago. Ummm, Rachel Scott, right? I remember seeing you from the news.”
“Yep,” Rachel said, hesitantly. “That’s, uh, me.” She feigned a smile. “May I talk to you for a few minutes?”
“Oh, gosh. Yes, of course,” she rambled, opening the front door wider. “Come on in.”
Rachel followed Janine into her living room. She studied Janine, who was dressed in faded jeans and a worn t-shirt. Her hair was long and dark, streaked with a few bits of gray. The first expression that Rachel got of Janine was that she was laid back, carefree, and easy going.
Rachel took the couch and Janine occupied the rocking chair across from her. A tabby cat hopped onto her lap.
“I apologize for imposing on you. I tried calling several times first,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, the reporters keep calling. I’ve got my cell phone on stand-by in case the police or my bastard soon-to-be ex-husband decides to call.”
Rachel twisted with discomfort in her seat. This wasn’t entirely what she expected, but it felt necessary, nonetheless. “I imagine its tough dealing with that.” Rachel forced herself to relax and settled back in the couch and crossed her legs. “I saw your story on the news and wanted to come by and give you my support. I’d like to help…” Rachel trailed off. “But I’m not quite sure what I can do.”
“Well, thank you. What happened to, um, Mallory, right? If you don’t mind me asking, that is… I mean, the little I know came from what I saw on the news.”
Rachel, despite feeling sore about it, recounted the moment Mallory went missing and the days that followed. “It was hard. Hell, it’s still hard — never stopped being hard. Every morning I wake up and the first thought that goes through my mind is, ‘My daughter is gone’. It’s a hellish version of that movie, Groundhog Day. You know that movie?”
Janine nodded.
“I do the same thing every morning. I check the website that I set up for Mallory to see if anyone posted a comment. I check my email to see if anyone reported a lead. I call the detective on the case, asking for any new information — which is never there. Then I get in my car, ride around town, and stare at all the faces of any girls that even closely resemble Mallory. I talk to people on the street about her, even if it’s the hundredth time. Then I come home, eat dinner, go to bed and do it all over again in the morning.”
“I’m so sorry,” Janine said softly.
“It’s okay. If it isn’t too much, could you tell me what happened with your son?” Rachel asked. “If you feel comfortable with telling me, of course.”
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen?” Janine blew her nose with a tissue. “I’ll make us something to drink and we can talk about Jack there.”
Chapter 12
“It started last Saturday. I had to work late so my neighbor Pattie offered to keep Jack overnight. She lives on the next street over and has a boy close to Jack’s age. We trade babysitting all the time. Jack’s dad, Scotty, asked to come by for his birthday, which was the following day, but I refused. As I’m sure you’ve heard we’ve been going through a pretty nasty separation. Scotty has some, um, problems. Anyway, I got a call Sunday morning from Pattie.” Janine held the cup of tea up to her lips and lightly blew on it before taking a sip. “She went to wake up the boys for breakfast and noticed Jack wasn’t in his sleeping bag. After looking around the house, Pattie called me thinking I’d come by in the middle of the night — we have each other’s house keys — which, of course, I didn’t. I called Scotty while driving over to Pattie’s house hoping that he had picked up Jack. He didn’t answer the phone. When I got to Pattie’s house, we called the police.”
“Did you ever hear from Scotty?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah, he finally called me later that evening. He said he was out of town on a business trip and he didn’t know where Jack was. At this point, I was frantic. Scotty was my last hope. Even though we were going through a bad situation with the divorce and custody issues, I’d hoped that Jack was with his father and not some stranger.”
Rachel recalled hoping that someone she knew had picked Mallory up — a neighbor, the nanny, someone familiar to her.
Janine continued, “Scotty came by the house the next morning and met with the police. He gave them an alibi and insisted that he didn’t know what happened to Jack. Hell, he seemed as distraught as I was.”
“Do you believe him?” Rachel asked.
“No, I don’t. I don’t think the police do either. He’s lawyered up and has refused the polygraph. There were no signs of a break-in or force entry at Pattie’s house.”
“What did Pattie’s son say? They were sleeping in the same room?” Rachel asked.
Janine got up from the table and filled a plate with thumbprint cookies. “I just made these this morning. They’re Jack’s favorite.” She shivered as sat them on the table. “Her son didn’t hear anything. They stayed up late watching a movie in his room and fell asleep sometime after ten o’clock.”
Rachel chewed a piece of the strawberry jam-filled cookie. “Who is handling your case?”
Since Mallory went missing, Rachel found out more than she ever wanted to know regarding the protocol that the Miami P.D. followed for a missing person’s case. She felt like she knew nearly everyone on Detective Cooper’s team.
“Investigator Jamie Brewer — he’s been good with following up with me.”
“I’ve met him. He seems pretty thorough.” Rachel nibbled on her cookie.
A moment of silence passed before Janine spoke up. “So, here we are today. Scotty isn’t cooperating, other than to say he didn’t have anything to do with Jack’s disappearance and that he’s…” Janine made quotation marks with her long, slender fingers, “looking for him on his own.”
“The police have been to his house?”
“He lives in an apartment in Hialeah. And yeah, they’ve been there.”
“If Scotty did have Jack, where would he be keeping him? If not at his apartment…?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know… he has a sister that lives near Clearwater. His mom is deceased and he's estranged from his father.”
“Have you called Scotty’s sister?”
“No, I don’t even have her number. I’ve only met his sister a couple of times. She’s on welfare and has her hands full with five kids. I did give Detective Brewer all of the information I had on her.”
Rachel mulled over the information for a second. “My parents live in Tampa. I was thinking of going for a visit. I’d be happy to drive by his sister’s house, if you have her address… you know — see what I can find out.”
Janine was quiet for a moment as Rachel began to regret her involvement.
“Why are you doing this?” Janine asked.
“Offering to help you?”
“Yeah. I mean, you don’t even know me.”
“Because I can’t just sit still while there’s another missing child out there. My daughter is gone. But I have to keep busy. The police have exhausted every lead on Mallory but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep looking.” She took Janine’s cold hand in her own. “We can help each other.”
Janine’s eyes began to well up, but she caught herself. “I read that you’re a big real estate broker. Don’t you have to work?” she refuted.
Rachel thought about that for a minute. She had asked herself the same question many times. She’d worked hard over the last few years building her business. She had been at the top of her game. But, now, she was thinking about giving it all up to help other people find their missing loved ones. Why not? She had the money. She had the resources.
“I could go back to selling real estate, I suppose. But that doesn’t hold the same appeal to me that it used to. I don’t know how to help you understand my intentions other than telling you that my life has changed the minute my daughter went missing. I feel like I must try to do something to right the wrong in this world. I want to help other people find their missing loved ones. I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it, but I’d like to try.” Rachel shifted in her chair, struggling to find the right words. “I want to start by helping you find Jack. No strings attached. No money out of your pocket. What can it hurt?”
