Hannah has no sooner gone out the front when Max burst into the kitchen through the back door. “What do we do?” she asks, appearing as scatter as Birdie feels.
Her thoughts fly around her brain like steel balls in a pinball machine. Think, Birdie. Take deep breaths. Stay focused. “You’re gonna call the police while I try to reach Cary. It would be just like him to take Gus out for ice cream and not tell us.”
“I’m on it,” Max says, and goes out the back door to make the call.
Birdie searches for Island Water Sports on her phone and clicks on the contact information. When she reaches the automated answering service, she impatiently taps numbers on her keypad until she reaches an irritated-sounding sales woman in women’s apparel. “I need to speak with Cary Fuller, please,” she says to the operator.
“I’m sorry. Cary is with a customer at the moment. Can I take a message?”
Birdie holds the phone away from her ear. How does she know Cary is with a customer? She’s in women’s apparel. Can she see outside to the boat yard? “This is an emergency. Please, get him to the phone. This is his wife.”
“Ha. That’s funny. Cary told me he was divorced.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we’ve signed the papers, and we’re in the waiting period. We have an emergency with our three-year-old grandson. I need to speak to Cary now. Either put him on the phone or I’ll call Stan.”
“One moment, please.”
Birdie hears a click and Jimmy Buffet music fills the line. She notices Sadie standing out of the way, crying silently into her apron. She goes to her, placing her free arm around her waist and pulling her in for a half hug. “This is not your fault, Sadie. Please don’t beat up on yourself. I’m the one who ask Hannah to help us in the cafe.”
Sadie sobs, “But I know better than to leave the back door unlocked.”
“You were distracted. We’ve been slammed today.” She gives Sadie another squeeze. “Now, try to get yourself together. We need you to help look for Gus.”
“Okay. You’re right.” Sadie wipes her eyes one final and smooths out her apron.
Birdie waves her phone in the air. “I don’t know why I’m continuing to hold. Cary is helping a customer. Gus is obviously not with him.”
Sadie sniffles. “But he needs to know Gus is missing.”
“True.” After a few more minutes, Birdie is getting ready to hang up when Cary comes on the line.
“What’s going on, Birdie?” he says sounding out of breath. “Did something happen to Gus?”
“Gus is missing, Cary,” Birdie says, and quickly explains about their grandson’s disappearance.
“Poor Hannah. She must be beside herself. I’m on my way,” he says and hangs up.
Birdie wonders how he’s going to get to the waterfront without a car. Most days, when he was living in her apartment, Cary took Birdie’s car to work, or she dropped him off. Either he’s carpooling with a co-worker or Sheryl is chaperoning him. Either way, Birdie, it’s no longer your problem.
“Come on, Sadie. Let’s go outside. We know Gus isn’t in here.” Taking Sadie by the hand, they exit through the back door and join Max in the park.
“I’ve enlisted some of my guests to help search,” Max says, gesturing at the small crowd of people gathered nearby. “Toby should be here any second.”
Blue lights flash and a loud siren sounds. “I actually there he is now.” The crowd moves out of the way as the patrol car drives down the wide brick sidewalk toward them.
Chief Toby Summers, Palmetto Island’s police chief who is also Max’s nephew, emerges from the patrol car and waddles over to them. He’s plump with a thick neck and a jolly smile. Having seen his serious side, Birdie makes a point not to cross him.
“Max says Gus is missing. Can you tell me what happened?”
“You should talk to Hannah. She knows more.” Birdie scans the boardwalk for her daughter, spotting her standing by the railing looking down into the water. “There she is.”
Birdie leads Toby over to Hannah, who hears them coming and turns to face them. “Chief Summers! Thank God you’re here. You’ve gotta find my son. I’m so scared. He’s only had a few swimming lessons. He barely knows how to swim.”
Toby rests a reassuring hand on Hannah’s back. “I know you’re upset, Hannah. But try to calm down and tell me what happened.”
Hannah inhales an unsteady breath. “Okay. So, Gus was taking a nap. I went downstairs to the cafe to help Mom and Sadie behind the counter. I had my monitor with me.” She unclips the monitor from the waistband of her shorts and hands it to him. “I didn’t hear a word.”
Summers holds the monitor to his hear. “Have you used this monitor in this situation before?”
Hannah nods her head vigorously. “All the time.”
“Are you certain you would have heard him if he’d cried out or called for you?”
Hannah thinks before answering. “I admit the cafe was noisy with so many customers. But I was listening for him. I’m always listening for him. Isn’t that a mother’s job?”
Toby smiles. “That’s what my wife tells me.” He shifts his weight to the other foot. “What if Gus woke up from his nap and you weren’t there? Would he have tried to come down to the cafe to find you?”
“He couldn’t have gotten passed the baby gate.” Hannah palms her forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that? Gus knows not to climb the baby gate. And even if he tried, he would’ve fallen down the stairs on the other side. Which means someone took him. Someone kidnapped my son.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Toby removes a pen and notepad from the pocket of his uniform shirt. “If we can identify a probably threat from a potential suspect, we can issue an Amber alert.” His gaze shifts to Birdie. “Where’s Cary?”
“On his way here from work,” Birdie says. “Which is where he’s been all afternoon.”
Hannah narrows her olive eyes at Birdie. “Are you sure, Mom?”
Birdie’s fingers graze her daughter’s arm. “I’m positive, sweetheart. I spoke to your father myself. He was both surprised and concerned.”
“Think hard.” Toby looks from Hannah to Birdie and back to Hannah. “Who else might have taken your son?”
