30. Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Beth
I paced back and forth, clutching my hands together as I waited for updates. Mary kept me company, held me when I cried, and made sure I stayed hydrated. I’d refused to leave the park.
Officer Campbell stayed with us after the volunteers were called back. SSI kept searching. Once everyone was gone, Campbell encouraged me to wait back at the SSI office, saying, “there’s nothing more you can do here.”
I wasn’t ready to hear it.
“Beth, honey, she’s right.” Mary talked to me like she would a scared child. “Let’s wait at the office.”
What if Chase comes back ?
He wouldn’t. Not after so much time had passed.
Sammie, as Officer Campbell told us to call her, said she could start the paperwork to get access to the traffic cams if we went back. "I can also file the missing person's report."
Missing person’s report.
My son is missing.
The world started spinning. Bile rose in my throat as my legs gave out. I might have hurt myself, but Sammie caught me before I hit the ground.
She and Mary helped me back to my feet and walked me to Mary’s car.
I panicked. “I have to have my car. His booster seat is in it. What if I need to pick him up?”
“It’s okay, we’ll take your car, but I’m driving,” Mary said.
Knowing I was in no condition to drive, I didn’t argue.
Waiting back at the SSI office wasn’t any better despite the added support of Meg and Emily. Meg was still working, getting regular updates from WPD and relaying information to John and the guys in the field, and Emily was offering friendly support.
I wore a path in the rug of the lobby as I paced, glancing at my phone every couple of minutes to see if I’d gotten a message from Chase. I’d made him memorize my phone number as soon as he was capable, and he knew to ask an adult to call me if he got lost.
It was after ten when John called Mary. He told her they were stopping for the night, and asked her to order food.
It was too late to order delivery, so Emily went to the store and stocked up. When I tried to give her my credit card; she refused.
I started crying again as I thanked her. There was no way I could have handled this without these women. My friends.
They’re family .
It was almost eleven by the time John and the rest of the SSI team returned.
They look exhausted. Defeated.
I thanked each of them with a hug as they came in.
Doug apologized softly when it was his turn. I told him he didn’t need to apologize; I didn’t blame them for stopping for the night.
When John said, “we’ve stopped the ground search, but we’re not done.” Everyone nodded and agreed. “We’ll eat, then do what we can from here.”
Jamie glanced at his phone. “Emily’s on her way back.”
Sammie came out of her office. “I’ve filed the missing person’s report, and put in the request to get access to the traffic cam footage around the park for the two hours before and after the 9-1-1 call came in. We should get access first thing in the morning.”
“Campbell, thanks for staying, but we’ve got it from here.”
“Copy that. Holler if you need me before my scheduled time tomorrow.”
As soon as the door closed behind her, John turned to Doug. “Sharpe.”
“On it.” Doug dropped his hand from my back before taking my hands in his. “You can come sit with me anytime you’d like.” Then he kissed the top of my head and went to his office.
I didn’t want to distract him from whatever assignment he’d been given, so I stayed in the lobby.
“Meg, do you think you can contact Agent Jones and see if he’d be willing to help us out?”
Agent Jones . I’d never met him, but I remembered Meg telling me he was the FBI agent who’d helped her change her identity and relocate after she testified against a mob boss in Boston. She’d mentioned he’d recently transferred to Dallas.
My breaths started coming faster and faster.
“Sure thing.” Meg sounded like she was underwater as she answered.
The FBI. If we needed the FBI this was bad. John thinks Chase has been kidnapped. Which meant he was in grave danger. I may never see my son again .
“The FBI?” It sounded like a whimper as I sank onto the couch. I put my face in my hands and tried to calm down, but I couldn’t slow down my shallow breaths.
John kneeled in front of me and pried a hand from my face, taking my pulse as he said, “Jack, bring some water and a wet cloth.”
“Got it.”
“Beth,” he pried my other hand away, “I need you to take a few slow deep breaths. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded, but my breathing didn’t change.
“Here, do it with me. Breathe in, nice and slow. There you go. Hold it for two, three, four. Good. Release it, nice and slow.”
We did that a few more times, the staccato rhythm of my heart calming down with each repetition. After the last one he put a cold cloth on my forehead and handed me a glass of water.