Rachel got up and walked toward the refrigerator. There was a picture of Janine’s family on the stainless steel front. A Rick Scott Imports magnet held the picture firmly in place. “This is my husband’s dealership,” Rachel said. Thousands of magnets had been given out since the dealership’s grand opening but it was still weird seeing one in a stranger’s home.
“Yeah, Scotty used to work there.”
Rachel’s stomach dropped as she spun around and stared at Janine. “When?”
“It’s been over three years since he was fired.” Janine fiddled with her mug. “Scotty bounces around from job to job. He’s not known for being reliable but he is a great mechanic.”
Rachel thought about the coincidence but quickly dismissed it. Her husband owned several car dealerships and employed hundreds of people around south Florida. So it wasn’t uncommon for Rachel to encounter a former employee from one of his businesses. Still, with a nagging feeling, Rachel thought she should probably mention this to Rick.
Chapter 13
Rachel stood in front of her husband with her hands on her hips. They were in his home office which was the only messy room in the whole house. Files and papers were stacked high on every available surface. Rick refused to let the housekeeper clean his office for fear that she would throw some valuable piece of paper away.
“Where are you going?” Rick asked again, looking up from his computer.
“If you would please get off the internet and pay attention to me, I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.” Rachel continued to glare at her husband.
“Sorry, I’m just up to my eyeballs in red tape with this new ad agency. The proofs for the new…”
Rachel cut him off mid-sentence. “I’m going to Tampa to see my folks and bringing a friend with me. Her name is Janine Jensen and her son Jack may have been kidnapped by her estranged husband. She believes her husband is hiding their son and maybe planning on moving out of the country with him. We’re going to stop in Clearwater to visit her sister-in-law. See if maybe she knows something about his disappearance.” Rachel inhaled deeply and crossed her arms over her chest. She decided to drop the other bomb on him. “Her husband used to work for you. Scotty Jensen. You fired him a few years ago.”
“What?” Rick stood up from his chair. His large frame towered over the desk. “You’re kidding right?”
“Nope.”
“So let me get this straight. Some guy who we fired a few years ago is involved in possibly kidnapping his own son. You’ve made friends with his wife and want to help her get her son back?”
“That about sums it up. I didn’t know about her husband working for you until today, though.”
“Why the hell are you getting involved with someone else’s problems, Rach? This is not like you. You have a business to run. We have our own daughter to find. I don’t want you to go!” he snapped.
“I didn’t think you would and I’m not asking for your permission. This woman needs my help and I want to do it. And I haven’t given up on finding our daughter.”
“I think you need to leave this business to the police. It’s their job, it’s what they do. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Rachel tried to reason with her husband. “The police have limited resources, not to mention hundreds of cases to handle. They’re overworked and underpaid. We’re just going to pay her sister-in-law a visit. That’s it. Nothing dangerous.”
Rick sighed. “Fine. You’re not going to listen to me anyway.” He slammed his laptop shut and walked out of the room without looking at her. “I’m going to the gym.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. Going to the gym was the equivalent to ditching Rachel and her feelings. She watched as he left the room. Their relationship was slowly suffering. Rick was becoming more concerned with work and Rachel was becoming obsessed with righting the wrongs of the world, whether it directly affected her or not.
Chapter 14
The apartment complex was located on the south side of town. A pale brick building that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Rachel parked in the nearly empty lot and left the car running. She turned to Janine. “Are you ready for this?”
“Yeah.” She picked at her nails. “I don’t know if this will turn out to be something or not. I hate if I wasted your time.”
“You’re not wasting my time. I offered, remember?” Rachel said, before turning off the car.
“Ok,” Janine hesitated. “Let’s do this.”
Rachel followed the cracked sidewalk, careful to step around broken pieces of concrete, until she found apartment 315.
“Here we go,” Rachel said. She could hear a cartoon show blaring through the T.V. and her nose caught the smell of fried chicken. She knocked hard on the door three times and stepped back.
After a bit of yelling, the door creaked open. A little girl with bright pink pajamas and dirty feet stood before them. Her long blonde hair hung in tangled waves with a small tiara on top of her head.
“Hi,” the little girl greeted them.
“Mom! It’s those ladies from social services again!” A voice yelled from behind the girl. The voice belonged to an older boy, who looked to be around nine or ten years old.
“No, we’re not from social services…” Rachel began to explain.
“Marcus, it’s me. Your aunt Janine.” Janine stepped forward and pushed the door open wider. “Can you get your mom for me?”
Rachel could now see deeper inside the tiny apartment. The front door exposed a minuscule living room crammed with toys amongst other stuff. Two more kids were sitting on the green shag carpet, playing with toy cars. A woman wearing a ratty robe came from a back room, a cigarette hanging from her bright pink lips and her mousy brown hair entangled into a ponytail.
“Hey, Natasha. It’s Janine.”
Only awkward silence answered her.
“Um, Scotty’s wife, remember? Can we come in?”
Natasha narrowed her eyes at Janine and Rachel. “Jan, I reckon I ain’t surprised. Ain’t nobody know where your son is if that’s why your here. I done told the police I everything I know.” Natasha’s large frame was blocking the entrance and it appeared she had no intention of letting them in.
“I just want to talk to you. Can we come in?” Janine asked again.
Natasha focused on Rachel, looking her up and down.
Rachel was glad she dressed way down today. Dark jeans with a faded polo shirt and Ked sneakers, her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her makeup was at a minimal. She followed Natasha’s gaze to her ring finger where her four carat diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight.
“Who’s your rich friend?” Natasha asked Janine, snidely.
Sometimes you just can’t hide who you really are, Rachel thought.
“I’m Rachel.” She held out her hand to Natasha who seemingly intensified her glare before stepping aside to let them in, ignoring Rachel’s hand.
“Kids, to your room! Off the couch. Take your sister with y’uns.”
The three boys carted off their sister into the back room. Rachel sat gingerly on the sofa, worried by the many unidentifiable stains and cigarette burns.
“I ain’t seen that no-good brother of mine in over two years, so I don’ reckon I know what good this is gonna do.” Natasha spat from opposite of the couch, on an equally nasty recliner. Rachel winced at Natasha’s dirty feet. An unnatural black crust carpeted her soles beneath protruding toenails so sharp they could cut diamonds. “Your boy ain’t here, that’s for sure.”
“We were hoping you could tell us something that will help find him,” Janine said.
“Like what?”
Janine looked at Rachel for help.
“Like, if you know some friends he may have in the area. You grew up here, right?” Rachel asked.
“The only friend Scotty may still talk to is holed up on the other side of town. Last I heard Scotty owes him some money. That boy is no good son-of-a-bitch… I doubt he’s seen him lately.”
“Who would that be?” Janine asked.
“Adam Bloomfield. He’s works over at the Pier House Marina.”
