Daughters (36 page)
Authors: Florence Osmund
“I told her we’ll probably never know for sure, but as far as I was concerned, she is and will always be my daughter. How’d I do?”
“I think that was a perfect response.”
“Now about the other thing.”
Marie’s chest pounded. “Other thing?”
“Yes, the earrings. The ones Karen gave to her.”
“You don’t approve?”
“Don’t you think they’re a little too grown up for her?” Ben asked.
“Well, maybe just a little, but remember she is a teenager, so she’s constantly going to test the waters. You know what I would do?”
“No, what?”
“I would tell her she could only wear the fancier ones on special occasions. That may be a reasonable compromise.”
“You know what?”
“What?” Marie asked.
“I like the way you think.”
She let out a silent sigh. “Rachael is a very special girl. You’re lucky to have her.”
“Can I call you from time to time when she’s driving me completely crazy?”
Marie laughed. “Any time, Ben. Any time.”
“So she didn’t tell Ben she wanted to come live with you?” Karen asked the following evening.
“Apparently not.”
“Wonder why.”
“I don’t know. I’m hoping she thought it over and decided maybe living with Dad isn’t so bad after all. I kind of wish she would call me, though, to let me know what she’s thinking.”
Marie didn’t have to wait long to find that out. A letter from Rachael came the following week.
Dear Marie,
First of all, I want to thank you so much for the crazy time I had with you. It was such a kick! Thank you for all the places we went, that cool outfit you bought me, and especially our talks. No one has ever done anything like that for me before – ever.
I thought about what we talked about on my way home. I thought about it a lot. I was glad there wasn’t anybody in my car to talk to, cuz I really wanted to be alone. At first, I rehearsed how I was going to tell Dad I wanted to come live with you. But then I decided maybe one thing at a time would be better. So I’m going to wait.
You were right about so many things. Like the way Dad acted when I asked him how he knew he was really my father. He didn’t blow a fuse like I thought he would. He was pretty cool about it. He told me no matter what, I’ll always be his daughter. I have to admit that felt pretty good.
One more thing. Mom called Dad while I was with you, and boy was she mad!!! Dad didn’t tell me everything she said, just that she didn’t like some other woman taking care of me. Ha! But I don’t really care what she thinks. She’s such bad news.
Well, I gotta go. I have a mess of homework. Please say hi to Karen and Maurice for me. I think they’re cool.
Love,
Rachael
P.S. Dad’s making me save the earrings Karen gave me for special occasions. I guess I’ll have to get creative on just what a special occasion is. Ha Ha
“Writes a nice letter for a teenager. What do you think of it?” Karen asked after Marie read the letter to her.
“I think she handled herself very maturely. And I also think she has every intention of moving down here with me. She’s just strategizing.”
“What do you think about her mother calling Ben?”
“I’m not sure what to think. But I know she must have been referring to me when she said she didn’t want some other woman taking care of Rachael.”
It was Good Friday. Marie was sitting on her sun porch sipping tea, too deep in thought to realize it had started to rain. Rachael had been gone two weeks, and Marie had to admit not a day had gone by that she didn’t think about her. She thought about her own teen years and how much harder a time Rachael was having in hers. “I just want to fit in somewhere,” she had said—a sad, unsettling statement. The phone interrupted her thoughts.
“What?!” Marie couldn’t believe she had heard Claire correctly. “When did this happen?” She sat down, afraid her knees would buckle from underneath her. “Have they checked with all her friends?”
Marie hung up the phone and let everything Claire had said sink in. Then she called Karen.
“I have some terrible news. Ben’s been shot and is lying in some hospital room, and Rachael is missing.”
“What?!”
“Claire just called me. I don’t know what to think or what I should do.”
“Are you thinking of going there?”
Thoughts raced through her mind. “I would, but what if Rachael tries to call me? I’d want to be here,” she said with a tremorous voice. “On the other hand, if something’s happened to her, I want to be there for her. I’m not sure what to do.”
“Well, if you want me to stay in your apartment while you go there, I can do that.”
Marie mulled that over for a moment. “You wouldn’t mind? What about your shop?”
“Don’t worry about the shop. I’ll have someone look after it.”
Marie was on the next flight to Chicago. Jonathan agreed to send a car to pick her up. By the time she arrived at Jonathan’s house, Ben had taken a turn for the worse. “Is he going to make it?” she asked her father.
