Suspicions (5 page)

A file cabinet sat in one corner adjacent to
the closet. Through the open closet door Stacey could see several
boxes stacked on top of each other. Everything in the room was neat
and tidy, not a stray piece of paper anywhere.

Amanda got right to work making the flier.
The photo scanner made the job simple and she soon held a completed
flier in her hand.

The doorbell rang and Amanda got up to answer
it. It was Agent Morrison along with another agent.

“Mrs. Stone, this is Special Agent Trent
Randolph.” He paused as Randolph nodded in Amanda’s direction. “The
trap’s in place,” he went on. “ It works like Caller ID, except we
get the address as well as the phone number. We’ll be staying here
for a while, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course.”

A short time later Amanda headed toward the
front door. “I’m going to see if the mail’s come yet.”

“There are some reporters out there,” Agent
Morrison warned.

Amanda closed her eyes briefly, her lips
pressed into a straight line, and stopped. “Stacey, would you mind
getting the mail? I don't think I can handle going out there.”

“Of course.” Trying to ignore the people
gathering in front of the Stone's house, Stacey pulled the mail out
of the box and carried it back inside, handing it directly to
Amanda.

Sorting through the stack, Amanda gasped and
dropped all but one piece of mail.

It was a single sheet of paper that hadn't
come with an envelope.

“This is Kyle's writing,” Amanda
whispered.

Morrison took it from her, holding on to the
corner with the tips of his fingers, and called the local FBI
office.

In Kyle's large block print were the words: I
WANT TO COME HOME MOMMY.

Typed underneath were the words: Kyle will be
returned to you when I receive $1,000,000.

Morrison put the note in an evidence bag.
“We'll send this to the lab to check for latent prints.”

Amanda dropped to the couch, sobbing
convulsively.

Stacey was dumbstruck. She felt as if she
were not really there, as if she would wake up and find out it was
all just a bad dream. But when she looked at her friend she could
not deny reality any longer. Her stomach churned and her ears
buzzed.

Amanda was moaning, “No! Oh please no.”

Her knees weak, Stacey walked over to Amanda
and sank onto the couch next to her. She put her arms around
Amanda, who cried even harder.

I have to get out of this place, Stacey
thought frantically. This can't be happening. This can't be
true.

After her cries had become small whimpers,
Amanda jumped up and fled the room. Stacey sat there in shock.

Agent Morrison was on the phone. Soon more
people arrived.

Stacey decided this would be a good time to
leave. No one noticed her as she walked toward the front door.
Stepping onto the porch, she saw a police officer talking to
someone near the curb.

As she walked down the driveway, reporters
converged on her.

One man thrust a tape recorder in her face.
“Are you a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Stone?”

She didn't know how she was supposed to
respond. “Yes, I'm their neighbor.”

“Has there been any news on Kyle?”

She shook her head. “I have to go.” As she
ran to her house she saw Margie peeking out from behind her
curtains. Stacey opened her front door and gratefully locked it
behind her.

The thought of Kyle being kidnapped was just
crazy. That can't happen to someone I know, she reflected. If
that's true then none of our children are safe.

She went into Robby’s room and sat on his
bed, hugging his well-worn teddy bear. The thought of someone she
knew having her child abducted for ransom was too horrendous to
imagine. Reminding herself that it couldn’t happen to her because
she and Jason didn’t have the kind of money Amanda did had little
effect.

Amanda didn't have any brothers or sisters to
share her inheritance with, so she had gotten it all. But, Stacey
wondered, who else knew of the Stone's wealth? Outwardly they lived
a middle class existence.

Completely wrung out, Stacey lay down on
Robby's bed, shutting her eyes and drifting to sleep.

The hallway was dark and seemed to stretch
on for miles. There were dozens of closed doors lining the
passageway. Stacey could hear Nikki crying, calling out for her
mother to help her. Frantically running up and down the hallway,
Stacey opened doors, searching for her precious six-year-old
daughter. “I'm coming,” she screamed. “Mommy's coming!”

Stacey woke abruptly, fear permeating her
every sense. Trying to orient herself, she sat up on the side of
Robby’s bed and saw that his teddy bear had fallen to the floor.
She picked it up and put it in its proper place.

Sadness washed over her as she pictured
Amanda's hysterical face. She desperately needed to talk to
someone. Dragging herself down the hall to her own bedroom, she
picked up the bedside phone and called the car dealership where
Jason worked.

They told her he was unavailable.

The harsh sound of knocking pulled Stacey out
of her daze. Hoping it wasn’t a reporter, she looked through the
peephole and saw Margie standing on the other side. Taking a deep
breath, she opened the door and invited her neighbor in.

“I don't want to keep bothering you about
this,” Margie said, obviously not caring how much she disturbed
Stacey. “But what is happening over at Amanda's house?”

Stacey's experience with this woman had
taught her caution. She knew that anything could and would be used
against her. The woman was a busybody of the worst kind. Once she
had called the police because she thought Robby and Kyle shouldn't
be playing at their treehouse by themselves. Stacey had been
extremely embarrassed by the accusing tone the officer had used
with her.

Margie had tried to excuse the call by saying
she was only concerned with the boys' safety, although she never
explained why she hadn't come directly to Stacey and Amanda with
her concerns. Ever since then, Stacey was reluctant to talk to her
neighbor about anything. In truth, she always made Stacey nervous
when she showed up at her door. It was almost always with a
complaint and never just to chat.

“It's really not my place to talk about it.”
Stacey said, feeling overwhelmed by all that had happened.

“Oh, come on.”

“I'm sorry, Margie.” Stacey couldn't bear the
thought of Margie acting triumphant at the news of Kyle's
kidnapping. As if she had warned them about this very thing
happening.