Chapter 15
Rachel and Janine shared a plate of seafood nachos at the Pier House. The sound of sails gently flapping in the breeze and the cool, salty air on their skin was admittedly distracting their worried minds. But they hadn’t so hastily forgotten the purpose of their visit — they were waiting for Adam Bloomfield to get off work. Rachel had asked to see him at the dock master’s office, but the dock master had informed them that Adam was out on his employer’s boat, The Loan Ranger, and wasn’t expected to return until six. So, Rachel and Janine decided to take refuge at the Pier House restaurant until Adam returned from business.
“I can’t find an address for Adam.” Rachel put her Blackberry away and plucked a piece of shrimp off the pile of tortilla chips.
“He probably rents.”
“Right. Well, when was the last time you saw Adam?”
“At Scotty’s ten-year high school reunion. I barely remember him. Scotty doesn’t really have a lot of close friends but he and Adam have kept in touch over the years. Scotty would meet him for a drink after work if Adam was in town. Haven’t seen him since the reunion, though.”
“Do you know how long he’s been working as a deck hand?”
“I do remember Scotty telling me that Adam’s been working around boats since their high school days. I guess it’s pretty lucrative with the tips and all.”
“Did your son ever meet Adam?”
Janine shook her head. “Not that I know of. Scotty took Jack fishing a couple of times while I was working but I don’t think Adam went with them.”
Rachel checked her watch. It was almost five. “After we finish eating, should we take a walk down to the marina? Wait for him there?”
Janine drained the rest of her wine. “I’m ready when you are.”
They paid the check and headed directly to the boat slips. Rachel counted five yachts of various sizes that were docking for the night and another two that were heading out for a sunset cruise.
“There’s the boat.” Janine pointed at an all-white, forty-two foot Brewer sailboat idling into slip number forty-nine. The Loan Ranger was emblazoned on the hull.
A man with dark leathery skin, a lanky build, and sandy blond hair hopped onto the dock and tied the line to the bollard. “Is that him?” she asked Janine.
“Yeah, I think so.” Janine waited until he was done securing the boat and then walked to the bow. “Adam!” she yelled and waved her hand at him.
Adam looked down at Janine, his hand shielding the last rays of sun shining down on them. “Yeah?”
“It’s Janine. Janine Jensen.” She waited for some kind of recognition. When he didn’t say anything, she continued, “Scotty Jensen’s wife.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s up?” Adam wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Adam looked around before answering. “Sure. Give me fifteen minutes. I need to clean up then I can meet you at the bar.”
Janine nodded and she and Rachel began walking back toward the restaurant. “This is a little awkward. Do you think he will tell us anything useful?”
“Maybe. But then again, maybe not.” Rachel made her way to the same bar stool she occupied before and sat down.
“What do I say to him?” Janine took the seat next to her. “For all I know, he’s calling Scotty right now and telling him that I’m here.”
“I’d start by asking him when he last saw Scotty. Also, if he’s ever met your son.” Rachel ordered two iced teas while they waited. “After that, see where it goes.”
They sat at the bar for nearly thirty minutes, nursing their drinks. They were just about to go find Adam when he finally showed.
“Now’s your chance,” Rachel whispered. Rachel noted that he had changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt, and his hair was still damp from his recent shower.
“’Bout time,” Janine mumbled.
“Hello, ladies.” Adam sat down on a bar stool next to Rachel and ordered a beer from the tap. “Y’all need anything?”
They both declined. Janine quickly introduced him to Rachel. “It’s been awhile,” she tried to sound friendly to the man who possibly knew where her missing son was.
Adam took a long draw from his beer. “It has. How’s Scotty?”
“He’s okay I guess. We’re going through a divorce right now. So I don’t see him that much.” Janine picked nervously at her napkin.
“Sorry to hear that.” Adam sipped his beer again, the foamy head of which now rest on his upper lip, ignored.
“I know you’re curious as to why I’m here,” Janine began.
Adam smiled at her. “I am.”
“My son, Jack… he’s missing.”
Adam flagged the bartender down for another beer, his face void of concern.
Janine hesitated, but Rachel gave her an encouraging nod. “I’m contacting all of Scotty’s friends and family to see if they know anything about Jack’s disappearance.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that. I haven’t talked to Scotty in ages,” Adam said. He looked into his mug as if searching for the right words to say. “How old is your son?”
“He’s three.”
“Huh. I knew you had a son, but I’ve never met him.”
“When was the last time you said you talked to Scotty?” Rachel jumped in.
“A couple of years ago — I was down in Miami, getting ready for a trip to the Bahamas. He met me at the marina and we had a couple of beers. That was it. I tried calling him at the dealership the next time I was in town, but they said he didn’t work there anymore. His cell phone was disconnected.” Adam finished his beer and laid two five dollar bills on the bar. “I hope that helps.”
“When was that? The last time you were in town?” Rachel asked.
“This past June.” Adam got up from his seat. “If that’s all ladies… I need to get back to work.”
“Well, thanks for your time. If you hear anything about my son, please give me a call.” Janine handed him a flyer with Jack’s picture and wrote her cell phone number on the back.
Adam took the flyer, folded it over several times before sticking it into his back pocket. “Nice to meet you gals.” He nodded to Rachel and patted Janine on the back. “Good luck with everything.”
Janine waited until he was out of ear shot. “Well? What now?”
“I don’t believe him.” Rachel grabbed her purse off the bar.
“Why not?”
“He’s lying to us. He said the last time he saw Scotty was two years ago. You told me that Scotty was fired at the dealership over three years ago. So how come last June when Adam came in town, he called the dealership looking for Scotty? Shouldn’t he have known that Scotty didn’t work there two years ago when he last saw him?”
Janine thought about it for a minute. “You’re right. But… he could’ve gotten his dates wrong. Or maybe Scotty didn’t tell him that he lost his job.”
Rachel shrugged. “Call it women’s intuition or whatever you’d like, but I still think he’s lying.”
Chapter 16
Back at their room, Rachel decided to take a hot shower while Janine checked in with her house sitter. She lathered up her hair with strawberry-scented shampoo and thought about what she was going to say to Rick when she got back to Miami. Even before her impromptu trip to Clearwater, they’d been living separate lives. Rick had spent an increasing amount of time at the dealership while she combed every corner of the internet to try and unearth a lead on Mallory. She read through the forums on missing persons websites, walked the site where Mallory’s doll was discovered to look for more clues, and cruised through the airport and bus terminals searching the faces of children. She would end her day at Detective Cooper’s office to check in with him. At first, Rick was patient with her. He would even accompany her on her outings. Then his enthusiasm fell off. Soon, he stopped altogether. One weekend, she told him that she was considering selling her real estate and property management business. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, but real estate just wasn’t in her heart anymore — nothing was. Rick was furious with her. He thought she was nuts to give up such a lucrative business that she’d worked extremely hard at for so long. She couldn’t make him understand that with Mallory gone, nothing was worth living for. It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand he just didn’t want to.
She stepped out of the shower, dried off, and slipped on a pair of cotton drawstring pants and a matching shirt. With a towel wrapped around her wet hair, she walked out of the bathroom.
