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“I’ve dispatched Chatham County deputies to your home. They should be there in under two minutes. Stay on the line until they arrive.” Another downside to my privacy was relying on a different department in an emergency. I would’ve preferred SPD to run point, but I wouldn’t get a say.
“I need to call my ex-wife,” I said.
“Hang on with me until help arrives, okay?”
I nodded, then forced myself to speak. “Yes.”
“Is there anywhere on the property you haven’t searched?” the dispatcher asked.
“I have an old barn on the property, but it’s dilapidated and falling down. Alex wouldn’t…he wouldn’t willingly go there in the dark.”
“He might if he were trying to flee from an attack,” she explained.
“You’re right. Maybe Alex can’t hear me shouting for him. I’ll go—”
“Wait for help,” she insisted. “I don’t want the deputy to mistake you as a threat if you’re lurking around in the dark. They’ll search for you.” I wanted to argue with her, but I heard emergency sirens in the distance. “First responders will be on the scene in less than a minute,” she said.
I saw the lights flashing in the trees as the sirens grew louder. A moment later, the first cruiser pulled into the driveway. I thanked the dispatcher before disconnecting and heading outside to meet the deputy. The second car arrived before I finished describing the scene, and I started over again. They asked me to stay outside while they thoroughly checked the property, which gave me a moment to make a call that was every parent’s worst nightmare.
Alyssa answered on the second ring. Her name was a choked sob on my lips, and my ex-wife immediately went on high alert. “What happened?”
“Someone took Alex,” I managed to say.
“Where are you right now?” she asked.
“House. My house.”
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Russ asked in the background.
“Someone took Alex,” she told him.
“Tell Lio we’re on our way,” Russ said.
Another set of headlights appeared at the end of the driveway. I couldn’t see the vehicle but knew it was Abe from the sound of the engine speeding down the gravel lane. He’d barely come to a complete stop before he leaped from the truck and ran over to where I stood in front of the deputy’s cruiser.
“Shit, Lio,” he said, running up to me. “What happened?”
I collapsed against him and would’ve fallen to the ground without his strong embrace. “Alex is gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean?”
“Someone took our boy, Abe.”
He held me against his chest, and I released my fears in a torrent of tears and angry sobs. He kissed the top of my head. “I’ll get him back. I promise.”
Abe
Terror did funny things to a man. It could render him useless or hone his senses to dangerous weapons. I fell firmly in the second camp. Who the fuck thought they could come into our home and take our boy?Our boy.Lio hadn’t needed to say it for me to know it was true. I’d loved Alexander Mendoza since I’d first laid eyes on him, and I meant what I’d told Lio. I would get Alex back if it was the last thing I did.
Crunching gravel and a gunning engine caught my attention. I turned my head and was nearly blinded by the vehicle’s headlights. I shielded my eyes with my hand and recognized Russ’s SUV racing up the driveway. He barely came to a complete stop before he and Alyssa were out of the truck and running toward us.
“I should’ve been here,” Lio said, his voice cracking as more tears threatened.
Alyssa nudged me out of the way and wrapped her arms tightly around Lio. “This isn’t your fault, and we’re going to get Alex back.”
“Hell yes, we are,” Russ said, slapping me on the back. “What happened?”
Lio started at the beginning with the phone call he received from Alex, but he didn’t get very far before three more vehicles arrived on the scene. Commissioner Rigby was in one, and the others belonged to a K-9 handler and a detective with CCSD’s major crimes unit. The K-9 handler briefly nodded as she passed, and the detective stopped to introduce himself as Micah Hale. Seeing the show of force should’ve been comforting, but it brought home just how serious their situation was. Lio restarted from the beginning again to fill in the newcomers.
