Emergence (3 page)

He usually giggled but instead looked at her with solemn eyes.

This was her fault. She’d encouraged this, bought into the stories he saw in his head. All it had done was make them both miserable, gotten him kicked out of two daycares, and made her paranoid and almost unemployed. That was all about to change.

“Let’s go feed some ducks!”

The evening air was crisp. The smell of burning leaves made her uneasy as they walked the block and a half to the neighborhood pond, the scent a reminder of an ugly night three years earlier. Jake clung to her hand tighter than usual, looking over his shoulder every few steps.

She was falling into paranoia again. “Let’s pretend like we’re pirates!”

“Okay.” But he sounded unconvinced.

When they reached the pond, Jake’s tension fell away as he tossed pieces of bread to the ducks. Emma watched him, overwhelmed with sadness. He’d always acted so much older than his age, testing at a three-year-old language level. His maturity often led her to forget he was really just a toddler. Maybe she’d stunted him developmentally. Maybe the stories in his head were his two-year-old way of saying that he needed to be a little boy.

Relieved to have an explanation for his behavior, she took his hand and he graced her with a smile.
This
was the answer. They needed more fun and frivolity and less work. Maybe she should look for a job with fewer hours, even if it meant less money. Sure, she was proud that she was twenty-four and owned a house and minivan, but she could downsize. She could get a condo and a sedan. Jake was more important than money and things.

They held hands on the walk home, singing a silly pirate song Jake had learned at his old daycare. Jake stumbled on an uneven patch of the sidewalk. Emma grabbed his arm to keep him from falling, shocked to see his fear-stricken face.

“Excuse me, miss.” A man stepped in front of her and blocked the sidewalk. “I’m missing my dog. Have you seen him?”

She would have answered him, but she was more concerned with Jake, who’d turned so pale she worried he was about to pass out. “Jake?”

The man stepped closer. “He looks a little worn out. Perhaps y’all need a lift home.”

The hair on the back of her neck pricked. She leaned over and picked Jake up. “Thank you, but we’re not far.”

The corners of his mouth lifted into something that was supposed to resemble a smile, but the hardness in his eyes suggested otherwise. “Please, I insist.”

Taking a step backward, she held Jake tighter and turned him away from the man. “No, we’re fine,” she forced out in spite of her erratic breathing.

He took another step toward her. “You don’t look fine.”

Emma scanned the street, finding it deserted. Should she scream? Should she run? “We’re okay, really.” She walked out into the street and around him. “Good luck finding your dog.”

She half-ran, half-walked home, breathless when she walked in the front door and chastising herself for not locking up before she left. Still holding Jake, she searched the house for any signs of an intruder. When she realized they were safe, she looked out the front window.

The man stood on the street corner, watching the house.

Still holding Jake in her arms, she set him down on the sofa. His eyes were glazed, his body limp. Hysteria bubbled in her chest. “Jake!”

He looked up at her and blinked.

“Jake.” Her voice broke and she gave into her tears. “Talk to me, baby.”

“Is the bad man gone?”

She sucked in a breath. “Bad man?”

His eyes widened. “He was a bad man.”

Determined to stop this nonsense, she clenched her jaw. “No, he was just a man looking for his dog.”

Jake shook his head. “No. He was looking for me.”

Emma choked on sobs. “No, Jake! Stop this right now! He’s not a bad man. Mrs. Pemberton wasn’t bad. You didn’t really know those children were going to get hurt. This isn’t real.
None of this is real
.”

Tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

She ran to the window again. The man stood in the same spot. What if Jake was right? What if the man really wanted Jake? There was no doubt the man looked suspicious and she couldn’t take a chance. She picked up the phone and dialed 911.

An hour later, Emma was more frustrated than before she called. An officer took her report and said he’d look into it, but she knew he considered her to be a hysterical mother, no matter how much she tried to insist she wasn’t prone to overreaction. He told her that they’d send a patrol car through the neighborhood, but she didn’t expect anything to come of it.

