She Never Knew (19 page)

Cursing under
his breath, Darryl wondered why he hadn’t thought of this in the first place.
He guzzled the rest of his beer and typed in the search field the website
address of his former company. He easily located the employee login screen, and
when prompted, he entered his username and password. He was in!

Giddy with
excitement, Darryl spent the next few minutes navigating menus, looking for the
call directory. It had been quite a while since he used it, even when he was
working. When he found the directory, he was prompted to enter either a phone
number or a last name, followed by city and state locations. Darryl carefully
entered Kat’s name and waited with bated breath. He knew it would be several
minutes before he would see any results. The national registry contained
millions of phone numbers and since he did not know where Kat resided, he was
forced to submit his query without city or state input.

After what
seemed like an eternity, his computer screen flashed the results of his query.
Only one name was displayed and it was that of his former instructor. Directly
under her name was a phone number!

Darryl quickly
copied the number onto a piece of paper and studied the area code. Using his
favorite search engine, he found what he was looking for. His search criteria
yielded the state and county in which Kat lived.

Taking his
findings a step further, he located the website for public tax records by
county and found Kat’s home address. Stunned, Darryl couldn’t believe his luck.
He was finally going to get his revenge. 

But Darryl
wasn’t stupid. No, he had to think this through very carefully. Getting up, he
went to the kitchen to fetch another beer. After all his hard efforts, he
deserved a treat.

Half an hour
later, Darryl dialed Kat’s number. He needed to be absolutely sure the phone
number and address he’d located on the registry belonged to his former
instructor. After the third ring, a woman answered.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon.
May I speak to Katarina Richards-Brennan, please?”

“Speaking. Who’s
calling?” The woman sounded suspicious, as if to suggest that no one addressed
her by that name.

In his best
telemarketing voice, Darryl pleasantly replied, “My name is Jesse Holcomb and
I’m calling from National Research on behalf of faculty who teach at University
of Millstone. We’d like to offer you the opportunity to share your success
stories—”

“—I’m sorry,”
Kat interrupted. “Now is not a good time. Perhaps another day.”

Before Darryl
could respond, Kat had terminated the call. Laughing maniacally, Darryl set his
cell phone on the counter. He praised himself for his marvelous detective work
as he reached for a fresh beer. As short as their conversation was, it was
enough to convince Darryl that he had finally found his former instructor once
and for all.

Now that he knew
where she lived, Darryl could carry out his revenge. He would now be able to
make her pay for the misery she had inflicted upon him. He would make her sorry
for ruining his life.

But first,
Darryl needed a plan. He wasn’t dim enough to just show up at her front door.
No, he had to be professional about this. He would rent a cheap motel room and
observe her movements over the course of a few days. He had to know if she had
children, or a husband, for that matter. If so, he would have to wait until she
was alone before making his move.

Darryl was
excited. Things were finally starting to look up for him. He needed to make travel
arrangements as he had a long drive ahead of him. Katarina Richards-Brennan
lived over seven hundred miles away and he needed to prepare accordingly.
Pleased with his accomplishments, Darryl returned to his bedroom. He was eager
to start packing.

Kat awoke that
morning feeling somewhat disconcerted. She had been dreaming of William. He had
taken her on a tour of a luxurious mansion after their lunch date. He showed
her room after room and smiled at her as she oohed and ahhed over the massive
floor plan. In fact, she was so enamored by the estate that she lost sight of William.
As she searched and searched, she finally found him upstairs in the main wing.
He was in the master bedroom, lying peacefully on the bed. His eyes were closed
and when she tried to wake him up, he didn’t respond. Strangely, the room seemed
out of place, as if it didn’t belong in the house. Rather, it resembled a
hospital room. As Kat stood next to the bed, a machine began making beeping
sounds. William had flat lined.

 Her alarm clock
had beeped incessantly until Kat reached over to silence it. When she glanced
at the time, she was surprised to see that it was just past nine o’clock. Why
hadn’t Tyler come in yet to wake her up? It was customary for him to come into
her room on Saturday mornings to snuggle with her before watching cartoons.

Unnerved by her
dream, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Maybe he’s in the living room
,
she thought. Kat got out of bed and went to the bathroom. When she emerged a
couple of minutes later, she half expected to see Tyler in her bed, under the covers.
When she didn’t see him, she walked out into the kitchen, then in the living
room. No sign was evident that her little boy had been downstairs.

Could it be that
he’s still sleeping, too?
She wondered. Kat ascended the stairs and when she
reached the top of the landing, she saw that Tyler’s bedroom door was wide
open. That usually meant he wasn’t in his room. When she looked in, she saw
that his bed had been slept in. She looked behind her at the bathroom located
at the opposite end of the hallway. The door was open and the lights were off.

Becoming
alarmed, she called out to him. “Tyler, where are you?”

Silence.

Maybe he’s in
the playroom
,
she reasoned. Retreating back downstairs, Kat quickly glanced around her living
room again. She pulled open the drapes covering the French doors that led onto
the back porch, but there was still no sign of Tyler.

“Tyler!” she
called out again. Warning bells in her head began to go off and a feeling of
panic washed over her. Going through the kitchen, Kat headed for the basement.
When she opened the door to the playroom and turned on the light, all she saw
were toys scattered all over the carpet.

Turning around,
she opened the other door that led into the garage. She noticed the overhead
light was on and didn’t recall leaving it on the night before when she brought
Tyler home from Faithweaver class.

“Tyler, where
are you?” she screamed. She listened for the slightest sound and realized her
cell phone was ringing. She ran up the stairs as fast as she could into the
kitchen where her phone sat on the counter. Not bothering to check the caller
ID, Kat yanked it from its charger.

