What Follows After: A Novel (29 page)

“They’ve found Timmy?”

Gina couldn’t believe it. Scott was nodding his head yes. He was smiling. She wanted to scream out her excitement, but she also saw another look in his eyes. “What’s wrong? Is he okay?”

Scott reached for her and drew her into a hug. “This really is great news, Gina. He’s alive, and now we know where he is. And it’s not that far away.”

“But something’s wrong, Scott. I can tell. What is it?”

“Mamie Lee said the man who took him lives in Lake Helen, a little house right on the lake. But Timmy’s locked up inside a dark storage room with no windows.”

“He hates the dark,” she said. “It terrifies him.”

“I know. I don’t think he’s been in there all the time. Mamie’s friend, the one who found him, said the man is at the store now. She said he keeps Timmy in there when he goes out. But she’s seen him in the house through the windows.”

“Oh Scott, we’ve got to get him out.”

“I know. I’m going to call Vic and Nate right now.” Scott picked up the telephone receiver again.

“Aren’t they gone? Following some lead near Palatka?”

“Yeah, but they said if I called the number on this card, they can get through to them on the car radio.” Scott picked up the card and began dialing.

He’s alive, she thought. My baby’s alive.

Nate pulled the car over at a gas station after seeing the telephone booth on the corner. Vic had just taken a call from the Orlando office with the best of news. The call had come in from Scott Harrison, saying they had gotten word confirming the whereabouts of little Timmy.

“So he’s in Lake Helen?” Nate asked.

“Sounds like it. At some house right on the lake.”

“Never been there.”

“Me either, but I know it’s a small, rural town. I don’t want to be wasting time when we get there, so we’ll ask for directions.” Vic opened the car door.

“I’m thinking we’re about ninety minutes away,” Nate said. “You want to contact the locals on this?”

“I don’t think so, Nate. Doesn’t sound like the boy’s in imminent danger. I can’t imagine the guys on the local force have much experience with something like this. Let me call Scott back first, get some more details. When I get back in the car, we’ll turn the sirens on and we’ll haul it down there as fast as we can.”

Vic opened the telephone booth and dialed Scott’s number. Scott was excited, which was understandable. This was great news. He answered Vic’s questions but wasn’t able to shed more light on the situation. He did confirm Timmy appeared safe but was locked up in a dark storage shed. The owner of the house was gone, but for how long?

“We’re heading right there,” Vic said. “As soon as we get off the phone.”

“How long will that take?” Scott asked.

“Maybe ninety minutes.”

“Ninety minutes?”

“Maybe a little less. But you said it yourself, Scott. It doesn’t sound like the kidnapper has hurt him. And he doesn’t know we’re on to him, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

“So things should be fine until we get there. Let us handle it. A guy like this is probably pretty unstable. We’re trained to handle these situations, and we’re gonna get there as soon as humanly possible.”

After he hung up with Scott, Vic got back in the car. “Gun it, Nate. Let’s go get that boy.”

When Colt came back into the house, everything had changed.

Starting with his mom and dad hugging and acting like they had never been apart. His dad had just hung up the telephone, saying the FBI was on its way to Lake Helen to get Timmy back.

“They found Timmy?” Colt said. “Is he okay?”

His father’s eyes were filled with tears. His mom looked like she had been crying too. “He’s safe. We know that much. A friend of Mamie Lee found him. Her name’s Etta Mae. She’s working for a few days in Lake Helen, and that’s only about a forty-minute drive from here. I guess that’s where the guy who took him lives.”

“So the FBI’s going to get him now?” Colt asked.

“They’re on their way, but they won’t get there for ninety minutes.”

“Ninety minutes?”

“I know, Colt,” his mom said. “But there’s nothing else we can do. We have to let the FBI handle it.”

“There is something we can do,” Colt said. “We can go get him ourselves. Does Etta Mae know where he is? What house he’s at?”

“She does,” his mom said. “But this man could be dangerous. We need to let the authorities get him. They’re on their way now.”

“Dad could do this,” Colt said. “And I could help him. We could drive by Grandpa’s house in DeLand. He’s got lots of guns.”

“We can’t do that,” she said. “This isn’t some TV show, Colt.”

Colt noticed his dad hadn’t said anything. He couldn’t read the look on his face. “Why don’t we get him, Dad? You and me? We could go there now.”

His dad looked at his mom. “We could, Gina. Well, I could. My dad has a whole closet full of guns.”

“Scott, what are you saying? Let the FBI handle it. Vic and Nate know what they’re doing. They know how to handle these situations.”

“I know,” he said. “But Gina, our little boy is sitting over there right now in the dark, locked up like some dog. And we know where he is, it’s not that far away. The guy’s not even home.”

“But he could come home any minute. He could get home before you even get there.”

His father folded his arms. “Okay, that could happen. If it does, we’ll stay out of sight. I’ll park over at the house next door, where Etta Mae is working. He doesn’t know what I look like or what kind of car we drive.”

“But he knows what Colt looks like,” she said. “I’m sure he’d remember him from the diner in Jacksonville.”

“Okay, Colt will stay here.”

“Dad . . . c’mon. You have to let me come. He’s my little brother. I’m the one who got him lost.”

“I’m sorry, Colt. But your mom’s right. This guy knows what you look like. We can’t take the chance that he’ll see you.” He looked at Gina. “I’ll go get my keys.”

“If I can’t go,” Colt said, “can I at least go back over to Murph’s house till you get back?”

“Sure.” His father hurried down the hallway.

Colt hugged his mother, then headed out the front door. But he wasn’t going to Murph’s house. Instead, he slipped around the back of the car and quietly opened the backseat door on the driver’s side. He got in, gently closed the door, and scrunched up his body tightly behind the seat.

