Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
Dalton
Dana Jo Glasser was determined to pull herself out of the dumps today and take care of her two-year-old little girl. She didn’t know why seeing that press conference about Minnie Benton and her missing child had upset her so much.
Because you have a little girl just like Minnie did. Last night, she’d lain awake for hours wondering what had happened to little Iris.
Lou Lou bounced up and down, her rosy cheeks grinning. “Park,” Lou Lou said. “Park, park, go, park.”
“Yes, sweetie, Mommy’s taking you to the park.” Dana Jo dressed her daughter in her favorite pink kitty cat T-shirt and shorts. “And we’re going to swing and play in the sandbox and take a picnic.”
Lou Lou patted her tummy. “Juice.”
Dana Jo smiled. “I already packed your juice box. And Mommy put in raisins and applesauce and a PBJ.” Ever since Lou Lou had turned two, she’d begun talking more, which was fun. Her little girl was a sponge and seemed to soak up every word she heard and repeated it.
Although, the terrible-two tantrums had also begun and those were exhausting. With Dana Jo’s headache still lingering, she hoped nothing triggered one today.
She swept Lou Lou’s soft blond baby-fine curls into a ponytail then scooped her up and headed to the kitchen.
Her mother was at the sink, clearing away the breakfast dishes, and turned to her with a worried look, then seemed to brighten when she saw Dana Jo was dressed. “You must be feeling better.”
Dana Jo nodded. “A little.” Or maybe she was just determined to fight the darkness today and hold onto her child. Panic seized her at the thought of losing her. “I guess that news story about the missing child got to me.”
Her mother’s eyes softened. They both knew that since her attack, Dana Jo experienced multiple rough days each month.
“I can understand that. Worrying about your own child goes with motherhood,” her mother said softly. “When you were little, every night I’d wake up, go to your room and put my hand on your chest to make sure you were breathing.”
Dana Jo forced a smile, although she had a nagging feeling there was more to her own anxiety than normal mother worry. That something bad might happen to Lou Lou.
“Go, Mommy,” Lou Lou said with a little kick of her leg against Dana Jo’s hip.
“Yes, we’re going.” She snagged her keys and the picnic basket from the counter and shuffled out the door.
Outside she stowed the food in the trunk of her Escape, buckled Lou Lou into her car seat, then slid into the passenger seat and drove toward the park. The seven-minute drive was filled with Lou Lou’s sweet voice singing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider”.
But the photo of Iris Benton from the news haunted her.
Police had issued an Amber Alert and as she parked, she scanned the faces of the kids in case she spotted Iris, even checking clothing as she’d read that sometimes abductors cut a child’s hair and dressed them in opposite-sex clothing to camouflage their identity.
Lou Lou banged the seat with her feet. “Out, Mommy, out.”
Dragging herself back to reality, Dana Jo hopped from the car, retrieved her daughter and made sure her coat and cap were on, then swung her up on her hip. She’d come back for the food later.
Lou Lou squealed as they reached the sandbox, wanting down, and Dana Jo lowered her into the sand.
While Lou Lou began digging with the shovels, Dana Jo’s gaze traveled across the busy park.
Toddlers and children were running and playing on the playground.
A line was backed up for the monkey bars.
A group of kids who looked to be around five to seven were chasing a soccer ball on the field.
Two other boys were playing catch. A toddler fell down and burst into screams. On instinct, Dana Jo started toward her to pick up the child and comfort her.
But just as she reached the little boy, his mother appeared and glared at Dana Jo. “That’s my son. I’ve got him.”
Dana Jo backed away, stunned. She’d only meant to help.
The woman scooped up the crying little boy and rubbed circles around his back. “It’s okay, Petey, you’re safe now. Mommy’s got you.”
Dana Jo sighed in relief that the catastrophe was averted although the mother’s glare still stung.
A ball flew by and two kids chased it. Dana Jo glanced back to check on Lou Lou but didn’t see her. Her heart pounded.
Only two kids in the sandbox. Not Lou Lou. A shovel tossed into the grass beside it. A sand bucket overturned.
Pure terror ripped through her and she turned and screamed Lou Lou’s name.