Amelia rolled her eyes. What was she thinking? No one was perfect. She’d known this guy for five seconds. As far as she knew, his wife left him for being a drug addict or for hitting on women in bars. She slipped his card into her back pocket, feeling surer than ever that she’d never call or text Randy Mraz.
“Kate!” Amelia called out as she headed back to the bench where she’d left her book. “Kate! We gotta go!” She tossed her book in her oversize bag and flung it over her shoulder. “Where in the world did that girl run off to now?”
Using her hand to shield her eyes against the late-morning sun, Amelia searched through the bars and tunnels with her eyes. No little brown-haired girl to be seen anywhere. A small shot of panic ran through her mother’s heart.
With urgency in her movements, Amelia walked swiftly over to the side of the park where she could get a good view of the street, fearing that perhaps Kate had run to the car without her. Not safe at all. Parking lots were fraught with potential tragedy for the little girl who never ever looked both ways.
But the line of cars parked against the curb looked safely stationary, and there was no Kate to be found. Fear started to turn to full-on panic. She reached for her phone and called out one more time as she unlocked her screen, ready to call Steve and then . . . who? . . . someone who could help her find her daughter.
“Kate! Where are you! Come out RIGHT NOW!” Amelia yelled, using her angry voice, not even caring that the whole neighborhood could hear her. “I’m serious!”
Even Amelia could hear the panicky edge to her tone. She scrolled through her recent calls until she landed on Steve’s number. Finger hovering above his name, she glanced around the park one last time and, as if out of thin air, Kate emerged from the tree line surrounding the far edge of the park, down by the soccer fields. Skipping along like she was Goldilocks on her way to harass the three little bears, she seemed oblivious to the terror her absence had caused her mom.
“Kate!” Amelia tossed her phone back in her bag, which she dropped as she ran as fast as she could toward the little skipping girl in her twisted purple skirt and worn silver ballet flats. When she reached her daughter, Amelia scooped her up in her arms, relief and anger mingling together as she nuzzled her damp, pudgy cheek. “Where were you? I’ve been calling and calling.”
“Sorry, Mommy. I didn’t hear you,” Kate said, sounding remorseful enough for Amelia to drop it for a minute and make sure she was okay. She leaned back and held Kate out away from her at arm’s length, looking her over carefully. No bruises or tears or dirt or . . . anything that would spell out abduction by wild dogs or bullying by random big kids. Everything was the same . . . except . . .
“Kate, hon, where did you get that lollipop? What did I tell you about ground candy? It is dirty. Don’t eat it.” She put out her hand, palm up. “Here, spit it out. That’s so gross.”
Kate turned away protectively, hand wrapped around the rolled paper stick of the lollipop. She shifted it to the side of her mouth, bulging out her cheek like a chipmunk.
“Mom, stop. It’s not from the ground. Gosh. Someone gave it to me.” Kate sighed and rolled her eyes like she was fourteen instead of six. The sentence was meant to comfort Amelia, but instead, it made her stomach drop. How, how had she failed so horribly as a parent that her child would accept candy from a stranger?
Every inch of her wanted to search the lollipop for hidden razor blades or some kind of drugs. Instead, she took a deep breath, not wanting to freak her daughter out any more than necessary. Already on her knees, Amelia put her hands on Kate’s shoulders and looked deep into her dark eyes.
“So, Kate, honey . . . you know you aren’t supposed to take candy from strangers. I know it seems like ‘free candy,’ but it’s just not safe. Remember?”
“Moooom,” she cut in, shifting the green lollipop from one side of her mouth to the other, the hard candy clicking against her teeth. “Gosh. If you’d just listen—it wasn’t a stranger!”
The phrase didn’t sink in at first. Not a stranger. Then . . . who?
“Oh,” Amelia chuckled, relieved. She leaned back on her heels to get away from the mud seeping through her jeans where she was kneeling in the dirt and rubbed Kate’s shoulders. “So, did Dawson give it to you? That was nice.” Maybe they’d have to do a playdate after all. Dang it.
“No, Mommy. Not Dawson.” Kate shook her head and looked at Amelia like she was making a huge joke. “Uncle Caleb.”
“What? Uncle Caleb was here?”
“Yeah, he was in the woods, watching me play. When Dawson left, he called me over for a lollipop.” Kate sucked on the diminishing sucker and then pulled it out of her mouth with a pop. “I’m hungry. Can we have mac and cheese for lunch?”
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Amelia replied, distracted. She stood slowly, head raised, nerves on edge, and spun in a tight circle, her ears ringing. Caleb. Why did hearing his name come from her daughter’s mouth make her heart jump?
“Come on, Mommy. My tummy is grumbling.” Kate pulled at her hand, and just as Amelia was about to turn and leave, something caught her eye. Just a flicker beyond the tree line; a tall form, half-hidden by the budding tree branches . . . jeans, maybe a white shirt—not much else was visible from that distance. Then he was gone. Too far away to be sure of much, Amelia followed her daughter out of the park. Could be just about anyone out there in the woods, a random kid, someone from the park district taking a survey of the trees, maybe even the cable people installing the DSL line Broadlands had been waiting on for forever. It could be any of these individuals, except for one thing . . .
Before she turned away to follow Kate, there was one thing Amelia was certain she saw—a shocking flash of red hair.
CHAPTER 13
ELLIE
Tuesday, May 10
1:53 p.m.
“Did you reach him yet?” Ellie asked when Collin sat down beside her in the surgery waiting room. She could already decipher the answer by the scowl on his face and the redness around his eyes. Still no news.
He’d been trying to contact Caleb for the past two hours, but all his texts were unanswered and his phone went right to voice mail. No one had heard from him, and Collin was growing more and more concerned. He didn’t think his brother was a criminal but considered it more likely that, through some misunderstanding, he was tangled up in the drama and now, confused and scared, didn’t know what to do. There was no way that the other man Steve had seen, the one who had run out of the office, could have been Caleb, or at least that was what she kept telling Collin. But Ellie had to admit it was definitely strange that Caleb hadn’t been at work that morning and that he wasn’t responding to texts or calls, especially given that Amelia was involved.