Chapter 12
1495 Words
Chapter Twelve
Diana checked the time on her cell phone again—it was after nine. She was parked in front of the grocery store, and for the last ten minutes she’d waited on the sidewalk in front of the glass doors, walking in circles. Now, she leaned against the front of Jed’s truck, thankful the rain had tapered off. She looked up and down the empty street for Laura but saw no one. The young grocery clerk, the same one from yesterday, wearing the same white and orange uniform shirt, waved to Diana from the storefront window and then frowned. Diana waved back. The girl gestured at her, and Diana realized she was obviously wondering why she was standing outside the store as if she were a teenager, loitering.
Diana held her cell phone in her right hand. She glanced at the time again. It was almost nine twenty-five, and still no Laura. What the hell had happened to her? Diana considered herself a good judge of character, so she couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t show up. She’d been desperate yesterday. She saw the way she worried over her small child; she knew how hungry they were.
She also knew she couldn’t wait much longer, because Jed was waiting for them at home with Danny, who’d nursed just before she left. She hadn’t pumped any milk to leave for him this morning, so regardless of whether she wanted to or not, she had to go. She called Jed, and he answered on the second ring.
“Yeah?”
Diana wanted to smile at her husband, who refused to get newer phones with call display. He never knew who was calling, but Jed could be quite prickly, and he said he just couldn’t get people who screened their calls. It made no sense. If the phone rang, answer the damn thing.
“Jed, she’s not here,” she said, not knowing what to do and fearing she’d have to leave without her.
He sighed on the other end. “Diana, honey, you’ve got a heart of gold, but you can’t help everyone. She obviously doesn’t want help. Not everyone is made like you, honey.”
“I know, but it still doesn’t feel right. I understand that desperation… and what I saw in her yesterday…” Diana stopped as she glimpsed a thin woman wearing a dark coat and wool cap limping toward the store.
“Diana, are you there?” Jed said on the other end of the phone.
She pressed the cell phone to her ear, distracted. “Jed, I’ve got to go. I think I see her, but she’s alone.”
“Diana, you call me right back and let me know you’re on your way home.” She didn’t miss the worry in his voice.
“I will. I love you.” She hung up, knowing Jed would be in her SUV in five minutes unless she called back. He would drive faster than he should into town to rescue her, even if she wasn’t in trouble. It was truly comforting to know that the one person she shared everything with, her heart, her soul, always had her back without question.
Diana tucked her phone in her pocket and hopped up on the sidewalk, walking toward the girl who stumbled toward her. “Laura?” She moved cautiously when she saw her pale face and her eyes, filled with something that reminded Diana of lost hope, as if she’d just lost every reason to live. It was a pain, an agony Diana had seen before—had lived before.
Laura gazed at her, unseeing, her eyes red rimmed and glossy. She opened her mouth, and her lips trembled.
“Laura, where is your son? Where is Gabriel?” Diana felt bone-chilling fear beating like wings up her spine when the girl’s big, startled eyes gazed out at her as if she were the girl’s only chance, and a thin chance it was.
The girl sagged, and Diana grabbed her shoulders, but she couldn’t hold her up, so she sat her gently on the ground. Diana’s phone rang in her pocket, and she knew it was her husband before she even answered.
“Jed.” She stood up and touched her head, looking at the girl on the ground at her feet, who was just sitting there as if she’d lost her mind.
“Diana, what the hell is going on?” He was worried, and it always came across as irritation.
“I don’t know, Jed, but something’s happened. Her son’s gone. She’s sitting on the ground here.” Diana knelt down and touched the girl’s shoulder.
“I’m on my way. Stay put.” He hung up, and she knew he’d be there in no time with her baby boy.
She glanced up to see a couple watching—gawking was more like it. Someone else was watching from the store window, and Mr. Harris, too, but no one came out to help. Diana urged the girl up, taking her elbow and moving her toward the truck. It took effort, and when she opened the passenger door, she leaned Laura against the truck.
“Can you sit in the truck? Come on, Laura, up.”
Laura climbed in while Diana held her arm, but she still hadn’t spoken. At least now she was out of view. The last thing Diana needed was to be the latest gossip, both her and Laura. She knew there’d be talk now, but if the girl kept sitting there, crying with Diana, the talk and the stories would be so much worse. She touched Laura’s hand. It was pink and very cold. The girl was trembling and didn’t respond to her touch.
“They took Gabriel. I shouldn’t have stopped there,” she whispered. “I tried to tell them I have work, but they still took him.”
Diana felt the ground sway as if she were the butt of a cruel joke. But the joke apparently was on Laura. “What are you talking about? Who took Gabriel?”
Laura gazed up. Her eyes were dimmed, and the tiny spark of hope that had shimmered yesterday while she sat across the table from Diana at the diner had disappeared. “A deputy called a social worker and took him away from me. I don’t know what to do.”
Diana gaped and then turned her head when a vehicle’s tires screeched. It was Jed, and he pulled in right beside the open passenger door of his truck and parked. He jumped out of the driver’s seat; Danny was in his car seat in the back. In two strides, Jed was beside Diana, and he glanced at Laura, who appeared like an orphaned child.
“What’s going on?”
Laura shrank back, and Diana didn’t miss the fear. “Laura, this is my husband, Jed.”
The girl gave a startled gaze like a spooked deer at Jed and then back to Diana. Diana held her hand and squeezed gently. “Jed, Laura said a deputy and a social worker took her little boy.”
Laura gazed up at Jed, squinting as a hint of color dotted her cheeks. She quickly dropped her gaze, and Diana didn’t miss how nervous she was around her husband. That was when it dawned on Diana, his resemblance to Andy.
“Laura, Jed is Andy’s cousin, but they’re not the same person. Jed, remember I told you last night that Laura used to work for Caroline, who fired her a few days ago?” She was trying to ease at least one worry from Laura. It just wasn’t right to have the weight of the world on one’s shoulders, and this girl seemed to have it all.
Jed exchanged a glance with Diana. “Laura, Caroline is a miserable person, and I’m sorry. I can only imagine how badly you were treated, but it sounds like you have a bigger problem: your son. So why did they take him?”
Laura’s lips trembled, and when she glanced up sheepishly, she spoke softly. “We were sleeping in my car at the mall. The deputy who tapped on my window called the sheriff, and a social worker came. They said that when I have a job and a home, I can get him back.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled business card. She handed it to Diana with a hand that wouldn’t stop shaking.
Diana read the name of Hank Walker, a social worker. She glanced at Jed, who leaned over her shoulder, reading the name as well.
“Laura, I’m going to call this social worker. We’re going to get your son back.” She glanced briefly at Jed, and he nodded.
Laura frowned. “How would you do that?”
“I’m a lawyer, but first we need to find out what happened.” It was then that Danny started whimpering and fussing from his car seat.
“Diana, take the SUV, and take Laura home with you.” Jed touched her shoulder.
Diana opened the back door. “Oh, baby, you lost your soother. Here it is.” She put it in his mouth. “He’s getting restless.”
Jed helped Laura into the passenger seat of the SUV and hurried around to Diana before she slid in.
Diana touched his cheek when he leaned down and kissed her. “Where are you going?” She didn’t miss the spark in his eyes.
“To pay the sheriff a visit,” he said.
- Writer
