Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
A s the night bled into the early morning hours in the pursuit of finding Elizabeth, the boys awoke in the backseat. They grew restless and began to fight with one another. It took everything inside Ryan to keep himself together as exhaustion pulled at every fiber of his being. His wife hadn’t stopped crying since they found Elizabeth’s room empty, and with each hour that passed, the worry grew a little more.
Emily pulled her phone out from her purse. “I’m going to try Jasmine’s phone again.”
“It’s four o’clock in the morning, Emily.”
“I don’t care what time it is, Ryan!” Emily sobbed as she threw her phone against the dashboard.
Jack began to cry in the backseat. Then he shouted, “Conner hit me in the face!”
“Knock it off!” Emily whipped around to face the backseat. “Stop touching each other! I already told you that! You need to listen to Mommy!”
Ryan jumped in. “Maybe we should head home. Get a little sleep and start making phone calls again in a few hours.”
“What?” Emily shook her head. “You just want to give up?”
Tilting his head slowly, he looked over at her briefly then back at the road. They had searched Cedarwood Creek more times than he could count, along with the surrounding small towns and the main freeway. He was exhausted. Turning in for a little rest sounded like the best possible decision for not only himself, but his entire family.
“It might be best.” Ryan nodded. “Also, we should file a police report.”
She looked at him with horror. “You know what this town will do if they find out . . .”
“Our daughter is missing. We need to get the authorities involved, Em. No matter what that entails. It’s been hours now.”
Touching her forehead as she stared out her window, she shook her head. “I can’t give up on her.”
Clenching his teeth, he pulled the car over on the freeway and jammed it into park. He got out and walked behind the car a good distance. With his back facing the car and his family, he screamed as he lifted his hands and looked into the dimly lit sky.
“Why are You doing this to me, God?” Dropping to his knees, he started to cry for the first time since Elizabeth had vanished. Raking his hands through his hair, he hunched over as he wept bitterly. Then he prayed. “God, I can’t deal with this. First my dad, then the move, and then the car wreck. Now my princess? When will the pain in my life relent?”
As despair in his soul pulled him further down, suddenly, a hand touched his shoulder.
Lifting his head, he turned on his knees to see Emily standing there.
“Ryan?”
Wiping his face, he stood upright, composing himself. “Sorry.”
“I can drop you and the boys off at home to rest. I just know I can’t lie down and sleep at all right now.”
“Okay.”
Returning home, Ryan gave his wife a kiss through the open car window. “Please be safe. If you get drowsy, pull over and sleep. Please don’t keep driving.”
“Thank you for caring. I promise I’ll do that if I get sleepy.”
Once inside, the boys weren’t interested in sleeping, and that meant Ryan wouldn’t get the shuteye his body desperately craved. Turning on the television in the living room, he put on a random cartoon and lay on the couch. Pulling his cellphone out, he glanced at the text message he had sent to his brother last night before heading out on the road.
Ryan: Elizabeth is gone. She shut off her location and we’re going out to look for her. Please pray, and let us know if you hear anything.
His brother had never responded.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he sighed as sleepiness pulled on his eyelids. He started to fade in and out, making sure to keep an eye on his boys as they watched television.
Hours passed. Then a knock sounded at the front door of the house.
Ryan wanted to get up to answer it, but the exhaustion kept him from moving.
“Ryan.” His brother’s voice echoed through his ears. He thought it was a dream.
“ Ryan . . . ”
Opening his eyes, he saw his brother standing over him at the couch. He jerked his body upright and looked over to see his boys not sitting on the loveseat anymore.
“My kids!” He started to get up, but Jason gently pressed on his chest, forcing him to lie down.
“Calm down, Brother. They’re eating donuts at the table in the dining room. They’re okay.”
Relaxing, he sat all the way up on the couch and raked a hand through his hair.
Jason sat down beside him and folded his hands. “Look, Ryan. I’m so sorry about the way I acted after I found out about Dad.”
“You were upset. It’s okay.”
“No.” Jason shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. When I woke up this morning and read your text . . . I realized it was petty of me. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, and I was wrong to mistreat you and cut off communication. Please forgive me?”
“I do. I love you, man, and I never wanted you to get hurt.”
“I understand. Thanks for looking out for me.” Jason lifted his eyebrows. “So, what’s the latest on Liz? Any clues on where she took off to?”