“Ryan.” Hannah mouths but no sound comes out.
Toby jerks his head toward Birdie. “What did she say?”
“Ryan is Gus’s father. He only recently came into his life.” Birdie steps closer to her daughter. “Sweetheart, did anything happen over the weekend to make Ryan want to kidnap his son?”
Hannah nods. “A lot happened. On Friday night, Gus started running a fever. I gave him medicine, and he was fine the next morning. I wasn’t that worried about it, because his friend Robbie had been sick earlier in the week, and I assumed it was just a summer viruses. Anyway, after breakfast on Saturday morning, Ryan’s mother insinuated that I was using Gus to get Ryan’s money, which pissed me off but Ryan didn’t seem to care because he was too busy getting ready to go play golf with his dad. He promised to be back by two, but when he texted at three thirty to tell me they were going to lunch, and Gus woke up from his nap with a fever, I decided to leave. I was on my way home when my car ran out of gas on top of the Ravenel Bridge. My friend Ethan came to my rescue, and because of the weather, we ended up spending the night with him in Charleston.”
Toby jots the name on his notepad. “We’ll need to talk to Ethan. What’s his last name?”
“Hayes. But he wouldn’t do something like this.” Hannah removes her phone from her pocket and clicks on a number. “Ethan! Gus is missing. We think someone kidnapped him. The police want to talk to you.” She thrust the phone at Toby, who takes the call out of earshot
“Mom!” Hannah collapses into Birdie’s arms. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I know, sweetheart.” While embracing her daughter, she notices Max’s minions searching up and down the boardwalk and in and around landscape bushes.
Toby returns. “Ethan wants to talk to you.” He hands Hannah the phone and once again steps away, barking orders Birdie can’t hear into his walkie talkie.
Birdie studies her daughter while she’s on the phone with Ethan. Hannah’s faces softens in a way that tells Birdie she cares deeply for him.
“That’d be great. Be careful.” Hannah ends the call just as Toby is rejoining them.
“He’s been working at his office all afternoon,” Hannah explains.
“Right,” Toby says with a nod. “Security cameras can easily prove his whereabouts. Not that I have any reason to question his word. He’s not our guy.” He raises his pointer finger. “But Ryan may very well be. You mentioned his family has money. Is he from around here?”
“No. Columbia. His father is Patrick Stevenson, the state’s attorney general.”
Toby’s face falls. “Oh boy. We’ll need to toe the line on this case. Have you had any communication with Ryan since you left Pawley’s?”
“No, sir. Ryan tried to call a gazillion times, and sent a bunch of apology texts, but I ignored them. The last call came in around midnight.”
“Let’s call him now?” Toby gestures at the phone in Hannah’s hand. “If you can get him on the phone, I’ll talk to him.”
Hannah’s call to Ryan goes immediately to voice mail as do her subsequent three attempts.
“Do you have either of his parents’ numbers?” Toby asks.
“No, sir. I met them for the first time this weekend, and I’m not eager to stay in touch with them.”
Toby brings his walkie talkie close to his face and barks,”Get Attorney General Patrick Stevenson on the phone for me. Tell him it’s a personal matter relating to his son and grandson.”
“We’re waisting time, Sheriff Summers,” Hannah says, her arms wrapped around her midsection. “What if it wasn’t Ryan? What if Gus managed to climb over the baby gate and sneak out the back door.”
“I think that’s highly improbable. However, to be on the safe side, I’ve summoned the Coast Guard. Here they are now.” He gestures at a fleet of boats approaching the marina. “Let me go give them some instruction. I’ll be right back.”
Toby has no sooner left Hannah and Birdie standing alone on the boardwalk when Stan arrives on the scene, followed shortly thereafter by Cary and an attractive brunette he introduces at Patty Dunn.
Stan squeezes her elbow. “Birdie, I’m so sorry. Cary told me what happened. What can I do to help?”
Birdie shakes her head. “There’s nothing anyone can do except pray and wait.”
“I’ve been praying, but I’m not great at waiting.” Stan runs down to the dock, pulling the sheriff aside. Toby nods at something Stan says, and he come hustling back up the ramp. “Summers gave me permission to help in the search. I’m recruiting two members of my staff to go out with me on my waverunners.”
“Thank you, Stan,” Birdie says. “We’ll be here if you need anything, or if we can help in anyway.”
Cary voice is near her ear. “How touching. Your knight in shinning armor came to your rescue.”
“He’s not my anything, thanks to you.” When Birdie looks up at Cary, he’s peering at her over the top of his sunglass frames. “What happened to your eye?”
He pushes his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. “Your lover boy slugged me.”
“I’m sure you deserved it.” Birdie turns her back so that Patty, who is hovering nearby, can’t hear. “Seriously, what’d did you do to Stan? Whatever it was, he’s obviously not mad enough to fire you.”
Cary lets out a sigh. “Stan saw me with Patty and accused me of cheating on you. When I confessed the truth, that I lied about you and me sleeping together, he punched me.” He pats his chest. “Because I’m the best salesperson he’s ever had, he agreed not to fire me if I promised not to lie again.”
Birdie rolls her eyes. “As if your promise is worth two nickels.” She notices Patty inching her way closer to them. “Why would you bring your girlfriend to a family crisis? She’s out of place here, Cary. And she’s making me nervous. Our daughter needs our undivided attention right now.”
Cary looks over at Hannah who is standing at the railing watching the Coast Guard prepare to leave the dock. “You’re right. I’ll ask her to leave.”