Pandemonium reigned at Steven and Aaron’s home. Two police cruisers sat outside while inside, Agneta was beside herself with panic, barely able to speak to the police officers through her sobs. If Steven had any thoughts of being angry at the nanny, they all evaporated at seeing the pain and heartbreak on her face. Nothing he could say or do would be worse than what she was already saying to herself.
“Oh, Mr. Wakefield, I-I-I am so sorry. It was only a second. It’s all my fault. Oh, I just won’t be able to live with this. I won’t be able to bear it. If…If…” and then she dissolved into more sobs. Steven met Aaron’s gaze over her head. They’d have to decide what to do about Agneta later. Right now, they needed to find Emma.
“It’s okay, Agneta, we’ll find her.”
“But beautiful Emma. Oh, God. It’s my fault…” Agneta couldn’t finish her sentence.
“Ma’am, let’s sit down and go over what happened one more time.” One of the police officers led Agneta to the living room. Outside, police combed the nearby park for evidence. It had been just two hours since Melissa had left the park with Emma. Everyone working the case knew that every minute that ticked by lessened their chances of finding the baby. The officers were grim and silent, working quickly.
The doorbell rang and Steven opened it to find his younger sister, Elizabeth, in obvious distress.
“Oh, God, poor Emma! I can’t believe this. Who is this Melissa person? How did she take Emma?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Steven said, taking his trembling sister in his arms.
Not two minutes later, Jessica, his youngest sister, was at the door.
“I came as soon as I got your voice mail.” Steven gave Jessica a big hug, too, and found he was grateful she was here. They’d come a long way in their relationship since Jessica had first discovered he’d been living most of his life in the closet. Now they were closer than they’d ever been. And at a time like this, Steven was just glad to have both his sisters close to him.
“Have the police sent out an Amber Alert?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes,” Steven said, and nodded. “But we don’t know what car Melissa might have been driving, or if she was just on foot.”
“Steven! I need you in here,” called Aaron from the kitchen.
“Back in a minute,” Steven said to his sisters. The doorbell rang, and Steven paused.
“I’ll get it,” Elizabeth said. “You go on.”
She walked to the foyer and swung open the door. Bruce stood on the doorstep. He wore one of his best suits, looking handsome and in charge with his dark hair perfectly combed and his stark blue eyes clear and determined, reminding her of the Bruce she loved so well. For a second, she was so grateful to see him that her eyes lit up and she almost threw her arms around his neck. But as his eyes slid uneasily to the side, she remembered the painful truth: They weren’t a couple anymore.
The reality hit Elizabeth hard as she awkwardly tucked her arms down by her sides. All she wanted during this awful time was to feel his strong, reassuring arms around her.
But she knew that was not possible. Not now, not ever. Painfully, Bruce wouldn’t even meet her gaze.
“Elizabeth,” said Annie Whitman, who appeared by Bruce’s elbow. “We came as soon as Jessica told us.” Annie wrapped her in a hug and Elizabeth felt hot tears prick her eyes, partly because of Emma, but also because Bruce had slunk past her without a word. Elizabeth swallowed a sob.
“We’ll get through this,” Annie said, and squeezed.
“Thanks for coming.” Elizabeth wiped her eyes. “I know you’re busy working on Bruce’s case.”
“All that matters is we get Emma home safe,” Annie said. “Bruce was the first one to say we needed to come over here. We’re still waiting to hear about the D.A.’s decision, but he didn’t care. He said we needed to be here.”
Elizabeth should have been grateful, but instead she just felt a searing pain. This was the Bruce she had fallen in love with, the man who would do anything for the people he cared about. Right in the middle of his own problems, he’d shown up to help. That only made her feel worse about the horrible doubts she harbored about him. How could she think he was capable of attempted rape when he was here, doing what he could for her family in a time of crisis?
“I just can’t believe someone would do this,” exclaimed Aaron, walking into the foyer and breaking up the conversation. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“Aaron, I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth said, and Aaron hugged her.
“I’m sorry, too.” Annie said. “If there’s anything I can do, say the word.”
