For You I Will

A soft giggle rose from under the blanket and Jessie pulled the blanket down below her nose.

“I was named after my great-great-grandmother. She was a Native American...an Indian. My name means ‘willow tree.’”

“My daddy named me,” came the tiny voice. “That’s what my mommy said.”

“He did a good job. Did your daddy and mommy bring you here?”

“Daddy did.” She sneezed.

“Bless you.” Kai had no idea how long Jessie had been hidden beneath her damp house, but she knew that the longer she stayed the more risk she had of getting sick or catching something. “Jessie, sweetie, now that we’re friends, why don’t you come on out before you catch a cold. I can fix you something to eat and then we can call your dad. Okay?”

Jessie sniffed, sneezed again but didn’t budge.

Jasper ran under the house and began tugging on the blanket, trying to pull it out and Jessie along with it.

This was crazy! She stood up, paced, ran her hand across her hair. Her gaze roamed up and down the soft rolling hills and across the tops of the fewer than half-dozen homes in the area as if seeking answers in the gray clouds that moved across the sky. What in the world was she going to do? She needed to call someone. The child couldn’t stay under her house indefinitely. She’d been trying to coax her out for nearly forty-five minutes. What kind of parent would let their child wander off like this? Her temper flared.

“I’m cold.”

Kai spun around and Jessie was standing in front of her. Her breath caught for an instant at the sight of Jessie’s tiny body that shuddered beneath the blanket, which was more on the ground than around her. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes were slightly swollen from crying. Leaves and twigs stuck to her hair, which was wet with dew and rain.

“Oh, Jessie, thank you so much for coming out.” Kai knelt down in front of her. The moist grass squished around her knees. “Let’s get you warm and fed, okay?”

Jessie nodded her head and didn’t make a peep of protest when Kai scooped her up along with the blanket and hurried inside just as the rain began to fall.

Chapter 5 (#ulink_48063fac-711a-541b-a784-7fc18c87af50)

Anthony nearly tore the door off the hinges when he saw the black-and-white police car pull up in front of his house. He ran out to meet them as they walked up the path.

“Have you heard anything?” he lobbed at them the instant they were within earshot.

“Let’s talk inside,” the middle-aged officer suggested.

Anthony looked from one to the other. A wave of panic rose up in his stomach. “What aren’t you telling me?” he demanded.

“Son, we’re not telling you anything ’cause we don’t have anything to tell.”

The air was sucked out of him.

“Let’s talk inside,” the officer said again, more gently this time.

Anthony lowered his head for a moment then led them inside.

The younger officer, who looked more like a Boy Scout than a cop, closed the door behind them.

“I’m Officer Cobb. This is Officer Monroe,” the older of the two said.

Anthony nodded impatiently. “Yes, we spoke on the phone. Now will you please tell me what you’re doing to find my daughter?”

Officer Cobb waved his hand in the air as if to calm him down. “Easy. I know this is upsetting. My team is rounding up volunteers as we speak. I want to get a few more details from you, and a picture...of your daughter.”

Anthony’s stomach knotted. A picture. The very idea brought on a wave of nausea. No, this wasn’t the Big Bad Apple, where terrible things happened every day and kids went missing like socks in the dryer. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone else, but as chief assistant district attorney who’d seen all kinds of depravity, he knew it happened in these Happy Hollow towns, too. Only, when it did, it was all the more shocking. But he couldn’t allow himself to go down that road.

“You mind if Officer Monroe looks around while we talk?”

“No. No, of course not.” He knew the drill. Monroe would be looking for any signs of a struggle or indications that there might have been a break-in. He also knew that he was their first and prime suspect. When children went missing right out of their own bedrooms, the parents were the usual suspects.

Officer Cobb took a seat at the kitchen table. He pulled out a notebook and a pen, flipped the pages and stopped when the one he wanted caught his attention. “So you said you put her to bed at ten last night.”

“Yes. Ten. Then I came downstairs to watch some television. I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up it was about three. I went to check in on Jessie and she was in her room sleeping. I went to bed. When I got up this morning to wake her she wasn’t in her room. She wasn’t in the house!”

“And what time was that?”

“Seven, seven-fifteen.” His impatient hand ran across his close-cut hair.

Officer Cobb slowly nodded his head, as if somewhat assured that the words in his notebook matched the ones coming out of Anthony’s mouth. “And her mother?”

“I told you, she’s out of the country. She left yesterday.” He had no idea what he was going to tell Crystal. He’d tried her cell phone nearly a dozen times with no luck. Half the calls wouldn’t connect and the rest either rang busy or went to voice mail. Maybe it was best. The last thing he needed right now was Crystal being hysterical hundreds of miles away.

“Did you say you had a picture of your daughter, Mr. Weston?”

He did. He had dozens of pictures of Jessie and they were all taken with his cell phone. “I have to print it out from the computer.”

Officer Cobb gave him a look as if to say, Young people, no wonder.

Anthony excused himself and went into the next room where he’d set up a mini office with his laptop, printer and a box of files from the office. He sent the most recent picture that he had of Jessie to his email and then opened the picture in his email account.

Jessie’s cherubic face filled the screen. Her smile dimmed the sun. Anthony’s eyes stung. If anything happened to her... The knot in his stomach tightened. He pressed the print key and slowly the image of Jessie slid out. He clenched his jaw, got up from his seat and returned to Officer Cobb.

“Here’s a picture of Jessie,” he said, his voice thick.

Officer Cobb took the picture. “We’ll get copies out to the other officers.”

“How many officers do you have working on this?”

“The entire office. Five.”

Anthony’s stomach swam.

Officer Cobb stood and tucked the photo in his notebook. “As soon as we hear something, we’ll call you.”

“I’m going with you. I need to be out there looking for my daughter.”

“You need to stay here in case she comes back.”

Cobb’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket. “Cobb.” His eyes widened for an instant. “I see. We’ll be right there.” He disconnected the call. His gaze jumped to Anthony’s. “They think they’ve found your daughter.”

* * *