Abduction (3 page)

She’d just
have to try harder. Make lists. Pay attention. She’d prove to Ted and her father
that she could do this.

Karen cut thick slices of cake and set them
carefully on plates. Strawberries and cream eased down off the cake and onto
the plate. Ted’s animosity toward Rene was something Karen couldn’t quite
understand. From the first time the woman had stepped foot in the
yard,
offering a smile and an introduction, Ted had shunned her. It made no sense,
really. Rene had never said one unkind word about Ted, although Karen had
observed unease in the woman’s eyes when she’d shaken his hand. Ted had decided
that he didn’t like the woman and had forbidden Karen from becoming friends
with her.

While Karen
couldn’t be rude and snub the woman the way Ted could, she tried to honor Ted’s
feelings and not pursue a relationship with Rene. Rene seemed to understand.
Every once in awhile, Rene would drop off cookies, a pie, a cake, or some
little item for Jessica, tell Karen she was praying for her, and leave.

The coffee pot
choked out its last bit of brew. Inhaling deeply, Karen smiled as the aroma
filled her senses. She didn’t like the taste of coffee all that much, but she
loved the smell.

Ted appeared
suddenly in the doorway. “What are you doing?”

Karen lifted a
plate and smiled as she held it out to him. “I was just getting ready to bring
you and Daddy your cake.”

“Jessica has
been screaming for the past five minutes. Didn’t
you hear her? Or have you been off in one of your daydreams again?”

Karen shoved
the plate into Ted’s hands and ran down the hall toward the nursery. Sure
enough, Jess was screaming, her face red from the effort, her eyes filled with
tears. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear you. What’s the matter,
sweetheart?”

Karen lifted
Jess into her arms and cradled her close, humming as she began to pace, trying
to soothe.

“Does this
happen often?”

Karen looked up at her husband standing in the
doorway, coffee in hand, concern in his eyes. She shook her head. “No, of
course not.”

“How do you
know? You didn’t hear her tonight. I’m really concerned, Karen. I never thought
that you’d put our child at risk, but I’m not so sure now.”

“I was just
caught up with. . .”

“Your mind was
wandering again, honey.” He sighed heavily. “You get lost in your mind and you
don’t hear anything going on around you. I can be talking to you. Jess can be
screaming. And you’re off somewhere, lost in some fantasy world.”

Karen swallowed hard as she held Jess tightly.
The baby squirmed.

“Karen, don’t
squeeze her so tight. You’re hurting her.”

Immediately
Karen eased up on her embrace.

“She’s not a
toy, Karen. Do you understand that?”

“Of course I
do.” Karen could feel her lip quivering, her throat tightening.

Ted reached
out and stroked Karen’s cheek, brushing away a lone tear. “Honey, I’m just
concerned, okay? I worry about you and the baby. On top of that, I have all this
pressure at work. It’s not a good time for you to fall apart on me.”

“I’m fine. I
swear, Ted. It’s just been a bad day.”

He stared at
her, searching for something. She held his gaze, practically willing him to
believe her. To trust her. She wasn’t going to hurt Jess. She wasn’t.

Never.

chapter
2

Monday, April 10

K
aren
yawned as she shuffled down the hall, tying her robe, her slippers slapping
softly against her bare feet. Fatigue plagued her. Jess had been crying nearly
nonstop all weekend. Ted had merely apologized for being unable to help and
spent most of his time at the office.

Even as she
rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up, she was looking forward to lifting Jess
from her crib and hearing those soft mews of recognition. To cradling her close
and smelling that in-credible mix of baby powder, shampoo, and Jessica. To
stroking those sweet little hands as she dressed Jessie in a day romper.

Karen pushed open the nursery door. The first gray
light of the day slipped through the open curtains, making the Hundred Acre
Wood mural on the wall appear far more haunted than harmless. The
Winnie-the-Pooh
mobile hung over the
crib, eerily silent and still
.

With an
overwhelming sense of dread, she crossed the room, trying to understand exactly
what could be so very wrong. Fear crawled up her spine.