“Thanks, Annie.” Aaron gave her a wan smile. The three of them moved into the kitchen, where Bruce and Jessica and Steven were talking in low tones.
Elizabeth glanced at Bruce quickly, then away. To anyone paying attention, their heartbreak was obviously still new and raw.
Steven’s phone rang. He glanced at it and said, “Oh, it’s Mom and Dad. They must’ve gotten my message on the cruise ship. They were docking on one of the Greek Isles today. Hello? Mom? Yeah, I’m here. Yes, it’s true…” He walked away, explaining the situation into the phone. Jessica trailed after him. Aaron’s shoulders slumped under the weight of worry. “Why don’t we go sit down?” Annie said to Aaron, moving him into the living room.
For the briefest of moments, that left Bruce and Elizabeth alone in the kitchen. Stricken, Bruce looked at his shoes. For a man who had recently given a rousing speech to his board of directors, he could think of absolutely nothing to say to the one woman he once wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Bruce could never have imagined a time when seeing Elizabeth would be so painful. He had always thought, no matter what, they’d be friends. But he couldn’t be friends with her. Not now. Maybe not ever. That new revelation hit him hard. He didn’t know which was worse: losing the love of his life or losing his best friend.
As they stood there not looking at each other, Bruce felt a surge of anger, too. Why had she thrown away everything they had? For what? For some stranger who had to be lying. But even as the resentment surged, it quickly faded. Bruce could never hate Elizabeth. She was his love. Even now, standing there, so beautiful, just the way he always saw her, dressed simply in her own classic style like she’d just walked off the set of a Ralph Lauren ad. Part of him wanted never to be in her company for another second; another part never wanted to leave her. Either way, he simply couldn’t bear it.
She glanced up at him, but the pain in her eyes was something he couldn’t stand to see, so he looked away. Eventually, she left, moving into the living room. He should’ve felt relief, but instead he missed her. How long would he live like this? he wondered. Would every time he saw her rip him apart?
Steven and Jessica walked through the kitchen as Steven wrapped up his phone call.
“Thanks, Dad,” Steven said into his phone. “Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you when we know something, okay? Listen, let me put Jessica on the line. I have to go talk to the police.” Steven handed the phone to Jessica, who took it readily. Steven figured nobody would be better than Jessica at calming down the near-hysterical grandparents. After all, Steven felt like he was only barely fighting off hysteria himself, and he, above all people, needed to remain calm.
He glanced over at Aaron, who was sobbing into Annie’s sleeve, and tried to focus. He was an attorney, and when things got stressful, he just got more analytical. That worked except when it was his own baby. Steven moved into the living room, where two police detectives were questioning a still distraught Agneta.
“Tell us again what she looked like,” said Detective Lopez, a dark-haired woman in her mid-thirties wearing a smart black suit and holding a notepad.
“Like I said before, she was a pretty girl, probably in her twenties. Average height, blue eyes, very fair skin, and blond—”
“Wait, what kind of blond? Light blond?” Steven asked, suddenly starting to put the pieces together. “Shoulder-length hair? Almost white-blond?”
Agneta nodded.
Suddenly, Steven knew exactly who had taken Emma: Linda Carson.
“The surrogate!” Steven shouted, smacking one fist into his open palm. Quickly, he ran to get his phone from Jessica.
“Sorry, Mom and Dad. We’ll call you back.” He hung up the phone and pulled up his photo album. Steven had taken a picture of a very pregnant Linda a week before she was due, when they’d all gotten together for lunch.
“Is this Melissa?” Steven held up his phone with the picture on the screen in front of the nanny.
Amazed, Agneta nodded. “That’s her! But how did you—”
“That’s the woman we paid to carry Emma,” Steven declared. “Linda took her.”
“Linda Carson? Are you serious?” Aaron echoed, lifting his head from Annie’s shoulder.
“I told you there was something wrong with that woman.” Jessica couldn’t quite keep the superiority out of her voice. After all, she’d had doubts about Linda from the start. “I knew it! You should have listened to me!”
“We’re going to need her full name and anything else you can give us,” the police detective said, holding her notepad ready.