Chapter 25 One Crisis at a Time
~Felicity~
The lights in the police station hummed overhead as I sat in the hard chair, watching Caden pace the small waiting area. Detective Morrison had disappeared twenty minutes ago to coordinate the Amber Alert, leaving us to stew in our own fears.
My phone buzzed. Maliyah's name flashed on the screen, and I felt a pang of guilt. I'd forgotten to call her back earlier this week like I'd promised.
"Hey, it's Maliyah. I should take this," I said to Caden, who nodded distractedly, still staring at his phone as if he could will Macy to text him back.
I stepped into the hallway and swiped to answer.
"Hey, MayMay."
"Finally! I was starting to think you'd forgotten you had a sister." Her voice carried that familiar teasing tone, but I could hear the underlying concern.
"I'm sorry, I've been—" I paused, my voice cracking unexpectedly—unsure of how to even explain this last week. "It's been a complicated week."
The teasing disappeared from her voice immediately. "Hey—Felicity, what's wrong? You sound terrible."
Where did I even start? "So…I'm at the police station."
"What? Are you okay? Is Caden okay?"
"We're fine, but..." I took a shaky breath. "Macy's missing. Her mother took her and disappeared."
"Wait. What? Like took her how?"
"There are a few things happening and—Jesus, Maliyah, I don't even know how to start."
"Okay. Let’s just take a minute. How long has she been gone?"
"We don't know exactly. Maybe since this morning? We discovered that Jessica has been stealing from Caden’s company for years. We're not talking a few dollars here, May. I mean like a hefty sum."
"Holy shit."
"Exactly. And when we tried to see Macy today, Jessica wouldn't let us talk to her. Then she sent this text from Macy's phone saying they were going away. We don't know if she knows we found out what she's been doing, but why else would she take off?"
There was a moment of silence. When Maliyah spoke again, her voice had shifted into what I called her "professional mode." Maliyah runs a women's shelter down in Orlando and she is an awesome problem solver.
"Tell me about Jessica. What's her behavior been like recently?"
I leaned against the wall, grateful for my sister's steady presence even through the phone.
"Increasingly hostile toward me. She's always been.
..difficult—well, you know—kind of an asshole.
But lately it's been different. More intense.
She picked up Macy's phone when I called—and hung up on me.
Twice. I'd asked to speak to Macy. Caden tried calling her right after.
She told him Macy didn't want to see me, which makes no sense.
Like a day before—she'd been planning a surprise for me.
No way she just flipped a switch when I hadn't even seen her since. "
"Control and isolation," Maliyah said immediately. "She's trying to control the narrative and isolate Macy. It's textbook manipulation."
"But why now? Why take this risk?"
"Sounds like maybe she knows she's cornered.
Felicity, if she's been stealing for years—and now she realizes something's off, she doesn't even need to know you know everything.
In her circumstance, it could just be paranoia.
And that paranoia may lead her to make desperate choices. Taking Macy makes her feel in control."
"May, do you really think it could be that bad?"
"I don't know. But in my world, I've grown accustomed to expecting and planning for the worst but hoping for at least better—not best."
"I'm scared. What if she hurts Macy? I feel like neither Caden, nor I really know her. Neither of us would have ever guessed she was stealing. She has a job—mortgage broker, you know. And her husband makes good money too. I can't understand where it all went."
"Hey," Maliyah's voice softened. "Listen to me.
I've worked with hundreds of families in situations like this.
The money and all that—you'll figure it out.
Once you get Macy back, she will be okay.
Children are more resilient and perceptive than we give them credit for.
We don't know what Jessica has told her.
For all we know, Macy thinks they are going on a vacation.
No matter what though, Jessica can't erase the relationship Macy has with you guys overnight. "
"But what if—"
"Felicity." Her voice was firm now. "You have to focus and make sure you don't spiral. I can hear it starting. You can't go down the rabbit hole of worst-case scenarios—it will make you crazy and won't help anyone right now."
She was right. I was already starting to catastrophize, my mind racing through every terrible possibility.
"What should I do?" I asked quietly. "How do I help Caden through this? How do I help Macy when we find her?"