“Feel better?” Janine asked her.
“Yeah, thanks. How’s everything at home?”
“Good. My house sitter said that Scotty stopped by this afternoon to see me.”
“What did she tell her?”
“That I was out of town visiting friends.”
Rachel contemplated that for a minute. “Do you think our friend Adam tipped him off that we were here asking questions?”
“Probably.”
“If Adam has anything to do with this, we better find out soon.”
“Think we should call Detective Cooper?” Janine asked.
“So far, we really don’t have much to go on other than womanly instinct.”
“And the fact that Adam lied to us.”
Rachel shrugged. “Doesn’t really mean much to a police officer. Like you said, Adam could’ve had his dates wrong.”
“Right.” Janine rolled her eyes.
“Let’s see what tomorrow turns up. Then we can hand over what we know to Detective Cooper and he can take it from there.” Rachel took a brush and worked on detangling her hair. “After we have breakfast with my parents, we can head back to the marina. We’ll talk with Adam one more time before we head back to Miami.”
“I hope we come up with something.” Janine sat on the bed next to Rachel, flipping through the channels on the T.V. “I feel like I’m running out of options.”
“We’ll find Jack. You’ll see. Just have to keep the faith.”
Chapter 17
The sailboat rocked gently with the chop of the water. It was a 1985 Sea Sprite and was Adam’s pride and joy. He had spent every last dime he’d made meticulously renovating the interior with exquisite cherry and teak woods, new appliances, and lighting. The money he was getting from doing a favor for his old pal was going to come in handy. Adam was looking forward to using that cash to finish the exterior of the boat. Then he could take a few months off to sail around the Bahamas.
Adam pushed a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and a pile of grapes to the little boy. “Eat up. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“I’m not hungry.” The little boy didn’t look up from the portable DVD player. He brushed away the dark hair that fell into his pale face.
“You need to eat something.” Adam reached down and closed the DVD’s lid.
“Hey! Put it back!” the little boy protested.
“After you eat your sandwich and drink the milk I gave you, then you can finish watching your movie.”
A tear rolled down the little boy’s cheek as he took a tentative bit of the sandwich. “When am I going to see my mommy?”
Adam turned his attention to his own sandwich — a pimento cheese and ham. “I told you. We’re meeting your dad tomorrow. He’s going to take you on vacation.”
“I don’t wanna see my daddy. I want my mommy.”
“You’ll have to ask your dad about that, Cowboy. Now eat up if you want to watch your movie again.”
“My name’s not Cowboy,” the boy whispered under his breath.
Adam knew the little boy’s patience was wearing thin. He was happy to help out his old buddy Scotty and the money he was getting for “babysitting” the kid was nice, but now he worried. The presence of the kid’s mother was unsettling to him. Scotty had told him about the custody problems and that Janine was emotionally abusing the kid, but Adam began to doubt if that held any truth. Janine was nice enough the first time that he met her and she seemed really concerned today about her son. It wasn’t easy to figure people out, especially what their demeanor was like at home, but she didn’t seem like someone who would be abusive to her son.
He finished his pimento sandwich in three bites and threw the paper plate in the trash.
“All done?” Adam asked, noting the boy had eaten almost all of his meal. “Then throw away your trash.”
“No!”
“Look, kid. You want to finish your movie?”
“I want my mommy!” The boy started to cry again.
Adam ran his hands through his hair. This was getting to be a little more than what he bargained for. He threw away the remnants of the little boy’s meal before turning on the DVD player.
“I’m going to step out and make a call. You stay here at watch your movie.” Adam swiped his cell from the kitchen counter and made his way onto the deck. He carefully stepped around the stern and placed his call.
“Scotty, its Adam. We all set for tomorrow?”
“Glad you called. Change of plans. Can you meet me at Bruster’s Marina instead? Same time?”
“That’s another hour away.”
“So leave early.”
“It’ll be an extra hundred. Gas and all.”
Scotty grunted on the other end.
“Look, that’s not all. I had a visitor earlier today. You told me there wouldn’t be any problems.”
“What visitor?”
“Your fuckin’ wife, Scotty. Janine and some lady came to my work.”
There was a pregnant pause on the other end. “What did she want?”
“I think you know the answer to that, man.”
“Just answer the damn question, Adam!”
“She was asking if I had seen her kid around.”
“My kid. Jack is my son.” Scotty let out a long sigh. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her that I didn’t know anything. You know me, if I tell you I’ll keep my mouth then I will.”
“What about Donna?”
“My girlfriend? Donna ain’t gonna say nothing. She only babysat your kid twice while I was working. She thinks Jack is my nephew. No biggie.”
“Okay,” Scotty breathed heavily into the phone. “How is Jack doing?”
“He wants his mom,” Adam said, exasperated. “What’s really going on here?”
“Just get my kid down here. On time. Tomorrow. Don’t worry about Janine — I’ll handle her.”
Adam snapped his cell phone shut and had to stop himself from throwing it into the water. He may be doing his old buddy a favor and he may be getting paid for said favor, but he didn’t need to be treated like an imbecile. Tomorrow he would deliver Jack to his dad, get his money, and he and Scotty would be even. He could care less if he saw Scotty again. This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth.
Chapter 18
“Your parents were very nice,” Janine said as they drove back from Clearwater. Breakfast with Rachel’s parents only took a couple of hours.
“Thanks.” Rachel blew out a breath. “I feel bad because I don’t get to see them that often. It seems like I always have something going on. With real estate, I worked eighty hours a week before Mallory was born. Then when she came along, I cut back on my hours and spent every chance I could with my daughter. After she went missing, I threw myself into finding her. It made a huge impact on my parents; especially my dad who is still recovering from a heart attack.” Rachel made the turn onto the Clearwater toll bridge and directed her car towards the marina where Adam worked.
“Now I’m taking up your time to help me find Jack.” Janine reached in her bag and pulled out a tube of lip balm.
Rachel glanced at her new friend. “Remember, I offered to do this. I want to help you.”
“Right… thanks.” She applied the lip balm generously. “I’m just not used to people wanting to help me. Everything I have is because I worked hard for it.”
“I can understand that. I’m no stranger to hard work myself.”
“Think Adam is still at the marina?”
“Hopefully. I think it’ll pay off to make one more visit to him before we head back to Miami. If nothing turns up, we can call Detective Cooper and see where they are on the case. Maybe he’ll have some suggestions.”
The marina parking lot was pretty deserted that morning. Rachel easily found a parking space close to the docks. When they got out of the car, Rachel spotted the dock master who had given her Adam’s whereabouts the day before.
“Morning, Mr. Dickerson,” Rachel greeted him with a smile.
“Good morning. Still looking for Adam?”
“We saw him yesterday. Thought we’d say goodbye before we left town.”
“Well, you just missed him. He took off for Miami with his nephew.”
Janine and Rachel exchanged puzzled glances.
