Make Quilts Not War

chapter 26



Harriet and Lauren were out of the car before Mavis had turned off the engine.

“What’s happening?” Harriet asked as they approached Officer Nguyen, who was standing in Aiden’s kitchen questioning Carla. Tears streamed down the young woman’s face, and she was pacing a small pattern in front of the policeman.

“Harriet, tell him! We need to be looking for Wendy, not standing around talking.”

“Miss, we need to get the information about your child so we can put out an Amber Alert,” Officer Nguyen said.

“You think she’s been kidnapped?” Carla shrieked and then began crying.

“We’ll look for Wendy while you answer Officer Nguyen’s questions,” Harriet told her.

“This is a crime scene,” Nguyen said.

Carla fainted as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

Lauren turned and went out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Mavis crouched beside Carla, who was already waking, slipped her arms out of her jacket and laid it over her.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Harriet said in a quiet voice.

Officer Nguyen glared at her but didn’t stop Carla from speaking.

“I put Wendy down for her morning nap a little early, since she’s been up later than usual the last few nights. I turned on the monitor and was sorting her laundry in the sitting room part of our rooms when Michelle called me on my cell phone to tell me to come get her sheets and wash them.

“I went to her room, stripped her bed and put her sheets in the wash. When I came back to my rooms, I went in to check on Wendy and she was gone.” She started crying again.

“Has she gotten out of her crib before?” Harriet asked.

“Never,” Carla said. “And I should have heard her, whatever happened. And I didn’t put the chair beside the crib. I would never have done that.”

A policeman Harriet remembered from the storm came into the kitchen.

“Mary and I searched all the rooms on the second floor, and Glen searched the basement, but nothing so far.”

“What’s going on?” Michelle asked, as she entered the kitchen carrying an empty coffee cup.

“You tell us,” Harriet said. “You’re the one who lives here.”

“Miss Salter called us to report her child missing,” Nguyen said. “Can you tell us where you’ve been for the last half-hour?”

“Didn’t Carla tell you?” She turned and stared at the sobbing woman. “I called her to get my sheets in the wash. She didn’t have the brat with her when she came to my room. She took the sheets and went down to the laundry, and I went up to the third floor to work on my mom’s old computer where it’s quiet. And no, I didn’t see the kid or its supposed kidnapper.”

As Michelle spoke, more people came into the kitchen. She edged her way toward the servant’s stairs that led upstairs.

Connie came to Carla and scooped her into her arms, pulling the young woman into a hug.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation for all this,” Michelle said. “The kid is probably somewhere right under our noses. Now, if you don’t mind—”

“Where is she, Michelle?” Harriet interrupted.

“How dare you even suggest I know where that noisy little brat is? Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’ve got work to do. I’ll be upstairs in the office.”

“You and Carla were here, right? You on the third floor, Carla in the basement—with the monitor on. Even when the alarm isn’t armed, a beep sounds if any of the exterior doors are opened. There’s a panel with a speaker on each floor. Did either of you hear the door chime?” Harriet asked.

Carla shook her head no.

“Of course not,” Michelle said. “I would have come down immediately if I’d heard it.”

“So,” Harriet said, “if no one came into the house, someone had to already be in the house, or it had to be one of you two.”

“Excuse me,” Officer Nguyen said to Harriet. “We can take it from here. If you want to be helpful, sit in the living room with Miss Salter while we continue searching the house. And you,” he said to Michelle, “stay right here.”

Michelle looked toward the stairs again and sighed, but she didn’t move.

Connie had made tea and was passing cups around to the people assembled in Aiden’s living room when Carla’s boyfriend Terry arrived. Terry Jansen was a Navy Seal currently attached to a special investigations unit based at Naval Base Kitsap. He had the sort of job that kept him out of town a good deal of the time, and when he was in town, he couldn’t talk about where he’d been or what he’d been doing. Carla was a good match for him, Harriet mused. Growing up with an abusive, drug-addicted mother, the girl had learned not to ask too many questions.

He strode across the living room and crouched in front of Carla, who was sitting on the sofa between Connie and Mavis.

“Baby, I’m so sorry,” he said, cupping her face in his hands.

“Find her,” Carla choked out, barely containing her tears.

“Where’s Michelle?” he demanded.

“I think she’s in the kitchen,” Harriet said. “Officer Nguyen told her to stay put, but who knows if she did.”

