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

It was better that they knew, though. It was always better to know.

“So… so this man…” Curt stammered, swallowing hard. “This man has Mikey all alone in the middle of the ocean? They haven’t been seen in a day, so they could be anywhere by now, right?”

I took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

“That depends,” I said. “They could be waiting somewhere while he figures out what to do next, or they could be on an island somewhere.”

“An island?” Jackson asked from where he was still crouched in the corner, practically constricted into a fetal position in that chair now with his anxiety. “What island?”

“Well, there are a number of possibilities,” I said carefully. “This is why I told you before that MBLIS has contacted our international contacts, just in case he shows up on a coastal island.”

“He, you said he,” Curt said, pointing at me. “What about Mikey? Do you think… Do you think…”

He was unable to finish the thought, though he didn’t really need to do so. Dr. Osborne closed her eyes tightly at the thought.

“We’re operating under the assumption that Mikey is still alive and well at this hour,” I assured them, careful not to give them any false hope in case this turned out to be incorrect. “I’m not going to lie to you, though. This is a very dangerous and potentially volatile situation on all ends.”

“Tha… thank you,” Annabelle sputtered before collapsing into a sea of tears as her husband wrapped both of his arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, not knowing what else to say. “We’re doing everything that we can.”

“I promise you that both the FBI and MBLIS have their absolute best agents on this case,” Dr. Osborne said quietly, reaching out to place a soothing hand on Annabelle’s knee. “If anyone is going to find your son, it’s them.”

I figured that this was true enough. If anyone was going to be able to track down this poor boy, it was Nina. And Holm and I were the best agents that MBLIS had.

Jackson practically read my mind, and not in a good way.

“You said that other agent, the other man, he got shot, though,” he pointed out. “So he’s not going to be able to help find Mikey anymore, is he? You said he’s in the hospital and probably has to stay the night.”

“As soon as Agent Holm is cleared by his doctor, he’ll be back on this case,” I assured them all quickly. “Sooner, if he has his way, I’m sure. He’s not off the case.”

“How can he get back on if he’s not off?” Jackson asked, catching me up in my turn of phrase. “That’s not how that works. So are they going to send someone in to replace him, or what?”

“I… not at this time,” I said, not having expected this to be an issue that any of the parents would even pay attention to, let alone care about, given how much else they had going on right then. “Agent Gosse and I are perfectly capable…”

But Jackson wasn’t having it, and he cut me off.

“So you don’t have your best agents on it, do you?” he challenged angrily. “If he’s one of your best, and you’re not going to replace him, you’re down a whole man! One of the best men, too. How’s that supposed to help you find my son?!”

This was, by all accounts, the wrong thing for Jackson to say at that moment, given how tense things already were in the room, given the recent news, and how tense things were between himself and Curt and Annabelle, given their history.

“Your son?” Annabelle cried, aghast at him. “Your son! Where were you the first seven years of his life, then? Where were you when we needed you? Nowhere, that’s where. Running away. Curt was there, though. Curt’s his father, so get out of here with all your proclamations about how this agent needs to be helping your son.”

I had to stop myself from groaning out loud and dropping my head into my hands. So we were back to this—full circle, yet again, just like with Justin.

“Alright, alright,” I said instead of groaning, holding both my hands up to silence Jackson before he had a chance to respond, and Curt and Annabelle before either of them had a chance to add anything else. “We’ve been over this before. The past isn’t what matters now. It’s Mikey. Going over old wounds isn’t going to help find him any faster, and if you want to talk about wasting any time, well, this is a case in point right here.”

“Agent Marston is correct,” Dr. Osborne added quickly, also before any of the parents could say anything else. “We need to focus on the task at hand, all of us, and keeping as good of spirits as possible is important for everyone, including Mikey. We’re going to need to do another press conference about all this soon, I’d imagine, and having all three of you there could help.”

“All three of us?” Curt gaped as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “You can’t be serious! We’re not going out there with him!”

I really did groan this time, running a hand over my eyes.

“Guys, who is this helping?” I snapped, unable to stop myself. “Now I get that you all have legitimate concerns about each other surrounding this custody case, but there’s not going to be a custody case if you don’t get Mikey back, do you understand?”

They all looked around at each other like they were expecting someone else to say something, but no one did. There was nothing else to be said.

“I think Agent Marston summed that up nicely,” Dr. Osborne quipped when Curt and Annabelle looked to her for guidance.

“Look, the important thing is that Mikey has three people who really care about him and want him home,” I said, adopting a kinder tone than the one I had used before now. “How can that possibly