14

 

The next morning, Maven took a quick shower before mixing up some pancakes.

The breakfast was Moses’s favorite, mostly because of the amount of syrup he poured on them. The boy was sleeping longer than usual. Yesterday’s drama must have exhausted him.

She went in to wake him up. Maven looked across the room at his empty bed. She’d not heard him get up. Maybe he was in the bathroom. She walked across the hall and knocked on the closed door. “Moses.”

No response.

Her stomach twisted. Stay calm. Nothing to panic about. She called his name again and waited. Finally, she opened the bathroom door. The room was empty. Refusing to give in to the panic, she walked through the house twice, checked the basement, and then the garage. By the time she got to the garage, all thoughts of staying calm had been forgotten.

She called his name, checked the inside of the car, and then the trunk. Her mind blanked for a moment, and then cleared.

Paul might still be home.

She hit the garage door opener, but having no patience to wait for it to open all the way, she bent down and crawled under it. She ran up the neighboring steps and hit Paul’s doorbell three times—hard.

The door opened.

He was dressed and ready to go to work. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find Moses.” Her breath came in little gasps as she explained.

“Let’s go check the house again.”

“You go ahead, I want to look out here. Sometimes, kids have been known to wander.”

“Has he ever gone outside by himself before?”

“No, but there’s a first time for everything.”

“Not for Moses, and certainly not after yesterday. He’d want to stay close to you. You’re his safety zone.”

She stared at Paul, barely able to breathe. “You don’t think that man followed us back here and took him, do you?”

Paul put a hand on her shoulder. “I have no reason to think that at all. That’s not what I meant.”

His words were probably meant to reassure her, but they didn’t.

 

~*~

 

Maven sat on the steps of her porch watching the drama unfold. The tissues in her hand were shredded and damp.

Neighbors and police were out searching the area.

Lizzie pulled up and ran to Maven, throwing her arms around her friend. “Maven, this isn’t your fault.”

“Then whose fault is it?” Maven wiped at her wet cheeks. “He’s my responsibility.”

“We don’t even know what happened yet. Don’t jump to conclusions. Kids do this all the time. You see it on the news. Maybe he went to the park. He loves the park.”

“Not after yesterday.” Maven’s voice was dull. “You saw him. He was terrified. I think that man followed us home. It had to have been him. It’s just too much of a coincidence that he’s missing after the park incident.”

“It’s too early to jump to conclusions.”

Tears leaked out. Maven shook her head. “Maybe for you, but not for me. I’m absolutely certain that man took him.” Her voice faltered. “It’s all my fault. I should have been more careful.” She walked into the house.

Lizzie followed. “Stop saying that.”

“But it’s true.” Maven flopped on the sofa. “I heard him screaming last night, but just as I was getting up to check on him he stopped. So I didn’t go in. If I had, I could have stopped it.”

“First, we don’t know what happened. And second, I would have done the same thing in the middle of the night. Even if the man took him, that doesn’t mean Moses is in any danger.”

Maven stared open-mouthed for a moment. “Of course he is. A grown man only kidnaps a young boy for one reason.”

“That’s not true. He may have been the man who deserted him in the first place.”

Maven’s racing heart stilled. “Really? I hadn’t thought of that. Could that be true?”

“It was actually my first thought when you called. I wondered about that at the park yesterday but didn’t say anything. He might have regretted abandoning him and just wanted to take him home. He didn’t want to deal with the police. Moses might be home right now, safe and sound.”

Maven swiped at the tears. “Even so, if that’s the case, he doesn’t deserve Moses. He left that little boy in a park all alone at night. Anything could have happened to him.”

“I agree with you. I’m just saying that’s a possibility.”

“I suppose that’s the lesser of two evils, but I still don’t like it. How could he have found Moses?”

“Well, there were those newscasts about him. And remember, the one showed the two of you in the park playing on the swings. Maybe he got the idea that you two come to the park a lot so he showed up looking for him.”

“Why wouldn’t he just contact Children’s Services?”

“Because he knew that he’d be in trouble legally. There are places to drop a child off and not get in trouble. A park at night isn’t one of them. He probably was just hoping he could scoop him up and take him back home and nobody would ever know what he did.”

“And he wouldn’t be held accountable for his actions.”

“That, too.”