Terry stood up abruptly and stormed into the kitchen. Harriet jumped up and followed before anyone could stop her.

“Where’s Wendy?” Terry demanded, crossing the room and getting into Michelle’s face.

“I don’t know,” Michelle protested.

He grabbed her, twisted her arm behind her back and pulled it between her shoulder blades, then slammed her into the closed kitchen door.

“Try again,” he hissed.

“You’re hurting me,” she cried.

“I’m not doing anything compared to what’s coming if you don’t tell me where Wendy is—right now.”

“Upstairs,” she choked out.

Lauren came down the servant’s stair into the kitchen, pausing a few steps from the bottom.

“Where upstairs?” Terry demanded and pulled her arm up higher.

“In the bedroom,” she said in a strained voice. “There’s a door at the back of the closet. It leads to a secret room my mom had put in for us kids.”

Lauren ran upstairs, followed closely by Terry and Harriet. Terry crossed the landing and went up another flight of stairs that led to Aiden’s mother’s office and the spare bedroom on the third floor. He swung the door to the bedroom open, and they could hear the muffled sound of Wendy crying. A moment later, he’d crossed the room, crawled into the closet and emerged with Wendy, who was smiling now she was in Terry’s arms.

“That man attacked me,” Michelle screeched when Terry came into sight of the group assembled in the kitchen. A group that now included Aiden.

“What did you do to my sister?” Aiden demanded, glaring at the other man.

“Your sister stashed Wendy in a dark hidden closet on the third floor. If I hadn’t interrogated her, that baby would still be up there alone and scared while the police were busy sending out Amber Alerts and setting up search teams. Don’t you think you should be asking your sister what she did to an innocent child?”

“She wasn’t hurt,” Michelle yelled. “She was asleep when I put her in the closet. It was just going to be for a little while. Just until everyone noticed her missing, then I was going to go find her—but he…” She pointed at Officer Nguyen. “He wouldn’t let me go find her. I was supposed to be the one to find her. Not him.” She thrust her finger at Terry.

Aiden slumped against the kitchen counter.

“You kidnapped Wendy just so you could play hero? You terrified Carla, wasted police resources, and interrupted everyone here’s workday so you could get attention for yourself when you found the baby?”

“You always talk about Harriet did this and Harriet did that, and she’s always the hero of the story. I just wanted you to talk about me like that.”

“You are sick,” Aiden said in disgust.

“Let’s hope that’s true,” Detective Morse said, emerging from the back of the group in the kitchen. “Because, Michelle Jalbert, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Wendy Salter…”

Morse continued the litany of charges and rights, then put handcuffs on Michelle and turned her over to Officer Nguyen.

“Is that necessary?” Aiden demanded.

“You should be thanking me,” Morse said. “But you seem to have drunk the same Kool-Aid as your delusional sister. In case you haven’t noticed, this is the third time in a week the police, firemen, paramedics and emergency medical personnel of this town have had to waste precious time and resources because your sister has staged an emergency. This time she’s taken it too far.”

“But she’ll lose her license to practice law,” Aiden said. “Carla, you’re not going to press charges, are you?”

Carla looked up from Wendy, a panicked look on her face.

“She has no choice,” Morse interrupted. “And Dr. Jalbert, losing her license is the least of your sister’s problems. She has been crying out for help. Maybe now she’ll get it. And by the way, you’re very lucky she didn’t accidentally kill herself or anyone else.” Morse looked pointedly at Carla and Wendy. “If I could charge you as an accessory for not stopping her, I would.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Aiden argued. “She attempted suicide, and she assured me she was going to see a therapist—and she really was sick to her stomach. I thought she did have food poisoning.”

“I hope you’re better with sick dogs than you are with sick people,” Morse said and turned her back on him.

“You should call an attorney for your sister,” Harriet said, and watched as he disappeared in the direction of his office.

“Go pack a bag,” Terry said. “You’re not staying here.”

“That’s not necessary,” Aiden protested. “Michelle won’t even be here.”

“That will remain to be seen,” Terry said.

“You and Wendy can stay at our house for a while,” Connie said. “At least come until we find out what will happen to Michelle. Then, if she’s gone, you can decide if you want to come back here or not.”

Carla nodded silently and went upstairs, Wendy clutched to her chest the whole time.