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“Yes,” Reese whispered.
“Who was he with?”
“I don’t know who she was. I saw them on his front porch early this morning. You will have to forgive me for not going to introduce myself. What does this have to do with finding Mav?” Reese’s temper flared.
“I have to ask about everything. I’m sorry, Reese,” Franks looked pained but kept making notes in his tablet.
“Please just find my baby,” she begged.
“I know Cash didn’t take him. He was with me when Mav got on the bus. After that, we went to the garage. Worked there until we came here,” Pappy added. “You need to be out looking for my son and that man she was married to.”
“I just wanted to cross everyone else off the list before the FBI get here. They usually aren’t known to be tactful. I am sorry I had to upset you worse, but for what it is worth, I have known Cash all my life. It would surprise the hell out of me if he cheated on you. His daddy ran round on his momma for years. He hates that shit.”
“I understand you needed to ask, but please just find my son. Where Cash sticks his dick is the least of my concerns right now.”
Reese sat staring at her hands folded on her lap as Franks left to talk to the other officers in her house. Pappy sat quietly beside her, holding her hand, trying to comfort her. This was her fault for trying to have it all. Reese knew it wasn’t in the cards for her, and she shifted her focus from what meant the most to her. Now Mav was gone.
Chapter 18
Reese sat for hours in the same position on her couch, waiting for the door to open and Mav’s heavy footsteps to come crashing through the door. It was all a misunderstanding of some kind. They would laugh about it years from now. It wasn’t that someone had abducted her child. Anything but the reality that had her anxiously awaiting any shred of news. News that would put her out of the demonic torture she was currently stuck in.
The afternoon sunlight fell to dusk, and she hadn’t moved. People came and went through her house; most she had no idea who they were, nor could she find it within her to care. Nothing else mattered until Mav was home. Pappy came and went retrieving whatever they needed. The phone never rang. The news he was found never came.
As dark settled around them and Mav wasn’t home, Reese’s if-only lists warred with all of the what-ifs creating an oppression Reese struggled to keep in check. A cup of tea appeared beside her, but she never touched it. She just sat staring at the door, waiting.
“Reese,” Officer Franks sat down beside her. “I am going to send everyone home for the night, but I am going to stay here with you in case someone calls.”
“Are they still looking for him? Shouldn’t I be out there looking for him? Shouldn’t someone have called by now? Someone said they would most likely call,” Reese pleaded with him for information.
“Reese, honey, I have everyone I can call out looking for Mav. Cash has been all over town putting up missing person fliers. The Amber Alert hasn’t gotten any credible hits yet. We are going to find him for you, honey. I believe that. Multiple agencies are working on this, and we are doing everything that can be done. I need you here at home to answer the phone in case someone calls.”
Reese nodded.
“Is there something I can get for you? Want me to warm up your tea?”
“No, I am going to go get a shower. Will you come to get me if the phone rings?”
“Absolutely, I will,” Franks promised.
“Thank you,” Reese whispered.
She had no idea how other parents lived like this for days or even years. Her body felt as if it were going to implode at any second. Drawing a simple breath was hard over the stabbing pain in her chest. Moving felt like it took more effort than she had to give. Reese slowly made her way up the stairs. She stopped to join Pappy in the doorway of their room.
“I should have taken him to school.”
“No, Pappy. They were going to take him. They even warned me many times they were going to take Mav. I didn’t listen. I was too preoccupied with my own life to worry about my child. It wouldn’t have mattered who took him to school or if he were at home. They would have gotten to him one way or another. Just like he said they would.”
“Reese, girlie, I am so sorry. It isn’t your fault. I brought all this down on you when I came here.”
“It isn’t your fault. You weren’t the one who took Mav. You aren’t the one so consumed by greed that you abducted a fifteen-year-old in a pathetic attempt to get money.”
“It has been weeks since they called the last time. They said two weeks. My father and Reed laid out that timeline saying they would come to take Mav. That time came and went. I thought being hounded by the FBI would have been a deterrent, but their greed knows no ends. They are sick. When they are caught, my father and my ex-husband will be going to jail. I should never have let myself get distracted from their threats.”
“I feel so helpless, girlie.”
“Me too,” Reese admitted in a whisper as she hugged him.
They stood together, holding each other up for a long time before Reese moved away. She forced herself to shower. She tossed clothes on, not caring what she looked like, then headed back downstairs. Reese found Franks with his laptop out and papers spread out on her coffee table.
