that morning. The last time I’d spoken to my mother, I was still waiting for Lois to wake up and I hadn’t even learned that our baby was gone.
Since then, I’d been ignoring my mother’s calls. Maybe I hoped we’d find our daughter before I’d have to deliver the news. Or maybe I was just ashamed that I hadn’t prevented this from happening. Thoughts of what my father would say about it grated through my nerves like sharp steel teeth—because he and I were on shaky ground to begin with. I dreaded the assumptions he would make. He might suspect I sold my daughter for drug money, or that an enemy from my prison days was out for revenge…
For all I knew, he could turn out to be right.
Knowing I had to face this hurdle eventually, I called my mother’s home phone number.
“Hello?” she answered. “Oh, Riley, thank goodness. We’ve been so worried. How’s Lois? How’s the baby?”
I sat down at the kitchen table and lay my head in a hand. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Mom. You better sit down.”
I waited until she replied. “All right. I’m sitting. You’re on speaker phone now. Holly’s here, too.”
Holly was my younger sister. She was in her final year of med school and had recently married one of my childhood friends—Josh Wallace, a Boston police officer.
I proceeded to explain what had happened that morning before Lois woke up and described everything that was being done to find our daughter.
“I can’t believe this,” my mother quietly sobbed. “Dear Lord. How could that happen?”
“I don’t know. The hospital’s in a ruckus. I suspect it’ll be on the local news tonight.”
“Have you called a lawyer?” my mother asked. “Because this is above and beyond unacceptable. Someone clearly wasn’t doing their job.”
“Suing the hospital isn’t exactly at the top of my priority list right now,” I replied. “I just want to find our daughter.”
“Of course, of course.” She sniffed and said nothing for a few seconds. “I have to come out there, Riley. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I’ll stay in a hotel if you don’t have room at your house.”
“I’ll come too,” Holly added.
“You have school,” I reminded her. “And we’re doing everything we can here. The police are on top of it.”
“I’ll tell Josh about it as soon as we hang up,” Holly said. “I don’t know if there’s anything he can do from here, but he might have some advice for you.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “And Mom, if you want to come, we could use your help. There was some mention of setting up a call center and getting the community involved to get the word out. Handing out flyers, that sort of thing.”
“I’ll book a flight right away,” she said. “I should get there tonight.”
Just then, Detective Miller entered the kitchen and looked at me. He held up his notepad, as if he had some important new information to convey.
“I gotta go,” I said. “Call me when you know what time you’ll be arriving.” I set my phone down on the table. “What is it?” I asked. “Did you learn something?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Something interesting.”
Chapter Sixteen
“We tried the puzzle,” Detective Miller said, striding closer. “Your daughter wasn’t completely sure. She seemed a bit hesitant, but she said she thought the woman’s tattoo was letters followed by numbers. She also mentioned there were two dots on top of each other—most likely a colon—and a horizontal line which was probably a dash.”
“She didn’t pick out any of the letters or numbers?” I asked.
“She was able to identify an 8 and a 4, and a J at the beginning. She said she thought it was a word with four or maybe five letters.”
I let out a breath and bowed my head. “That doesn’t tell us much. What could it mean?”
“We’re looking into it,” Miller replied. “It could be someone’s birthday or anniversary.”
Lieutenant Holmes entered the kitchen. “I
Since then, I’d been ignoring my mother’s calls. Maybe I hoped we’d find our daughter before I’d have to deliver the news. Or maybe I was just ashamed that I hadn’t prevented this from happening. Thoughts of what my father would say about it grated through my nerves like sharp steel teeth—because he and I were on shaky ground to begin with. I dreaded the assumptions he would make. He might suspect I sold my daughter for drug money, or that an enemy from my prison days was out for revenge…
For all I knew, he could turn out to be right.
Knowing I had to face this hurdle eventually, I called my mother’s home phone number.
“Hello?” she answered. “Oh, Riley, thank goodness. We’ve been so worried. How’s Lois? How’s the baby?”
I sat down at the kitchen table and lay my head in a hand. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Mom. You better sit down.”
I waited until she replied. “All right. I’m sitting. You’re on speaker phone now. Holly’s here, too.”
Holly was my younger sister. She was in her final year of med school and had recently married one of my childhood friends—Josh Wallace, a Boston police officer.
I proceeded to explain what had happened that morning before Lois woke up and described everything that was being done to find our daughter.
“I can’t believe this,” my mother quietly sobbed. “Dear Lord. How could that happen?”
“I don’t know. The hospital’s in a ruckus. I suspect it’ll be on the local news tonight.”
“Have you called a lawyer?” my mother asked. “Because this is above and beyond unacceptable. Someone clearly wasn’t doing their job.”
“Suing the hospital isn’t exactly at the top of my priority list right now,” I replied. “I just want to find our daughter.”
“Of course, of course.” She sniffed and said nothing for a few seconds. “I have to come out there, Riley. I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I’ll stay in a hotel if you don’t have room at your house.”
“I’ll come too,” Holly added.
“You have school,” I reminded her. “And we’re doing everything we can here. The police are on top of it.”
“I’ll tell Josh about it as soon as we hang up,” Holly said. “I don’t know if there’s anything he can do from here, but he might have some advice for you.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “And Mom, if you want to come, we could use your help. There was some mention of setting up a call center and getting the community involved to get the word out. Handing out flyers, that sort of thing.”
“I’ll book a flight right away,” she said. “I should get there tonight.”
Just then, Detective Miller entered the kitchen and looked at me. He held up his notepad, as if he had some important new information to convey.
“I gotta go,” I said. “Call me when you know what time you’ll be arriving.” I set my phone down on the table. “What is it?” I asked. “Did you learn something?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “Something interesting.”
Chapter Sixteen
“We tried the puzzle,” Detective Miller said, striding closer. “Your daughter wasn’t completely sure. She seemed a bit hesitant, but she said she thought the woman’s tattoo was letters followed by numbers. She also mentioned there were two dots on top of each other—most likely a colon—and a horizontal line which was probably a dash.”
“She didn’t pick out any of the letters or numbers?” I asked.
“She was able to identify an 8 and a 4, and a J at the beginning. She said she thought it was a word with four or maybe five letters.”
I let out a breath and bowed my head. “That doesn’t tell us much. What could it mean?”
“We’re looking into it,” Miller replied. “It could be someone’s birthday or anniversary.”
Lieutenant Holmes entered the kitchen. “I
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