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“I thought my mom would be so mad at me.”
“She’s not. She’s been very scared and worried about you; she can't wait to see you.”
Katie laid her head on his shoulder and rested heavily against him. Climbing out of the ambulance, he carried her to the café where Jimmy was already wolfing into a large chocolate walnut brownie. Setting her down at the table where Allina and Jimmy were already seated, he brought Katie a hot drink and chocolate chip cookie. She took both and hungrily began devouring the cookie.
After letting the children relax for a moment, he began questioning them. Some things could wait until later, but there were other things he needed to know right now. “Jimmy, Katie, do you know who took you?”
Both children nodded. “It was an old man and an old lady,” Jimmy replied. “Their names were Ruth and Job.”
That was confirmation that they had accurately identified the killers. “You told the man who found you that someone named Clara needed help.”
“Clara helped us escape, but we heard someone coming, and she told us to run,” Jimmy explained.
Jonathon both hated and enormously respected her for that. She had put herself in danger to ensure the children could get to safety. “Do you know where they were keeping you?”
“A house, with a big garden . . .”
“Areallybig garden,” Katie inserted.
“It wasn't that far away, I don’t think,” Jimmy looked unsure. “We ran for a long time, but it didn’t take us too long to get back to where there were lots of houses and shops.”
“It was a holiday place,” Katie added. “I saw a sign. It said holiday cottages.”
Looking at Allina, they both announced at the same time, “Hyatt’s Holiday Cottages.” There were twelve cottages as part of the estate, located on the city outskirts, known for its beautiful gardens and equestrian facilities.
“Was there anything on your neck that stopped you from talking loudly?” Jonathon asked, thinking of the shock collars.
“No,” Katie replied.
Then that meant the house was remote enough that Job and Ruth knew no one would hear their victims’ cries for help. “How many stories was the house?”
“Three, we went down two lots of stairs, only the first one was a ramp,” Jimmy explained.
“You have to find her; you have to find Clara,” Katie begged.
“They wanted her to kill us but she wouldn’t, so they hurt her,” Jimmy explained.
Jonathon tried his best not to lose it at that revelation, He hated the thought of anyone laying their hands on Clara. They needed to find her—as soon as possible. For now, they had what they needed from the children. It was only a fifteen-minute drive to the Hyatt Estate. He and Allina could go there now and start searching the cottages. Jonathon was about to tell the kids they'd see them later when Katie’s blue eyes suddenly darted to the door. They all followed her gaze and Jimmy beamed, bounced to his feet, and ran to his parents. Heather and Liam Wallander embraced their son, both freely shedding tears of joy.
Katie’s parents stood there, too, but the little girl didn’t move toward them. Instead, she shot him a glance, seeking reassurances that her parents weren’t angry with her. Then a toddler cooed and stepped out from behind the Logans. Kevin, Jonathon presumed. At the sight of the little boy, Katie flew from her seat, flinging her arms around her brother. Her mother picked up both children, hugging them tightly and showering Katie with kisses. Her father wrapped his arms around all three, and the family just stood there holding one another.
Jonathon prayed that soon he’d have a similar reunion with Clara.
* * * * *
7:19 A.M.
Job was tired.
He tried to hide it from Ruth because it upset her so. She couldn’t imagine life without him, and he couldn’t imagine life without her either. He had faced death twice. He knew what it was to believe he was dying, but it had never been death itself that had scared him, only that death meant separation from the woman he loved.
In a quest to create something that would last forever, he had come up with the idea of making beautiful living dolls. Since he and Ruth were unable to bear offspring, this had seemed like the best of both worlds, taking flawed, imperfect children and transforming them into something so much better.
Dolls were perfect.
When they'd started, he had never dreamed that making the dolls would save his life. And yet it had—until recently, at least. But now he was old, his cancer had returned, and his body couldn’t survive another round of illness, so Ruth had devised a way for them to beat this disease once more.
Once they were dolls themselves there would be no more sickness, no more pain, and nothing would ever be able to separate them. They would live together forever.
