He didn’t wait for a response from his deputy before he began running toward his parking bay. Jamie hadn’t called Theo “Mommy” since he started school, saying it was for babies. Tony also knew Theo. His wife always kept her phone close. Knowing that Jamie had the phone, and that he wasn’t with Theo, sent a shock of something close to panic through his veins. His gut twisted.
He struggled to make his voice calm. “Where are you, Jamie?”
Tony jumped into the Blazer before the answer arrived. He felt his heart rate increase as he waited, hearing only whispers of sound. Finally the boy answered.
“We’re at home.”
“We? Is Chris with you?” Tony felt a loosening of the vise clamped around his chest. The boys were smart. If not exactly streetwise, they weren’t goofy, either. Six-year-old Jamie was a take-charge kind of kid and frequently pushed his older brother aside.
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to him for a minute?”
Rustling and static preceded Chris’s voice. “Mom never came to get us from day camp.” More static almost covered his words. “We walked home.”
Like his younger brother, Chris sounded scared.
“I’m on my way.” Tony’s brain ran through a list of possibilities. None were good. Even on what Theo called her “brain-free” days, she was a dedicated, protective mother. Tourist season with its influx of strangers passing through the town only increased her vigilance. He forced himself to sound calmer than he felt. “Where did you find your mom’s phone?”
“On the kitchen table with a note to call you. She didn’t put the face on it.” Chris began to hiccup. “Daddy, where’s Mommy?”
“I’m not sure.” Tony pressed harder on the accelerator and flipped on the light bar but not the siren. His wife always signed personal notes with a drawing of a face surrounded by curly hair. If someone else wrote the note, they’d probably sign her name. If she wrote the note herself, leaving off the drawing was a clear distress signal. “I’m almost home. Get your brother and Daisy and go outside and wait for me in the front.”
“Okay.” Chris hiccupped again, gulping air, and disconnected.
Tony dropped his phone into his shirt pocket. Imagining the little boys’ terror, he drove faster, praying as he made the turn onto their street.
At first, he didn’t see the boys. Theo’s unreliable silver-blue minivan sat in front of the house. Seeing it there meant nothing. Several times in the past few weeks she had abandoned it in various places and walked to meet the boys or called him to do it.
The Blazer skidded to a stop. Tony released his pent-up breath the moment he spotted the boys and dog clumped together behind a bush. His car door wasn’t fully open when the boys and Daisy ran toward him. Daisy barked continuously, as if she too had a story to tell him. Chris and Jamie were incoherent, their words tangled, and tears washed strips of dust from their pale cheeks.
The instant Tony stepped clear of the Blazer, Jamie climbed him like a lineman going up a telephone pole and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck. At the same time, Chris flung his arms around his thigh, pressing his tear-damp face against him, and clung there like a barnacle. Tony could feel the boys tremble and tightened his arms around their shoulders.
Tony didn’t feel any better than his sons. His eyes stung with unshed tears.
Facing the house, the three of them formed a breathing statue. Shivers coursed through each of them, showing Tony no one believed Theo had simply left her phone on the table with a note. No way. And she hadn’t forgotten them. Theo might forget to put detergent in the washing machine. She would never forget her family.
He tried speaking but his throat felt like someone had jammed a dry sponge down it. It took several attempts before he could force air out. “I need to see the note, guys.”
The boys nodded. He could feel their heads move. Neither boy released him. So, like a single giant crab, the three of them moved to the front steps where they managed to disconnect.
“Will you guys stay out here with Daisy while I go inside for a minute?” Tony hugged them again.
“No. Don’t leave us out here.” Chris clung to his father’s hand. Salty streaks coated the lenses of his glasses. “We’ll wait by the door.”
Jamie nodded his agreement. Tony wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to but suspected it was Chris’s plan.
Tony didn’t attempt to dissuade them again. He led the way up the steps. Daisy followed. The door gave its customary squeak when it opened. He walked into the eerily empty house and halted just past the doorway. He left the door open and pushed the boys behind him, wedging them between his body and the wall. “Wait here. Both of you hang onto Daisy’s collar.”
He could feel their heads nod.
