Donald Duck, the fuzzy material soft and clean, a tag on the bottom from a Disneyland gift shop.
Adrenaline coursed through Charlie’s body. For a moment, he felt exultant. But then a thought struck him with a sudden gloomy force: the doll could have fallen out of the car innocently enough, but the flailing gas nozzle right next to it . . . together the evidence spelled trouble.
Charlie scanned the area. There was no one here. No Prius parked behind the building, no—
Suddenly, he heard the high-pitched wail of an approaching siren.
The first black-and-white whizzed by at what Charlie figured had to be seventy miles an hour. Four seconds later, another one followed. Then another.
Everything in Charlie’s bones told him these cops were headed for his family.
He sprinted back to his car and tore out onto Norwalk. The black-and-whites had a sizable lead on him and Charlie pushed the pedal all the way to the floor, the needle creeping toward eighty.
A half mile later, the lights in front of him slowed and turned left onto a residential street.
He followed. Two streets down, another left turn. Then a right. Then another left, past a yellow sign: dead end.
Charlie watched the squad car slow at the end of the cul-de-sac, trying unsuccessfully to turn off the terrifying thoughts that were buzzing through his brain. There were five other squad cars already here, red and blue lights puncturing the soft night sky.
They surrounded a gray Prius.
Chapter Eight
C harlie felt an inarticulate howl erupt from his chest as he slammed his car to a halt in the middle of the cul-de-sac. He tried to think of a benign explanation for the scene unfolding in front of him. But you didn’t send a half-dozen police cars to a lonely residential neighborhood just because some nice lady had taken a wrong turn and blown a head gasket.
Charlie bolted out of his SUV and rushed toward the knot of policemen surrounding Julie’s car.
“Let me see them!” he shouted. “Where are they? Let me see them!”
“Please step back, sir.”
Charlie sensed someone to his left and managed to focus on a trim young cop but it wasn’t until she was wrapping her arms around him that he even realized it was a woman.
“Sir! You have to—”
“I have to see them!”
“Do you live here, sir?”
“No, I—”
“Then you need to stay back.”
He was nearly dragging the small police officer off her feet.
“Assistance!” she shouted. “Goddamnit, I need assistance now !”
Charlie kept plowing forward as blue uniforms rapidly converged on him.
“Get his arms! Get his arms!”
But Charlie was not going to be stopped. Because he’d seen something that breathed hope into him for the first time since he’d hit the freeway . . .
It was the hair. The auburn hair of a tiny girl.
Clinging to the neck of a large African-American policeman, she was rubbing her eyes with her chubby fist. A motion he had seen a thousand times.
“That’s my daughter!” Charlie shouted as two more cops slammed into him, pinning him against one of the squad cars. They grunted and cursed, heaving on him as he struggled. Charlie fought back, blinded by the red and blue flashing lights.
“That’s my daughter!”
They pinned his face against a squad car and he felt the cold steel of cuffs touching his wrists.
“Daddy, Daddy!” he heard Meagan squeal.
Then an authoritative, booming voice over hers. “Let him go! I said let the man go!”
Charlie felt three sets of hands release him. As he righted himself and regained his vision, he saw that the booming voice belonged to the big black cop. “Let him see his girl.”
“Sorry, sir,” the female cop said. “We thought—”
Charlie didn’t care what she thought. He pushed through the knot of policemen and weaved toward Meagan.
“Daddy!”
He grabbed her from the sergeant, holding her tight, his mind jumping rapid fire to the next question: Ollie and Julie. Ollie and Julie?
He ran toward Julie’s
Adrenaline coursed through Charlie’s body. For a moment, he felt exultant. But then a thought struck him with a sudden gloomy force: the doll could have fallen out of the car innocently enough, but the flailing gas nozzle right next to it . . . together the evidence spelled trouble.
Charlie scanned the area. There was no one here. No Prius parked behind the building, no—
Suddenly, he heard the high-pitched wail of an approaching siren.
The first black-and-white whizzed by at what Charlie figured had to be seventy miles an hour. Four seconds later, another one followed. Then another.
Everything in Charlie’s bones told him these cops were headed for his family.
He sprinted back to his car and tore out onto Norwalk. The black-and-whites had a sizable lead on him and Charlie pushed the pedal all the way to the floor, the needle creeping toward eighty.
A half mile later, the lights in front of him slowed and turned left onto a residential street.
He followed. Two streets down, another left turn. Then a right. Then another left, past a yellow sign: dead end.
Charlie watched the squad car slow at the end of the cul-de-sac, trying unsuccessfully to turn off the terrifying thoughts that were buzzing through his brain. There were five other squad cars already here, red and blue lights puncturing the soft night sky.
They surrounded a gray Prius.
Chapter Eight
C harlie felt an inarticulate howl erupt from his chest as he slammed his car to a halt in the middle of the cul-de-sac. He tried to think of a benign explanation for the scene unfolding in front of him. But you didn’t send a half-dozen police cars to a lonely residential neighborhood just because some nice lady had taken a wrong turn and blown a head gasket.
Charlie bolted out of his SUV and rushed toward the knot of policemen surrounding Julie’s car.
“Let me see them!” he shouted. “Where are they? Let me see them!”
“Please step back, sir.”
Charlie sensed someone to his left and managed to focus on a trim young cop but it wasn’t until she was wrapping her arms around him that he even realized it was a woman.
“Sir! You have to—”
“I have to see them!”
“Do you live here, sir?”
“No, I—”
“Then you need to stay back.”
He was nearly dragging the small police officer off her feet.
“Assistance!” she shouted. “Goddamnit, I need assistance now !”
Charlie kept plowing forward as blue uniforms rapidly converged on him.
“Get his arms! Get his arms!”
But Charlie was not going to be stopped. Because he’d seen something that breathed hope into him for the first time since he’d hit the freeway . . .
It was the hair. The auburn hair of a tiny girl.
Clinging to the neck of a large African-American policeman, she was rubbing her eyes with her chubby fist. A motion he had seen a thousand times.
“That’s my daughter!” Charlie shouted as two more cops slammed into him, pinning him against one of the squad cars. They grunted and cursed, heaving on him as he struggled. Charlie fought back, blinded by the red and blue flashing lights.
“That’s my daughter!”
They pinned his face against a squad car and he felt the cold steel of cuffs touching his wrists.
“Daddy, Daddy!” he heard Meagan squeal.
Then an authoritative, booming voice over hers. “Let him go! I said let the man go!”
Charlie felt three sets of hands release him. As he righted himself and regained his vision, he saw that the booming voice belonged to the big black cop. “Let him see his girl.”
“Sorry, sir,” the female cop said. “We thought—”
Charlie didn’t care what she thought. He pushed through the knot of policemen and weaved toward Meagan.
“Daddy!”
He grabbed her from the sergeant, holding her tight, his mind jumping rapid fire to the next question: Ollie and Julie. Ollie and Julie?
He ran toward Julie’s
Similar Books