“Tyler?” she shouted
into the phone. She knew her son had memorized her phone number as part of his
Taekwondo stranger-danger training.

“Kat?” It was
Daniel. “What’s wrong? Is it Tyler?”

“I can’t find
him! I looked all over the house and he’s not here!” Kat’s voice rose with
panic and she began to sob. “I—I can’t find my baby!”

“Okay. Kat—Kat,
listen to me. Take a deep breath.” When he heard her exhale sharply, he said,
“Keep looking around. I’ll be right over.” When Daniel hung up, Kat ran into
her bedroom and tossed her phone on the bed. She grabbed the clothes she had on
the night before and quickly put them on. Her body was full of adrenaline and
her heart was racing.
Stay calm before you end up hyperventilating
, she warned
herself.

After she
changed, she grabbed her phone and ran back out to the living room. Her eyes
scanned the foyer and she saw that the deadbolt on the front door was locked in
place. One needed a key to lock it from the outside and since Tyler didn’t have
one, Kat knew her son couldn’t have gone out that way.

She ran back
down the basement stairs and opened her garage doors. As the double doors
slowly opened, Kat noticed Tyler’s bike was gone. She ran over to where it
normally sat and saw that his gear was missing as well. The side door caught
her attention next. It had been left ajar.

She gaped at it
in astonishment. Tyler would never go on a bike ride without her, especially without
her permission. Had he run away? Was this really happening?

Kat heard the
sound of gravel crunching and ran out of the garage, around the side, to the
front yard. It was Daniel. He was just getting out of his truck when Kat caught
up to him.

“He’s gone,” she
panted, gasping for air. “He took his bike with him.” Tears sprang from her
eyes.

Daniel placed
his hands on Kat’s shoulders to keep her focused. “Could he have gone to any of
your neighbors’ houses?”

She shook her
head stubbornly. “It’s possible, but I doubt it. Rhonda took Eli to see her
sister and Tyler knows that. He wouldn’t be able to get in their house,
anyway.”

Daniel was
reminded of a time when he was a camp counselor and a child close to Tyler’s
age had run away. He was amazed at how his superiors remained calm throughout
the entire ordeal, delegating search responsibilities to various team leaders.
In the end, the child was found safe and unharmed. She had gone on a treasure
hunt with her group the day before and enjoyed it so much that she wanted to go
again. Only this time, she went by herself and had gotten lost. Looking back
now, Daniel remembered how crucial it was to remain calm and to have a plan of
action.

“Okay, here’s
what needs to happen.” Daniel held Kat’s hands and locked eyes with her. “First
thing is that we both stay calm, no matter what.” When Kat bobbed her head, he
continued. “Second thing is we split up. “You go back inside and see if you
find anything missing, like his favorite toy or food from the fridge. I’ll do a
quick search around the block, okay?”

Kat turned and
ran back into her house. She bounded up both flights of stairs and when she
reached Tyler’s room, she immediately recognized that Froggy was missing.
He
would never leave him
, she thought. Quickly scanning her son’s bedroom, she
searched for anything that would provide her with a clue as to his whereabouts.

Kat noticed
Tyler’s backpack was missing. He liked to hang it on the back of his chair but
she checked the closet anyway. She glanced at Tyler’s desk again and realized
something else was missing. The toy car from William!

As she stood
there, it finally dawned on Kat why Tyler ran away. The more she thought about
their conversation from the night before, the more his actions began to make
sense to her.

She guessed that
her son may have misunderstood the friendly hug Daniel had given her. It was
possible that Tyler believed Daniel took William away from her, and as a
result, went to find him.

Oh God, she
hoped Tyler didn’t try to ride his bike all the way to Harbour Sound! Berating
herself, she doubled back to the garage to look for Daniel. Out of the corner
of her eye, she glimpsed a man in her front yard carrying a little boy.

It was Daniel.
He had found her baby!

Kat ran as fast
as her legs would allow. When she reached them, Tyler was asleep, his head
resting against Daniel’s shoulder. He smiled when he saw the look of relief
wash over Kat’s face.

“I found him at
the pavilion.” Daniel continued to hold Tyler as Kat gently stroked her little
boy’s face. When he opened his eyes and saw his mother, he reached for her.

Kat took him in
her arms and held him tightly, patting his hair and rubbing his back. She gave
Daniel a tender look and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Mommy, are you angry
with me?”

“Oh, honey, no!”
She gave him a light squeeze. “But I was really, really worried about you.” She
set him down and squatted next to him. “I thought you ran away.”

“I wasn’t trying
to run away. I was trying to find William.”

“Oh, sweetie.”
Kat pulled him close to her. “But you didn’t find him, did you?” she said
softly. Tyler shook his head.

Daniel said, “I
found him on the bench sound asleep.”

Tyler looked at
Daniel warily, unsure of what his intentions toward his mother were. Then he
said, “How did you know where I was?”

Daniel squatted
down next to him. “Do you remember vacation bible school?” When Tyler nodded, Daniel
went on. “Well, your mom had told me all about you and how much you love to
ride bikes together. So, I thought I would go down there to see if you were
there. And sure enough, there you were.”

Satisfied with
Daniel’s explanation, Tyler yawned. “Mommy, I’m tired.”

Kat and Daniel
laughed. “Okay, let’s get you inside.” She said, picking up Tyler and cradling
him in her arms. She would talk to him later about the dangers of leaving the
house on his own. She would also clarify any misunderstandings he may have
toward Daniel. Kat didn’t want Tyler blaming Daniel for something that was out
of his control. Cocking her head, she motioned for Daniel to join her in the
house.