“Nephew?” Janine asked.
“Yeah. Little boy — about two or three? Dark hair. Adam said he was taking him home today.”
“You didn’t say anything about a boy staying with Adam when we spoke yesterday,” Rachel said to him.
The dock master shrugged. “You didn’t ask.” He narrowed his eyes. “Is there a problem?”
Janine started to say something, but Rachel put her hand on Janine’s arm. “No problem. We didn’t realize he was heading back to Miami so early. Did he drive?”
Mr. Dickerson turned his attention back to the water. “Far as I know. His sailboat is still docked. Such a shame. It’s a good day to be on the water.”
“Well, thanks for your help. Have a good day.” Rachel held onto Janine’s arm and guided her back to the car.
“What was that about?” Janine pulled her arm away.
“Sorry, I didn’t want him to call Adam and warn him or something.” Rachel unlocked the car door. “Come on.”
“But what about my son?”
“We’ll head to Miami. I’ll call Detective Cooper on the way and tell him what we’ve found out. Let him handle everything from here. Maybe he can run Adam’s driver’s license and find out what kind of vehicle he drives.”
Janine jumped in the car. “Okay, let’s hurry. There’s no telling what Scotty has planned.”
Chapter 19
The drive from Clearwater to Miami usually took Rachel about four and a half hours. However, she made it back in less than four. She called Detective Cooper on the way and told him what they found out about Adam hiding Janine’s son on the sailboat. Detective Cooper asked them to come straight to the station so he could meet with them. In the meanwhile, he said he was going to get the local Clearwater P.D. over to the marina to interview the dock master and acquire the information on Adam so they could alert the highway patrol.
Janine began to cry. “I should feel relieved, but I don’t. Not until I get Jack away from that monster.” She rubbed her hands nervously. “I can’t believe that asshole did this me!”
“Scotty never gave you any indication that he would take Jack away from you?” Rachel asked delicately. She wanted to find out exactly what kind of man they were dealing with. Up until now, Janine had been pretty quiet about her relationship with her husband. Rachel understood they didn’t have a particularly pleasant marriage — a lot of people didn’t. And now they were in the middle of a divorce — a lot of people were. But to take your child away from his mother without a good cause was baffling to her. Why would someone want to do that? Maybe she did bite off more than she could chew with offering to help Janine.
Janine brushed the tears away from her face. “Scotty was abusive, more emotionally than physically. Though, he did knock me down once.”
“Once is enough,” Rachel muttered and shot a sideways glance at Janine.
“Well, I didn’t realize how conniving he really was until he did this. I guess it goes to show you that you really don’t know someone as well as you thought you did.”
Rachel parked in the lot across from the Miami P.D. Once inside, a receptionist escorted them to Detective Cooper’s office.
“Have a seat,” Detective Cooper gestured to the worn chairs in front of his desk.
“Did they find the bastard?” Janine asked impatiently.
“Not yet. We have the highway patrol on alert with the make and model of Adam’s truck. If he left when Mr. Dickerson said they did, then they are probably already here in Miami. We also have an officer staked out at your husband’s place of residence, but we don’t think he’s home. Do you have any idea where your husband may have set up a meeting place?”
“No, I don’t know or I would be there,” Janine said, the frustration growing in her voice.
“And no knowledge of Scotty owning a boat or any type of marine vessel?”
“We used to own a Hobie Cat but Scotty sold that when he lost his job.”
“Okay. Here’s the thing.” Detective Cooper picked up a pen and twirled it between his fingers. “When dealing with this type of situation… when one spouse has taken their child and there’s no clear custody arrangement in place… it’s hard to intervene legally.”
“But Jack is with a stranger!” Janine fought to keep her emotions in check.
“We don’t know the exact dynamics of the situation. I have to admit, this is a little sticky. Unless you can prove otherwise, your husband has a legal right to the child just as much as you do. If he asked this guy Adam to babysit his child while he was working or something, then there is nothing we can do about that…”
“What about-” Rachel started, but was cut off by Detective Cooper.
He held up his hand. “Please, let me finish. If Scotty has Jack, and asked Adam to watch him for whatever reason, then there isn’t much we can do about that since there is no clear custody agreement in place. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t assist you in finding your son. What we can do is charge your husband with obstruction of justice for lying to us about your son whereabouts. When we questioned him, he said he didn’t have Jack and didn’t know where he was.”
Janine seemed to relax a little.
“What I suggest is that you call your attorney, if you haven’t already, and tell him about what happened. See if you can get a temporary protective order,” Detective Cooper suggested.
“I’ll do that right away,” Janine agreed. “Until then, what can we do to help with the search? If Scotty leaves the country, I may never find Jack.”
Rachel rubbed Janine on the arm, comforting her. “We’ll find him.”
“We’re doing the best we can.” Detective Cooper stood up from his chair abruptly and began rubbing his hand across his chest. His face turned several shades of red.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked, growing concerned.
The detective reached for a roll of antacids on his desk and popped two in his mouth. “Yeah, yeah. Indigestion, part of the job. Now, I have to hit the streets.” He walked them back to the reception area. “We’ll call you as soon as we know something.”
“What now?” Janine asked as they left the building.
Rachel could tell Janine was beginning to break down. The not knowing gets you every time, Rachel thought. She knew that better than anyone. “Do what Detective Cooper suggested. Call your attorney.”
“Okay.” Janine waited until they got in the car and called her attorney. Rachel waited while Janine discussed the issue with him.
“Well, what did your attorney say?” Rachel asked when Janine got off the phone.
“He’s drawing up the temporary custody order now,” she said excitedly. Then, the excitement abruptly drained from her. “This really doesn’t matter if I don’t find him soon though.”
“It does matter because we are going to find him,” Rachel assured her.
Janine looked down when her cell phone rang, her face expressed concern.
“Who is it?” Rachel asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t recognize the number. It’s from Miami, though.”
“Answer it!”
Rachel watched as Janine gripped the phone tighter, her face turning red. Whoever was on the other end had Janine jumping in her seat with excitement.
Chapter 20
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. And I promise no police.” Janine snapped the phone shut and grabbed her purse. “We have to go.”
“Who was that?”
“Adam,” Janine said breathlessly. “He admitted to having Jack and had second thoughts about helping Scotty. They’re at Bruster’s Marina where he’s supposed to meet Scotty in a few minutes. He made me promise that I wouldn’t turn him in.”
Rachel followed her out the door. “Maybe we should call Detective Cooper, just in case…”
“No!” Janine said firmly.
This was the most agitated Rachel had seen Janine since they met, yet she dare not question her. “Okay, I’ll drive. I know where this is. You can explain on the way.”
The drive to the marina took a little over thirty minutes with the heavy traffic. Rachel tried to keep Janine calm by talking to her. “We used to take our boat into another marina just down the street from Bruster’s Marina for maintenance and stuff,” she said.