Shaking his head, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. No texts or missed calls. “I haven’t talked to Emily since she dropped us off this morning. We were out all night looking for her.”
Jason smoothed a hand over his mouth. “Dang. Have you guys contacted the police?”
“We planned on doing it this morning. I need to call Emily and see if she filed a report yet.”
He called Emily’s phone.
There was no answer.
Uneasiness began to rise within Ryan. Something felt wrong.
He called again.
She answered.
“Hey, Ryan. No updates. I’m almost to Spokane.”
“Did you file a report with the police?”
Quiet on the other end of the line indicated a clear answer.
“Okay. I’m going to go file a missing persons report.”
“But the boys?”
Looking over at Jason, Ryan cracked a fractured smile. “My brother is here. I’m sure he’ll watch them while I go take care of it.”
Jason nodded emphatically.
“Okay, that’s great.”
“Are you okay, Em?”
“I pulled over and fell asleep for an hour or two. It was rough, but enough to keep me going.”
“Be careful.”
As he ended the call, Ryan shook his head. “This is the worst, Brother.”
“I couldn’t imagine. Head to the police station. I’m going to call my buddy Jacob at the police station and see if there’s anything more we can do than just filing a report.”
Emily eventually made her way back to Cedarwood Creek that afternoon. She had stopped crying, but not for a lack of emotion. She was dehydrated and exhausted. The only thing that kept her eyes open at that point was a motherly love that knew no boundaries. That, and a lot of coffee. Pulling into the coffee shop where Jason’s police friend Jacob was meeting her in Cedarwood Creek, she put the car in park and shut off the engine. Closing her eyes for only a second, she felt her whole body fall asleep for a microsecond. Then suddenly, she opened her eyes and all the sorrow and fear surged through her body again.
Sitting down across from Jacob, she got right to the point. “What can you do or tell me, Jacob?”
“With the ground you’ve managed to cover in less than twenty-four hours, I’m suspecting she had some help getting out of town. I’ll ask the same stuff that I asked your husband earlier. What could you tell me about who she knows that would help her leave?”
Emily shook her head. “Nobody. She just lost the only real friend she had earlier in the day.”
“Okay.” He jotted down a note, then asked, “Can you tell me more about that?”
Emily explained in detail first the situation at school with Elizabeth and Jasmine months ago, and then what had happened the day prior. Then, he went back to his line of questioning.
“Now, what about in California? You all just moved up here. Is there anyone who could’ve financially helped her? Maybe a bus ticket or something? Because a connecting bus does run through Cedarwood Creek at about eleven o’clock every Friday night. There was one that came through last night that we can check.”
Thinking of her daughter’s friends in California, she didn’t suspect any of them would fund a trip. The one she was closest to enough to ask for money, she hadn’t even called since moving there.
“I can’t imagine any of them.”
“Alright. That’s helpful. And what about any family who might’ve helped?”
Furrowing her eyebrows, she thought of her parents. “No. They wouldn’t help her run away.”
Writing something down, he explained his plan. “I’ve contacted all the surrounding police stations, along with the state patrol. We will find your daughter, ma’am. You can rest assured of that. I do have one more question for you.”
“Has either you or your husband been threatening to her?”
“No.”
“Have you or your husband said anything that would indicate a desire for her to run away?”
“No.”
“Have you or your husband ever physically hurt her?”
As she looked at Jacob, she shook her head as worry over the small town crossed her mind. They’d all soon know their daughter had run away.
“Maybe I’m just tired and overreacting, but I have poured my life into this girl. Into all my children. And for you to ask if?—”
“Ma’am. The questions are just protocol, nothing personal.”
“Yeah, sure.” She stood up and looked at him, worry washing over her. “If you have any care for your friend Jason, you’ll keep it quiet that she ran away.”
He looked confused. “I understand your desire to keep things quiet, but that’s not how it’s handled when a child goes missing. Everyone knowing is how we track them down.”
“Can we hold off on that part for a while? At least locally in town?”
“It’s too late for that. We will be issuing an amber alert soon.”
“Okay . . .” She felt defeated, tired, and upset.
She got up and headed for the door to leave when he stood up and stopped her by name.
“Emily.”
Walking back to the police officer, she waited for him to speak.