“Beth, I’m sorry I scared you. I’m reaching out to Agent Jones to see if he’ll do us a favor, not because we need the FBI. They have access to information and systems we don’t.” He paused as I looked at him through blurry eyes. “And it won’t hurt to get him involved early, just in case.”
I stared at him, hearing his words but not fully grasping them.
When he asked, “Beth? Are you with me?” I nodded, unable to speak.
“Can you talk to me? Tell me you understood what I just told you?”
I blinked a few times and tried to remember what he’d said. “The FBI is, is, is just in case.” I leaned into him and sobbed.
He held me as he patiently reiterated the stuff I’d left out. “And they have resources we don’t. We have a good working relationship with Agent Jones, so he may be willing to help us.”
He leaned back and lifted my chin, forcing me to make eye contact.
“Okay?”
“Okay.” It was anything but okay, but it wouldn’t help anyone if I broke down again. I need to stay strong for Chase .
I heard, “here, try to eat something,” as a sandwich was pressed into my hands. I glanced up to see Mary. In my panic, I hadn’t heard Emily come back in.
“Thanks.” I took the sandwich and stared at it, trying to decide if I should bother unwrapping it.
“Let me help.” John unwrapped it and handed it back to me. “Try to eat a couple of bites, it’ll help keep your strength up.”
It was what I needed to hear. I needed to keep my strength up so I could help find my son.
Please, God, bring Chase home to me .
The package said ham and cheese but all I tasted was cardboard.
Mary and Meg sat on either side of me as I forced myself to eat a few more bites of the sandwich and a few baby carrots.
Everyone else, including Doug who’d come out for food, scarfed down their sandwiches, along with chips, vegetables, and cookies before going back to their offices.
When Doug went back to his office, I accepted his invitation and followed. I needed to hide away for a few minutes. Everyone meant well, and I appreciated everything they were doing for me, but I was overwhelmed and terrified and needed some solitude.
“Can I close the door?” I asked after I walked in.
“Of course.” He sat at his desk.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m accessing footage from traffic cams around the park.”
“You can do that?”
“I’m capable, yes. But I shouldn’t be, so it’s a secret.”
“Thank you.” Doug was breaking the rules to look for Chase.
“You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Okay.”
I sat in one of the leather chairs reserved for clients and prayed Chase was safe, and we’d find him soon. I knew the first twenty-four hours were crucial in missing person’s cases. Because I’d taken the self-defense class John taught, I also knew a person’s chance of survival was halved if they were taken to a second location.
All this knowledge is killing me . I clutched my hands to my chest as panic set in again.
“Beth?” Doug was by my side in a flash. “What’s wrong?”
“They, they took him to, to a second location.” Was all I could say between sobs. Terror had a vice grip on my mind and wasn’t letting go.
“I wish I could tell you everything will be okay; that Chase will be fine.” He kneeled in front of me and wiped the tears off my face with his thumbs. “But I won’t lie to you. Every hour he’s gone-”
“The harder it’ll be to find him.” My heart shattered as I finished his sentence.
His nod was expected but unwelcome. “I’m so sorry Beth, I wish I could make this all go away.”
“Thank you for not lying.” The truth sucked, but I had to deal with reality, not rely on false hopes.
“You’re welcome.” He stood. “Want to sit with me and help me look? It might help to be doing something.”
“Please.”
I spent the next hour scanning footage from the three cameras located around the park. Doug isolated the fifteen minutes before and after Chase went missing. Nothing.
Doug expanded the search to an hour before and after Chase was reported as lost.
While he pulled them up, I went to the bathroom. The face staring back at me in the mirror had aged considerably since this morning. I rinsed my face in cold water before going back to the lobby.
Please God, watch out for Chase and bring him home to me .
I checked in on everyone, and grabbed two bottles of water.
“You should try to get some rest. I know it’s hard, but you won’t do yourself any favors if you’re dead on your feet.” Mary added, “You can stay with us, if you don't want to be alone.”
I glanced at John’s open office door. He was talking to Jamie and Jack. I looked in Jack’s office and saw AJ working at Jack’s desk. Meg had paused her work to check on me but would start again once I left.
“Everyone is still working, the least I can do is stay awake and help as much as I can.”
“Okay, but I’ll ask again when we leave.” Mary hugged me. “Because I love you.”
“I love you, too.”