When she
reached down for the quilted pink comforter, Karen was surprised to find her
hand trembling. She lifted the comforter, but sweet little Jessica was not
curled up beneath it. She looked around the nursery. No Jessica. Not on the
floor. Not on the changing table. Not in the rocking chair.

It was
ridiculous to think she would be. Jessie was only seven months old—far too
young to have crawled out of the crib. Her absence made no sense at all.

Karen’s
stomach clenched.

Spinning on
the heel of her slipper, she rushed from the room, down the hall, and into the
living room. There was no cooing of contentment or whimpering for food. The
playpen was empty, as was Jessie’s swing. In the kitchen, the Tigger- and
Piglet-decorated highchair sat empty.

Jessie?
Where are you?

The truth
taunted her without a trace of mercy. Her baby was gone! Swallowing the need to
scream, Karen tried to convince herself that Ted had taken Jess to bed and she
just hadn’t noticed the tiny baby curled up between them.

Walking
quickly and still fighting to control her hysteria, she headed back down the
hall, ignoring all the pictures of Jessica on the wall.

In the master bedroom, she yanked at the covers on
her bed, causing her husband to groan sleepily and roll over. Jess wasn’t there
either.

“Ted? Where’s
Jess?”

“Hmmm?” Ted
blinked furiously as Karen snapped on the light. His dark curly hair was
mussed, tufted at odd angles. He ran his fingers through it, but it didn’t
help. Until he went through his daily routine of shampoo, mousse, dryer, and
styling brush, it would be out of control. The curse of curly hair, he often
complained.

“Jess?” He
yawned as he stretched. “Crib, of course.”

“No!” Karen
felt the hysteria rising now, clawing at her. “She’s gone! I can’t find her
anywhere!”

Ted sat up,
rubbing his face as he stirred from sleep. “Ridiculous. Too young to get up and
walk away.”

“I know that!”
Karen snapped. “But I can’t find her!”

With a heavy
sigh, Ted rose to his feet. Tugging at his red plaid pajama pants, he strode
with defined purpose across the room and out into the hall. He was confident.
Assured. And prepared to prove her wrong.

Karen desperately wanted him to prove her wrong.
She stood and waited, wanting him to walk back into the room with Jess cradled
in his arms and laugh at her foolishness. For once, she wouldn’t mind if he
raised that eyebrow and smirked at her, mocking her fears.

Ted returned.
Alone. “What did you do with the baby, Karen?”

“Nothing!” she
screamed, clenching her fists. “She’s gone!”

The
bewilderment on his face gave way to a new kind of determination. “Call the
police. I’ll get dressed.”

Karen snatched
at the phone and dialed. “Someone stole my baby! Please help me!”

By the time Karen had gone through her story three
times and given her address twice, Ted had returned to stand behind her, his
hands resting lightly on her shoulders. She leaned back into him as she
listened to the dispatcher assure her that someone was on the way.

Her hand dropped and Ted reached down to take the
phone from her. “They’re coming,” Karen mumbled as Ted put down the phone.

“Why don’t you
get dressed?” Ted instructed. “I’ll make coffee.”

Karen swiped
at her tears. “I don’t understand, Ted. How could someone take our baby?”

“The police
will find her.” He gently pushed her forward. “Get dressed.”

Karen nodded
and stumbled into the bathroom. Get dressed.
Have
coffee. It was all too normal. Yet nothing was normal. Nothing would be normal
until Jessica was home in her arms. Who
would take her? And why?

She went
through the motions of brushing her teeth, combing her hair, and slipping into
clothes. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of Jessie. It wasn’t as if she’d
been negligent and left Jess unattended somewhere in the park or in the car.
Her baby had been safe and sound in her own crib.

Polly Klaas
had been asleep in her bed and it hadn’t been safe at all. Someone had taken
her and killed her. Karen’s hand flew to her mouth, choking back a sob. And
little Danielle VanDam. She had been taken from her bed, too. And found dead.

Oh, God,
please, not my Jessica. Don’t let this be happening!

“Karen?”

Ted’s voice cut through her thoughts. She turned
and fled to the
kitchen where he was pouring coffee into blue mugs.
“Ted! What if we never get our baby back?”

Ted set down
the coffeepot. “Don’t go looking at worst-case scenarios before the police even
arrive.”

