Key West Gone into the Night Elizabeth Hilleren (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

Carl smiled to himself and picked up his fork. “Good looking fish,” he said. “Guess I needed some food too.”

“Burt looked pretty good. He must be working out. I thought he’d be packing on the pounds by now,” Stephanie said.  She took a bite of steak and chewed it slowly, savoring the flavor.

“I wonder where Javier is?” Carl asked.

“Who knows,” she said between bites.

“Do you think the police will find him?”

“If he’s still in town they’ll find him. If he headed home to Chile, he could be hard to find,” Stephanie said. “I don’t want to talk about him.” She looked disgusted at the thought.

“You know where your ex-husband lives?” Carl asked.

“No. But it wouldn’t be hard to find out. I could do that,” she said.

“I suppose he’ll do the official thing and just sit around and let his partner do the work.”

“You don’t know Burt.  He’ll do something.  It won’t be the right thing.  I’m finished. I want to go back to the hotel,” she said abruptly. “I’ll take a long swim and go to bed. What time do we meet Detective Sharkey?  That’s a strange name for a Mexican.” Stephanie said. She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll get the check and I’m hitting the rack. Sharkey is an Irish name.”

“Oh. He has a Spanish accent.”

“Cuban probably. You live in Miami. You should have heard a lot of that.”

“See you in the morning. Tomorrow could be worse than today,” Stephanie said, heading for the door.

*    *    *

Harris left the Chief’s office and headed for the hospital with a heavy heart. How was he going to tell Amy? He watched for her to come through the doors. His heart was pounding, and his head felt like it might explode. Then she appeared, a big smile on her pretty face as she approached the car. He could see the light in her eyes when she looked at him and opened the car door.

“You okay, Burt?”

“Yeah, how was your day?”

“Burt, what’s going on?”

“Bad day, Honey. Really bad. Let’s go get a drink and I’ll try to explain.”

“All right. You okay to drive? Your face is flush.”

“I’m okay,” he pulled the car out and into traffic. He reached over and took Amy’s hand. “I don’t mean to scare you…I’m really glad that I have you.”

She smiled. “I’m glad that I have you too. Whatever happened we’ll be all right. We have each other. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Ditto, Kid.”

She laughed. He loved her musical laugh.

Pulling into the parking lot of the Green Parrot Bar he parked, and they walked in hand in hand.  He headed for a corner table.  As they passed the bar he held up two fingers and said, “Beer.”

Alex nodded and brought the beer to their table.

“I got a call from Dad. I’ll do whatever you need. We’re here for you.”

Harris nodded. “Give us a few minutes. I need to explain to Amy what happened.”

“Take your time.” Alex went back to the bar.

Amy took a sip of the beer and looked straight into Harris’s eyes. “Just tell me, Burt.”

“Okay.”   As he explained the day to her, her face filled with pain as she realized his situation.

“Burt, I’m so sorry.”  She held his hand tightly. When he finished she wiped the tears from her eyes. “That’s such a sad story.”

“Yeah, just explaining it gets harder and harder. But I gotta get a grip on reality. Susan’s gone. She’s not coming back…ever. But those kids, my grandkids, are what’s important now. That’s where Alex can help…I hope.”

He took a drink of the cold beer and continued. “The father of the baby is missing. No one seems to know where he is.  Maybe gone back to Chile with the kids. We just don’t know.  We don’t think he can take them out legally without each having a birth certificate and a passport.”

“That takes time, at least three to five weeks,” she said in a soft reassuring voice. “Then the country that they go to must allow them in.”

“You’re right.” He smiled into her eyes. “I love you.”

“And I love you. That’s forever.  Talk to Alex. Get him working as soon as possible.”

Alex took off his apron and headed for the table when Harris waved him over.

“Amy, Harris, how can I help you?  Sloan filled me in and said you need to find someone.”

“Yes, the father of one of my grandsons may have kidnapped him and my other grandson who has a different father.”

“How much do you know about him?”

“Not much.  He’s from Chile. He’s some sort of a traveling salesman. My son-in-law, whom I just briefly met this afternoon, knows a little about him. My son-in-law’s name is Carl Abbott.  He’s staying at the Hyatt and he’s the only one so far that knows anything about Javier Trujillo, the father of the three month old baby.”

Alex wrote the information down on a napkin. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Is Sharkey working on the case?”

“I’m officially off the case. I really need your help.”

“You got it. I’ll get on it tonight.”

“Thanks. Your dad may be able to find out a little from Sharkey.”

“We’ll work with him as much as possible. The police often have sharing limitations, as you’re well aware.”

“It’s weird being on this side of the police activities.  I can give you a retainer.”

“No. You’re a good friend. Consider it covered. I might have some out-of-pocket expenses.”

“Thanks. Just tell me what you need.”

“I’ll be in touch.” Alex smiled as he got up and left.

“I have dinner in the crockpot. Let’s go home,” Amy said.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Harris took a shower when they got home, while Amy put dinner on the table. He