Devil May Care: Boxed Set (12 page)

The window. It was close. He shuffled along the wall until he saw a square where the smoke was lighter. This had to be it.

He reached up to the window and pushed. It didn’t move. Right. There was a lock. He couldn’t reach it, though.

He had to turn around and get a box from the shelves. One on the floor would have to do. He couldn’t pick a box up in his current condition. He shoved one with his foot until it was under the window. Then he stepped onto it, his feet weighing a ton each as he forced his legs to move them.

He stood and almost fell again. The room was spinning around him and the smoke was thicker up here. He hadn’t put his shirt back over his mouth and started coughing and could not get himself to stop. He fumbled and felt the lock. He barely had the strength to turn it, but he heard the click.

Then the window popped open. He hadn’t even had to do anything. It just fell open. Was that right? He knew the glass tilted outward, but it’d never been that easy. He had to push it.

“Jasper! Jasper!”

He realized someone was calling his name. He blinked through the smoke and could make out figures. Now that the window was open, the smoke was swooshing past him, going for the new hole. But it also gave him some fresh air. He coughed again, but could breathe now.

Someone grabbed his hand. There was another hand on his other arm and he was being lifted. He landed on wet grass and lay on his back, a coughing fit taking over him. He coughed so hard he threw up again, turning his head just in time to avoid puking all over himself.

He blinked through the smoke. He couldn’t see or hear anything.

Someone grabbed him and pulled him. His back touched gravel and he stopped moving.

The smoke had gone. He could see, but his eyes burned. He rubbed them and kept coughing. Cool water. Someone poured it on him. The cold was so shocking after the heat, he shivered.

“Jasper?”

He blinked at the voice. Who was there?

“Daniel,” he coughed out. “Get him out.”

“We got him. He’s right here.”

Jasper couldn’t see.

“It’s okay, man. Everyone is out.”

Jasper fell back to the ground, the wet gravel sticking to his face. He closed his eyes. His work was done.

Fiona’s heart stopped. She had to grab the edge of the counter to keep from falling. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

Jeanine was sobbing. She could barely speak and Fiona was having a hard time understanding her.

“Slow down, Jeanine. What happened?”

Fiona realized she was getting looks from the two customers in the store. She hurried to the back and found her purse.

“She was…backyard,” Jeanine choked out. “Then. Gone.”

“Did you hear her scream or anything? You looked for her?”

“No scream. Looked everywhere.” Jeanine was hysterical and Fiona could feel her own panic approaching that point. She had to think.

“You’re home?” Fiona asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m on my way.”

Fiona hung up and dashed into the office where Sue was doing paperwork. She looked up, startled. But the look in Fiona’s eyes must’ve told her something because her own eyes went wide.

“What is it?” Sue asked.

“Sophia…” She choked on the words. Somehow, if she said them they would be more real. She wanted this all to be a nightmare. Maybe she’d sat down on her lunch break and fallen asleep and this wall all just a dream. “Sophia’s missing,” she finally said.

Sue gasped in shock. “Oh my gosh. What?”

“I have to go.”

“Yes, go.” Sue got to her feet, walking with Fiona to the door, both of them hurrying along.

“I’ll call you,” Fiona said as she reached the door and pushed it open.

Sue stood in the door way, watching her, shock still etched in her face.

Fiona didn’t know how she managed to get to Jeanine’s. She didn’t remember getting into her car, pulling out of the gift shop parking lot, or making several turns. She fumbled for her phone. It took three tries to enter the passcode. When she finally did, she scrolled to Jasper’s name with shaking hands, trying to drive and not hit anything.

She called him and his voice mail picked up. She hung up and immediately called back. Nothing. She didn’t want to leave a message, so she let her phone fall to the seat beside her.

It had to be the same men that had put a gun to her head. The men looking for Jasper. The men after Jasper, who’d nearly killed him. Oh God. What if they had Jasper, too? What if that was why he wasn’t answering? The thought made her cold.

