“Does Mommy know where I am?”
The question caught Carl by surprise. “She … knows you’re with me. I’m sure of that.”
“Does she know where I am?”
“Well … in general. She may not know precisely-”
“Are you kidnapping me?”
Pound, pound, pound. The kid kept pounding him with questions. He was almost as bad as his mother. Was there no escaping them? “Tommy, what are you saying? You’re my son.”
“Fathers kidnap their sons sometimes. I read about it in the
Carl pressed his hands against the table. “All I’m doing right now is having a nice Christmas Eve lunch with my son. The only problem is, you’re not eating!”
Tommy sank back in his chair.
“So eat already, would you? It’s important!”
“Why?”
“It-” He checked himself. “It just is, all right? So eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Carl swelled with rage. He reached across the table, grabbed Tommy’s spoon, and shoveled up a heaping spoonful of chicken with peanuts. “I’m your father, Tommy. You’re supposed to do what I say. Do you understand me? So you
9
“Eat!” Carl shouted.
Tommy pushed his plate away. “I don’t want to. You can’t make me!”
“You’re my son!” Carl glanced around the room. They were beginning to attract the attention of the handful of other patrons, as well as the Asian woman behind the cash register. “Do as you’re told!”
“I’m not going to!”
“Don’t be a bad boy, Tommy!” He grabbed Tommy by the neck and jerked him forward, pressing the spoon against his lips. “Eat!”
“Don’t do it, Tommy!”
Carl’s head jerked up. God in heaven-it was Bonnie! Bonnie and some other woman he didn’t know. Somehow they’d managed to find him.
He dropped the spoon. It clattered to the floor as he leapt out of his chair.
“Someone please help!” Bonnie cried. “Someone arrest him! Call the police! They’re looking for him!”
“Bonnie-baby-”
“Grab the food!” Bonnie lurched forward and pushed the plate away from Tommy. “Tommy, did you eat any of it? Did you eat anything?”
“No, Mommy. I-”
“Oh, thank God.” She threw her arms around him and hugged him close against her chest. “Did someone call the police?”
Carl saw that the woman behind the register was talking quietly into the phone. “Bonnie, you can’t do this. I was just having lunch with my son. It’s Christmas Eve!”
“You sick creep, you were trying to kill him. Would someone
Carl pushed away from the table and grabbed Tommy by the shirt. “I’m taking the boy with me.”
“Like hell,” Bonnie answered.
“You can’t stop me,” he growled.
“What are you going to do? Beat me up again? Fracture my collarbone?”
Carl’s face twisted. “What? Bonnie, it doesn’t have to be like this!” He saw one of the other diners, a large heavyset man in his early thirties, inching forward. He knew he had to move quickly or he would encounter some serious resistance. “This isn’t over, Bonnie. Not by a long shot.” He turned quickly and fled out the front door.
Megan tried to stop Carl as he rushed past, but he knocked her out of the way without even breaking his stride. She pushed herself back to her feet, but by the time she had raced outside, Carl was speeding away in his red pickup. She did manage to get the license-plate number, though: XAU-208. She scribbled it down on a scrap of paper, then ran back inside the restaurant.
“Did someone call the-” She stopped. Bonnie was cradling her son in her arms, pressing him against her chest.
“Oh, God,” she kept murmuring under her breath. “Oh, thank you, God.”
A nod from the woman behind the counter told Megan the police were on their way. She plopped herself into the nearest chair, suddenly exhausted. She leaned forward and laid her head on the table.
She would have to pull herself together before the police arrived. Someone had to bring them up-to-date, and she could hardly expect Bonnie to do it. The police had to understand what was happening. Even if Carl was an ex- cop, they had to try to find the man. Before he returned.
She was glad they’d found Tommy before it was too late. But her elation hadn’t made her forget what Carl had said before he bolted out the door.
This isn’t over, Bonnie, he said.
And as Megan stared into the man’s steely eyes, she knew he meant it. She knew this wasn’t over.
She knew he’d be back.
10
Megan assured Bonnie they were perfectly safe in her office. Security guards controlled the access to the elevators, and security cameras were everywhere. But it didn’t seem to matter. No matter what she said, Bonnie continued to cling tightly to her son.
“I’m just so relieved,” she kept murmuring, over and over again. “So grateful.”
Megan couldn’t help but smile. She was relieved, too. The whole time they had scoured the parking lots, she had known in her heart they were chasing a long shot of the tallest order. She did it mostly just to calm Bonnie, to make her feel as if they were trying. She had never in a million years expected it to bear fruit. When they finally did manage to track down Tommy, and just in the nick of time, it seemed like a miracle of the highest order.
Miracle. Now that was a funny thought. Especially from someone who didn’t seem to believe in much of anything these days.
Speaking of miracles, Jasper had finally settled down in the corner of her office. When she had first come in with Bonnie and Tommy, he had gone into attack mode. What exactly he thought he was going to do to them wasn’t clear-drool them to death, maybe. At any rate, Megan had fed him, calmed him, and hooked his leash around her desk lamp. For the moment, he seemed content. When the occasional inevitable expulsions of gas were released, Bonnie simply pretended she hadn’t heard. And Tommy … well, it was nice to finally see the boy crack a smile.
“I’ve talked to the police,” Megan explained. Bonnie and Tommy were sharing a chair on the opposite side of the desk in her small office. “They’ve taken the food from the Chinese restaurant. They’re going to run tests to see if”-she glanced quickly at Tommy-“well, you know.”
Bonnie nodded. “I already know. I could see it the moment I looked into Carl’s eyes.”
“Well, after the tests, we’ll know for sure. I also gave them Carl’s license-plate number, and they, promised to broadcast it to all the patrol cars in the area.”
“Then they should pick him up soon,” Bonnie said. “Lock him away. Make sure he doesn’t try anything again.”
