Over (23 page)

"I was going to sleep in my car since I couldn't drive. He wanted to tow me home, but I needed space to think—and sleep apparently. I've never slept so much as I have the last few days. But anyway, since I wouldn't go home, he offered his guest room. I poured my heart out, and he listened. That's about it. If it makes you feel any better, it helped me to realize how much I wanted to get back and pour my heart out to you instead."

Chad nodded. "I had a similar experience."

Her eyes widened. "You did?"

"This morning I'd had all I could take. I ended up at a park, running around the trail." He pulled his feet up and rubbed his blisters. "I ran into Lydia Harris from the HOA and ended up sobbing in the park."

"Lydia? Isn't her husband always out of town?"

"Yeah."

"Don't get too close to her. She's lonely. I can see it in her eyes."

"I won't." Guilt stung at him for not telling Alyssa the entire story, but she didn't need to know everything. It was over. He wasn't going to see her, or anyone else for that matter, again. He was one hundred percent devoted to Alyssa as long as she would have him. If she knew about Lydia, it would crush her. He couldn't do that to her after everything that had already happened with Macy and Alex.

It would definitely be the end of their relationship—and he couldn't handle that. He regretted ever talking to Lydia with everything in him. He would never make that mistake again. He belonged to Alyssa wholly. They needed each other now more than ever. His guilt was punishment enough. There was no reason to break her heart. She didn't deserve it.

She ran her hand along his arm, giving him the chills. "We'll pour our souls out to each other only from now on. Right?"

"You've got it."

Alyssa leaned over and placed her soft lips on his. He pulled her closer, kissing her back.

Both of their phones rang.

They pulled back, giving each other confused looks.

Chad looked at his. "It's Fleshman."

"Reynolds. Something is going on." She slid her finger across the screen.

Chad did the same on his. "Fleshman? What's going on?"

Next to him, Alyssa talked to Reynolds, and he couldn't understand what either Fleshman or Alyssa were saying.

"Hold on, Detective." Chad went out into the hall. "I couldn't hear you. What were you saying?"

"We might not have to wait on the media. We already have a break in the case."

"Another one?"

"There's a girl several hours away claiming to be your daughter. There's a catch though."

The hall spun around Chad. He leaned against the wall. "What?"

"She's in a mental hospital, but the nurses are freaked out because they thought she was someone else. I'm more than a little confused, but we need to get over there and figure this out. They're not releasing her until they have proof that she is who she says."

His throat closed up.

"Chad? Are you still there?"

Somehow he managed to find his voice. "Text me the address. We'll be right there."

"Try not to get your hopes up. We—"

"Just text me the address." Chad ended the call. Could this really be it? Was he about to see Macy again? Or would this be yet another heartache?

He looked into the bedroom. Alyssa was on the phone with tears running down her face. He wanted to comfort her, but he needed to call Alex first. He would want to join them. He needed to know too.

Alex answered right away. "Dad, can you call me back later? We're about to find out if it's a boy or a girl. It took forever to get in."

"Okay. Your mom and I are going with the detective for a while. There have been some developments in the case. Check the news when you can."

"Wait. What?"

"The body isn't Macy, son. It looks like she's alive."

"She's alive?"

Chad could hear exclamations from Zoey and Valerie on the other end. "I'll call you in a few hours and we can exchange news."

Breakdown

When they pulled into the parking lot of the Shady Hills Mental Health Facility, Alyssa saw Detective Fleshman and Officer Anderson getting out of their police cruiser.

She didn't wait for Chad to fully stop the car before she jumped out and ran to the police.

"What's going on? Where's my baby?"

"That's what we need to figure out," Anderson said, tipping his hat. "There's a girl named Heather claiming to be Macy. She's been in there longer that Macy's been missing, so we—"

"No, there's two girls they thought were Heather," Fleshman corrected.

"And the strange thing is that when the Mercers' house was broken into, the intruder mentioned someone named Heather. Do you remember that?" He flipped through his notepad. "See? Right here. Zoey said he called Macy's room Heather's."

Alyssa looked at them like they had lost their minds. "What?"

Fleshman gave her an apologetic look. "It's complicated. We'll wait for Chad and then get in there and figure out what's going on."

Chad ran up to them. "Is Macy in there?" He looked as desperate as Alyssa felt. He took Alyssa's hand.

"That's what we're here to find out," said Anderson.

"Would you just take us to our daughter?" Alyssa blurted out. "I'm sorry. I can't go another minute without seeing her."

"Sorry. Let's go."

Fleshman walked toward the building and Alyssa hurried to keep up. Her heart raced. Would this be the end of the nightmare or merely another dead end? She prayed Macy would be inside.

When they got inside, Anderson explained what was going on to the lady at the front desk. Alyssa had to bite her tongue. She wanted to scream for her to let them in.

The receptionist looked through some notes. "I see that they're expecting you. Have a seat and someone will come for you soon."

Alyssa squeezed Chad's hand. She looked at the big doors they would go through. She would rip them off their hinges if she had to. She would give them one minute to send someone before she started making demands.

Fleshman and Anderson both took seats, but Chad and Alyssa remained standing. Alyssa kept her attention on the big clock on the wall. As soon as one minute passed, she looked at Fleshman. "What's taking them so long?"

"Give them some time. This building is enormous. Even if they come for us right away, it could be five or ten minutes."

"Five or ten minutes? I can't wait that long."