“I know it’s not easy with what you are going through right now. My wife and I went through a similar situation with our son. The only thing that helped my wife through it, and in turn helped me, was our faith in God. It’s often in these dark times of life that we get a glimpse of God’s true nature. His kindness, His comfort, His peace that surpasses all understanding. I know it’s hard to see the sun when there are dark clouds overhead, but we have to remember the sun is still shining up there.”
The words from a stranger gave her hope. “Thank you for that.”
Exiting the coffee shop, she drove home and was able to go directly to her bed and fall asleep.
A measure of comfort filled Ryan’s soul when his wife had finally come home. Jason was still over that evening at dinnertime, eager to stay by his side and help in any way he could. Ryan was joyful to have him back in his life, even if the circumstances didn’t make him happy. Running over to the grill to grab dinner, Ryan walked into the grill and spotted Bill at the end of the counter talking to Steven, the manager.
Uneasiness filled Ryan as he slowly approached the counter in front, recalling his conversation the day before with Vern. Was Bill there gathering support from Steven to give him and his family the boot from town? He watched them as Ally, the shift lead, rang up his order.
“Why’s Bill here?” Ryan inquired quietly.
“He stopped by to talk to Steven about something. I don’t really know.”
Paying for his food, then taking the plastic bag from Ally slowly, his eyes kept locked on Bill and Steven. When Bill finally noticed Ryan, he promptly left the grill and Steven came over to him.
“What’s going on, Ryan? I thought you were coming in this morning to help open. You never showed up.” Steven walked away from Ally and the counter, placing an arm around Ryan’s shoulders and guiding him away from possible prying ears.
“Something came up. What was Bill doing here?”
Steven stopped and looked at him. “Bill is a deacon at the church. My wife and I have been meeting with him about our marriage. Why?”
He shook his head. “Just curious.”
Furrowing his eyebrows, Steven folded his arms. “You don’t like him, do you?”
“He’s fine, Steven. Hey, I have to go. I probably won’t be in tomorrow either. Do you have everything under control here?”
“Yeah. Is everything okay?”
Thinking of the police report being filed earlier that day, Ryan shook his head as he knew it’d get out eventually. “Elizabeth took off and we’re trying to find her. Try not to talk about it with anyone. Okay?”
“What? She took off? Like, ran away?”
“Right.” Ryan’s lips formed a thin line, annoyed that he was repeating it aloud in the grill.
“Man, I’m sorry. Listen, if there’s anything you need at all, let me know. I’m here to help.”
“Thanks, Steven.”
Exiting the grill, Ryan thought about Bill the whole way back home. Getting inside, he sat down at the table and split up the food. He prayed, and they ate.
After the kids left the table, he told Jason about what Vern had said yesterday about Bill’s plan to run them out of town. Jason confirmed the notion, having spoken with Bill personally.
“You didn’t tell him about Dad, did you?”
Jason stopped eating his chicken strip and shook his head. “Are you kidding? Why would I?”
“I don’t know . . .” Ryan shook his head. “He must’ve figured it out with his nephew. He just can’t let his vendetta against Dad go. He’s going to pull this whole town together to come against us.”
“He has a lot of sway, but I don’t think he can garner that much support.”
“I hope not.” Thinking of his daughter, Ryan sighed. “I need to find my daughter. Bill is a distraction that I need to ignore right now.”
Jason set his chicken down and pulled his cellphone out. He paused, appearing to read something. His eyebrows shot up.
“What is it?”
“I just got a text. I called that gas station that Emily said Jacob mentioned. The one the bus stops at. A bus came through last night. This woman saw a young lady get on the bus.”
Jumping up from the table, he was about to leave when Jason continued speaking. “But wait . . . they don’t have any information. The transactions are all online through a third party. They saw her through the glass in the waiting area.”
“That could’ve been her!” Ryan motioned for the phone. “Let me call this woman.”
Ryan called the number and asked for a description of the girl the woman saw.
“She had curly brown hair with a red ribbon in it.”
“That’s her!” Ryan jumped up and down. “That’s her! Where’s the bus go?”
“Spokane, and then connects out all over the country.”
While he hadn’t pinpointed his daughter’s exact location, it was a clue, something that gave Ryan hope.
Running upstairs, he shook Emily awake and broke the news to her.
She, however, didn’t take the news as well. Shaking her head, she looked into his eyes as tears welled. “Where is our baby girl going?”