AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She glanced around the room. A layer of dust coated the sideboard in the dining room. Brett had said he came here once a week to check on things and to dust, but she doubted he did a thorough cleaning. She could spiff up the place.
With something constructive to do, she found a vacuum, mop, and cleaning cloth along with furniture polish and all-purpose cleaners in the small utility room just off the kitchen. Armed with what she’d need, she set to work in the living room. Jasper lay down, watching her every move.
It felt good doing housework again. She loved dusting and making the furniture shine like new. She fluffed the couch pillows and chopped them in the center, making aV, like she had on her own sofa. For a moment, the image of her living room came to mind. But she pushed it aside because those thoughts always led to heartache.
She grabbed the cordless vacuum and ran it over the wall-to-wall carpet, moving what furniture she could and then putting it back. With the living room done, she moved on to the kitchen, scrubbing down the countertops and wiping off the cupboards. She filled the mop bucket with soapy water and quickly went over the linoleum floor in both the dining room and kitchen. As she finished, she looked at the windows. Dust from several years caked them on the outside. Though they needed a good washing, she didn’t want to risk someone seeing her, so that could wait.
Jasper moseyed up to her. She stroked the top of his head. “What do you think? Does it look better?”
The dog’s brown eyes peered up at her.
“Well, I think it does.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. One thirty. Brett said Jacob got out of preschool at two. Oh how she yearned to see her baby, her little boy. If only she could lay eyes on him one more time.
What if she parked where no one would see her and watched him walk to Carol’s car? Dania would have only a glimpse of him, but a glimpse would be better than nothing.
It had been three very long years of wondering what he looked like. Today, she could finally see him. Brett said Jacob looked like Matthew. Jacob was her only link to her late husband. She had to do it.
The decision made, she stored the vacuum and other cleaning supplies in the utility room. The problem was, how was she going to get there?
When she and Brett had arrived here, there’d been a late-model Geo Tracker in the garage. That had to be Gran’s. Did she dare just take Brett’s grandmother’s car? It was the only way she could see her child. Though Brett hadn’t said the name of the school. If she had a cell phone, she could google where the nursery schools were located.
There couldn’t be that many. From what she could remember, there was one near an elementary school, one across town next to a day care, and another one in an upper-class part of town. Royal Something or Other.
That had to be the one.
She couldn’t miss this opportunity, because realistically, the odds were very high that the authorities would find her and she’d never see Jacob again. She had to go. She just needed keys. Brett had taken a set from the key holder by the door. They’d probably been the Tracker’s. But it didn’t matter. Her father had taught her how to hot-wire a car. He’d forever been losing his keys, so he’d shown her a number of times what to do.
As she opened the garage door from the house, Jasper started running past her. She caught him just in time. “I’m sorry. But you have to stay here and keep watch.” She inched out and closed the door on the sad-looking dog.
She dashed to the Tracker, hoping it wasn’t locked. Fortunately, the door opened. Now all she needed was the right tools. She rummaged around in the garage workbench drawers, looking for what she could use. She pulled out two screwdrivers, a flathead and a Phillips. She’d take both. She grabbed scissors and black electrician’s tape too. Armed with what she needed, she returned to the car and sat behind the steering wheel.
Using the Phillips screwdriver, she removed the screws, then took the flathead one and gently pried off the plastic panels to expose the ignition cylinder and wires running to it.
She located the battery and starter lines and cut the power wires before using the scissors to strip the ends. When she twisted them together, the lights to the dash and other electrical systems blinked on. She cut the starter wires and prepared the ends like she had the others. Being careful not to touch them with her fingers, she brought them together, and the Tracker started. She pulled the wires apart and taped the ends so she wouldn’t get shocked while driving.
Settled behind the wheel, she pressed the garage opener. The door rolled up, and she shifted into reverse and backed out. She made sure to close the door, then continued until she was in the middle of the cul-de-sac.
Gran’s neighbor Rex might see her leave. She wouldn’t worry about that now. She didn’t have time.
Except, she was stealing a car. But this way, if she were caught, Brett could honestly say he had no idea she’d taken it.
However, questions would follow about why she had been staying at his grandmother’s. Plus, an investigation would lead to Rex, the neighbor who had nothing better to do than watch the comings and goings of the house next door.
She shifted into drive and headed for the preschool. When she arrived and pulled into a parking space that gave her the best view of those picking up children, she found a couple of small buses lining up near the front door of the school. The sign over the entrance read Royal Academy Preschool.
Little girls dressed in blue-plaid pleated skirts and navy-blue sweaters and little boys in navy-blue pants and matching cardigans followed their parents to their cars. Where was Carol’s pearl-colored Cadillac? Maybe she’d traded it in for a new car.
And then Dania saw them.
Her heart stopped.
Carol, with her blonde hair coiffed in a twist and wearing an immaculate tailor-made pantsuit, walked across the school’s parking lot, holding Jacob’s hand.
The world around Dania disappeared as she held her breath and stared at her son.
Joyful tears gathered in her eyes.
He still had baby cheeks. His hair was parted on the side and barely brushed the tops of his ears. He carried a backpack that seemed almost as big as he was. But, oh, he did look like Matthew.
