14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
MIA
I stared at my computer screen, the sounds of people talking around me and keyboards clacking providing background noise to my thoughts.
I’d been at work for four hours already, and this had to be the third, maybe fourth time my mind drifted back to the other night.
More specifically, to the rage room with Zack.
He stands a few feet away, bat perched over one shoulder, his gaze trained on me. The heat of it skates over my skin. “Why do I always want what I can’t have?” he says, then brings the bat down hard, smashing a bunch of plates.
Fuck. My stomach clenches. Is he talking about me?
Turning away, I take in the room. Staring at the way the wood is already starting to splinter on the large hutch that sits against the wall, my focus bounces from one piece of china to the next on the shelves.
I can’t handle the subtle longing I see in his eyes.
It makes me want things I shouldn’t—can’t—want.
I take a deep breath. Physical aggression isn’t really my thing, and I remember doubting this would work for me the first time we came.
But surprisingly, I felt better when we left.
And I also know I need an outlet this time just as much as Zack does.
Something to release the pent-up frustrations and emotions swirling inside me, threatening to swallow me whole.
“Why do I always have to do the right thing?” I lift and swing my hammer with as much force as possible. It collides with a glass bottle, sending the pieces scattering everywhere.
“Because you’re a good person.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m damaged, remember?”
He laughs. “We’re all a little damaged. Doesn’t mean you’re not a good person. Even beautiful flowers have thorns.”
His smile lights up his face, and I have to admit it makes me happy to see. He seems much more himself than when I first saw him in the bar earlier. But the candid desire in his eyes warms my skin and sends my pulse skyrocketing.
A small part of me is ready to say fuck it. Find out what being with him would be like. To have him touch me, look at me like he is now, as he drills into me over and over until I see stars.
“Mia,” a male voice snapped.
I literally jumped in my seat at the sound of my name cutting through my subconscious. I blinked quickly before looking up at Charlie standing next to my desk.
“What is going on with you?” he asked, concern in his eyes.
I swallowed. “Nothing. Sorry, just thinking of something.”
He smirked. “Or someone?”
“Don’t,” I warned. “I’ll never tell you anything ever again if you don’t leave it be.”
“I just don’t understand. If you like him and he likes you, just see where it goes.”
Did I actually like Zack? Or was it just pure physical attraction? I gritted my teeth. It didn’t matter. “I’ve tried that. So many times. It never ends well. You know this. And if I try, when it blows up like it always does, everyone will blame me, and my best friend will hate me.”
“You don’t know that, though.”
My screen lit up and I let out a relieved breath that I didn’t have to finish this conversation.
“911, what is the location of your emergency?”
Muffled sounds came through the line, including one that resembled sniffling, but no words.
“Hello, 911. What is your emergency?” I tried again as I waited for my system to give me a more concise location of the caller. The initial Phase I location only showed a large general area based on what cell tower the phone was using.
“My mommy’s sick,” a young boy said softly.
“Your mommy’s sick?” I needed to confirm I’d heard him correctly and let him know I was listening.
“Yeah.”
My fingers flew across the keys as I began inputting notes into the CAD, my computer-aided dispatch system. “Where is your mommy? Can I talk to her?”
“No. She, umm, fell down and now she’s sleeping.”
Fuck. I did not like the sound of that. At all.
“Can you go to her and say her name really loud? Try giving her a gentle shake for me?”
“Mommy,” he yelled, and a slight ruffling sound in the background followed. “Wake up, Mommy.”
“Do you see her chest or tummy moving up and down?”
“Yeah.”
“Ok, good.” That was a plus. But I needed to figure out his location, hopefully while he was still calm and talking to me. Maybe I’d get lucky and he would know exactly where he was. He sounded really young, though. “Can you tell me where you are?”
“In the kitchen.”
At least he was somewhere he likely felt safe. “Do you know where your house is?”
“Yeah.”
I tamped down my hope, knowing it might not be that easy. He sounded a little too young to know his actual address. “Okay. Where is it?”
“It’s blue.”
I couldn’t stop the small smile from forming on my lips, but it disappeared quickly as I focused back on my task. “How old are you?”
“Four.”
“Okay. Do you know what town you live in?”
“The lake.”
Phase II location populated on my screen, and I cursed internally.
It only narrowed it down to slightly less than a quarter of a mile.
But he was right. He was in Half Moon Lake, somewhere off the main road that led up the mountain.
But there were at least twenty-five houses, maybe closer to fifty, within that radius.
“How about the name of your street?”
“I don’t know,” he cried, tears evident now in his voice.
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out together. Okay?”
“Okay.” His voice was now a tiny whisper.
“Do you have a favorite stuffy?” I continued to type the information into my CAD system and then pulled up our call logs database on one of my other screens.
“Yeah. Puppy.”
“Why don’t we go get puppy? Puppy snuggles are the best, I bet.”
“He’s the bestest snuggler.”
While he seemed focused on retrieving his favorite stuffed animal, I searched for any other calls made from this number.
