Detective Harker escorted Maggie over to the sofa and asked everyone to leave the office.
“I want Juju and Colby to stay,” Maggie said.
After the other officers left, Detective Harker turned to Maggie. “Your parents have been looking for you since the day you went missing. Given that you’re over eighteen, you can decide on your own now. But I really think you should consider being reunited with them. Your mother and father are terrific people. They’ve dedicated the last nine years to helping other missing children.”
The four of them were silent as Maggie looked down at her hands. Finally, she found the courage to speak. “I’m not the eleven-year-old girl they lost,” she shamefully explained.
“They won’t care. Your parents deserve to know you are alive. There’s nothing stopping you now. All the bad guys are locked up. This is your chance, Maggie,” Harker stated in a hopeful voice.
“Maggie,” Colby interjected, “you have to make this decision. I know that you’ve always wanted to see them again,” he reminded her.
Maggie looked at Juju.
“Hey, don’t look at me,” Juju said. “What the fuck do I know about parents? But ‘member how happy the Freys were when they realized Seth was their son? It’s worth a shot. If they don’t like who you are, ya can just walk away.”
“OK, but Colby and Juju go with me,” Maggie told Detective Harker.
Harker slapped his hands together and jumped to his feet. “Maggie, you have no idea how happy your parents are going to be.”
“I hope so,” Maggie mumbled, embarrassed to think about all the things she’d done in her life.
Harker saw the remorse in her eyes. “What happened to you was not your fault. All the things you did were a matter of survival. Trust me, they’ll understand. You don’t have to tell them anything that you don’t want them to know. The ball is in your court, Maggie.”
Maggie nodded. “When?”
“I have a habit of just dropping in on them unexpectedly. Would you be willing to go see them now?” Harker asked excitedly.
Maggie looked down at the clothes she was wearing. Her old, torn jeans and faded T-shirt made her look poor, but at least she didn’t look like a hooker, except for the five-inch platform pumps she was wearing. Besides, it wasn’t like she owned anything that was decent enough for the occasion.
“Sure. Let’s go,” Maggie said, apprehensively.
Maggie sat in the passenger seat while Colby and Juju sat together in the back of the car. Detective Harker chatted about nothing as he tried to contain his own excitement. As they drove toward Maggie’s old home, she didn’t recognize much until Harker turned onto her street. She looked at the houses and had vague memories of the neighborhood where she’d lived more than eleven years ago. Finally, Harker pulled into the Clarkes’ driveway. Maggie stared at the front door and then took in the rest of the house. It hadn’t changed much.
“Ready?” Harker asked.
Maggie’s heart was pattering in her chest. “I’m scared.”
“I know you’re scared. This is a lot all at one time. Just relax. I’ll bring them out to meet you.”
Maggie sat in the car and watched through the open window as Harker made his way to the front door of the Clarkes’ house.
Harker rapped on the door. In less than thirty seconds, a young girl opened the door. “Hi Detective Harker,” Mara said.
“Hi, Mara. Are your mom and dad home?” Harker asked.
Before Mara could yell for them, Lorraine came walking toward the front door with a big smile at the sight of Detective Harker.
Harker was beaming.
“You look happy today, Harker. What’s going on?” Lorraine asked.
Harker kept smiling at Lorraine, and then he whispered to Mara, “Go find your dad.”
Mara ran back into the house as Lorraine stood at the doorway.
When Rob appeared in the entryway, Harker said, “I need you to come outside.”
“Now what, Harker? You have a stray animal you need our help with?” Lorraine joked.
As they walked toward Harker’s car, Maggie opened the door and stepped onto the driveway. The Clarkes stopped in midstride.
“Who is that?” Lorraine asked mindlessly, as she approached the girl.
She stared at Maggie; she saw her eyes and her features. It was her beloved child. “Oh my God.”
Mother and daughter stood looking into each other’s eyes for a few short seconds. Then Lorraine opened her arms, and Maggie slid into them like the missing piece of a puzzle.
Lorraine cried, “Oh my God. My Maggie…my Maggie…my Maggie.”
Lorraine hugged Maggie so tightly that it startled her. Then the reality hit her like a ton of bricks. “Mom? Mommy? Oh, Mom, I missed you.”
The two held each other and sobbed. Even Detective Harker couldn’t stop his emotions from flowing.
“Maggie? Baby, is it really you?” Rob cried.