She tried to think about what was happening right now, but her mind kept jumping. What were they doing with her daughter? She pictured Sophia’s little face, how it must be terrified, and the tears flooded her vision. Did she have Cuddles with her? Was she clutching her little friend close for comfort? Was she wondering where her mommy was and why she wasn’t there to save her?

She had to stop the sobs so she could drive, but she couldn’t breathe anymore. Her chest hitched and when she saw Jeanine’s house, she was so grateful that she’d made it.

She slammed her car into park and ran from the car to find Jeanine. She was in the backyard, looking and calling out for Sophia through her tears.

“Jeanine!”

She turned and ran toward Fiona. They met in a hard embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Fiona. I thought she was fine. She plays outside all the time and she’s fine. I just…I just…”

“No, it’s not your fault.” Fiona rested her hand on Jeanine’s shoulder. “Did you call the police?”

Jeanine nodded. “They’re on their way.”

Fiona looked around the yard. There was no clear sign of struggle, but she didn’t really know what to look for. Trampled bushes? Damaged trees? Jeanine’s yard was lined with thin trees on one side, bushes on the two others. Through the line of bushes were her neighbors and through the trees was a creek and then the backyards of other houses.

“Which way did they go?” she asked.

“They?”

“The people who took her.”

Jeanine blinked at her. “You think someone took her?”

“Don’t you?”

“I…I thought she just wandered off. Took her?”

Could Fiona be wrong? Maybe Sophia had been playing and saw a butterfly or something and chased it? Could it be so simple? Maybe no one had her daughter at all. Maybe Jasper wasn’t answering his phone because he was busy. Or didn’t want to talk to her. Could life be so wonderful?

“What happened exactly?” Fiona asked.

“I don’t know. Sophia was out here playing. I went inside to get my phone and when I came back out, she was gone. I called for her. I thought she just wandered off.”

“Maybe she did.”

She was sure Jeanine had checked, but just to be certain, Fiona went to the trees and looked at the creek, up and down to make sure she didn’t see any sign of her. What had she been wearing that day?
Think. Think.

That morning they had cereal for breakfast. Sophia still had on her pajamas and she spilled milk on them when she tipped the bowl to drink the leftover milk. Her pink kitty cat pajamas. They’d gone into her room to change, put the pajamas in the hamper and picked up…

Her mint green shirt with a glittery heart on the front. That was what she was wearing. And black leggings. With her silver sparkly flats. She loved those shoes and Fiona could barely manage to get her to take them off. “But they sparkle, Mommy!” she’d protested one night when Fiona was trying to get her to take them off to get in the bathtub. “They don’t need to be cleaned,” she’d protested, which didn’t make any sense. Fiona had pointed out that if they were sparkly and didn’t need to be cleaned, then she better leave them out of the tub, or the glitter might get cleaned off. That had been enough to make Sophia immediately kick them off. She’d let nothing take away her sparkle.

Fiona looked up and down the creek again, making sure there wasn’t one of those sparkly shoes sitting on the shore. She walked back up the bank and crossed through into each neighboring yard. No sign of her anywhere.

“I did look everywhere,” Jeanine said.

“I know you did.” Fiona patted her shoulder. “When did the police say they were going to get here?”

“They said right away, but it’s been several minutes.”

Of course. To them, it was probably just a kid who wandered off. Not an extreme emergency. They’d be here soon, but likely wouldn’t come with sirens wailing, flying down the street.

“I’m going to drive around a little,” Fiona said. “Call me as soon as they get here.”

“Okay.”

In her car, Fiona called Jasper again. Maybe she should leave a message? She called back and this time when the voice mail recording came on, she said, “Jasper, please call me back. It’s Sophia and it’s an emergency.”

She drove up and down the street slowly, pulling over when another car was behind her. She called out for her, but saw no signs of her. No a shoe, her stuffed bunny, nothing. She turned around again and drove back.