Distraught, Jake cried when she tucked him into bed and insisted she stay with him. Part of her worried that if she reacted to his fear, she’d be encouraging it. But her mother’s heart won out and she carried him into her room, snuggling with him while he watched children’s television.

Emma stroked his head, her fingers playing with his soft curls until he fell asleep. She flipped off the TV and watched him, fear churning in her gut.

What if this wasn’t all Jake’s imagination? If people were really after her son, she had to make the police believe her.

And if she let herself consider that bad people might want her son, she had to consider why they wanted him. Could she accept the fact that Jake really saw bad things in his head? What if Mrs. Pemberton and the man on the street corner had somehow found out and had come to take her son? Who would protect him from them?

The next day Emma bought a hand gun. The clerk pulled out a revolver he thought would be a good fit and she held it in her hands, sure she’d lost her mind. Buying a gun seemed paranoid and irresponsible. She had a toddler in the house, for heaven’s sake. She’d never even touched a gun in her life, yet here she was buying one. While her two-year-old watched.

How messed up was that?

But she left the store with the gun, after she passed the background check, along with bullets and a case to lock it up in. She’d even signed up to take classes to learn how to use it, although she had no idea who would watch Jake when she went.

After lunch, Emma laid Jake down for a nap and contemplated how to spend the rest of the afternoon. At the moment, she needed to figure out what to do about her job. Jake needed her. Once he fell asleep, she sat down at the computer and tweaked her resume. On Monday, she would search for a new job.

The doorbell rang and her heart jumped into her throat. Closing her eyes, she told herself to calm down. She may have bought a gun earlier, but she didn’t have to give in to total paranoia. She opened her eyes and jumped with a shriek.

Jake stood three feet in front of her, pale and wide-eyed. “They’re here.”

Chapter Four

Her heart raced. “Who’s here?” she wheezed out.

“The bad men,” he whispered.

Her gun was in her bedroom, but it was broad daylight. She shook her head. She was losing it. “Jake, sweetie, go back to bed.”

He stood in place as if frozen. At the moment, his demeanor worried her more than who might be at the door.

“Jake?”

He continued to stare, his eyes glazed.

The doorbell rang again, followed by pounding. “Ms. Thompson,” a male voice called out. “This is Child Protective Services. We know you’re in there. We need you to answer the door.”

“Jake!” She shook his arms gently, scared that he was still unresponsive. In elementary school, Emma had a friend who had grand mal seizures, and she looked a lot like this. Maybe Jake was having a seizure. She wasn’t sure whether to be happy to have a possible explanation or be frightened. Right now she needed to worry about the people on her doorstep. If it really was the CPS, she didn’t want them seeing Jake like this.

Scooping him in her arms, she carried him to his room and laid him down, covering him with the blanket. She hated to leave him, but worried they’d break in the door if she didn’t answer.

Closing Jake’s door, she went to the front entrance and peeked through the sheers on the sidelight window. Two men stood on the front porch, both wearing suits. She opened the door, leaving the locked storm door shut.

“Can I help you?” she asked through the screen.

The smaller man frowned. “Emma Thompson?”

Her heart raced, thumping into her chest wall. “And who’s asking?”

“We’re with Child Protective Services. We’d like to come in and see your son.”

Her fingers gripped the edge of the doorjamb. “Do you have badges?”

He looked at his partner, then back at her. “We don’t carry badges, ma’am.”

“Then do you have any kind of papers or name tags?”

He hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Emma to realize he was about to do something.

She slammed the door shut, barely closing and locking it before his hand pushed through the screen. Running to her room, she pulled her laundry hamper in front of the shelf in her closet, climbing up and pulling down the box with her gun. The container was locked and the gun was unloaded. She’d never have it ready in time.

Grabbing the phone, she dialed 911 and ran into the kitchen to grab a knife. Through the living room window, she saw the two men dart around the corner of the house. Toward Jake’s room.

“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”

Jake still lay on the bed, unresponsive. Emma tried to control her rising panic.

“What’s your emergency?”

