“Lorraine, how about if we take Keith to the park today? I think it would be good for all of us,” Rob coaxed, sitting at the kitchen table with her.
“Nah. I have to look into some things, Rob. I read this article on missing children. It said to make a list of all the new, different, or unusual people that were around for a year prior to the kidnapping. I need to do research on all of the changes at the school and around our neighborhood. This could be the break we’ve been looking for. I just have too much to do,” she explained.
“What kind of changes are you talking about?”
Lorraine perked up at his interest. “Well, they say you should find out if the school or anyone in the neighborhood did any remodeling or repairs. If they did, we get a list of contractors, take it to the police, and they’ll be able to run some checks on all the people. The other thing I need to look at is all the home sales within an eight-block radius the year before Maggie was taken. Sometimes these maniacs go to open houses, like they’re interested in buying a home, but they really just scope the neighborhood for kids.”
Rob listened and couldn’t argue with the logic behind what she said. Still, he couldn’t help but ask, “How about if you tell Detective Harker, who you meet with every week, I might add, to do all of this stuff. Harker has more resources and easier access to this information than you do. I mean, Lorraine, that’s his job. Besides, you know he’ll do anything to help us find Maggie. I’m sure he would agree with me.”
“I know, Rob. I also know that Harker is a good man and will never give up his search. But Maggie isn’t the only case he’s working on. No one is going to be as thorough as I am. I have to do these things myself. What if Harker gives it to some incompetent asshole who misses just one little piece of information? How would I ever be able to live with myself? I can barely live with myself now…” Lorraine’s voice trailed off.
On several occasions, Rob tried to comfort his wife, but he, too, resented her for her poor judgment. He often told himself that if he had taken the kids to the mall that day, he would not have allowed his eleven-year-old to go off alone, not even for one minute. Other times, after he had a few drinks and couldn’t hold back the unshakable bereavement that had cast a dull pain around his heart, Rob would sit in the basement alone and cry, unable to escape the hopelessness and feeling hatred toward Lorraine.
“OK, Lorraine. I’m not going to argue with you. But you can’t forget that Keith is still here, and he needs us. If Maggie ever comes back to us, she needs to have a family to come back to,” Rob said.
“If? What do you mean if she comes back to us? How can you give up so easily? I will keep looking until I find her. So go off to the park and do whatever it is that you do, OK, Rob? In the meantime, I’m going to look for our daughter,” Lorraine growled, agitated by his apparent admission of defeat.
Rob left Lorraine sitting at the kitchen table, tears spilling down her cheeks as she wished that she could go back to the moment that she had made the worst decision of her life.