“Adam said that he was supposed to meet Scotty at the marina. Why is he not answering his phone?” Janine nervously tapped her cell phone on her knee. Rachel’s distractions were not working. “I’m wondering if Mr. Dickerson gave him a heads-up and now he’s worried that he’s in trouble with the law.”
“I still think we should call Detective Cooper. What if this is some kind of trap?” Rachel asked, turning down the street that would take them to the marina.
“No! I don’t want to jeopardize getting my son back. Rachel, you promised you would help.”
Rachel pulled into the lot and slammed the car into park. “Okay, I just want to know what we’re walking into here.” She looked around for any signs of Adam or Scotty. “Where to now?”
“You can wait in the car. As a matter of fact, I’d feel better if you did. I don’t want to drag you into this any further than I already have.”
“Too late.” Rachel gave Janine what she thought was a reassuring smile. “I told you, I want to help. I’m here on my own accord. And I’m not waiting in the car.”
“Adam said to meet him at the restaurant next door.” Janine opened her door. “Wait, I see him!” Rachel saw a little boy holding the hand of the tall skinny man. It was definitely not Adam — it was Scotty, Janine’s husband. Rachel recognized him from a family picture she saw on Janine’s refrigerator.
“Janine, wait a…” Rachel started to say. It was too late. Janine started to sprint across the parking lot toward her son.
Chapter 21
Rachel froze. Adam was nowhere in sight. A look of shock draped from Scotty’s face; he wasn’t expecting Janine to show up to the marina which meant that he didn’t know that Adam had betrayed him. Scotty pulled Jack in close with a bear-hug. The boy was yelling for his mom but Scotty wouldn’t let him go.
Shit, Rachel thought, this isn’t going to end well. She looked around the parking lot for help but didn’t see any. Trying to maintain a level head, she walked quickly toward Janine and her family, hoping to keep the situation from blowing out of control. Scotty had been caught and he didn’t look like he was ready to give up so easily. The closer she got, the more pungent the hatred in Scotty’s eyes.
“Jack and I are leaving and there is nothing you can do it about, Janine!” he spat. “I have a right to him just as much as you do. I’ll let you say good-bye but that’s it.”
“You can’t do this Scotty. I’m his mother. You can’t take him away from me,” Janine pleaded with her husband. “Jack, you need to come with me.” Still standing a few feet away from her husband and son, she held her arms out to Jack.
Rachel’s heart was breaking with every passing moment. Jack was clearly confused. He was trying fiercely to break free from his father but Scotty maintained a strong hold on him. Janine was in tears, trying to reason with her husband. People had started to come out of the marina’s restaurant to see what the commotion was. Rachel walked a few feet closer and stood beside Janine.
“And who the hell are you?” Scotty asked. His attention was momentarily distracted from Janine.
“I’m, uh,” Rachel felt like she had made a mistake. She was starting to second guess herself. It was wrong for her to come here. For once, since Mallory’s disappearance, she agreed with Rick — this was a bad idea. “I’m a friend of Janine’s,” Rachel acknowledged.
Scotty’s eyes flickered between the girls as he picked Jack up and held him tightly. “Okay… okay. Pleased to fucking’ meet ya. We’re going to leave now. Jack, say ‘bye’ to your mom.”
“No!” Jack yelled, wriggling in Scotty’s grasp.
“Is everything okay here?” a woman asked from the emerging crowd.
“Everything is fine!” Scotty screamed at her, dragging Jack toward the boat slips.
“Mommy!” Jack screamed as Scotty continued to walk away from them.
Janine followed them and turned to Rachel. “You have to do something. He can’t take my baby away from me!”
Rachel pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and found it wasn’t necessary — two police cars, sirens wailing, came screeching into the parking lot. Rachel turned and ran to the nearest police car, shocked when she saw Detective Cooper get out of the first one.
“Scotty has Jack and they’re headed down to his boat. Janine is following them!” Rachel said hurriedly and pointed toward the docks.
“Does he have any weapons?” Detective Cooper asked.
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see any.” Rachel looked for Janine, but couldn’t see her anymore. “He was extremely agitated though.”
Detective Cooper motioned for another police officer to follow him. “Stay here,” he shot at Rachel.
Rachel held her breath while the detective and his officer quickly make their way toward the boats. As she leaned against the squad car, she heard a loud pop then a scream — a child’s scream.
Chapter 22
Rachel was rooted to the spot. Jack was screaming, “Mommy! Help me!” The other officer that was standing at the squad car next to her suddenly took off. She looked around the parking lot at the growing crowd. Rachel couldn’t stand just waiting around while hearing a child screaming. Screw Detective Cooper, she thought. She had to go.
Rachel hesitated for a bit before quickly making her way down the boardwalk to the further boats. Following Jack’s screams, she turned a corner and saw Janine standing near Scotty’s boat at the end of the dock. Another scream — this time it sounded like Scotty. Rachel picked up the pace and started walking faster to the boat.
“Let him go, now!” Detective Cooper shouted in the distance.
Suddenly, Jack ran out from the back of the boat to his mother’s outstretched arms. Janine squeezed her son tightly before picking him up and running down the boardwalk toward Rachel.
“What happened?” Rachel asked Janine. “Are you okay?”
Janine just shook her head in disbelief. “Scotty… He… he’s gone crazy!”
Rachel walked Janine back to her car, where they sat in the back seat. Jack was softly crying while Janine stroked his back and whispered softly in his ear.
“Are you okay?” Rachel asked from outside the open door.
“He’s fine. We’re just a little shaken up. We’ll be okay.” Janine rocked in her seat. “I’ve got Jack back and that’s all that matters.” She smiled gratefully at Rachel. “Thank you.”
Rachel looked up in time to see the police officer marching Scotty down the boardwalk in handcuffs with Detective Cooper trailing behind. They brought him to the first patrol car and thrust him into the back seat. After slamming the door with a thud, Detective Cooper walked toward Rachel and Janine. Rachel’s eyes fixated on Scotty for a second. He was staring back at her with a smile that sent shivers down her back.
“We’re going to take him down to the station. Janine, you can meet us there,” Detective Cooper said, oblivious to the silent exchange going on between Rachel and Scotty.
“She just got reunited with her child. Can’t it wait?” Rachel turned her attention back to Detective Cooper.
“She can bring Jack with her. We’ll need to talk with him, as well.”
Rachel turned to Janine. “Want me to come with you? I can stay with Jack while you talk with them.”
“Are you sure? I know you must be ready to go home. This has been a long, emotional three days.”
“I’m sure. I can drive you home after you’re done.” Rachel gave her new friend a quick hug. “I’ll call my husband on the way to the station.”
Janine nodded. Rachel closed the door and then slipped into the front seat. “We’ll meet you there,” she said to Red.
A long sigh of relief escaped Rachel’s lungs and she backed out of the marina parking lot and steered the car toward downtown Miami.
Chapter 23
The warm, sudsy water invited Rachel to slide underneath the bubbles. She held her breath for as long as she could and let the warmth of the water ease her fatigued muscles.
