Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
O n the third day with no new information on the whereabouts of Elizabeth, Emily was numb. The pain, the heartache, the despair had all melted away and were replaced with a feeling of nothingness. The police were supposedly on the lookout for their daughter, but outside of the matching description of someone who looked like their daughter getting on the bus three days ago, there were no new leads. It didn’t matter how much she prayed, how much she pleaded with her Creator, God felt silent, a million miles away. Her hope was dwindling.
Emily had visited Spokane yesterday, spending most of the day in and around the bus depot asking if people recognized the photograph of her daughter she carried, but nobody had seen her. In the later part of the day, she visited all the hospitals around the city of Spokane and even the Grand Teton Mall in Spokane in case she had ventured there. No matter who she called or where she went and asked, there was nothing.
Lying in bed, unable to sleep, she rolled over to look at the alarm clock. It was just after eleven o’clock in the morning. She could hear the faint sound of her boys wrestling around in the living room down the hall and the soft sound of cartoons playing on the living room television. She felt as if her life had come to a grinding halt the moment Elizabeth went missing. And to make things worse, Ryan didn’t seem fazed in the slightest beyond the first night.
He had never stopped working on his websites and had only called people when she prompted him to do so. He seemed so unaffected by their daughter being absent from their lives.
It bothered her immensely.
Rising from the bed, she walked down the hall and into his study.
“How dare you, Ryan.”
Ryan furrowed his eyebrows and stood as he said to the person on the phone, “I’ll call you right back.”
He hung up and stood. “What?”
“How dare you not care that our daughter is missing!” She came around the desk and shoved him hard enough to cause his steps to stagger. “Elizabeth is gone and you’re just in here working? It’s like you don’t care at all.”
Touching his forehead, he shook his head. “Emily, you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Please enlighten me, Ryan.” Placing a hand on her hip, she waited for his response.
“I do care. I’m concerned about her as much as you are, but I also have to work and provide. I can’t just stop living because she is missing.” He shook his head as tears welled in his eyes. He came closer, touching both of her arms softly as he peered into her eyes. “I’m so worried about her . . . where she is, what she is doing . . . I struggle to sleep, eat, and function. But I also know she’s not a little child. She can take care of herself pretty well. More than anything, though? I focus on God and pray He is watching over her and protecting her.”
She started to cry and her legs weakened. He moved closer and caught her before she fell.
Smoothing her messy hair away from her wet and swollen eyes, he looked into her eyes steadily. “We’re going to find her. Everything is going to be okay.”
She shook her head as she stood upright. “You can’t say that, Ryan. You have no idea!”
Pulling her in by the hips, he shook his head. “Though I can’t tell the future, I know God is good and He is with us. No matter what happens, His hand is in our lives.”
Hearing her cellphone ring from the bedroom, Emily sprinted out of the study and down the hall. Slipping on the hardwood floor in the hallway on her way into the bedroom, she hit her head against the door frame and fell with a loud thud.
Ryan came running and picked her up off the floor. He inspected her forehead. She tried to push him away in order to get to the phone.
He stopped her. “Slow down, Em.”
“But that could be her! Or someone calling about her!”
Ryan furrowed his eyebrows as he brought his hand down from her forehead. He showed her a smear of red blood streaking across his palm. “Please slow down, love.”
She stood up and walked away, then went quickly into the room and over to the bed. She lifted her cellphone as Ryan walked in.
“Ugh.” She tossed her phone back onto the bed. “It was my mom . . . again .”
“Isn’t that the fourth time in two days? Why won’t you talk to her?” Ryan walked into the bedroom, his eyes on her.
“I can’t deal with her right now. I’d break down and cry if I spoke with her about all that’s going on. She’s critical of me with everyday life. I couldn’t imagine how she’d act if she knew Elizabeth ran away.”
Her phone buzzed on the bed.
It was a text from her mother.
Zeena: She’s here. She’s safe.
Emily dropped her phone.
“What is it?” Ryan came closer to Emily.
The shock hit, followed by relief, then confusion and anger set in. “She’s with my parents in California?”
“What?” Ryan shook his head and then sighed deeply.
Picking her phone back up, she tapped her mother’s name to call her. Placing it on speaker as Ryan came closer, they waited for an answer.
Emily didn’t wait for even a hello.
“Why is she there?”
“Listen, Emily. Calm down.”
“No. Explain to me now how and why my daughter made it clear to California and to your house!” Smoothing a hand through her hair, Emily sat down on the bed. Ryan sat beside her.
“She’s been struggling for a while, Emily. You know that, I know that, and Ryan knows it too. The other day, she asked if she could borrow some money to have fun with friends. I had no idea what she was planning. I promise. I’m so sorry.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“She’s asleep right now in your old bedroom.”
“I do not care if she’s asleep! I said put my daughter on the phone!”
As the sleepy, but alive, Elizabeth came onto the phone, Emily wanted to cry and then hug and punch her at the same time. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good. What were you thinking, Elizabeth? Are you nuts? Your father and I thought you were dead. You didn’t leave a note, didn’t send a text, nothing. Just vanished!”
“It was stupid. I’ll admit that.”
“Stupid doesn’t begin to describe it. Why didn’t you talk to us?”
She was quiet for a moment, then cleared her throat. “Would you have let me leave?”
“Well, no. But we could help talk you through what you’re struggling with.”
“That’s just it, Mom. I’m not struggling, really. I know I belong in California, and this is what I want.”
