Chapter 17 #2
“Mikey,” I called, my feet taking me to the end of the small aisle, all while I couldn’t hear anything beyond my deafening pulse. “Mikey,” I hollered, my heart constricting as I turned back before doing a 360.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Sweat broke out on the back of my neck as I called again, this time catching the eyes of a middle-aged woman.
“Hey, have you seen a kid? My son. He’s three. I turned around and he was gone.” My pitch was high and frantic as I looked at this woman before continuing to stare around me in wide-eyed panic.
“No, I’m sorry. Mikey, did you say?”
I bobbed my head, the blood rushing in my ears close to deafening.
The fuck should I do? Should I start walking around the store?
But what if he came back and I wasn’t here?
“Fuck.” I clutched my chest, pretty damn sure I was close to having a heart attack.
“Hey, I’m sure he’s fine and just got distracted. Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll go and get the manager. If I see him, I’ll bring him right back, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Sure.” Breathing raggedly, I nodded.
“Actually, why don’t you stand at the other end? That way you can see the main entrance.”
Fuck. I just reacted, sprinting down to the other end of the short aisle. What if he’d wandered off? What if someone had taken him?
Oh my god.
A fresh tsunami of panic swept over me, and if I wasn’t careful, it was going to drag me under.
A young guy in his twenties walked by; his eyes widened when he saw me. Whether that was because he recognized me or was freaking out about the expression on my face, I didn’t know.
“Have you seen a kid? He’s three. My son.” Desperation clung to every word.
“No, man, sorry. I’ve just come in, and I didn’t see any kids by themselves.”
I nodded before I froze, digesting his words. “So you saw a kid with someone else? He’s about this tall.” I indicated to just above my knees, knowing he was taller than most three-year-old kids. “His skin tone’s about two shades lighter than mine. A mess of wild black hair.”
The guy had paused as he’d listened to me, his brow furrowing. Finally, he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. There was a girl, I think, with her mom. White skinned.”
A stuttered breath pushed out of my lungs. “Okay. Thanks.”
“Mikey,” I called again, just as a woman wearing pressed slacks and a blouse appeared. A label on her chest indicated her as the manager. Thank Christ.
“Hey, your child is missing?”
“Yeah. Maybe three or four minutes now.” Shit, was it longer than that?
“Okay, let’s not panic.” She pulled out a two-way and spoke into the device. “Melvin, do you copy?”
“Melvin, copy.”
“We’ve got a missing child. Stage-one checks, please. Over.”
“Stage-one checks, copy. Over.”
“Okay, this is what’s going to happen.”
I bobbed my head and tugged my cell out. Jesus, what would I tell Dylan?
“Melvin is sending one of the team to the parking lot as we speak. He’s also locking the main entrance and will be sending someone to look at the cameras.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed hard, aware that there were more than a few people standing and watching. Good, maybe they could start looking to see where Mikey was. “And the police?”
She nodded, aiming for a reassuring smile I was sure, but all I felt was blind panic and sick. “We have a procedure to follow, but 999 times out of a thousand, the child’s just wandered off, probably got stuck into some candy. Maybe found a nice spot to hide in and nap.”
But there was that one in a thousand.
She looked at her phone. “It’s been officially five minutes based on your timeline, which means we call the police.”
“Fuck. Okay, let me call my husband.”
“That’s fine, but I need the details of your son first. Name?”
“Mikey Turner. He’s three. Brown skin…” I continued reeling off the details, aware that each second that passed, there was still no sign of Mikey.
“Okay. I’ll make this call. Why don’t you start searching? The team will already be doing so, and I imagine—” She glanced around her and returned to me with a soft smile. “Yes, before you know it, every single person in the store is going to be looking for him. We’ll find him in no time at all.”
She was right. At some point during the conversation, the few people who’d been in the store started walking around, baskets and a couple of shopping carts abandoned, calling Mikey’s name.
Thank fuck for small towns.
Emotion clogged in my throat, fear and gratitude colliding as I started back down the aisle, heading toward the fresh produce. With a trembling hand, I hit Dylan’s number and held my phone to my ear.
Just as he answered, “Hey, all okay?” a hollered “He’s here. I’ve got him” reached me.
“Fu-ck.” The word tumbled free, broken and dripping with emotion.
“What’s wrong? Cass? Cassius?”
But I was moving in the direction of the voice, the buzzing in my ears not stopping until my gaze landed on Mikey.
“Jesus. He’s here. It’s okay,” I gasped into the phone.
“What the fuck is happening?”
“I’m sorry. It was Mikey,” I said with a trembling voice, dropping to my knees and tugging Mikey into my arms. “I couldn’t find him, but he’s safe. I just freaked out.”
Mikey wriggled in my arms, but tough shit. I needed him close. Needed to soak him up to know he was okay.
A loud sigh traveled down the line. “Okay.” Another breath. “Do you need me?”
“No.” I stood with Mikey in my arms, my focus landing on Kelsey. “I promise we’re fine. We’ll be back soon.”
“Okay. Just call if you need me.”
We ended the call and fuck it. I stepped forward and hugged a startled Kelsey tightly. “Thank you so much.” I ignored the sliver of guilt that I’d never ended up calling her. Saying that, she hadn’t reached out to me either.
After a moment of stiffness, she patted my back, then pulled away, a soft smile directed my way. “You can thank Millie.”
My gaze dropped to her daughter, who stood wide-eyed peering up at me.
“You are amazing, Millie. Thank you.”
“S’kay.” She shuffled her feet, her focus drifting to Mikey, who’d stopped wriggling and was looking at me.
I caught his gaze. “Where’d you go?” I shook my head at him, relief tangling with frustration. But with relief riding high, the last thing I wanted to do was be upset with the kid.
He shrugged, and out popped his bottom lip.
“I was so worried. You know you can’t wander off like that. I always need to be able to see you. Know where you are.”
His bottom lip trembled. “So-wey,” he mumbled with a sniff.
“Jesus, kid.” I hugged him close again and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Just never again, okay?”
Accepting the hug, he bobbed his head.
Refocusing on Kelsey, I smiled. “Where’d you find him?”
“Hiding under the produce stand.”
I shook my head, bewildered, and turned to look at the store manager, who stopped by my side.
After a quick discussion and my eternal gratitude with how quickly the store had reacted, she left us alone, the store reopened, and the folks milling around offered me pats on the arm.
“I best be going.” Kelsey took a few steps away, holding her daughter’s hand.
“Perhaps we can take the kids for a treat and a play in the park one day next week.” Ignoring the wince that I was going against Dylan’s wishes, I smiled, letting her know my invite was genuine.
Dylan would have to understand. How could he not?
He was worried about Kelsey’s husband more than anything. He’d made it clear that Kelsey was a nice woman, and her kid was great.
“Uhm… I’m not sure—”
“Please, Mommy.”
Looking at her daughter, Kelsey seemed to be debating something with herself. A tentative curve lifted her lips, and she nodded before glancing at me. “Sure,” she answered. “Millie would love that.”
“Excellent. How about Monday, say 9:00 a.m. at the Covered Bridge playground?” Dylan would be back on shift then, and I had no other plans.
“Yeah, that’ll work.” A more certain smile formed. “I really need to go. I’m relieved Mikey’s okay.”
“Me too.” While my heart still beat fast, the panic had dulled. “Thanks again.”
Refusing to let Mikey down, I grabbed the bags I’d packed up and made my way to pay. Before I put my SUV into Drive, I shot Dylan a text, letting him know I was on the way home.
The siren call of a beer was loud. Maybe even something stronger with how close I’d come to a heart attack.