Chapter 30
Wednesday morning during class, I get a text from Ray asking me to meet him at Finn right away.
I show it to Alex, who's sitting beside me.
He nods and asks if I want him to join me.
Shaking my head with a smile, I gather my books and leave the class, jogging to my car.
Worry causes my heart rate to increase and my palms to get sweaty.
Dropping my bag on the passenger seat, I drive to Finn as quickly as I can without getting a speeding ticket. Ray is just getting out of his vehicle when I arrive. “What’s wrong?”
“Zander is waiting for us. Let’s get inside and I’ll tell you.” Ray looks wane, sweat beading on his forehead despite the cool temperature.
Using my thumbprint, I open the front door and make a beeline for Dad in his office. He and Troy are inside along with a few other employees. Dad notices me right away and ushers me closer, and he wraps me in a hug as he greets Ray. “Someone, please tell me what’s going on?”
“Jake is missing. He went to physiotherapy this morning but needed to use the restroom. He was with the physiotherapist while Will was visiting someone down the hall. When he didn’t come back, the physiotherapist went looking for him and found Will. They scoured the place, but he wasn’t anywhere.”
“Colette and Joseph,” I growl.
“That is our guess. We looped in Sean, and we have people at the local airport. We are checking rental agencies, and Sean is alerting the Columbia and Charlotte airports to watch out for them.”
“What airport did they use for their other visits?”
“Columbia,” Ray answers.
“How long has it been?”
“Close to an hour. The next flight out of Columbia to New York is at 3pm, and there are multiple flights to New York from Charlotte.”
“I’m driving to Charlotte. They won’t go to Columbia.” Attempting to leave the office, Dad stops me by gently grabbing my arm.
“Darling, you can’t go alone.”
Will walks into the office just then. “I’ll go with her. I’m so sorry, Summer.” He hangs his head.
“Not your fault at all, Will. I’m texting the guys; they’ll want to help.” The guys answer right away. “Seb and Alex are coming with me. Can I go now?”
“Yes, but I’m going with you. I’ll let Sean know so we can contact security at the airport. Troy, can you coordinate here?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” he nods.
I squeeze Ray’s shoulder and follow Dad and Will outside. Dad wants to take a Finn SUV, so I climb into the passenger seat as he wastes no time driving to the school. Seb and Alex are already waiting by the road for us and quickly hop in.
I fill them in on the situation as Dad gets on the highway. He’s speeding, but not excessively so. I’m so nervous about Jake. He can walk a bit, but he certainly can’t easily get away from them.
I always thought there was an ulterior motive in Colette and Joseph visiting. Their rudeness towards everyone but Jake didn’t sit well, nor did their random visits asking about his progress and glorifying New York.
Seb keeps the conversation going as Dad drives, trying to shift our focus from worry.
He tells us E, Bay, and Jonathan from Finn are driving to Columbia.
We figure out there are two flights leaving for New York at 2:15pm and 5:50pm from Charlotte.
Dad doesn’t think they'd have time to get on the 2:15pm flight since Jake went missing closer to 10:30am. Between the wheelchair and having to return their rental car, they wouldn’t make it.
The three hour drive goes by in a flash, and Dad is soon pulling into the parking lot of the international airport.
It’s a few minutes past 2pm, so we might have to wait for several hours before it'll be time for them to check in.
We follow Dad into the building and look around.
I find a map as Dad steps aside to call Sean.
Seb finds the gate number for the New York flight on the overhead screen, but we won’t be able to get to it without a ticket or security.
Dad returns and says we’re to meet a security officer near TSA screening. We follow behind him as he and Will lead the way. I’ve got Alex on one side, and Seb is holding my hand on the other. “How are we looking at a kidnapping again? I swear there’s something in the water down south.”
Alex squeezes my hand as Seb chuckles. “We’ll stop them, Sunshine. It’s only two kids far away from home.”
I don’t share his positivity, but my determination could move mountains, despite the massive airport.
Dad knocks on the door marked security, and a woman in uniform quickly opens the door. Dad smiles and pulls her into a hug. What the?
He turns towards us. “This is my daughter Summer, Seb, Alex, and Will, who is Jake’s physiotherapist. Guys, this is an old army buddy of mine, Dahlia.”
Ah, now it makes sense. She ushers us through the door and into a small office with a table and chairs.