If we’d already had the rapidSOS software, I would’ve been able to get his location by now.
Luckily, we’d have the new systems before the end of this year, but for now I had to try another way to get the details.
“What’s your name?” I asked, hearing him talking to his stuffed dog.
“Reid.”
“That sounds like a brave name. I’m Mia.”
“I am brave.”
“You totally are.” My search for any previous calls from the number came back empty. Dammit. “Is there anyone else in the house with you?”
“No. Just mommy. But she still won’t wake up.”
“Okay. What’s your mom’s name?”
“Mommy.”
“Where’s your daddy?”
“At work.”
“Where does he work?”
“He fixes cars.”
Randy’s shop. Only auto shop in Half Moon Lake. Unless his dad worked in a neighboring town, which was also a possibility.
I glanced up, making eye contact with Charlie. We were a tight-knit group and instinctively knew when someone needed a second person. Most of the time, we didn’t even use words. All it took was a single look to convey the help needed.
He spun to his computer, bringing up my call.
I typed in the information Reid had given me, knowing Charlie would dispatch a unit to the shop to see if someone who worked there had a kid named Reid.
In the meantime, I would try to narrow down his location the best I could, just in case that didn’t pan out.
“Do you like playing outside?”
“Yes. I have a tree house.”
“That’s fun. Does your house have a lot of trees?”
“So so many trees.”
“Are there any other houses nearby? Like neighbors, people who live close. Maybe kids you get to play with?”
“No. We live in the woods.”
Okay. That was something. I began searching the radius area on my map for houses that sat back off the main road, nestled in the woods, making a note of each one.
“Ms. Shelly’s house is green with pink flamingos.”
“Who’s Ms. Shelly?
“She’s the one with the pink flamingos.”
“Is she your neighbor? How do you know she has pink flamingos in her yard?”
“I see them from the car.”
I opened Google Earth, typed in the coordinates for the main road, and began searching for pink flamingos in street view. “What else do you see from the car when you’re driving with Mommy or Daddy?”
“The red sign that makes Mommy stop the car.”
Bingo. A stop sign would be easy to find. “Do you see the red sign first and then Ms. Shelly’s flamingos?”
“Yes, and then we’re home.”
I worked quickly, finding the stop sign and continuing up the main road until I found a green house with pink flamingos. “Help’s coming, Reid. Okay?”
“Okay. Me and puppy are sitting with Mommy.”
Street view would no longer help me, so I scanned back out and followed the next driveway down until it opened to a clearing with a house.
An overhead view showed a red tricycle in the driveway next to a white car.
I couldn’t tell from this view what color the house was.
“Reid, do you have a red bike?” I held my breath, praying he would say yes.
“How did you know it was red?”
I smiled as I entered the address. “Lucky guess. Every brave little boy has a red bike. Didn’t you know?”
“Really?”
“Totally. Okay, I’m sending an ambulance to your house to check on your mommy. When they get there, I’ll need you to let them in. Can you do that?”
“I’m not supposed to open the door to strangers.”
“That’s a really important rule. But this time it’s okay. Because policemen and firefighters are safe strangers.” I looked up just as Charlie gave me a thumbs-up and mouthed ‘found Dad.’ “Daddy will be there soon too.”
“He will?”
“Yup. Because you knew where I could find him.”
I stayed on the phone with Reid as I finished inputting all my notes, asking him questions like what his favorite color was and what he liked to play with. Less than ten minutes later, sirens sounded through the phone and I verified on my screen that the ambulance was pulling up outside.
“Okay, buddy. Need you to let the paramedics in and take them to Mommy.”
“Is Daddy with them?” I looked over at Charlie and he shook his head and held up five fingers.
“No. But he’ll be there in a few minutes. I promise he won’t be mad and it’s safe to let them in first.”
“Okay,” he whispered.
“You’re being so brave, and you can stay on the phone with me until he gets there.”
The click of a lock and the sound of a door opening came through the line.
Kyle Williams's voice came next as he greeted Reid and told him how he did a great job.
I spent the next five minutes distracting Reid by asking him who his favorite superhero was and what he liked about the Hulk.
Just like every other little boy, he liked that the Hulk smashed stuff.
“Daddy!”
That one word was all I needed to hear. The phone and I were forgotten. My job was finished.
And I spent the rest of my shift being grateful for how easy that call had been. Because the two that followed were anything but, their outcomes offering much less than the positive feeling I’d had after helping Reid get help for his mom.
Although, any call lately was better than holding our breath every time a call about a fire came in, praying it wasn't another arson.
We were all glad to not be dealing with that anymore.
After more than a year of that chaos, it seemed to have stopped as suddenly as it started.
If only the person responsible could be brought to justice.
After the day I had, I was tempted to reach out to Zack.
I kind of liked the way we talked in the rage room.
It gave me the chance to voice what I felt without the pressure of having to actually talk it through.
Without looking him in the eyes and confessing the hurt I was exorcising through brute force.
But I couldn’t. I needed to start putting space between us.
Before I did something really stupid.