The air was crisp and cool. The console on Valentine's little silver-grey Nissan four-door said it was only sixty-four degrees outside, but the humidity made it seem a little warmer. When the weather was calm, like it was on that Friday afternoon the day before Christmas Eve, it took about twenty or twenty-five minutes to drive from Mystic Isle to Valentine Cantrell's neighborhood in Estelle.
I'd sweet-talked the second of my trio of monkey tattoos into coming the next morning when his older-by-three-minutes brother was also scheduled for his appointment.
Valentine had handed me her car keys. "Oh, Mel, thank you so much."
"It's no problem," I'd said. And it really wasn't. The customers hadn't seemed to mind making a change, especially when I'd given them each a half-dozen drink coupons for the Presto-Change-o Room to smooth any ruffled feathers.
I'd driven the route before, having done this same favor for Valentine a couple of times in the past. Holidays and summer vacations were a definite challenge for single mothers, especially when something unexpected came up.
The community day camp center was in a strip mall on the main drag of the rural town where Valentine had chosen to raise her son. She'd called ahead and told them she was tied up and was sending someone over to pick up Benjy.
I pulled up and parked next to the curb in front of The Dollar Store and went inside the community center.
There were still about a dozen or so kids running around, watching cartoons, playing video games, and even a few reading actual books.
A heavyset woman with tired hair and even tireder eyes met me at the counter by the front door. Her name badge read Agatha Thomas, Day Camp Counselor. I'd never seen her there before.
"Yes?" She pushed hair off her forehead, but it just fell back down.
"I'm here to pick up Benjy Cantrell," I said. "His mother called ahead, and I'm on the authorized pickup list anyway." I fished my driver's license from my bag.
The counselor got a strange look on her face. It was something like a scared rabbit might look if cornered. When she took my license, her hand shook. She looked at it and handed it back to me. "You're the one Mrs. Cantrell called about?"
I smiled. "I am, all day long." It was something Granddaddy Joe used to say whenever anyone asked a similar question.
"I don't know what—" She turned away and yelled. "Thelma! Thelma, come quick!"
Another woman I didn't know, older but more alert and less hassled than Agatha seemed to be, was at the front desk in a flash. "What is it?"
Agatha swallowed hard. "This woman is here to pick up Benjy Cantrell."
The two women stared at each other a long beat. "But didn't you just say…?" Thelma spoke first. "Then who…?"
"Oh my God." Agatha said.
"How long?" Thelma said, the urgency in her voice apparent.
My stomach was starting to churn. Something was wrong.
Agatha rounded from behind the desk. "Only a few minutes."
"God, no!" Thelma threw up her hands and followed. They both leaned against the bar on the glass door, pushing it wide.
I turned and followed, hoping and praying that what appeared to have happened hadn't.
"There!" Agatha pointed across the parking lot and down the street. "That's the car she was in."
A green two-door compact headed away from the day care center. It was too far away to say what kind of car it actually was.
"Someone took Benjy?" My voice had gone up at least one octave maybe more. "Was it his aunt?"
Agatha shook her head. "A white woman. I didn't ask her name. Since Mrs. Cantrell called, I thought—"
I didn't hear what else she had to say, I was already out the door, sprinting across the parking lot. Throwing open the car door, I hopped in, slamming it shut. I pushed the ignition then screeched out of the parking lot like my hair was on fire.
Gas pedal smashed to the floor, heart nearly choking me, I steered like a maniac as I raced after the green car.
If it had been a movie, I would have picked up my cell and called the police or Valentine or both of them, but it wasn't a movie, and it was all I could do to keep the car on the road.
A light turned red in front of me, and I practically stood on the brake.
"Come on." I pounded the steering wheel. "Come on. Dammit."
After a few cars crossed the intersection in front of me, I looked both ways, took in a deep breath, and smashed down on the accelerator, shooting through the intersection against the light. "Hail Mary full of grace…" was all I managed to get out.
The green car turned left up ahead. I prayed there were no cops around to stop me for driving like a crazed woman on her way to a Macy's Super Saturday Sale. When I came to where the green car had turned left, I slowed down and made the turn carefully. It would have been cool to go careening around the corner, but I just didn't have the skill to do it on two wheels.
For a minute it looked like I might have lost them, but as I passed by General Jackson City Park, I saw the green compact parked under a big old willow tree in the shade.
Walking away were a small boy and a woman.
Benjy Cantrell.
And Diane Conner.
That bitch.
This wasn't good. Duh. Of course it wasn't good, but the fact that it was Diane Conner who'd taken him somehow made it even worse than I'd originally thought. What should I do? I had no earthly idea.
Staying at the edge of the parking area but close enough not to lose sight of Benjy and Diane, I dialed Quincy.
"Boudreaux."
"Quincy." It was a whisper—not sure why. I was alone in the car, but it seemed appropriate.
It obviously threw him off. "Is that you, Mel?" He laughed. "You trying to seduce me or something?"
"Shut up, Quincy, and listen. I'm at General Jackson City Park. Diane Conner took Valentine's son, Benjy. I've got my eye on them right now."
"Huh?"
"Really? I have to say all that again?"
Then the cop in him took over. "She took him? What does that mean?"
"Valentine sent me to pick Benjy up and take him to her sister's. When I got there, Diane had already come, taken him, and left."
"And Valentine hadn't sent her?"
"Of course not. Why would she send that nasty ol' thing? She's the last person Val would want around Benjy. I'm telling you that woman kidnapped him."
"General Jackson City Park. Is she armed?"
"How the heck should I know?"
"I'm too far away to help quickly, but I'll find someone close and send them right over." He stopped for a minute before adding, "Think you can keep an eye on them without landing right in the middle of it?"
Squinting against the sun's glare on the windshield, I could still see the two in the play area of the park.
Diane had plopped down on a bench, while Benjy headed for the swings. "Sure. No problem. I'll stay out of it. Just get someone over here, please, Quincy. As fast as possible. I'm scared."
After disconnecting the call, I debated whether or not to call Valentine. It was a decision I didn't have to make. My cell phone went off. Valentine's face appeared on the screen. The day camp must have already called her.
Before I could say a word, her panicked voice was in my ear. "Oh, Lord Jesus, Melanie. What's happening?"
I told her what I knew and reassured her that police were on the way.
"Why?" Her voice cracked. "Why would the Conner woman take my son?"
"I don't know why she took him, but I don't think she's going to hurt him, Val."
"That's my prayer," was all she said.
Across the grassy stretch between me and the boy, I saw Benjy slide out of the swing and run straight back toward where I'd parked. Diane jumped to her feet and yelled something, but I couldn't hear what was being said. Benjy kept coming, waving now.
The car. He recognized his mother's car.
Diane caught him and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him back toward her. The boy struggled but was too small to break loose, and she began pulling him across the park, away from the parking lot, away from me.
No police, no deputies, not yet. Where were they?
"Sorry, Quincy." I got out of the car, broke into a jog, and followed them, stopping at intervals, using clusters of trees for cover. She didn't move any faster, so it didn't look like she knew I was following them. But I needed help.
Valentine's voice was in my head. "Aaron called in sick this morning."
That meant he was at home. And from what I remembered, his place wasn't far from here. I scrolled through my phone and found his number that I'd put in yesterday when he offered to help clear Valentine.
He answered on the second ringtone. "This is Aaron."
"It's Mel."
"Oh." There was surprise in his voice. "What's up?"
I told him as quickly as I could.
Before I could even finish, he said, "On my way. Keep them in sight. I'll text and let you know when I'm there."