“Are you Sawyer Lancaster and Ford Erickson?” The man asked.
They both nodded.
“Follow me, please.”
Ford wanted to scream. He needed someone who knew something to tell him what the fuck was going on.
They were led to the back of the store through double doors marked “Employees Only” and into an office. Once they entered, Ford saw his mom.
“Mom. What’s going on?” She was on her feet and in his arms so fast, he barely had time to prepare before she was squeezing him tight.
“It’s all still a blur.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “I didn’t even see him, someone, a man.” She pulled back and wiped at her already puffy eyes. “He shoved me and I fell to the ground, and when I got up and turned to tell him off, he apologized. By the time I turned back around, Callum was gone from the cart. I think a woman took him. A blonde woman was following me when I’d come inside.”
“A blonde woman?” Ford asked. “What blonde woman?”
“She had blonde hair. That’s all I know.” Tears rolled down from her eyes. “I only looked away for a minute, less than that. I swear.” His mom burst into tears again.
“The officers are going to use the security footage and see if we can figure out who the pair is.” Dean, the lead detective on Amber Falls police force, said to them while his mother composed herself. That was when Ford noticed Dean. “We have also informed the FBI office in Denver as this is a child abduction, and we don’t know if they will be trying to cross state lines.”
Dean put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I promise we will do everything in our power to get your baby back. We’ve already issued an Amber Alert for Colorado and the surrounding states.”
Ford’s heart clenched hearing Dean call Callum his… because he was. He was their baby.
Ford turned to the officers at the camera, his mom’s grip on his arm still strong. There was a man in a suit, probably the manager for the store’s security, sitting behind the desk and two other officers. Officer Palmer, he recognized. The other man he didn’t know.
“Have you found anything?” Sawyer was using his ‘I’m about to lose my patience’ voice.
“Just getting to the tape,” Officer Palmer looked up. “There’s reason to believe that it could be Larry Banks who was involved in your toddler’s abduction, but we need to make sure.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t be able to continue wreaking havoc on us if they’d throw the book at him.” Ford wasn’t sure who in the small room was more surprised when he yelled that at the officer. Sawyer put his hand on Ford’s shoulder, trying to calm him down, but it didn’t help. His emotions were too close to the surface.
“He was released on bail until trial. That’s how the law works. The court set his bail, and if it is paid, then we have to release them.” Officer Palmer stated. “I know it is no help right now, but no one could have anticipated this would happen. Until we see the footage, we’re not even positive he did it.”
Ford was sure. They should be out there looking for Callum. They should have already tracked down Larry. The longer they stood there and did nothing... God, Callum would surely be terrified.
“Do you remember anything else, Mom?” Ford could hear the pleading in his voice.
“It all happened so fast… The only thing I am sure of is that as they ran away, I was crying out for someone to stop them. One of them yelled back to me that we would be hearing from them.” Tears still streamed down her cheeks. “That’s all they said.”
“I think I have something,” the man who no one knew said.
They all rushed over to the computer screen as he ran the video in slow motion and watched as a man and woman came into view. His mom was leaning toward the shelf, comparing two brands of pull ups, probably trying to find the ones with the cutest prints on them, with one hand still on the cart. The man came through and knocked her down to the floor as the woman grabbed Callum when she had stood and her back was turned, then they then took off. Everyone watched the screen in complete silence, unable to do anything about what they had seen.
“Wow!” Sawyer said. “It’s him.” He then turned to Ford. “Did you recognize the woman?” he asked.
Ford shook his head. “I was too busy looking at Larry.” Ford wanted to strangle Larry for knocking his mom to the ground, but he wanted to kill him for daring to even touch Callum.
“Can you run the footage back?” Sawyer asked.
The man at the desk did another replay, and Ford leaned in to focus on the woman. As she looked around before grabbing Callum, the footage was paused, and he got a good look at her face. It was Cynthia.
“What the fuck?” Ford couldn’t contain his astonishment. “How the hell do they know each other? And what the hell is she doing here? She’s supposed to be back in New York.”
“Yeah. That’s the children’s mom, right?” Officer Palmer asked.
“Different hair color, but yeah that’s Cynthia. It makes no sense. How did their paths even cross?” Sawyer looked thunderous.
Dean had stepped off to the side and just returned. “I’ve alerted the station and an immediate statewide APB is being released for the two of them, and we are stationing an unmarked car outside your home.” He motioned for Rick to come over. “Officer Palmer will be your liaison. He will keep you informed of any information we get, and whenever you have any questions, or if you hear anything from the abductors, you will call him immediately.”
He looked between the two of them, and Ford and Sawyer nodded. Ford didn’t want to wait around until Rick called them. He