“It doesn’t look good, Marie.”
“Any news on Rachael?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Marie sank into the living room sofa and stared into space. Claire brought her a glass of wine. After taking a sip, she turned to Jonathan. “I just don’t understand who would do such a thing. What are the police saying? How much does anyone know?”
“Greg said Ben’s next door neighbor heard a loud bang shortly after midnight and went outside to investigate. He found Ben half-hanging out of Rachael’s bedroom window, like he was trying to climb out of it. The neighbor called for an ambulance and then got his wife, who’s a nurse, out of bed, and I guess she at least got the bleeding to stop. As soon as the neighbors realized Rachael was missing, they called the police.”
“That poor child,” Marie said. “Like she hasn’t gone through enough in her life. Is Ben conscious? Has he been able to tell the police anything?”
“No, at least not as of a couple of hours ago.”
“How are Gregory and Gloria holding up?”
Jonathan shook his head. “Gloria is still at Ben’s in case Rachael shows up there. Greg is at the hospital hoping for a change in Ben’s condition.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened in St. Charles before,” Claire said.
Jonathan told them the police had asked the Feinsteins a lot of questions about Rachael’s mother.
“So they think she had something to do with it?” Marie asked.
“We don’t know. We’re not even sure if they don’t think Rachael had something to do with it.”
“That’s preposterous! Dad, Rachael told me in a letter that Judy called Ben while she was with me in Atchison and wasn’t at all happy about Rachael being with me.”
“Really? You should tell the police that,” Jonathan advised. “Come in here. You can use my office phone.”
Marie made the call and told the police all she knew about Judy. She grimaced as she came out of Jonathan’s office.
“Are you okay?” Claire asked.
“Not really. It just occurred to me if Judy had anything to do with this, she may have Rachael…and a gun.”
Claire gasped.
“Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Jonathan warned. The phone interrupted his thoughts.
He emerged from his office a few minutes later, his face pallid. “Ben didn’t make it.”
Ben’s remains were buried the next day according to Jewish tradition. Two days passed without any word from Rachael. Claire had to force Marie to eat, reminding her if she didn’t take care of herself, she wouldn’t be of any help to Rachael once they found her. Sleep was next to impossible; whenever Marie lay down, she couldn’t even get her eyes to close, much less doze off.
On day three, Jonathan forced Marie to go on a ride with him before the family started arriving for Easter dinner. She nervously bit the inside of her lip while the horses were being saddled. “It’s been too long,” she said to her father. “Three days is too long. Isn’t there something more we can do?”
Jonathan helped her onto the horse and then got up on his own. “I’ve been assured the police are doing everything they can.”
“Well, maybe that’s not enough.”
Jonathan gave her a sympathetic look. “If I knew what else we could do, I would. You know that.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Dad. It’s just that I’m having all these crazy thoughts about what might have happened to her or what she is going through right now, and…”
“Don’t go there, sweetheart. Let’s keep the faith that she’s alright. And if Judy has her, we have no reason to believe she would harm her.”
They rode for thirty minutes at a slow pace, and when they reached Tré’s favorite place on the rise, they stopped to admire the view.
“What about posters? We could put posters all over town. Maybe someone’s seen her.”
“Greg’s neighbors took care of that.”
“What about a reward? Maybe that…”
“There’s a $5,000 reward, and it’s on the poster.”
“Who put up the reward?”
“Greg put up half. I put up the other.”
When they returned from their ride, Claire told them the police had called the Feinsteins and told them they’d caught up with Judy in Wisconsin.
“Was Rachael with her?” Marie asked.
Claire shook her head. “When they asked about her, Judy said she didn’t know where she was.”
Marie heaved a heavy sigh, not knowing if that was a good or bad sign.
Claire’s expression revealed she had more information. “When they searched her car, they found a Colt 38, the same kind of gun used to shoot Ben.”
“What!?”
“They took her into custody and questioned her about the shooting, but she wouldn’t say anything without an attorney.”
Jonathan called Gregory. Claire and Marie listened with bated breath to the one side of the conversation.
“How many? Which ones? What can we do to help?”
Jonathan hung up the phone, his face as dour as Marie had ever seen it.
“What did he say?” Claire asked.
Jonathan took in a deep breath. “Greg asked the police how many shots had been fired from the gun they found.”
“And?”
“Two.”
Both women gasped.