“Uh…” She took several breaths. “There’s two men. They’re trying to break into my house.”

“What’s your address, ma’am?”

“Thirty-twenty-two Forest Road. Please hurry. They want my son.” Her voice broke as she sat on the bed, putting herself between Jake and the window. The men’s silhouettes appeared against the drawn curtains.

“We’re sending someone now. Just stay on the line until the officers get there.”

“Please hurry.
Please
.” She’d never felt more helpless or terrified in her life.

Soon sirens whined in the distance, and the figures darted away from the window. Within a few minutes, there was more pounding on the front door. “Police. Open up!”

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. “There’s someone at the door saying they’re the police.”

“That’s our officers, miss. Go let them in.”

She glanced down at Jake. “I don’t want to leave my son.”

“You can take him with you, but stay on the line until you let them in.”

Cradling Jake in her arms, she held the knife as she moved to the front door. Two men stood on the porch, wearing police uniforms. She opened the door and let them in.

Her legs buckled and one of the officers grabbed her arm and held her up, taking the knife with his free hand. He led her to the sofa and set it down. Jake roused from his trance-stare, staring at the policemen with wide eyes. She tried to calm herself down for Jake’s sake. Her two-year-old son didn’t need to see his mother freak out anymore. Finally, she stopped shaking enough for officer to take her statement. The way he watched her made her uneasy.

He’s a police officer, for God’s sake, Emma. Stop the paranoia
.

He gave her a tight smile then announced he was going to look around the outside of the house. Returning several minutes later, he tucked the notebook in his shirt pocket. “We didn’t find anything, ma’am.”

She titled her head, confused. “That’s because they left. You were hardly out there.”

“We’ll file the report and see what happens.”

“Don’t you want to know what they looked like?”

He looked at his partner then down at her. “Ma’am, we’ve been told that you’re prone to exaggeration and that CPS has been notified to investigate.”

She stood, her anger rising. “Who told you that?”

“We have confidential sources, but this incident combined with your call the other night…”

“You’re telling me you’re not going to do anything?

“We’ll file the report, ma’am.”

“You’ll file the report?
You’ll file the report
?” She flung her hand toward the front door. “Meanwhile, there are men out there who want my son! My son is in danger and you’re doing
nothing
to help him!”

The officer leaned his face down to hers. “Honestly ma’am, the only danger we see to your son right now is you. CPS will be in touch.”

“What about the screen? They ripped the screen to get in.”

“You have a little boy, Ms. Thompson. My kids are always busting my screen door.” His voice lowered. “I understand that you’re a single mother and under a lot of stress. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to get some counseling.”

“
Excuse me
?”

He flashed her a tight smile. “We’ll let ourselves out.”

“Yeah. Why don’t you do that?”

Emma followed and locked the door behind them, wanting to burst into tears. But Jake was watching and he needed her to be strong. She needed to keep it together.

His face relaxed. “The bad men are gone.”

She pulled him into a hug. “Yes, they’re gone.”

“They’re coming back.”

His announcement didn’t surprise her, yet fear coursed through her veins.

“Why are they coming back?”

He leaned away and looked at her in confusion. “They want me.”

“Because you can see things?”

He nodded. “But later they’ll want you. And you’ll leave me.”

She pulled his head to her chest. “I’ll never leave you. Never.”

“You’ll be with a man. He’ll keep you safe.”

“
No
, Jake. There’s only you.”

“The bad men are coming back.”

With a sigh, she pondered her choices. One, she could ignore his warning, in spite of the fact that he’d been right about the men who tried to break in. Or two, she could listen to him and be ready the next time they came.

“Do you know when they are coming back?”

“No.”

“Will you tell me when you do?”

“Yes.”

She was jumpy the rest of the afternoon, uncertain what to do. If the police wouldn’t listen to her, what could she do? Her only option was to take matters into her own hands.

Maybe she should hide. She had no ties to Little Rock. She’d planned to get a new job anyway. She could sell her house, get a new car. They could move anywhere. Get a fresh start where no one knew them. No one knew about Jake.