Would Sophia even have wandered off? That seemed so unlike her. She liked Jeanine and always looked forward to going to her house. She wouldn’t just leave without some reason. She wasn’t the type to wander off. Even in stores, she clung to Fiona and would point and tug at her mother to go look at something rather than go over on her own. She was the type to cling, not to wander. So would she really have left Jeanine’s yard to go exploring?

As much as she wanted to believe it could be true, Fiona had to admit that just didn’t sound like her child at all. Sophia wouldn’t wander off. Certainly not so far that she couldn’t be quickly found. Certainly not so far that looking for her by car wouldn’t locate her. No. Fiona had to face the truth. She’d been taken. And she’d most likely been taken by the men after Jasper. Though there was always the possibility that Sam had shown up and snatched her. At this point, Fiona didn’t know which would be worse.

If Sam had taken her, he might hurt her, but that was less likely at this point. Sam only hurt people when they didn’t do what he wanted. Though if he’d tried to take Sophia and she’d resisted, he could easily have smacked her to get her to listen. But that would be the worst of it. Probably. He wouldn’t kill his own child, would he? Or hurt her worse? He might use her as bait to get Fiona back. And what would he do when Fiona refused him?

The thought terrified her. But if Leo and his guys had her, wouldn’t that be worse? They’d beat up Jasper very badly. Almost killed him. Thought they’d killed him. So clearly they were violent people. But a child? She was only bait for them to get to Jasper, which had to be why they had her. If a man had held a gun to Fiona’s head to get info about Jasper, then surely this was about Jasper, too. They wouldn’t rest until he was dead. But they wouldn’t go so far as to kill a child over it, would they?

She pulled back into Jeanine’s driveway and saw that a police car was there. An officer exited the car, closing the door behind him. He’d just arrived.

He turned to her when she got out of her car and she said, “I’m the mother. It’s my daughter who’s missing.”

“Is this your home?”

“No, this Jeanine’s house. She watches my daughter. She was here when she was taken.”

The officer made notes in his notebook. “Taken?”

“Sophia wouldn’t just wander off, and I have reason to believe that she was kidnapped.”

“Let’s go inside and discuss this.” The officer gestured toward the door.

They went in and Jeanine came to meet them. They sat at the dining room table and Jeanine first relayed what she’d told Fiona of how Sophia had just vanished.

“But you said you believe she was taken,” the officer said to Fiona.

She nodded. She had to be very careful about how she answered this. She knew enough from life with Sam to know that any police attention on the MC was bad news. If she told him that part of the story, it might get Jasper in trouble. But she still wasn’t sure who it was—Sam or someone after Jasper—so either reason should work.

“My ex was abusive. We had to leave him abruptly and I think he may have found us and taken Sophia.”

The officer scribbled down more notes. He asked about Sam. Name, last known address, etcetera. She gave him all the info she had. He’d radioed some of Sam’s physical appearance details to the car that was driving around the area. They’d look for Sophia and keep an eye out for someone who looked like Sam as well.

When they finished talking with the officer, she sat with Jeanine, waiting. The police would be coming back in an hour with an update. They turned on the TV and tried to watch, but every time the phone rang, they jumped up, and Fiona couldn’t keep from checking out the window constantly. She walked to the back door, the front door, pausing in the middle to watch Jeanine talk on the phone and glance at the TV. Jeanine had the whole neighborhood looking for Sophia.

Fiona hated that she had to stay there, waiting. But the officer said that was the best thing. She was in no state to drive around looking for her and they were well practiced in cases like this, they assured her. Still. She felt so helpless just sitting there. She tried to call Jasper a few more times. She’d left one more message, telling him that Sophia was missing and that she thought maybe it was Leo’s guys or her ex.

He had to just be unavailable or had lost his phone or something. There was no way he wouldn’t call her back after messages like those, right? Could he be that heartless? She didn’t think so, but she kept checking her phone and calling his, wondering why in the world he wasn’t answering or calling her back.

An hour and a half later, the officer returned. He told them they had no solid leads, but that they were opening a full investigation and would continue searching for Sophia. While they were talking with the officer, her phone rang. She looked down and saw an unknown number. Maybe it was Jasper, though.