AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What can I do for you, Shirley?” I try to keep the irritation out of my voice. It’s not her fault I’m tired and ready to go home.
“We just got a call from dispatch. Apparently they received a call from someone that claims to be with your son.”
“What?” I practically shout. What the fuck is she talking about? Oliver is tucked safely away with Gloria.
“Apparently he’s at Alterman Park. I’m not sure of all the details. Do you want me to put dispatch through to you?”
I snatch my keys off my desk and catch Rafe’s attention who is looking at me questioningly. “Can you put them through to my cell please, Shirley? I’m heading to the park right now.”
“Of course,” she says and disconnects the call.
“What the fuck is going on?” Rafe asks.
“I’ll explain on the way.” I throw on my coat and start heading towards the back exit where all of our cars are parked just as my cell starts to ring with the requested call.
***
The car comes skidding to a halt and I’m not even positive I have it in park when I jump out of the door and start sprinting towards the small group of people gathered around a cluster of picnic tables in the evening haze.
As I get closer, I spot Oliver standing sandwiched between a uniformed officer and an older woman who seems to be stroking his back in a comforting manner. I shout out his name as I get closer and he jerks around to face me. I can see the tears streaming down his cheeks and the second he spots me he takes off in a run. I scoop him up into my arms and hold him tightly tomy chest, trying to assure myself he’s really here in my arms and that he’s alright.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry.” He’s practically wailing in my arms and I know I need to get him calmed down if I’m going to get anything useful out of him.
“It’s okay, Oliver. You didn’t do anything wrong, do you understand?”
I don’t turn my head but I can feel Rafe step up beside me. “I’m going to start talking to the unis and see what they have so far.” I just nod my head at him as he heads over the small group of people who all seem to be speaking at once. I can’t stop running my hands over his limbs and across his body, doing my best to assure myself that he is indeed unharmed.
I didn’t get much out of dispatch, just that there was a kidnapping attempt but that Oliver hadn’t actually been taken and was asking for me. They didn’t have much other information in all of the confusion and frankly, with how fast I was speeding towards the park, the fact that he appeared to be safe and unharmed was the only thing playing over and over in my head. “Where’s Gloria?” I ask, clutching him to me tightly while scanning the crowd for her. I know that wherever Oliver is, she is sure to not be far behind.
“She wasn’t with us, dad,” he says on a hiccup. I look down at Oliver, confused.
“What do you mean she wasn’t here with you? Who were you with?”
“Bianca!” He lets out on a sob before breaking down into tears again. The relief I was feeling at knowing Oliver was safe has evaporated in a moment. I look around and don’t see Bianca anywhere.
“What do you mean you were here with Bianca?” I’m doing my best to keep my voice level but I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of it. I want to drill him with questions until I getthe full story out of him and he tells me where Bianca is, but I manage to restrain myself. I see he looks just as distraught as I feel and I pull him into me, wrapping my arms around him. I take a deep breath and start again, trying not to let the urgency of my voice leak through. “Why were you here with Bianca? I thought Gloria was watching you?”
“Aunt Gloria hurt her back and called Bianca so she could watch me for a few hours so she could rest. Bianca didn’t want to go to the park. I made her. I’m so so sorry.” He’s back to crying and I rub his back in what I hope is a soothing manner.
“That’s okay, buddy. Tell me what happened at the park with Bianca.”
“We were walking to the car to leave cause it was cold and a man stopped his car in front of us. Bianca pushed me behind her but I took a peak and he had a gun. Was he a bad man or was he a good guy like you?”
I take a deep breath trying to calm the rising panic in my chest. There’s only one reason a man would pull a gun on Bianca and Oliver and it definitely wasn’t because he was a good guy. “I’m not sure, buddy. Tell me what happened after that.”
“He wanted us to get into his van. He was yelling at Bianca to hurry up and he called her bad words but she wouldn’t go. I was really scared. He was waving the gun around and Bianca kept saying to stay behind her.”
“You did the right thing by listening to her. I’m really proud of you. What happened after that?”
“I didn’t understand everything, but Bianca said she would get into the car if he left me here. That if he tried to take us both there would be too much noise and people would hear but if he just took her she would be quiet. Why would she go with him, Daddy?”
I knew exactly why Bianca would go with him. She was trying to do everything she could to keep Oliver out of danger. My heartfeels like it was going to beat out of my chest. “Did you recognize the man?”
“No, he was all dirty.”
“Okay, you did great buddy.” I call Rafe over to me and he extracts himself from the group of bystanders and comes jogging over while I hand Oliver off to a uni and ask her to call Gloria. “He has Bianca.”
Rafe’s eyes turn steely. “I thought he might. One of the women over there mentioned that Oliver kept talking about a woman who got into the car. Why wouldn’t he take both of them? He had them all alone and from what I could tell, they were far away from anyone else in the park.”