That
confidence again. Optimistic, unwavering, and strong—the result of being an
only child, she was sure. Ted’s parents had given him every opportunity to
succeed, every encouragement to overcome, every resource to believe in himself
above all else. Ted didn’t know
how
to lose.

Karen nestled
her head against Ted’s shoulder. “I want my baby home. I want Jess home safe
and sound. I don’t think I could stand it if I was to lose her. I’d just die.”

“Don’t think
like that.” Ted stroked her back and then pulled away. “The police will find
Jessie and everything will be fine.”

“What if. . .”

“Don’t, Karen.
Don’t even think it.” He stepped back, reaching for his coffee mug. “If you
look for trouble, you’re bound to find it. Stay positive.”

She nodded and he rewarded her with a warm smile
of approval. “That’s my girl. Trust me, sweetheart. We’ll get our baby back.”

Two police
officers arrived a few minutes later. They didn’t offer any such assurances.
After briefly interviewing Karen and Ted, they called for more help. An hour
later, Karen and Ted had been pushed aside to wait in the living room while two
more uniformed officers, a crime photographer, and a detective wandered through
the house. “Gathering evidence,” they said.

It was the detective who had Karen trembling. He
was a tall man
with dark hair and green eyes, but he wasn’t the least
bit friendly. She
almost felt as though he
had judged her and found her guilty of some unspeakable crime. One of the
police officers told her Detective Johnson was good at his job. She reasoned
that was because of his icy stare. What criminal wouldn’t confess when faced
with that?

Only Karen
didn’t have anything to confess to. She had committed no crime. But someone
had, and she wanted this detective to find her baby.

Now.

Instead, he
continued walking through the house, eyeing pic
tures on the wall with an intensity that threatened to melt the pho
to-graphs.
She wanted to scream at him to stop admiring Jessica’s pictures in the hallway
and go find her! Didn’t he understand that every moment he wasted was another
moment the kidnapper had to get farther away?

Wiping at the
tears streaming down her face, she looked up at Ted. His hair was in wild
disarray, his face pale, and his eyes rimmed with red.

“Ted?” she
whispered, not realizing how raw her throat was until the word came out.

Her husband
looked down at her from his perch on the arm of the sofa and squeezed her hand.
“It’ll be okay, honey.”

“But they’re not even looking for our baby!” She
was ready to stand and yell at the detective when he finally sauntered over,
pin
ning her and Ted with that cool arrogance.

“Okay, let’s
go over this again. You went to the nursery. . .”

Karen clenched
her fists. “How many times do you have to hear this?” The detective narrowed
his bottle-green eyes. A twitch developed in his cheek. “Someone broke into our
house and stole my baby girl! Why aren’t you doing anything! Why are you all
just standing around?”

Detective Johnson flipped open his notebook,
clearly deciding to ignore her, and clicked open his pen. “Why don’t you tell
me the events of last night? Was Jessica crying a lot? Maybe being a little too
fussy?”

Suddenly Karen
understood. “You think I did this? You actually think I would hurt my little
Jess?”

Ted reached
down, his hand patting her on the shoulder. “Honey, it’s just procedure.”

“No,” Karen
stated emphatically. “I did
not
hurt our baby. Now, go find her.”

Detective Johnson sighed heavily and looked at
Ted. “What time did you put the baby to bed? Was she crying? Teething,
perhaps?”

“Stop it!” Karen rose to her feet, only to have Ted
pull her back down.

“Calm down,
Karen. They have to ask. Just answer their questions so they can get on with
the investigation.” Ted held her close, wrapping strong, confident arms around
her.

But Karen was
too angry to be comforted. Her baby was gone and no one seemed to think this
was a big deal. Even Ted was calm. And that only increased her frustration.

Pushing away Ted’s arms, Karen jumped to her feet.
“Doesn’t anyone get it? Am I the only one here who seems to understand what’s
happened?” Her voice continued to climb to a near-hysterical pitch. Ted reached
for her, but she swatted his hand away. “My infant daughter is missing. Now,
someone had better get out there and find her and bring her home to me safe and
sound! Do your job!”