“Sean filled me in on your situation. No one who matched your description got on the 2:15pm flight to New York, and the next is close to 6pm. Since this isn’t an official missing persons report yet, I have several people watching the monitors for them, and I will notify the flight attendants when they arrive for their flight.
TSA won’t officially help us without the police, but I’m friends with a few of them who have their description. ”
I pull out my phone and text Ray for a picture of Erin.
He only takes a few minutes to answer with one, and I turn it so Dahlia can see it.
“This is Jake’s mom, who may or may not show up here for the New York flight.
There’s a cease and desist order against her, but she was very adamant Jake move in with her once he was mobile. ”
“Smart thinking, darling,” Dad smiles at me.
Dahlia gives me an email address to send it to, and she promises they will keep an eye out for her too. “Any chance we can get past TSA and wait at the gate for Jake?”
“I can probably get a few of you through without too much fuss,” she answers. Seb and Alex volunteer to hang out back here, and Dahlia agrees to get me, Dad, and Will to the gate.
As Dahlia makes arrangements for the three of us to get past TSA, Dad gets an update from Jonathan that they didn’t show up in Columbia. They decided to stay there until the Charlotte flight leaves here, though. Maybe my intuition was correct in coming to Charlotte.
Since check-in is anywhere from two hours to a half hour before flights, Alex and Seb decide to hang around between TSA and the check-in counters.
Dahlia returns with passes for us to get to the gate without a ticket. Dad gives her his phone number so they can update each other, and then we leave through the same door. After hugs from Alex and Seb, Dahlia walks us through security and then leaves us to get back to the monitors.
We make the trek to Concourse C and walk down to Gate 13 to have a look around. There are people milling about waiting for flights, but no sign of Jake yet. Dad insists we grab some food, so I agree to a restaurant near the centre of the concourse with a clear view of people walking by.
We sit at a booth against the glass wall separating us from the main walkway. I have a view of people walking up the concourse, while Will, sitting across from us, is looking towards the gate.
I order a sandwich and fries, and while we wait for our food, I obsessively people watch. Seb calls, so I place the phone against my ear so I can keep scanning the crowd. He and Alex are eating subs, and the airline counter is closed at the moment, so they are sitting on a bench near TSA.
I let him go when our food arrives, and I nibble, more than eat, my lunch. It looks delicious, but it has no taste at all. Dad tries to get me to eat more, but I have no appetite with my nerves all jumbled up.
Dad suggests that when we see them, to let Dahlia know and follow them, only stopping them if they try to board the plane. I know it would be better to allow the professionals to handle it, so I reluctantly agree.
With nothing else to do, we walk around for a while and then take seats along the concourse. Will sits closer to the entrance while Dad and I take seats near Gate 9. We have a good view, and Dad bought us baseball caps to partially hide our faces.
Time seems to drag on forever as we wait. I get texts from Alex, Seb, E, and Bay, and I update Holly with the general facts and that we probably won’t be in school tomorrow, before texting my track coach. Dad calls the school for me as well.
As 5pm arrives, we still have no sightings of them from Seb and Alex. They split up when the check in counter opened, but Alex says they must have checked in online. Seb hasn’t seen them go through TSA yet either.
My knee is jiggling, and I have to keep wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans as we wait. Dad is as cool as a cucumber, but he’s been diligent in watching the crowds.
Finally, at 5:15pm, Dad taps my arm and nods towards the main pathway. At first, I don’t see anyone, but a man steps aside and I see Erin walking by. “That’s her,” I whisper to Dad.
He nods and sends a text to Dahlia, showing it to me. She’s going to wait a little longer to watch for Jake but will come by with another officer just before boarding starts if they haven’t located him. Good.
I turn in my seat with my cap lowered to watch Erin. She has a rolling carry-on and is dressed similarly to how I saw her at the condo. She stops at gate 13 and takes a seat facing us, so I turn back around. Hopefully, she doesn’t notice us. Most of my hair is up under my cap, which should help.
We get a text from Will that he spotted Jake, so Dad texts Dahlia again. “Stay here, darling. Security is on its way. We’ll move in behind them once they pass us.”
“I won’t stand by if Jake looks upset, Dad. He doesn’t want to see his mom.”
“Okay, we’ll see what happens.”