37. Sugar And Spice
THIRTY-SEVEN
Sugar And Spice
CJ
Mac and Jenny dropped CJ at the shelter where Child Protective Services had placed Anna and Angela Jones pending foster care assignment.
He climbed out of the car. “Okay, I’m going to convince these girls to take me through the last couple of days before their mother disappeared.”
“When do you want to meet up?” Mac tapped the steering wheel. “Shouldn’t take us long.”
Mac and Jenny were meeting with the Chief of Police and providing consultation services to help coordinate the efforts to track down Scott Patterson.
“It’ll take me a few hours. Once you’re finished at the Police Station, get back to the hotel. I hate leaving Melissa unguarded for too long. Call me when you get there.”
He felt for his phone in his back pocket. “Ah, fuck it.”
“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked.
“My fucking phone. I must have left it at the hotel.” Except he didn’t remember leaving it in the room with Melissa.
“You left your phone?” The recrimination in Jenny’s expression didn’t go unnoticed.
It wasn’t normal for him to be so forgetful.
“Can I borrow yours?” He stretched out his hand, palm up.
“You going to lose mine, too?” she quipped.
Wise-ass. “I will guard it with my life.” Like he should be guarding Melissa. Instead, he had two little girls to entertain and a mother to find.
Jenny handed over the phone. “We’ll be in touch.”
As they drove off, CJ glanced at his watch. He didn’t have much time.
A few minutes later, he sat with Anna Jones, and her older sister, Angela, in the playroom, his butt pinched by the hard plastic of a kiddie chair.
“How old are you, Anna?”
Angela answered his question. “Anna’s seven. I’m eleven-and-a-half.”
Anna frowned and stuck out her tongue.
Angela crossed her arms and turned away.
He gave Anna a wink, which she returned with a brilliant smile. “Yes, you most certainly are seven. What grade are you in?”
She scrunched her chubby face, thinking hard. Then her eyes brightened. “I’m in first grade. Mrs. Malone is my teacher.”
Women loved compliments, as did little girls, and every little girl wanted to be older. He turned back to Angela.
“You’re a wonderful big sister.”
The bin full of toys kept drawing little Anna’s gaze. She squirmed off her tiny seat. “I’m gonna go play. Angela answers all the questions, anyways.” She flounced over to the corner and dug through the toys.
Angela looked to the corner, her finger twirled a long blonde curl. A big sigh escaped her tiny body.
He rocked back in the kid-sized chair. His knees nearly met his chin. “I can see you’re taking fantastic care of Anna. Your mother would be proud.”
Angela looked sad at the mention of her missing mother. She was trying hard to be brave, but there was a sense of hopelessness in her gentle gaze and fear.
He had to remember these kids had gone from two parents to one, and now to none.
She twisted in her seat to watch her sister.
Anna had dolls lined up in a row, a beauty pageant of epic proportions underway.
Angela shifted again, leaning forward, interrogating him with eyes full of suspicion and distrust. CJ kept his smile relaxed.
“It must be very hard on Anna,” he soothed. “She’s lucky to have such a brave big sister to lean on.”
Angela’s lower lip trembled. “You don’t look like a cop. They asked me bunches of questions.” She gave him a flat stare.
“I’m not a cop, and I’m sure you did a great job answering their questions.”
Her brows lifted. “Then why are you here?”
“I’m working with them. I hope to help them find your mother.”
Her brows pinched, and her eyes squeezed shut.
He grabbed a coloring book on the table, and drew an octopus, ignoring the tears building behind her eyes. When he was done with his drawing, Angela had wiped her eyes. He tapped the tabletop with the crayon.
“Did you know the Police Chief knew your dad?”
She straightened in her chair. “My daddy?”
CJ nodded. “Yes! And the Police Chief knows my boss. I learned all about your dad. He was a hero. No wonder he has a daughter who is so brave.”
She nodded, but she still wasn’t talking.
He continued. “Did you know the whole police department has been watching over your family because of your dad?”
Her eyes widened. “They are?”
“Oh, yes,” he said, coloring in the arms of the octopus. “When your mom didn’t come to pick you up from school, a lot of people got really worried. They called my boss right away to get extra help. That’s why I’m here, but I’m not a cop.” He lowered his voice to a whisper as if sharing a deep secret with her. “I don’t work like a cop.”
She paused as if considering the last thing he said. “They asked lots of questions. But I didn’t know any answers.” Her head tilted as she examined his octopus. She pointed to his picture. “That’s not right.”
He twisted the drawing. “Looks right to me.”
