David had been taken.
My first thought was to call the police but then I got a phone call from Vince, telling me that he had my son and that if I didn’t want him to get hurt, I wouldn’t call the police. I would wait for him to call again.
So here I am, unable to do anything, completely helpless for the first time in my life.
And it’s the worst feeling in the world, even worse than the pain I felt last night.
Sabrina’s right. Protecting is all I can do, but I can’t even really do it, and so I can’t do anything at all.
“Randall?”
I look up to see Sabrina standing a few feet away. She looks like hell, too, circles under her eyes and the tearstains on her cheeks coated by fresh tears. She hasn’t even changed yet, still in that pink gown, although it doesn’t seem to sparkle anymore.
“Vince took him,” I tell her. “He must have done it to get back at me for last night.”
“And to hurt me,” she says as she approaches. “This is all my fault.”
Like before, she breaks down, kneeling on the grass, her hands pulling her hair as she sobs.
I want to comfort her just like last time. I want to put my arms around her and tell her that it’s not nobody’s fault but that’s not true. It is my fault. I was the one who decided to bring Sabrina to the party last night. I was the one who told Vince off. I was the one who promised to protect all of us.
And I failed.
I want to hold her so we can draw strength and comfort from each other, but I don’t. I can’t. I didn’t promise her that. All I promised was to protect her. That was all I intended to do.
Now I realize how selfish and foolish I’ve been.
I should never try to protect anyone. That’s arrogance. I can’t protect anyone when I’m weak.
I thought I was stronger now, but no, I’m still weak. And I’m still alone.
“Have you called the cops?” Sabrina asks feebly, between sobs.
“No. Vince told me not to.”
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know yet.” I shake my head. “He said he’d call back. I don’t know what time. All we can do is wait.”
***
The phone rings again at dusk. I answer it quickly, almost dropping the phone.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Mr. Brewster,” Vince greets me. “How has your day been?”
I swear, someday I’m going to kill this bastard.
For now, though, my priority is to find David. I glance at Gil, giving him the signal to try and track the call. Vince may have told me not to call the cops but he didn’t say I couldn’t call a tech expert.
“I’d like to speak to Sabrina,” he says.
I look at her. She’s changed her clothes and she looks a bit better but I know that she is just as scared and frustrated as I am.
She nods and I put the phone on loudspeaker before handing it to her.
She holds the phone against her cheek. “Vince.”
“So you do remember me.”
Her fists and jaw clench. “Don’t you dare hurt David. I let you get away with hurting me but I swear, if you hurt one hair of David’s head, I’ll—”
Vince laughs. “I knew you’d say that.”
“What do you want?” Sabrina demands.
“You,” Vince answers simply.
Sabrina tenses. “Explain.”
“I’ll send you the address. Tell your husband to bring you in two and a half hours. I’d like to see him again, too.”
My temper shoots up. “Why, you–”
Sabrina raises a hand to stop me and I shut up. I can’t lose my cool while David is still in danger.
“What about David?”
“After your husband brings you to me, I’ll tell him where to find David. If both of you don’t come, David is mine and I’ll do with him as I please. It’s that simple.”
Sabrina says nothing, her face pale.
“Do you understand, Sabrina?”
She nods her head slowly, her hand shaking. “Y-yes.”
“I’ll be waiting, Sabrina.”
I hear a click and the line goes dead. Sabrina slides to the floor, seemingly lifeless, the phone slipping out of her hands. I pick it up and, as soon as I do, it beeps to alert me of a new message.
It’s the message containing the address where I’m supposed to take Sabrina.
“That’s near where we tracked the call,” Gil says as he looks at the phone. “But that doesn’t help, does it? Vince isn’t with David.”
I shake my head. “No, he’s not, but he must be nearby. We have to find him quickly.”
“I don’t know if we can find him that fast,” Gil says. “This address is near the entrance to the Angelina National Forest. That means David must be somewhere in that forest but that’s more than 150,000 acres of land.”
“Can’t you access the security cameras?” I ask Gil.
“Even if I can, the park only has a few and they’re far between. Someone can easily sneak a kid in there with none of the cameras catching him.”
“Fuck!” I beat my fist on my table.
“You don’t have to waste your time looking for him,” Sabrina says. “You heard Vince. He’ll give David’s address.”
“And how can we be sure David will be there?” I ask her.
“You can because he doesn’t want David. I’m the one he wants.”
“I’m not handing you over to him,” I tell her.
“You have to.” She stands up. “It’s the only way.”
“Sabrina…”
“I’m going whether you’re bringing me or not.” She looks at me. “Though it will be better if you come, so you can find out where David is and go to him.”
I grab her shoulders. “I won’t let him have you, Sabrina.”
“Don’t you understand, Randall?” She shrugs me off. “He already has David. Right at this moment, David is suffering when it should be me. It should have been me all along.”
“It’s not your—”
“It is my fault. Now, please, let me pay for my mistake.”
I shake my head. We may have argued and she may hate me now but she is still my wife and I still care about her.
“I won’t.”
“Like I said, I’m going anyway.”
Why does she have to be so stubborn?
“We can put a tracker on her if you want,” Gil offers. “A microchip that we can put on your clothes or under your skin.”
“No.” Sabrina shakes her head. “Vince will expect that.”
“Then maybe one that you can swallow like a pill?” Gil suggests. “But that will only work for eight hours before it’s dissolved by gastric juices or–”
“That should be long enough,” I say to him.
Then I look at Sabrina, holding her hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll come for you after I rescue David. I’m not going to let Vince have either of you.”
***
I told Sabrina that Vince wouldn’t have her again, but now, in the car, as Sabrina and I approach the address Vince sent, I’m feeling terrified. What if David isn’t where he’s supposed to be? What if he’s seriously hurt and I have to bring him to a hospital? What if the tracker doesn’t work and I lose Sabrina? What if Vince does awful things to her before I rescue her?
Just the thought of Vince touching her makes me want to strangle someone with my bare hands.
Why? Why did it have come to this? Why do I have to hand over the woman I care about the most to get my son back?