He wanted to be there when they found Timmy. He had to be there. It was his fault Timmy had been kidnapped in the first place. A few minutes later, he heard the front door open and close. That must be his dad. But then he heard it open and close again.

“Wait, I’m coming with you.” It was his mother’s voice.

“Who’s going to watch Colt?” his father said.

“I just left a note for Mike and Rose. They should be back from the store any minute. I told them what’s happening and asked them to keep an eye on Colt till we get back.”

On the thirty-minute drive to DeLand, Scott was all keyed up inside. He could tell Gina was too.

On this day, really within one hour, the two biggest obstacles to his happiness had come crashing down. That lying secretary had finally told the truth, and Gina had believed her, believed him. They hadn’t talked through the implications, but they were together again. The joy of that first kiss after being apart so long still lingered in his mind.

And his little boy was alive. They were driving to where he was right now.

But Timmy wasn’t safe, not yet. And that angered Scott. Now that they knew where Timmy was, Scott no longer felt so helpless. All week long, he’d fought off thoughts and images about Timmy whenever they surfaced. Where was he? Who had him? How was he being treated? The unknown was just too painful. But now he knew. A real man had taken his son, not some phantom. And he’d locked him in a dark storage room all by himself whenever he left the house.

Nobody treated his little boy that way.

He looked over at Gina; her eyes were staring out the side win
dow, full of fear and dread over what might happen next. The things this man had put her through this past week, had put them all through. No one deserved that. And no one should get away with that.

It was time to end this. Time to take back what this man had stolen from them.

He pulled into his parents’ driveway on Clara Avenue and opened the car door but left it running. Without looking at Gina, he said, “I won’t be long. I know exactly where the guns are.”

So far, Colt’s plan was working. No one had seen him in the backseat. He got real nervous when they had stopped at his grandparents’ house and his dad opened the car door. He knew his dad was there to pick up one of Grandpa’s guns to bring with him to get Timmy. His father must have picked out a handgun. Colt was sure if he’d grabbed a rifle, he’d have put it in the backseat or the trunk. Either way, he would have likely spotted Colt and forced him to stay in DeLand with his grandmother.

It felt like fifteen minutes had gone by. Colt thought they must be getting close to Lake Helen now, because the car was driving slower. For most of the drive from DeLand to here, his parents hadn’t talked very much. Colt felt the car turn left.

“Scott,” his mother said, “I want to say something before we get there. Really, two things.”

“What are they?”

“First, I want to apologize for not believing you all this time about the secretary. It just looked so much like you were kissing her, and then when she said the two of you were in love, I just knew it was true. Well, I believed it was true. But she was lying all this time. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

Colt’s dad didn’t say anything for a moment. But now he understood why his parents had separated. She thought he loved someone else.

“Gina, I’m so glad you believe me now. But I need to apologize too. For why it was so easy for you to believe something like that, even after I told you over and over again it wasn’t true. I had a long talk with Mike about it. It’s because I neglected you for so long, you and the boys. All I cared about was my career. But things are going to be completely different from now on. I’m not just saying it. I’ve already told Mr. Finch I’m giving up the promotion.”

“I know. I heard you tell him.”

“You did? Well, I meant it. You mean more to me than any job. From now on, I’m just going to be a desk grunt. I’ll work hard when I’m at the office, but I’ll be strictly eight to five, no more climbing the corporate ladder. I’m going to be home for dinner every night. Saturdays too, unless they force me to do overtime. I’m going to be there for you, Gina. You and the boys. Throw the ball with them. Go fishing if they want. We’ll take family trips together, and not just once in a blue moon. I mean it.”

“I believe you.”

“You do?” The car slowed, then turned right.

Colt loved hearing what his father just said. He didn’t hear what his mom said back, but it must’ve been something his father liked because the next thing he knew his father stopped the car, and they were both kissing. And not a little bit. A long, mushy kiss like they did in the movies. The kind he and Timmy would always look away from and act disgusted by. Colt never let Timmy know, but lately he was starting to peek at the end of those kiss scenes. He wanted to peek at his parents right now.

“Scott, we should get going, we’re at a stop sign.”

Were they going to kiss some more?

“You know,” his father said, “after today, Timmy’s going to need his bed back.”

“I know.”

“That means I’ve got no place to sleep. Well, there’s that place I’ve been renting.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “I’ve got a room down the end of the hall.”

“You do?”

“But it’s much more expensive than that place you’ve been renting.”

“I don’t care what it costs, Gina. I’ll pay any price.” He kissed her once more, a fast one. “Let’s go get our little boy.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” his mom said, “of the second thing I wanted to say.” A car horn blared behind them.

“Sorry,” his father yelled and poured on the gas. The car lurched forward.

“Ow,” Colt said as the jolt banged him hard against the backseat.

“What the . . . ?” his dad said.

“Colt, is that you?” His mother was leaning over the front seat.

Colt sat up. No sense hiding anymore. “It’s me. I had to come. I’m the reason we’re here trying to steal Timmy back from that man. It’s all my fault.”

“Look at me, Colt.”

Colt looked up at his father’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

“It is not your fault, what happened here. If anything, it’s mine. If I had been treating you guys and your mom the way I was supposed to, none of this would have happened. Now, listen, this is Lake Helen, where we’re driving through now. We’re going to be at the house in a few minutes. I need you to stay out of sight. I have no idea what we’re going to face once we get there.”

“Okay.”

“And Gina?”

“What?”

“A minute ago you said you had a second thing to say.”

“Oh, right. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid when we get there. By stupid, I mean brave. Vic and Nate should be here soon. Please let them handle this.”