Ryan stood, anger seeping into his facial expression. He mouthed, “She’s a child and she’s coming home.”
A wave of exhaustion from being on high alert and mostly awake for practically three days straight came over Emily.
“We’ll figure this out later. I haven’t slept consistently in days. I love you.”
Hanging up the phone, she tossed her phone and lay on the bed. She had never felt so tired in her life.
Ryan helped her into the bed and kissed her. Lingering for a moment, he told her, “We’re buying her a plane ticket home tonight.”
A root of bitterness began to blossom in Ryan’s heart toward his in-laws. He thought their meddling in his family and life had ceased when he left California, just an added benefit with leaving, but no, it had followed him to Cedarwood Creek. He sat down behind the desk in his study. Folding his hands, he bowed his head and prayed. “God, let me not be angry with them. You have forgiven me of so much, and I need to extend that same grace, love, and forgiveness to them. You know I’ve struggled with this for a long time, but I’m asking You to help me.”
Pausing, he thought about his daughter being safe and his eyes welled with hot tears. “How could I be so ungrateful? I should be thanking You, praising You, and here I am, bitter and angry at my in-laws.”
Slipping off his office chair, he planted his knees on the floor and prostrated himself. “You are good, God. My daughter is safe. It’s a miracle. Let my heart rejoice in that!”
A knock sounded on the door, drawing him out of prayer and to his feet as the door opened.
It was Jason, he looked upset.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have some bad news about Bill . . .”
Lifting himself up off the floor, Ryan stood upright. “What?”
Jason continued into the study. Walking over to a shelf, he looked at a picture of their father. “He’s figured something out. Right now, he’s down at the church talking to the pastor.”
“Why do you think he knows something?”
“He came by City Hall this morning and told me to say hi to Linda and Tiffany for him.”
Ryan raked a hand through his hair. “I have to go down there and figure out what he’s doing.”
His brother offered to stay with the boys while Emily continued her nap.
“Thanks.”
Heading out the door, Ryan quickly started his car and drove over to the Baptist church to talk to the pastor.
Finding Pastor Chris in the front of the church locking up, Ryan shoved the car in park and jumped out.
The pastor turned toward him.
“Hey. What was Bill doing here?”
Furrowing his eyebrows, the pastor lifted his hands in a stopping motion. “This is highly inappropriate, son. If you have something to talk to Bill about, I suggest you take it up with him directly.”
Ryan shook his head, taking a step closer. “After all the years and money my dad put into this place, I figured you’d respect him enough to give me a heads-up.”
The pastor looked conflicted for a moment, then took a step closer and placed a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. His voice lowered. “I’ll tell you this. He’s gathering the whole town together next Saturday night.”
“Where?”
The pastor dropped his hand. “Jim’s Hardware over on Sycamore.”
Ryan turned around and headed for his car. As he got back in and was about to close the door, the pastor called out to him.
“Ryan . . .”
He looked at the pastor.
“He’s still a good man.”
Shutting the car door, Ryan drove home.
Arriving back at his house, he saw Jason’s truck gone.
Confusion swirled as he parked and went inside.
The children’s duffel bags and a few suitcases were by the front door.
Hurrying through the hallway to his bedroom, he walked in to find Emily packing.
“Where are you going?”
She stopped and looked back at him with tears running down her cheeks. She shook her head as her lips quaked. “You lied to me, Ryan. You promised me no more secrets.”
Shaking his head, he proceeded into the room and over to her. She stopped him by shoving a piece of paper into his chest.
Taking it, he read it. It was a bank statement detailing the last two transfers he had made to Linda for July and June.
He tossed the paper off to the side and grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him.
“I was going to tell you and I forgot about it. Come on, Em. You’re leaving me for this? She’s just a struggling mother who needs help. It’s the right thing to do.”
Emily frowned as she shook her head and gently removed herself from his grasp. “You hid it from me . . . again. I can’t take it anymore, Ryan. I need a break.”
“It’s not that bad here.”
Stopping, she looked at him. “I need a break from you . From this. My heart can’t handle it anymore. I feel like I’m so alone in this marriage ever since Frank died. I love you and I want us to work, but this isn’t working for me.”
She tossed a few more pieces of clothing into the suitcase and zipped it. Hurrying down the hall after her, he followed her into the living room.
The boys were looking at him, uncertainty in their innocent eyes.
“What’s going on?” Jack inquired.
“Yeah. Why are we leaving?” Conner asked.
Putting on a fake smile, Emily went over to them and bent her knees. “We’re going to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa.”
Walking with her out to the car, Ryan helped load the vehicle and then met her at the driver’s side door after the kids were buckled and the doors were shut. She rolled her window down.
“You don’t need to leave, Emily. This is just silly. I know you just want to go see Elizabeth, but we can get her on a plane tonight!”
Her head tilted as she shook her head. “You don’t get it, Ryan. You lied again . Maybe I’m in the wrong here, but I just can’t anymore. I don’t feel like I belong here, and you keep lying, and I just . . .”
Pausing, she looked out the windshield as tears kept rolling down her cheeks. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she shook her head and then looked at him again.
“I love you, Ryan, but I don’t see how this all works out for us. I’m so tired.”
She put the car in reverse and Ryan came closer to the window. “What do I tell everyone?”
“Tell them whatever you want, Ryan. Or just hide it somehow. You’re good at that.”
And just like that, his family was gone.