He couldn’t, he wouldn’t, take the boys any farther into the house until he was certain no danger lurked inside. If something had happened to Theo in there, his sons did not need to see it. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial number three. Two was Theo.
Dispatcher Rex Satterfield didn’t ask useless questions. He listened. Seconds later, his preternaturally calm voice assured Tony help was on the way. Nothing would be broadcast that any scanner could intercept. No sirens.
There was no sign of a struggle in the entry. Tony walked to the kitchen. The only thing out of the ordinary was the note, written by Theo, on the table. “Call your dad, Mom.” No drawing—she’d been told what to write.
The only sound was the hum from the refrigerator and the thudding of his own heartbeat. There were no odors except the usual ones. Nothing like blood or burnt gunpowder.
The kitchen phone rang. The sudden shrill tone sent his pulse into overdrive. He jerked the receiver out of the cradle and slammed it against his ear. “Theo?”
“Sheriff? It’s Claude Marmot. Kin I talk to your wife for a minute?”
Marmot-the-Varmint and Theo. Tony frowned. “Sorry, Claude, she’s not available right now.”
“That’s okay. You kin give her a message for me.” He cleared his throat about four times. “Tell her my fiancée’s favorite color is pink but, you know, I’m really not all that keen on sleeping under a pink quilt if you get my drift. And if she could find a way to make it pink and yet not seem pink, I’d be much obliged.”
Tony felt his eyebrows rise. “Sure, Claude, I’ll give her the message. I guess she knows what it means.”
“Well, her and me was talking about it only a little bit ago, so I imagine she does.”
“Where was that?”
“Right in front of her shop.” Claude coughed. “You’re not thinking that something improper is going on between us?”
“No.” In spite of his concerns, Tony had to smile. He couldn’t even begin to believe that scenario. He hoped Claude might have information he needed. “Just curious about the time.”
“Well, she was standing next to that piece-of-garbage van of hers and had her keys in her hand. She said something about needing to go get your boys.”
Tony tried to imagine what happened to change that and failed. At least they had a better idea of what time she went missing. “Did she seem worried or nervous?”
“Nope. She was just her regular sweet self and said her quilting group would help out with my bride’s quilt.”
“Anything else going on around there at the time?” Tony suspected he didn’t sound very nonchalant.
“Say, Sheriff, is there something wrong?”
“Please, Claude, just answer my question.”
“Had a tourist get all hot under the collar when I stopped to chat. I did kinda leave the truck in the road.”
“Did he seem violent?”
“Naw, he was a heart attack looking for a place to happen.” Claude paused. “If he was going to get violent, he was coming after me.”
“Thanks, Claude. I’ll give Theo your message.” The knot of fear wedged in his chest seemed to grow. Why had Theo come here and abandoned her van instead of picking up the boys?
Tony put the receiver on the cradle and flipped open his cell phone. He backed out of the kitchen, already dialing Gus as he climbed the stairs. Holding his breath, he peeked into the bedrooms. Nothing seemed disturbed. He didn’t touch anything, just turned and made his way back down to the boys.
Gus answered. “What’s up?”
“You still in town, big brother?” Tony was surprised he could speak through the tightness in his throat. He knew his voice didn’t sound normal.
Gus didn’t waste time on small talk. “How can I help?”
“Come to the house.” Tony couldn’t think what to say that wouldn’t panic his sons. He relied on Gus to understand.
Gus didn’t hesitate. “I’m on my way.”
Relieved, Tony sighed and led the boys back outside and down the steps, just as Wade and Sheila drove up. Even Daisy seemed subdued. The big dog anxiously pressed against him instead of greeting his deputies with her normal exuberance. An odd whine rattled her chest. Tony would bet the dog wanted to tell him something.
“Hey, boss. Chris. Jamie. Anything new?” Wade climbed from his car, giving the boys a reassuring grin. Behind his sunglasses, the bleak expression in his eyes told Tony that he already knew the answer.
Sheila glanced around and smiled warmly. Her smile did not reach her eyes, either. “Say, Sheriff, why don’t you and the dog and boys go over to the park while we look around inside?”
