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The voice that greeted me was familiar. And female.
It had been a long time but apparently not long enough.
I was more confused now than when Charles had told me Paul was dead.
My voice croaked out, “Mom?”
Charles
I was running as though my life depended on it—because it did. My children were my life. Sweat coated my neck and my back through my suit, but I didn’t let it deter me as my arms pumped harder and faster.
The sound of a car horn honking behind me had me turning. I only stopped when I realized it was Brad.
“Get in.”
I hopped in the car and chucked my suit jacket to the back. “What happened?” I asked, trying to take a full breath into my lungs.
“I told the lady we couldn’t find my niece, told her we’d pay for all damages and insurance wouldn’t have to get involved. I gave her my number.” His face was stoic and still.
On any other day, Brad giving a woman his number would be a family joke. Not today. No jokes today.
No, we are going to fucking find my daughter, and then we’re all going to laugh about it later,I told myself to try to keep calm. I reminded myself that today was going to have a good outcome.
We are going to find her. Everything is going to be okay.I repeated the words in my head over and over again.
“Nothing had better have happened to her,” he ground out.
“Don’t go there, Brad,” I warned him. I didn’t need his panic spouting out scenarios. “If Paul’s dead, there’s hope to believe there is a reasonable explanation for all of this,” I said.
But he kept going, “Life is a shitty, shitty game. We’ve been dealt bad hand after bad hand. I’m done with this shit, man. If someone hurt my baby, I’m going to jail. Guaranteed.”
I pushed his words out and cleared my head. I needed all my faculties to make sure this thing came to an end and that Mary was found safe and sound. We double-parked in the emergency lane, jumped out of the car, and ran into the school. In the main office, my eyes connected with Sarah’s, and my whole body relaxed. Immediately, I dropped to the ground and pulled her into my arms, breathing her in, holding her close.
Tears fell down her face as her small arms wrapped around my waist.
“Did you find her?” I asked, pulling back to swipe the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.
She shook her head. “No, Daddy.” She sobbed uncontrollably.
I gulped. “Where’s Becky?”
“She told me to stay here with Kenzo.”
A prickle of goose bumps trailed up my arm.What? Where the hell did she go?
When I released Sarah, Brad lifted her in his arms, her legs dangling above the ground. He kissed her cheek over and over again. “I’m homeschooling you from now on,” he growled, his normal vibrancy gone.
I stood at full height, turning my attention to Kenzo. “You let her leave?”
“She said she was going to the washroom and didn’t come back.”
Two more officers approached me, followed by the principal right behind them.
I didn’t want to talk to any of them right now. I wanted to take things into my own hands. I needed to find Becky and Mary.
A tall male officer with light-brownish hair came closer. “Mr. Brisken, hello. We have a few questions, and we will brief you on our search efforts.”
“One second.” I turned the other way, not wanting to be rude but needing to speak to Becky. Something wasn’t right.