"First, you focus on what is within your control. Support Caden, cooperate with the police, and trust that they'll find her. Second, when Macy comes home, you create the safest, most stable environment possible for her to process whatever she's been through."
"Jesus." I dropped my head against the wall, feeling so overwhelmed by everything.
"You know, Caden and I were going through something before all this happened.
We'd reached a certain peace, but there is still a lot for us to work through.
Add that onto the trauma Macy may be experiencing. It's a lot May. It's a lot."
"It sounds like it. But you know, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Macy may not even be experiencing trauma.
Her mom may be acting completely normal with her.
She may be completely fine when she gets back.
Or maybe she's going to be confused and hurt and angry.
Every child responds differently. But Felicity, you and Caden—just remember what it feels like to choose each other, to choose your family.
That's exactly what Macy's going to need. "
I touched the locket at my throat, feeling its weight. The photo inside—the three of us at Christmas, all genuinely happy—felt like a talisman now.
"Yeah. You're right. And I know I shouldn't borrow trouble."
"One day at a time Felicity."
"I know. So—you said you and Caden were going through something?
You don't have to tell me anything, and I know it's shit timing, but know if you need a shoulder, I'm here.
And as your sister, I'd like to say—I'll cut any bitch who fucks with you.
"I mean, unless someone's listening, then of course any violence threatened is just story telling on my part and not an actual threat.
..right now." I laughed. She laughed. I needed that moment—where all this turmoil wasn't swirling around me.
"Maliyah, I love you so much."
"Of course you do. I'm awesome," I could hear the smile in her voice.
"You are. Okay—so, the reason we were having some issues.
.." And I gave her an abbreviated version of what has happened over the last couple weeks from the purse and fight with Caden, the feeling of invisibility for the last few years.
My fingers were fiddling with the locket as I told her about the apology gift from him and Macy and how they not only donated the purse but their time too.
"They chose an organization that helps women rebuild their lives after abuse. Women like..." my voice trailed off.
"Women like me," Maliyah finished quietly. "Damn. I want to hate him so much for the shit he pulled, but I love what he did to turn things around. I really love that they didn't just throw money at a problem. That's precious."
"I know. It was more than I would have thought they'd do."
"Babes, they did it because they knew you—saw you. I get things broke with Caden along the way, but his actions now say something about his heart. People do dumb shit, but it's what they do on the other side, and how they learn from it, that makes the difference."
"I hadn't thought of it that way."
"I think the big question is whether the change will be sustained, or whether you'll be back in the same spot next year."
"He wants to do therapy. Even found a few therapists—but then all this with Macy happened."
"Damn."
"I know. I think he will still—" my voice trailed off as I saw the door opened down the hall. Detective Morrison emerged with his phone pressed to his ear. He caught my eye and held up one finger—almost done.
"MayMay, I gotta go. The detective is coming back."
"Okay. But Felicity? Call or text me tonight, no matter how late. Just to let me know how things are going, okay?
"I love you, May."
"I love you too. And I'm praying for all of you."
I hung up and walked back to where Caden was sitting. He looked up expectantly.
"Just Maliyah." I explained, settling beside him. "She had some thoughts about Jessica's behavior."
"Like what?"
Before I could answer, Detective Morrison approached us, his expression carefully neutral.
Morrison appeared in the doorway, looking tired but focused. "The Amber Alert is active across three states," he said, settling into the chair across from us. "But I have some other information that might actually be good news."
Caden looked up from his phone. "What kind of good news?"
"We've been checking out Jessica's husband, Brad, to see if he was involved in the financial crimes. He's clean. No evidence of any connection to the theft, no unexplained deposits, nothing—they even have separate accounts and only use a joint one for their shared expenses."
I felt some tension leave my shoulders that I didn't even realize I'd been carrying.
"So he really didn't know?" Caden asked.
Morrison nodded. "When we questioned him about Jessica's computer habits, her recent behavior changes, he was genuinely shocked to learn about the theft.
He talked about her recent behaviors around keeping her devices private, but he thought she was just dealing with work and some other stressers. '"
"He thought it was just work stuff?"