Stolen Child (Coastal Fury Book 13) Matt Lincoln (chrysanthemum read aloud .txt) 📖

She grimaced and shivered, not wanting to go on herself now.

“I’m so sorry,” Holm said softly. That was all there was to say when it came to something like this.

“Thank you,” Annabelle murmured, interlinking her arm with her husband’s own and placing her other hand on his knee.

“Did you only see the one man?” I asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, Curt only saw the one. I saw both of them. The other man was hard to see at first… he just kind of blended into the wall, with his dark clothes. Then I saw his gun.”

“Was it drawn?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay,” I assured her. “I’d rather you tell us that than make something up because you think it’s what we want to hear.”

“That’s what she said,” Annabelle said with a small smile, nodding in Osborne’s direction.

“Glad we’re on the same page,” I said, smiling back at her, though I never doubted it. “Why don’t you tell me what you remember, Curt?”

“I-it’s all a blur,” he stammered, shaking his head. “I’m sure Annabelle can tell you better. She’s always had a better memory than me.”

“Why don’t you just tell us what you do remember?” Holm prompted gently. “It doesn’t have to be much.”

“Well, I… I just remember paying the pretzel guy,” he began with a deep breath. “Or trying to pay the pretzel guy, at least, but Annabelle screamed and grabbed my arm, and I dropped all the coins. I bent over to pick them up without thinking. It was just instinctive.”

“It’s alright,” I assured him, just as I had his wife. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, once I registered that she was yelling, I turned around, and I just saw this guy in a tan jacket carrying Mikey off. I didn’t notice anything else. I just saw red and ran after them.”

“We both did,” Annabelle added. “But by the time we got to the store they were in front of, they were gone, and I couldn’t hear Mikey screaming anymore. Some lady from the store helped us, then. I don’t remember much else until the security guards showed up.”

“It’s all a blur for me, too,” Curt said, shaking his head and gulping down another sob. “I just remember someone in a mall uniform giving me some water, and then the police came and were talking about a security tape. Have you seen it?”

He looked between Holm and me hopefully.

“Yes, we’ve seen it,” I said, nodding. “It tells us some, but not a lot.” I wanted to temper their expectations. It was important to keep hope, but also important to be realistic.

“Dr. Osborne said that the other FBI agent ran into the man in the jacket again at the mall,” Annabelle said excitedly, looking at me with wide eyes as if she was willing me to tell her that we’d caught the man.

“Yes, we haven’t been able to find him, though,” I said quietly. “Did Dr. Osborne tell you about the Coast Guard?”

There was a long silence.

“Yes,” Curt said quietly at long last. “But you don’t… you don’t really think that they could be taking him… to some other country or something like that?”

It clearly took an effort for him to get the words out.

“We don’t know,” Holm said honestly. “But that’s why we’re here. To find out, and to bring him back if we have to.”

“Have you done this before?” Annabelle asked. “Gone into other countries to rescue people?”

“Yes,” I assured her. “Many times. It’s our job.”

She nodded, seeming reassured at least a little by this. Curt seemed to calm slightly, as well, when he saw his wife’s reaction.

“Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourselves and about Mikey?” I asked, wanting to get a better sense of their family life.

“Well, Mikey’s seven,” Annabelle said, giving me a watery smile. “He just finished the second grade, and he was so excited. We came on this vacation the second he got out of school. His favorite subject’s reading.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be a scientist like his mom,” Curt chuckled. “Maybe a college professor or something like that.”

“What about the two of you?” I asked. “Would you both say that you have a good relationship with Mikey?”

“Oh yes,” Annabelle said, predictably, as no parent was going to admit to the alternative, especially with a child this age. “We both work, as I said, but we make sure to take time off whenever we can and to see him off in the morning and spend every night with him after we get home.”

“No late nights at the office?” Holm asked her.

“Well, I won’t say never,” she admitted with a weak laugh. “But only a couple times a month for me. And Curt never does, never. He’s always home with Mikey. With my line of work, it’s hard to get out of it sometimes, though. You’ll understand.”

Her eyes were almost pleading as she looked at me. I knew from experience to double the figure she’d given me, but four or five nights out of the month wasn’t even close to bad if you asked me.

“Better than most,” I told her.

“Do you have children?” she asked.

That was the second time someone had asked me that that day.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Never had the time.”

“Oh,” she said, looking a little disappointed.

“Look, I promise that we’re going to do everything we can to find Mikey,” I said, leaning forward and placing a hand over hers gently. This seemed to cheer her up again.

“You work for the CDC, right?” Holm asked Annabelle before turning to Curt. “And you’re in advertising?”

“Yes,” they both said.

“Do you think that anyone from either of your jobs could have a problem with you or even an interest in Mikey?” Holm asked. “A disgruntled client, maybe? A former employee?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Annabelle said dismissively. “I work in a lab all day! Unless you think some virus is going to grow feet and