AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you all right?” Susana asked from behind him. He couldn’t turn around, couldn’t let her see the emotions that buffeted him. He felt her hand touch the tense spot between his shoulder blades and start rubbing.
“Yeah.” He fought for a calm façade. “I blew it.”
“Is that why Deborah charged out of here looking like a pack of pit bulls was chasing her?”
Daniel swiped at his eyes with both hands, still trying to get the sleep from them. “Yeah. I have to find Benny’s caseworker. Could you look around for Deborah, make sure she’s okay? She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Sure.” Susana’s tone made him glance back as he pushed through the door. She said something to Piper that he couldn’t catch. Of all his family members, Susana was the most outspoken critic of Nicole.
And Deborah wasn’t one of Piper’s favorite people either since she’d unintentionally came between Piper and Samuel a few months earlier. Why did everything have to be so complicated? He shut the screen door, careful not to let it bang.
Joanna Thigpen sat on the porch swing a few feet from the open door, scribbling furiously in a notebook. It was obvious from the expression on her face that she’d heard the heated exchange between Nicole and Daniel.
His chances for adopting Benny slipped away with every word she wrote.
Chapter Seven
Daniel walked across the porch, intent on formulating the questions that would tell him how much Joanna Thigpen knew about Benny’s background and family. Anything the caseworker might have gleaned from her interviews with Benny’s mother might be the key to unlocking the kidnapper’s identity.
Joanna Thigpen hoisted her huge body from the porch swing, stood, and held out a hand. She was built like a Dallas Cowboys linebacker. His dealings with her had always been cordial. Even Benny had warmed up to her eventually. The Tootsie Pops she kept in a huge leather purse helped. From the frown on her face, she obviously wasn’t in Tootsie Pop mode. Daniel forced a smile and shook her hand. “Thank you for coming. I know your weekends are short as it.”
“One of my kids has been kidnapped, Mr. Martinez.” She sat in the swing with a thump. “It was your duty to notify me immediately. Now, tell me what happened.”
Daniel pulled up Ray’s favorite rocking chair and ran through the day’s events. The frown on her face deepened. She occasionally made a tut-tut sound. When he stopped talking, the silence filled with what seemed like disappointment—her disappointment in him. The porch light popped on, startling him. The harsh light bathed the yard and created shadows that wavered in front of him. He studied the slats in the porch floor, feeling like a child in the principal’s office.
When Ms. Thigpen finally spoke, she sounded tired. “I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you this doesn’t look good. It doesn’t look good at all.”
“Believe me, I know this is an awful situation.” Her accusatory tone raked Daniel’s already raw nerves. “Surely you don’t think there was some way I could have foreseen that some psycho from Shawna Garza’s past would snatch Benny in broad daylight at a wedding reception?”
“How old is this nephew who discovered Benny missing?”
“Marco’s nine.”
“When he came to tell you he couldn’t find Benjamin, how long had it been since you’d seen him?”
Daniel didn’t need an interrogation. He’d already flagellated himself with the hindsight of a parent who’d lost a child. “Thirty minutes, at the most. He’d just been in the wedding.”
“So what was he doing?”
“Changing his clothes, only the clothes were in the car so he went to get them.”
She shook her head so hard, the folds of her triple chin wiggled. “Do you always let him wander about the countryside by himself?”
The disapproval in her eyes just kept getting deeper until Daniel felt he would drown in guilt.
“Benny is a very mature eight-year-old boy. He’s been navigating on his own for a long time.”
“That’s one of the reasons Benjamin went into foster care; so that someone can take better care of him.” Mrs. Thigpen looked almost triumphant over making this point. “Foster parents are held to a higher standard.”
Daniel had heard horror stories about those high standards. “Surely you’re not blaming me for something a criminal did.”
“No, Mr. Martinez, I just want you to understand the questions my superiors will ask. The things they’ll think about if you decide to seek permanent custody.”
Daniel’s heart beat did a painful hiccup. “Is there a possibility the request won’t be granted?”
“Are you and your wife divorcing?”
Her gaze bore into him, challenging him to tell the truth. “She wants to, I don’t. But that’s not—”