The officers exchanged a look and then Anderson turned to Alyssa. "You've been patient all this time. Give it a few more minutes and then you might get to see your daughter. We don't know, but we really need you to remain calm. Can you do that?"

Chad squeezed her hand. "We will. You won't regret allowing us to come along with you."

Fleshman nodded. "Good to hear. We don't know that we'll see her right away. Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Just follow our lead and hopefully you'll have your daughter in your arms soon enough."

"They'll let her out, right?" Alyssa asked. "Why is she even in here?"

Anderson shook his head. "We don't have those answers yet."

"What answers
do
you have?"

"Not a lot," Fleshman said. "There's a girl here who's been giving the staff trouble since before Macy disappeared. Her parents are out of the picture and—"

"What does this have to do with my child?" Alyssa demanded.

Chad gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Lyss, let him talk."

"I don't see how you can stay so calm."

"Because I don't want to be sent outside while they go in and see Macy."

Alyssa looked back to Fleshman, clenching her fists. "Continue."

"This other girl, Heather, she's been claiming that her dad killed her mom. She's in denial that her mom left them. The staff says it's a real sad case, but earlier today, there were two of her. Another girl appeared somehow, who looks just like her. The only way they can tell the difference is that the new one has shorter hair, but it's the same length as Heather's when she came in months ago."

"What's your point?" Alyssa asked.

"The second one is claiming that she's Macy. She says she was kidnapped by Heather's dad and she also believes that he killed Heather's mom."

Alyssa leaned against Chad. "I…I don't understand."

Chad held her tight. "You mean that the other dad, he took Macy to replace his daughter?"

"It's beginning to look that way," Anderson said. "The local authorities are said to be questioning him now. There are a lot of pieces to be put together. A big one is you two identifying whether or not the second girl is in fact Macy."

"Do you have a picture?" Alyssa asked. "Why won't they let us in there? What's taking them so long?" She pulled away from Chad and ran to the front desk, her vision more blurry by the moment. Blinking the tears onto her face, she stared down the receptionist. "Let us in there! My daughter has been missing since November! I
need
to see her."

"I'm sorry. We have strict protocol. You must have a staff member escort you in."

"You're staff!" Alyssa slammed her hand on the desk, causing the receptionist to jump. She looked at her name tag. "Look, Lynette. I don't know if you have children, but not knowing where your child is, that's the worst feeling in the world. It gets even harder the more time passes. When they're little and run out of your sight at the mall for a minute, sheer terror runs through you. Ever been there? If they hide somewhere, making that terror go for another five minutes, that's hell. I've been there once when my son was little. Can you imagine those five minutes turning into almost half a year? There isn't a word to describe that!"

Lynette was visibly shaken. "I—I'm really sorry for everything you've been through. I don't have kids, but my niece, one time she ran off when I was taking care of her. I kind of understand what you're saying. I wish I could do something for you."

"Let me in! Take me to my daughter…please." More tears fell to her cheeks.

Alyssa felt hands on her shoulders. "Let's go wait with the officers, Lyss."

"Take me in there," Alyssa begged.

Lynette shook. "I'm really sorry. I don't have the key card to get in."

"Damn you people!" Alyssa shook her shoulder to get past Chad and ran to the big, metal door. She banged on it. "I'm coming, baby! I'll be there as soon as I can." Her fists hurt as she pounded, but she didn't care.

Hands pulled her away. They dragged her back to the waiting area. "Stop! I need to get to Macy." She pushed against Chad, who held her even tighter. "Let go of me."

Fleshman appeared in front of her. "Mrs. Mercer, you need to get control of yourself now. Do you understand me? We brought you with us because we thought you would be able to help us. If you keep acting like this, we're going to have no choice except to take you into custody."

She stopped struggling. "You would arrest me?"

"That's the last thing I want to do after everything you've been through. Your daughter may very well be on the other side of those doors, but we need your cooperation. It will be a lot easier if you stay calm. The big question is: do you want to be with your husband when he identifies the girl as either your daughter or not?"

"Of course I do."

"It won't be much longer. You've waited this long. Can you wait another few minutes until someone comes for us?"

"Fine." Alyssa pushed against Chad, who let go of her. She sat down on a chair near the window and stared out. How dare they think they could arrest her? After everything she'd been through? The two of them, they
knew
. They had been working closely with her and Chad. They had been in daily contact for a while.

Chad sat on the floor in front of her, resting his hands on her knees. "I know how you feel, Lyss. Really, I do. I want to scream and break things, but it won't do any good. For the first time since she disappeared, we have real hope—real reason to believe that she's alive and safe. It's killing me that she could be in this very building, but we still can't get to her."

"This is worse than torture. They have no clue what this is like."

He shook his head. "We're so close, yet so far. But we have to hold it together—for Macy. She's been through more than we can imagine. If what Fleshman said is true, she been with a kidnapper all this time. Not only that, but she's going to get home and find out that she's going to be an aunt. We're going to have to hold it together, no matter how much we feel like falling apart."

"I've been doing nothing other than holding myself together for all these long, terrifying months."

"But this time, we'll have Macy with us. I hope to God that's the case, anyway."

She nodded. "I'll be strong for her. That's what I've been doing all along."

Chad grabbed her hands and slid his fingers between hers. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Alyssa looked out the window for a little while, and then she looked back to Chad, who had his chin rested on her lap. Tears shone in his eyes and the pained expression on his face broke her already-crushed heart.