Maggie nodded, and Rob threw his arms around his wife and daughter. Several minutes passed before they began to unfold from each other. Lorraine took Maggie’s hand in her own as they stood staring at one another.
Rob leaned over and shook Harker’s hand. “Thanks, Rae. I don’t know how you found her, but thank you.”
“Well, that’s a long story. But let’s just say your girl here is a real hero and leave it at that,” Harker said, not wanting to reveal any information that belonged to Maggie.
“Come inside,” Lorraine said, pulling Maggie along.
“Wait!” Maggie turned to Colby and Juju and waved them over.
“These are my best friends, Colby and Juju,” Maggie said.
Lorraine and Rob exchanged quick hellos, still in a state of shock that their daughter was back with them. Once inside the house, Lorraine found Mara sitting at the kitchen table, her knees pulled up to her chin. When she saw all the adults enter the room, she rushed over to Lorraine and took her hand.
Lorraine bent down. “Mara, this is our daughter, Maggie,” she stated with glee. She leaned over and gave Maggie a hug. “Remember we told you about her?”
Mara nodded. Her head hung, and her hair covered her face.
Lorraine and Rob were so happy that they were practically dizzy and didn’t notice the change in Mara, but Maggie noticed it quickly. She’d seen that look on Seth’s face when he thought Colby was going to take her away from him.
Maggie bent down and pulled Mara’s chin up with her index finger. “Hi, Mara. Everything’s going to be fine, and now it looks like I have a little sister,” she said.
Mara’s head jolted up, and her face lit up with excitement. “Wow, that’s so cool,” she said, relieved that Maggie wasn’t going to make her leave.
Hours passed as they all sat in the Clarkes’ kitchen talking about how the Clarkes came to find Mara, what Maggie’s brother, Keith, had been doing, and anything else they could think of to avoid talking about what had happened to Maggie in all the years she had been gone. Lorraine could see that her innocent daughter was no longer there. She had grown into a beautiful, loving woman, but the hard edge came through loud and clear. Lorraine and Rob both knew their daughter had been through hell.
It was early evening when Rae Harker announced that he needed to head back to the precinct. As Maggie got to her feet, Lorraine grabbed her hand. “Won’t you stay? You can sleep with Mara in your old room.”
Maggie sadly shook her head. “No. It would be better if I go back to my place.”
Maggie had no intention of staying at her parents’ home. In an odd way, there was almost no connection between the daughter she had been and the person whom she had become. Maggie felt detached from Lorraine and Rob. She was just getting a taste of freedom and she wasn’t willing to give it up. Maggie loved her parents, but the bottom line was that she didn’t know them anymore. As such, Maggie came off as oddly distant to the Clarkes. Maggie’s homecoming had been much less than the three of them had dreamed it would be, and each of them wished it could have been more.
Lorraine’s shoulders dropped. “Where do you live?”
“Kensington,” Maggie admitted.
Lorraine visibly shivered and then immediately regretted it. She didn’t want to make Maggie feel uncomfortable about anything.
“When can we see you again?” Lorraine asked, still holding onto Maggie’s hand.
“I’m not sure. I…I…” Maggie looked to Colby.
“I can drive you here whenever you want,” Colby offered.
Maggie smiled, reminding Lorraine and Rob of the magnificence that remained in her.
“How about if you come for lunch tomorrow?” Lorraine asked.
Maggie nodded. “OK. That would be OK.”
“Terrific!” Rob exclaimed. “Maggie, we want to talk to you about what happened. We never stopped searching for you. We want you to know that not a day has passed that we didn’t talk about you.”
“Thanks,” Maggie muttered, feeling guilty that she hadn’t thought about them in a while. “Maybe someday we can talk about everything. I’m not ready to do that now, though.”
“Fair enough,” Rob stated. “Lunch tomorrow, then?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t scared her off.
“Sure. We’ll be here,” Maggie said.
Sitting in Rae Harker’s car as they drove back to the police station, Maggie stared out the window.
“Maggie, I know this has been really hard on you. But at some point in the very near future, we’ll need to talk about what happened to you. We have to do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen to others. OK?” Detective Harker said.
“I know. I figured as much,” Maggie mumbled.
For the remainder of the ride, Maggie was flooded with emotions. She was happy for her freedom and to have seen her parents again. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t how she’d imagined their reunion. Her parents looked much older. But what was really nagging her was the feeling that Lorraine and Rob needed something from her that she wasn’t certain she could give to them.