She hadn’t returned home until nine o’clock that evening. After staying with Janine and her son at the police station, she drove them home. Scotty was charged with child endangerment and obstruction of justice and was booked into jail. However, Detective Cooper warned them that Scotty could be out in a matter of twenty-four hours and would likely get probation since he didn’t have a past criminal history.
When Rachel got home, she found it empty and dark. Her calls to Rick that day had, so far, been unreturned. She found a note on the kitchen counter.
Gone to Orlando for a meeting. Be back late tonight.
— Rick
Rachel reached for a white fluffy towel and stepped out of the tub. She knew that Rick was upset with her over many things — because she was thinking about selling her real estate business, because she got involved with a stranger’s business, and because she was spending all of her free time and money on trying to find their own child. Rick couldn’t understand why she didn’t let the police do their job and why she couldn’t just move on with her own life.
Rachel thought oppositely — she didn’t understand why Rick didn’t spend more time helping her find their daughter. Rick just threw himself back into running his car dealerships and pursuing new business. For him, it was all about money. It was all about moving on. It made Rachel’s stomach turn. He wanted Rachel to move on with her life, go back to running her real estate business, and that pissed her off.
She toweled off and slipped on her robe. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she ran a comb through her long locks, becoming angry. Tugging at the tangles in her hair, she thought about the conversation that had to take place when Rick returned from Orlando.
Rachel had decided what she wanted to do with the money she was going to receive from the sale of her business. It turned out to be a lucrative deal — over one million dollars for the real estate and property management business plus monthly residuals of ten percent of the gross business for the next five years. Her property management business currently brought in around a hundred grand a month in leases and most of the commercial leases had ten years left on them. She would have ten grand a month in income for the next five years at minimum. It was more than enough for her to live on comfortably. The million dollars of profit could easily buy office space, equipment, and manpower. Rachel smiled and felt more relaxed. She could make this work. Now the only problem was — would Rick support her? If not, she was prepared to do it on her own. She would find out soon enough. Tomorrow morning, Rachel was going to confront Rick with her decision. A life changing one for both of them.
Chapter 24
The next morning, Rachel settled herself across the breakfast table from Rick. A plate of muffins and a pot of coffee sat between them as Rachel picked at her breakfast. Rick had come home sometime in the middle of the night and slept on the couch. She took a deep breath, and said the words she knew Rick dreaded to hear.
“We need to talk.”
Rick slowly put down the newspaper. “Okay.”
“I have a buyer for the real estate business. It’s the guy from Keller Williams who has been hounding me to sell for the past few months. He’s willing to pay my asking price.”
“You really want to do that?”
“Yes, I do. I’m starting a search and rescue company with the money I’m receiving from the sale.” Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. It was all out in the open now. She’d made up her mind and it felt good to tell Rick what her future plans were.
“Rachel, you know nothing about search and rescue. Are you out of your mind?” Rick slammed his hand down on the newspaper.
“That’s why I’m going to hire the best in the business. You know what Detective Cooper told me when he was assigned to Mallory’s case?” Her voice filled with anger before continuing. “Florida ranks third in the United States for missing people and most of those are children. Children, Rick. Helpless kids are being torn away from their families.”
“I’m sure some of those are runaways. Not every situation is like ours, Rachel. A lot of people disappear on purpose. Probably running away from a bad situation.”
“Right, I know that. But I can help those who weren’t — the children who were taken from their home forcibly. People who vanished under extraordinary circumstances. Elderly people who wander away from their homes. Kids who were abducted from playgrounds.”
“What knowledge do you have to help these people? You can’t even…” Rick stopped when he realized the words he was about to say.
“I can’t what, Rick?” Rachel stood up angrily, throwing her chair back. She glared at him. “I can’t find my own daughter! Is that what you were about to say?”
“Rachel, please sit back down. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’ve done everything possible to find Mallory.” Rick softened his voice. “But we can’t stop living our life. It’s time to move on.”
Rachel stomped around the table and got within an inch of Rick’s face. “I will never, ever let go. Ever. Unlike you, I haven’t given up. I will find our daughter if it takes the rest of my life.”
“Is that what you think? That I’ve given up on Mallory? I love her, too, Rachel. I spent many hours wandering around Miami looking for our daughter! I want her home just as bad as you do. But I know my limits. I can’t spend every day wallowing around in self-pity. I have to do something or I’ll go crazy thinking about it. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up on her. I’ll always have hope.”
“Wallowing around in self-pity? Is that what you think I do? I can’t go back to work Rick. It has no meaning for me anymore. I can use this money to help other people. And while I’m doing that, I can still look for our daughter.”
“That’s what the police are for. It’s their jobs to look for missing people. Not yours.”
Rachel sighed. “Were you not listening to me? The police don’t have the manpower or the funds to look for every missing person — they just don’t. I know I can’t help everyone but I can start with one person. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a difference. I helped Janine find her son.”
Rick refilled his cup with coffee. “No matter what I say you are still going to do this anyway.”
“I’ve already started. I’ve booked a trip to Texas. There’s an organization that helps locate missing persons. They have training sessions for people who want to volunteer. I’m going to learn as much as I can from them and then come back to Miami to start my own organization.”
Rachel had already thought about asking Detective Cooper to help. He had mentioned retiring from the police force and starting a private investigation service. He would make a good asset to her team.
“Then why are we discussing this if you’ve already made up your mind?”
“Because I want your support, Rick. I need to know that you’re behind me a hundred percent.”
Rick stood up and poured the rest of his coffee down the kitchen sink. He kept his back to her. “I’m sorry Rachel. I don’t think this is the best idea. I can understand donating some money to this Texas organization. But putting your life on the line to help other people… that’s not you. That’s not going to help bring Mallory home.”
“You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?” Rachel walked over to Rick and touched him on the shoulder. “I need to do this Rick. For myself, for Mallory. Why can’t you understand that?”
Rick pulled away, gathering his briefcase and newspaper from the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry Rach. I just can’t support you on this one.”
As Rick walked out of the house, Rachel slid to the floor. Her back resting against the kitchen cabinet, she started to cry. The sound of Rick’s car pulling out of the driveway caused her to sob louder. Rachel knew at that point, she’d lost her husband forever.
Chapter 25
The Route 9 was a busy restaurant in Coral Gables. It was one of Rachel’s favorite places to have lunch with clients. She sat across from Janine and gave her the news she’d been reluctant to share with anyone.
“Rick and I have separated.” Rachel reached for a corn muffin and placed it on her napkin.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?” Janine asked, a guilty feeling welling up inside her. She felt somewhat responsible for their breakup.
“No, but thanks. Just having someone to talk to helps.” Rachel lathered her muffin with butter.
“Well, I’m here anytime you need to talk about anything. I owe you so much for your help in getting Jack back from his father.”
“You don’t owe me anything. How’s Jack doing?”
“Good. He’s back in school. We’re seeing a therapist. She’s really nice. I think it’s helping him get over what Scotty did.”
