Chapter Thirteen #3
He looked around, but there was no sign of her anywhere!
"Lieutenant, who are you looking for?" one officer asked.
"The woman who owns this car," he answered. "Molly Henderson."
"There was no one else in the car, sir," the uniform answered him and Michael didn't know whether to be relieved or scared out of his mind.
He tried Molly's cell phone and it immediately went to voicemail.
He called his parents' house and Seamus answered.
"Pop, is Molly there?" he asked, and he heard his voice crack as he silently prayed.
It seemed to take forever before his father returned and told him that Molly must have sneaked out while he and Mary were playing cards with their neighbors.
Michael felt numb as he closed his cell phone. Where was Molly?
* * *
Molly didn't enjoy the movie at all. In fact, she couldn't concentrate on the highly publicized film, and it was all Michael's fault!
She felt guilty for leaving the house after he told her not to, even though she was a grown woman and had every right to do as she pleased.
She walked with a group of people toward the parking lot and was stunned to learn her car wasn't where she left it!
She looked and looked, thinking she must have parked in a different spot, but after a while Molly came to the realization that her car was gone... stolen!
"Miss, are you all right?" Two young men stopped when they saw her crying. "Did someone hurt you?"
"My car is gone... Someone must have stolen it when I was inside watching a movie."
"Oh no!" He looked at his partner and then said, "I think we should look again and make sure before we call the police. Don't worry. David and I will stay with you so you're safe, and we'll give you a ride home if we can't find your car."
"Thank you." Molly sensed she was safe with them, and was grateful for their support, even though they were strangers. They spent more time looking and finally Molly said, "My pretty little car is gone!" She burst into tears and David and John comforted her, giving her a clean handkerchief.
"We need to call the police," John said quietly.
"I'll call my fiance," Molly said in a small voice. "He is a police officer." She took out her cell phone, and turned it on; she'd turned it off when she went inside the large theater because she didn't want it going off and disturbing others. Michael answered on the first ring.
"Molly? Where are you? Are you hurt?" She could hear the fear in his voice.
"I'm fine, but my car was stolen, Michael!"
She started crying again. He asked her again where she was, and said he was on his way.
She hung up and a few seconds later her cell started beeping from all the messages in her voice mail.
She quickly played them while David and John waited with her for Michael to appear and heard Michael over and over again, begging her to call him.
She felt less than an inch tall by the time he jumped out of his car and took her in his arms, hugging her tightly, and telling her how much he loved her.
Molly felt so safe in his arms and she knew he would make everything all right once again. Two more police cars arrived, and the officer who pulled her over the night of Michael's Christmas party got out of one of them and walked over. "Are you all right, Molly?" he asked hoarsely.
"Just shaken up," she answered.
"Did he take your car at gunpoint?"
"What?" Molly asked in confusion.
David tried to help her. "Officer, we were all attending the same feature inside, and when Molly came out and couldn't find her car, we offered to help her. She didn't see who took her car."
"He must have hotwired it, Trevor," Michael spoke up, keeping his arm around Molly's slender shoulders.
"You sure had us all worried, Molly," Trevor told her. "The Lieutenant thought you were in the car when it flipped over three times."
"What?" Molly looked at Michael in confusion.
"Your car was involved in a high speed chase, Molly. The kid who stole it lost control; he was killed... and your car was totaled. Thank God you weren't in that car."
"Lieutenant, you need to sign off the clock and take your girl on home," another officer spoke up. He was older than Michael, and could see the younger man shouldn't be going out on any more calls. "Things have slowed, and you've put in your shift. If we get swamped, we can always call you in."
"You're right, George. I feel like a limp noodle right now."
The men respected him for admitting he was shaken.
"Call me if you need me." The Officers left since there was nothing more they could do for Molly.
Michael made his call, taking himself off the clock, and then he looked at John and David.
"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself; Michael O'Keefe." He offered his hand.
"I'm John Connors," John said as he shook hands.
"I'm David Winters," David offered, shaking hands, too. "We couldn't leave Molly here by herself when she was so upset."
"I appreciate that," Michael told them. "She means everything to me." He felt like crying he was so relieved. "And, I'm going to spank the everlasting daylights out of her for scaring me to death tonight!"