Tony knew it was a good idea. It was the right thing to do. He certainly hadn’t checked all the rooms. Still, he might have protested if the boys hadn’t tightened their grips. In spite of their attempts to appear calm, the arrival of the deputies had only increased their anxiety. He nodded. Still moving as one unit, Tony, the boys and the dog crossed the street and stood in the shade, silently watching the deputies enter the house.
Gus arrived, leaving his pickup at the end of the short block. His smile faded as he studied their faces. He glanced at the gathered patrol cars and back to them. Uncertainty clouded his eyes.
Tony swallowed hard and tipped his head toward one boy and then the other. He pleaded with his eyes and could only hope Gus would understand what he needed.
“Hey, guys!” Gus tried smiling again.
Tony thought it looked almost natural.
When the boys finally smiled at their favorite uncle, Tony felt some of their tension release. Their whole world had not turned sideways, only the heart of it. “We seem to have misplaced Theo.”
The color left his brother’s face. Gus gulped, regrouping, then said, “Let’s take Daisy for a little walk across the park, maybe get some ice cream, and let your dad do his sheriff thing.”
Two blond heads shook from side to side. At least the dog quit moaning.
With Tony encouraging and Gus almost promising the moon, the boys finally let go of their father and reattached themselves like barnacles to their uncle.
Tony glanced at his front porch. As he watched, Sheila appeared on the front step. With a short shake of her head, she indicated what he’d guessed. His cursory check was right.
Theo was nowhere in the house.
The moment the boys moved away from him, Tony headed for the house. As long as they hadn’t found Theo dead, there was hope. What had happened? Who would take Theo? Ransom seemed unlikely. Certainly no one who had any idea of their family’s net worth would have bothered. The house Theo inherited had been mortgaged to the hilt to finance the construction of her shop.
If not money, what? Revenge? His career in Silersville couldn’t have sparked that much animosity, and several years had passed since his days in Chicago. Even there, he had just been another cop, nothing special.
The reason for Theo’s disappearance had to be something darker.
Tony mentally searched for anyone who hated him. It was patently ridiculous to think Theo had such a powerful enemy. His wife might not be gracious all of the time, and yet, she was well liked by most of her acquaintances.
Sheila watched him with what he suspected were tears shimmering in her eyes. “I saw the note by the phone. I can call the FBI or the TBI for you, Sheriff.”
His knees felt unexpectedly weak and he sat, dropping onto the porch steps as if his tendons had snapped. He watched his sons walking away, holding hands with Gus, still too frightened to worry about being seen by their friends. Was he supposed to wait for instructions? Would there be instructions?
“What do you want us to do?”
Tony blinked, suddenly realizing most of his deputies had gathered at his feet. Rex had called up the night patrol. The tiny force was ready to battle demons and slay dragons.
Who was the dragon?
Where had the demon taken Theo?
Theo glanced away from the road and into Vicky’s eyes. In the shadowed light of the car’s interior, they looked black instead of blue. Flat black, as if not even sunlight could penetrate into those shadows. It didn’t surprise her they were full of anger. She thought everything Vicky said and did now simply screamed her rage. Vicky couldn’t contain the madness any longer.
“Where are we?” Theo felt as if she had driven a hundred miles instead of less than ten. The road ran in long stretches then turned back on itself, zigzagging up the mountain. It was easy to see the town below. Finally, following Vicky’s instructions, they turned off the paved road. This wasn’t even a road, simply a pair of ruts worn in the vegetation. Grasses grew over the ruts. She doubted anyone had driven through here recently. A thicket of rhododendron straddled the road, scraping the sides of the car as they passed.
“Keep driving.” Still holding the revolver, Vicky ripped apart a pack of cigarettes with her teeth, sending the contents flying all over her lap. Grabbing a cigarette, she lit it and inhaled deeply, then exhaled, blowing smoke in Theo’s face.
Nausea bubbled in her throat and Theo turned her face toward the window. Theo hadn’t exactly been keeping track. She guessed her abductor had already worked her way through most of one pack of cigarettes and now had started another. The smoke cloud was unpleasant and pervasive, even with the window open.