“That’s good to hear. When is his court date?”
“He already had a hearing. Plead not guilty to all charges. His trial doesn’t start for another three months.”
“Has he seen Jack since then?” Rachel asked.
Janine pushed the salad around on her plate. “Only once. His attorney was able to get supervised visitations. We meet once a week at his attorney’s office and Jack gets to see his father for one hour. I don’t like it, but right now there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“It’ll get better.” Rachel put her own fork down. She wasn’t as hungry as she thought.
“I’m sorry. I’m probably being insensitive. I have my son back safe and sound and you’re still looking for your daughter.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’m glad that Jack is home safe.”
“I don’t know what to do about work. I need to find a new job that will let me work around Jack’s preschool schedule. I still don’t feel comfortable leaving him at home with a babysitter. Who knows what Scotty will try to pull again? He’s not the type to give up so easily.”
“I have an idea. Actually, that’s why I wanted to meet you for lunch.”
“What’s that?”
“The sale of my business went through. I’ve got the money in my account…”
Janine raised her hand. “I can’t take any money from you Rachel. You’ve already done enough for us.”
“I’m offering you a partnership. Starting tomorrow, I’m officially starting Florida Omni Search, a search and rescue organization that helps locate missing persons. I want you to join me.”
“But I don’t have any money to contribute.”
“It’s okay. We’ll work something out. I figured I would buy the office space and equipment needed to get up and running. Then we can work on getting donations to fund our services.” Rachel pulled a piece of paper out of her purse and laid it on the table. “This is Texas Search and Rescue Ops located in Dallas. They have a training session that I’m going to next week. It covers everything from searching in different types of terrain, setting up group searches, working in tandem with law enforcement, and types of equipment needed for certain types of search and rescue missions. I’ve already met with the owner and we discussed setting up a similar operation here.”
“Sounds great, Rachel, but I don’t know where I would fit in. I don’t know anything about this kind of business.”
“You have experience in office management?” Rachel asked.
Janine nodded. “I used to work in a medical office.”
“Well, you can help set up the office, get all our equipment lined up, prepare whatever accounts we need. I’ll put you on the payroll. We can deduct an agreed amount from each paycheck to put in for your partnership. We own the company together.”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but why are you doing this for me?”
“Looking for Jack gave me a purpose. It was the most fulfilling thing I’d done since I lost Mallory. I think you and I will work well together.” Rachel noticed Janine was still hesitant. “You can work flexible hours and bring Jack to the office when you need to.”
“This all sounds too good to be true, Rach. I’m one of those people that never had any good come to them. Can I think about it?”
“The ball’s in your court.” Rachel signaled for the waiter to bring the check. “I’m leaving tomorrow to head to Texas and I’ll be back in two weeks. You can let me know then.”
Janine sat in thought for a minute. “No, I don’t need that long.” She smiled broadly. “I’ll do it. Why not? Sounds like a great way to begin a new chapter in my life.”
Rachel nodded, smiling back. “We’re both beginning new chapters in our life.”
A new chapter, Rachel thought to herself. However, it soon faded. Tears began to form in her eyes. She remembered Mallory — her smile, her warmth, her voice. If she didn’t look for her, she was failing. Every moment Mallory was without her dolls. Every moment Mallory was without her favorite blanket. Every moment Mallory was gone. Rachel longed to hold her daughter in her arms one more time. To kiss her tiny freckled nose and tickle each of Mallory’s tiny toes.
Every minute of her life without Mallory was pure torture. Rachel hoped that helping other people finding their missing loved ones would help ease that pain. She was ready to turn the page and find out.
Epilogue
The two-story white stucco building sat a block back from the beach. An old souvenir shop that Rachel had gutted and transformed into a professional office building was now decorated with festive balloons and colorful streamers. Rachel stood outside the new office of Florida Omni Search with all her friends, family, and news media. The local Chamber of Commerce president held an oversized pair of scissors to her. A red ribbon held by two other chamber members was strung out in front of the office.
“We are here today to dedicate the opening of Florida Omni Search to my daughter, Mallory Scott. As many of you know, Mallory went missing just over a year ago. She has never been found, but I haven’t given up on finding her. I decided to open Florida Omni Search to help other families locate their missing loved ones. Today is our first official day in business. I want to thank everyone for coming out and helping us honor this special day.”
Rachel searched out her mom and dad in the crowd. They were smiling back at her. With Janine at her side, Rachel took the scissors and cut the red ribbon in two. It fell with a flourish, floating to the ground.
“Everyone is invited inside to celebrate,” Rachel announced to the crowd.
Rachel was happy to see such a great turnout. People she worked with during her real estate career were in attendance along with some of her neighbors and other business associates. Janine had thought Rachel had over done it with the catering, but Rachel wanted to make a big splash. The refreshments were actually a huge spread of boiled shrimp, oysters on the half shell, marinated crab claws, chicken satay, hamburger sliders, and a massive fruit and cheese tray along with mini key lime pies and an assortment of cookies. Hired bartenders stood by waiting to pour glasses of champagne and wine.
Rachel was filling her glass with Chardonnay when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to find Detective Red Cooper.
“Hey, what a welcome surprise. I thought you were off enjoying your new retirement — hitting some golf balls or riding that Harley of yours?”
“Well, I did all that the first couple of months. Now I’m bored. I thought I’d come by and check out your new place.” Red looked at the festivities going on around them. “I’m ready to get to work — if the offer still stands?”
Rachel took a sip of her wine, as if contemplating her answer. She had asked Red to come work with her right after he announced his retirement from Miami P.D. He had initially turned her down. “Well, Detective Cooper, why don’t I show you to your new office?”
“I’m officially retired now so you can call me Red.”
“Follow me, Red.” Rachel led him upstairs to a roomy office which overlooked the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
“Wow, this is probably more than I could ever afford. I was thinking more in line of a smaller office that overlooked the parking lot.” Red shoved his hands in his front pockets, peering out the window at the young women strolling down the boardwalk in teeny bikinis. “However, I must say, the view is terrific.”
Rachel laughed. “This is the deal. You can have this office rent free in exchange for occasionally helping us with any cases.”
Red held out his hand which Rachel shook. “We have a deal then.”
There was a timid knock at the open door. Janine was standing in the hallway with a piece of paper in her hand. “Excuse me for interrupting. Rachel, I think you might want to see this.”
Rachel’s eyes slowly scanned the paper.
“We officially have our first case,” Janine said.
“An elderly woman from Coral Gables area that has Alzheimer’s disease was reported missing from her nursing home last night and so far the police have no leads. The family read an article in the Miami Sun that featured me and Florida Omni Search and has requested our help,” Rachel read the note aloud to Red.
“I guess it’s time to pay my rent.” Red patted Rachel on the shoulder. “You ready for this?”
Rachel took a look around at the new business she’d created. She felt that she finally had a purpose in life since Mallory disappeared. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
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