It took a few seconds for Flora to register that her cell phone was ringing. She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t talk to anyone.”
“It’s probably Bryce or Vincente wondering why they got an emergency message from me,” Leon said.
Flora fumbled her cell out of her jacket pocket, frowning at the display. “No, it’s Eve Sloane.” The whole town must know by now that her twins were missing. Why would anyone call her in the middle of a crisis? Even so, Eve had never struck Flora as the sort of person to intrude or seek gossip.
She swiped to answer the call. “Not now, Eve—”
“Flora? Oh, thank goodness you answered. I have your boys with me.”
“The twins witnessed Daisy attacking Tegan, they were taken away from the daycare center, then they were lost in the dark.” Leon could see Flora almost gnawing through her lower lip as he pulled up in front of Eve’s house. “They must be so scared.”
Eve had told them she would leave the front door open. Once Flora left the car, she dashed into the house ahead of Leon, sliding to a halt in the kitchen doorway. Stevie and Frankie were seated at Eve’s small table.
“Hi, Mommy.” Frankie waved a hand in greeting. “We have cookies and milk.”
“So you do.” Leon could hear the tears in Flora’s voice. She stepped up close and, placing an arm around each of them, drew both boys into an embrace.
“’nuff hugging now, Mommy,” Stevie said, after submitting for about half-a-minute.
“Is it just me?” Leon viewed the two boys as they returned to their cookies. “I don’t think they look too traumatized.”
Flora managed a shaky laugh. “You could be right.” She turned to Eve, who was watching the reunion with a smile. “The police are on their way, and they will ask all sorts of questions, of course... But how did you find them?”
“I didn’t find them. Scape did,” Eve said. She smiled at the look of amazement on Flora’s face. “He escaped again. I caught sight of him heading through the trees toward the waterfall. Because it was dark, I took a flashlight and went after him. I thought I was going crazy when I got close to Eternal Springs and I heard the sound of children’s laughter. The next thing I knew, I shone my flashlight through the trees ahead, and your boys were coming toward me with Scape between them.”
“Scape is safe people,” Stevie said. The words tugged hard on Leon’s heartstrings as he remembered the conversation he’d had with the twins just that morning.
Eve spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “They kept telling me that.”
“I’ve been trying to teach them that, if they are in danger, they should find someone safe,” Leon explained. “And they did. They found Scape, who brought them to you.”
“And we can never thank you enough,” Flora said, as she hugged Eve.
“Daisy is not safe people.” Frankie frowned as he brushed milk from his top lip.
“Oh, sweetie...” Flora pulled out a chair and sat next to him, taking his hand.
“She’s bad.” Stevie nodded.
“How did you know she was bad?” Leon asked.
“’cos she made Stevie’s arm stuck.” Frankie calmly helped himself to another cookie as he spoke.
Flora gasped. “Are you saying it was Daisy who trapped your arm under the play equipment?”
“Yes.” Stevie rubbed his arm before turning to smile at Leon. “Dr. Leon got me out.”
“So it wasn’t daycare you didn’t like,” Flora said. “It was Daisy.”
“That explains why they were happy to go in when Tegan was there to greet them.” Leon shook his head. If only they’d asked. But would the twins have been able to explain their fears?
“I don’t believe this. The police have been floundering around clueless for weeks and, all the time, my babies knew who was to blame.” Flora placed her head in her hands.
“Wait until we tell Laurie she could have handed this investigation over to a couple of three-year-olds and a goat,” Leon said.
With perfect timing, Laurie called out from the hall. Seconds later, she and Glen Harvey entered the small kitchen, making it immediately appear over-crowded.
“Hey.” Laurie smiled at the twins. “Everyone is very glad to know you guys are safe.”
Stevie looked Glen up and down before quickly moving the cookie plate closer to him and his brother.
“We’re not going to keep you long,” Laurie said to Leon and Flora. “I’m going to take some details from Ms. Sloane. Then, tomorrow, we’ll get an officer who is trained in dealing with young children to come to your home and speak to your boys.” She lowered her voice. “The suspect didn’t survive the collision, but we still need to make sure we have all the facts.”
Eve repeated what she’d told Leon and Flora about how she found the twins while Laurie made notes. Flora also recounted what the boys had told them about Daisy’s role in trapping Stevie’s arm.
“One thing I wanted to ask about was if Daisy knew Jennifer Webster?” Laurie asked.
“Yes,” Flora said. “The Ryerson Center had an introduction day for the staff a week before it opened. Jennifer and I both attended. In fact, we were chatting in the foyer when Daisy came to the center to drop off some paperwork for me about the daycare center.” She raised a hand to her throat. “I actually introduced them.”
“That answers the question about why Jennifer would have given Daisy a lift. I figure Daisy faked a problem with her car, or some other difficulty. I guess we’ll never know for sure,”