At the keen look of disappointment on
Margie's face, Stacey said wearily, “Look, if you really need to
know, I would suggest reading the paper.”

“We canceled our subscription because the
paper boy kept throwing it in the bushes.”

“Well, try the television news then,
okay?”

“Fine.” Margie opened the front door and
stomped back across the grass to her own house.

Stacey knew she should try to be nicer toward
Margie. She had let the complaints roll off her back the first few
times Margie had complained about Robby and Nikki. But I can only
be expected to take so much before I have to stand up for myself,
Stacey thought.

Trying to put the woman out of her mind, she
tried to think of something other than the tragedy unfolding at her
neighbor's house. She thought about what she could make for dinner
that night. After all that had happened she doubted she would even
have an appetite, but she knew the rest of her family would.

She went into the kitchen to see what
supplies she had on hand. There were cans of vegetables and boxes
of dry cereal in the cupboard. The refrigerator wasn't much better.
Half a gallon of milk, a couple of eggs and plenty of condiments.
She made a grocery list and went out the door.

Glancing across the street, she saw Mark's
car in the driveway. There were also more news people milling
about. She bit her lip as she climbed into her car. Wanting to help
Amanda, but not really knowing what she could do, she consoled
herself with the thought that Mark was home now and would comfort
his wife.

The elementary school was on the way to the
store and as Stacey drove by she tried to spot Robby or Nikki among
the children running around on the playground. She had to keep
glancing at the road as she drove by, so it was with surprise that
she looked over at the schoolyard once again and saw Robby talking
through the chain-link fence to Mr. Gowen. Slowing as she passed,
she honked to get Robby's attention. He looked up from his
conversation with Mr. Gowen and waved. Mr. Gowen turned and waved
too.

A prickle of concern worked its way up her
neck when she saw Robby talking to the old man. Stacey decided to
speak to Robby about it after school. Even though she wanted to
encourage her children to be friendly to others, at the same time
she wanted them to show caution around adults when she wasn't there
to guide them. Especially with what had happened to Kyle.

The swift stab of fear startled her as she
thought about the real possibility of any child, especially her
own, being kidnapped. Recalling the nightmare she’d just had where
Nikki was calling to her and Stacey couldn’t find her, the feelings
of desperation and fear she’d woken with rushed back. She didn’t
ever want to have to go through that for real. Like Amanda was.

Breathing deeply, she tried to distance
herself from the possibility of such a thing ever happening to her
family. Pushing the horrible notion out of her mind, she
concentrated on what she needed to buy at the grocery store.

As she pulled into the grocery store lot, she
looked across the street to where her husband worked. It looked
like a slow day. The salesmen were standing around talking, waiting
for their next victim to approach. She couldn't see Jason and hoped
he was in the office making a sale.

As much as the public disliked car salesmen
in general, that was what supported their family and she knew Jason
was the exception to the stereotype. He was a good salesman, an
honest salesman, although she knew selling cars hadn’t been his
first choice as a career.

When they'd met in college Jason had been in
his second year, working toward a degree in business. Stacey had
only begun college and hadn't known what she wanted to do. Jason
had always wanted to open his own business, to be his own boss.

They had married eight months after they'd
met. Stacey had become pregnant with Robby almost immediately after
the wedding and Jason had insisted on quitting school so he could
get a full-time job to support his growing family.

She hoped one day they would be able to
afford for Jason to begin his own business. Lately he'd begun
talking about opening his own used car lot. But the way things were
going with their finances, it would be a very long time before they
could hope to reach that goal.

Wondering if there was anything she could do
to help him reach his goal, Stacey shook her head. It’s up to him
to reach for his dream, although I could encourage him, she
realized. But I don’t want to be like Mom.

She smiled, knowing her relationship with her
husband was much better than her parents' had been. Then, frowning
with disapproval, she thought about her parents.

Her mother had always pressured her father to
achieve more, to provide more for their family. When he had finally
gone too far in his quest to give her all she wanted, her mother
had left him, not even understanding all he had done had been in an
attempt to please her.

Stacey had been disappointed in her mother's
lack of ability to stand by her husband in his greatest time of
need, especially after she had been a large part of the reason he
had stepped over the line.

I guess we all have to make our own choices
in life, she thought. But if anything happened with Jason, I would
stand by him. I wouldn't lose faith.

Climbing out of the car, Stacey headed toward
the entrance of the grocery store. It was one of those warehouse
places where the customer packs her own groceries. Stacey didn't
mind packing her own food, as long as it saved her money.

Bagging the produce she needed, she moved
onto the meat department. She found the least expensive beef and
picked up two pounds, placing it in a plastic bag. On the breakfast
aisle she bought only store brands of cereal. As she gathered her
items she realized what she could do for Amanda.

I could make dinner for her and Mark, she
thought.

Happy to have something specific to do for
the Stones, Stacey smiled as she unloaded her groceries onto the
conveyor belt. Her smile was quickly replaced by a frown as she
considered the check she was about to write. Jason would deposit
his check that afternoon, and she hoped the money would be credited
to their account before the grocery store tried to get the
funds.

Every other week it was the same thing; the
cupboard and refrigerator would become bare, payday would arrive,
and Stacey would do the marketing, hoping the money would be in the
account by the time it was needed. She sighed as she wrote the
check, tired of this checkbook dance.

Pushing the shopping cart out to the car, she
placed the groceries in the trunk then climbed behind the wheel and
looked across the street at the dealership again. This time she saw
Jason standing among the other salespeople and smiled to
herself.

Looking at her watch, she knew she would have
to hurry to have time to put the groceries away before she met
Robby and Nikki at the school.

She didn't see the late model red car pull
into the dealership lot or the driver talking to Jason.