25. Joshua
Chapter 25
Joshua
“ 9 -1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Please!” It’s desperate. I can hear it. But I am desperate. “W-we need to find him, he's only two.”
“Sir, please try to breathe. Find who, sir?”
“My–my son. He’s my son.”
“Ok what’s your name and address, sir?”
I give her my details.
“I want you to know that we have officers dispatched to your location, sir. While I gather information from you, okay?... Sir?”
I choke back my sobs. “Yes.”
“I need your son’s name and a description.”
“His name is Parker Anderson. He’s two years old. Brown hair, teal eyes. He was last seen wearing,” I swallow hard, “Paw Patrol swim short and a matching t-shirt. It had the-the blue one,” I stumble trying to recall the name of the character.
“Chase! He had Chase,” Maddie says next to me.
“Chase, yes! He had on Chase.”
“Can you tell me where he was last seen? Who he was with?”
“He was here at home. He was watching a movie with his siblings. He was alone for minutes. And when my girlfriend went to go check on him, he was gone. The side door to the house was open. We checked everywhere in the house. Everywhere on the grounds. We even have neighbors and friends searching for him now.”
“Parker!” Cole’s voice echoes in the background.
Parker!” Keelan calls out for him too. I hear so many others.
“How long ago did he go missing, sir?”
“It hasn’t been long, maybe forty-five minutes.”
“Do you believe he’s been abducted?”
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know how or why someone would?”
“Is there anyone with access to the home? A relative? Friend? Old employee?”
Oh my god.
“Yes. Yes! We have several employees. One who quit just a few weeks back.”
And she’s been here. Uninvited. She knows how to get into the home.
“Do you think they could potentially be a threat to your son’s safety?”
She’s threatened me. I don’t put it past her to threaten one of mine.
“Yes. Her name is Reece Evangeline. She used to be his nanny.”
It’s thirty minutes later when an Amber alert goes out with Parker’s details. Reece is listed on there too.
I used to ignore those texts.
Especially in the area where we live. They come so frequently.
Don’t get me wrong–I would eventually look at them. Sometimes a few seconds later. Sometimes a few minutes. But they always came through at the most inconvenient times.
Now, I pray that every person inconvenienced by the alert will take a moment to just look at it. Consider if they’ve seen him. Call the police, if they have.
Because my heart is in pieces over a little boy that just a month ago–I felt nothing for.
But now. It feels like my very heart has been ripped from my chest.
We search the entire neighborhood. We knock on every door. The police have canines. We search the area by the docks where Cassidy and I danced that night. I stare at the water too long. Hoping that he didn’t jump like he did that day at the pool here at home.
A dive team goes into the lake around noon.
Calls come in from every which way.
Heatwave players and staff. The boys. Reporters. Mom. Oliver. Priscilla, his caseworker.
But none of the calls are to tell me they’ve found him.
That afternoon, it’s reported on the news. A picture of my sweet Parker there on the screen for everyone to see.
Cassidy had plenty of pictures of him with the exact swimming trunks he had on today. I stare at him smiling face on the screen. An innocent. And it angers me. It saddens me.
It kills me.
Reece is the number one suspect. All the other staff at the house, anyone who had access are called in for questioning.
No stone is left unturned.
Cassidy storms in from the front door. “I’m going to check all the rooms again.”
She stops when she sees me. My head hanging. Lips moving.
“Joshua? Are you okay?”
I look up from my prayer. I pray to God. I pray to the universe. I pray to anyone who might be listening. I promise that I’ll do better. I promise that if Parker is returned safely, I’ll never let him out of my sight.
I promise that I’ll do whatever it takes to have him close. His siblings close. Because the thought of losing any of them steals the very breath from my lungs.
And that’s what Cassidy sees in that moment. A man at rock bottom. A man bargaining.
“Oh, Joshua,” she throws her arms around me. “We’re going to find him. He’s going to be okay.”
“He deserves so much more than what I’ve given him. He deserves all of me.”
She nods against my back.
“And he’ll have it. He’ll get to know what it’s like to have a father that loves him, wholeheartedly. Because he’ll have that in you.”
I choke back another sob.
“I’m going to check the rooms,” she says again.
I nod.
She leaves my side, taking the steps two at a time.
And I go back to searching the house top to bottom again.
Maddie is asleep on Cassidy’s lap. Cole startles awake beside me on the couch with a flashlight in his hand. He’s trying to stay up with me.
I look around. There are whispers in the kitchen. Anyone associated with the team is here tonight.
Even the team owner, Mackenzie Stratton, dropped off food for the search party. She offered her own private helicopters for the search party.
There’s not one person involved in my life, that isn’t here for me.
The door opens and Ryker and Keelan stomp their muddy feet on the mat before coming in.
It’s started raining.
I hope he’s okay. I hope he’s warm. And safe. Out of the cold. God, I hope he’s safe.
Hey universe… God? If you’re still listening. This is worse than anything you’ve hit me with. You’ve delivered your final blow. I’m done. I’m done fighting with you. I’m done being angry with you.
Bring him back. Bring Parker home. That’s my only request.
I’ll do anything.
It’s three in the morning when I get the call.
“Mr. Hicks, this is HPD. We’ve found your son.”