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“1304 9th terrace. I came up to get my daughter up for school and she’s gone.”
My stomach drops. That address sounds familiar. Depending on the age, she could have snuck out or run away. So we can’t immediately assume that she is missing. “Ma’am, have you checked the house? Does she like to play hide and seek?”
“She’s 10. I’ve checked everywhere. Her window is open. Oh, god. Please help me.”
The distress in this mother’s voice is heartbreaking. “What is your daughter’s name?”
“Bella.”
My body stills and my mouth flies open.Holy shit. It can’t be.
“I’m dispatching officers right away. You need to get a picture ready for them. Do you have one?”
“Yes, one on the fridge. Please tell them to hurry. What if she has been out there all night? Crying for help.”
A mother can’t think like that. It will break them.
“We need to focus on finding Bella now, ma’am.” Jennifer alerts the officers as I try to calm her down. “They should be pulling up any minute. Let me know when they arrive. I’ll stay on the phone until they do.”
Jennifer is just staring at me, eyes wide, wondering why I’m so distraught over this call. She will never understand. Too many kids get kidnapped nowadays. It’s unreal to think about it.
I clutch the stress ball from my desk and start pumping it and rocking back and forth in my chair. “I hear sirens. Have they arrived?”
She starts talking to the police officers, but then a familiar voice sounds.
Theo?
18
THEO
My alarm blares at five-thirty on cue. I roll my ass out of bed and start a pot of coffee. Today is the day I am going to get out of the house and go to work. I can’t continue to act like this. My father is dead, but not because of me. He had his own demons. I shouldn’t hold the guilt of his death on my shoulders just because I didn’t write him back.
The first thing I do is fill my mug and take a seat on the couch. Time to get my head straight. I can’t let him do this to me. I’ve come way too damn far for this. The news plays and just like any other morning, I groan after seeing all of the dark and twisted things going on in the world. Shootings and serial killers. It seems like there is a new shooting happening once a week anymore, and it needs to end. This is why I hate watching the news and not how I want to start my day.
My phone begins to ring in the bedroom. It’s still plugged in because I forgot to charge it before I fell asleep last night. Who in their right mind would be calling me this early? I rush to the bedroom and unplug it.
“Is Bella okay?” I answer, seeing her name.
She’s balling on the other end, and it’s next to impossible to understand what she is trying to tell me. “I’m on my way.”
I hang up the phone, throw on shoes, and head out the door. Please tell me she is okay. She sounded distraught, which could only mean that something bad happened. I back out of the driveway and speed off onto the street, making the six blocks over to Bella’s house. When I pull up to the curb, she is outside on the porch, on her knees, crying into her hands. I get out in such a hurry, I don’t even shut my car door.
“What is going on?” I say, rushing up to her and placing my hand on her shoulder. “You’re scaring me.”
“She - isn’t - Bella is gone!” she mutters out before crying again.
What the hell does she mean she’s gone? Was she not watching her? I go inside and find her husband ransacking the house.
“How can I help?” I ask, running my fingers through my hair. We have to find her. This can’t be.
He points up to the back of the house and I search every inch only coming out empty handed. We meet in their bedroom and when our eyes connect, my stomach sinks.
“How long has she been gone?”
He shakes his head. “She went to bed around nine last night. When we went to wake her for school, she was gone and her bedroom window was open.”
Bella wouldn’t run away. She knows she could be worse off than she is here. So that’s out of the question. So where could she be?