She giggled. “You missed one.”
“One what?”
“Octopuses have eight legs.” She counted out each one. “See, you missed one.”
He brought his hands to his cheeks and gave an exaggerated gasp. “Oh, no! You’re right.” He pulled out a blank sheet of paper. “Maybe you should help me this time?”
He spent the next ten minutes drawing an octopus, a whale, a shark, and various kinds of seaweed for them to swim through.
“Cops ask a lot of questions,” he said with a sigh. “It’s hard when you don’t have any answers.”
Her head shot up, and she looked at him with knowing eyes.
“I have a secret. Do you want to hear it?”
Her head bobbed.
He leaned in, and she moved a little closer.
Keeping his voice to a whisper, he said, “Many times, when we think we know nothing, we know quite a bit.”
“We do?”
“Oh, yes.” He shaded in the shark. “But you have to know how to look for the clues. They’re there, begging to be found, but you have to know the secret to discovering them.”
“Do you know the secret?”
“Definitely.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “I’m an expert clue finder.”
Her eyes widened at his words. “A clue finder?”
“Yes. Do you want to help me find clues?”
He got another nod.
“Okay, the trick is to try really, really hard not to think about them.”
Her brows scrunched up. “How can you find them if you don’t think about them?”
“Well, the cops are awesome, but they weren’t asking the right things. No wonder you didn’t have answers. Their questions were the wrong ones.”
“You know the right questions?” Awe filled her voice. She tucked her hands beneath her legs.
“They’re not questions. They’re more like fact-finding tasks, but we have to get out of here to do it right.” He pointed to Anna. “I want to bring your sister, but I need you to help me watch over her. Do you think you can do that?”
Another nod.
“Good. Now, have you ever seen one of those shows where people go back in time?”
“People can’t go back in time.”
“We’re notreallygoing back in time, but we’re going to ride around and pretend it was a couple of days ago. You and Anna can tell me what it was like then. You know, where you went, and what you did with your mom.”
“And that’s going to find clues?”
He smiled. “It’s worked in the past, but only if you believe. If you and Anna pretend with me, we may find the answers we need.”
Anna brought over one of the dolls. “I want ice cream. We don’t get ice cream here. Mommy always let us get ice cream.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Not always.”
“Yes, she did. Every day after the park, we got ice cream.” Anna’s little eyes misted over.
Sometimes he hated his job. He would spend the entire day, reminding them of everything they used to do with a mother who was by now likely dead.
“Oh, I think we can do that. Angela says it’s okay if we all get out of this place.” He turned to Angela, hoping she would give another of her precious nods. When she did, he continued. “We can get ice cream, but we have a mission first.”
“A mission?” Anna’s expression brightened. “What mission?”
“Mr. CJ is going to help us find mommy,” pronounced Angela with the surety of a child.
Anna turned to CJ. “Really, Mr. CJ?”
He hid his wince by reaching out and scrubbing Anna’s curls. “We’re going to try.”
Her sister stood, surprising him with her eagerness. It should’ve taken a lot more to win her over.
“Can we go now?”
“If you’re ready.” He put down the crayons and straightened the stack of drawings. He struggled to get out of the small chair built for bottoms much tinier than a grown man’s butt.
“We’re ready.” Angela squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin.
“Let’s get you checked out then.”
Anna bounced on her feet. “We’re getting ice cream.”
“Yes, we are Miss Anna, but only after our mission is complete. If you do a great job, I’ll make it a double scoop.”
She squealed, gripping her hands together. “Two scoops?” She pivoted and yanked on her sister’s sleeve. “Did you hear that? Mr. CJ said I could get two scoops.”
“Only if you behave,” Angela said.
CJ pointed to the corner. “Anna, why don’t you grab one of those dolls to bring with you. Angela and I will meet you at the check-out desk.”
He crouched, getting eye-to-eye with Angela. “Are you all right?”
Her entire body trembled. He wanted to hug her but refrained from too much contact.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured. “We’ll do our best.”
She sniffed. “I heard one of the cops.” She lifted her face to him, eyes pleading. “They asked me all kinds of questions, but they never answered mine.”
CJ sighed. “I won’t lie. I don’t know if we’ll find your mother, but I promise to do my very best. That’s why you and your sister must come with me. Some of what we do may seem silly, or stupid, and some things might not even make sense, but it does to me. I need you to trust me. Do you understand?”
She sniffed and bit her lower lip. “Do you think she’s d-dead?”
He placed his hand on her shoulder and told the truth. “I don’t know, but I hope not.”