Loving Rowan (17 page)

A
ndrew’s car
was parked outside the house when I got home. I recognised it from the hospital, as I’d made sure he’d left the grounds before I did.

The garage door was open, and I drove straight in, running into the house when I heard raised voices coming from inside. I could hear Rowan yelling which was so unlike her.

Rowan stood in the living room, shaking as she stood looking at Andrew, her hands fisted up as if ready to protect herself.

“What the hell is going on?” I stormed into the room. She moved behind me, looking for protection as Andrew tried to reach for her.

“I put the bin out and left the garage door open for you, and Andrew let himself in. He wants me to go away with him, but I’ve told him that’s not going to happen, Kyle. I swear.”

I turned to her, cupping her face and kissing her. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I believe you.” Turning back to face Andrew, I shook my head. “You need to leave. Now.”

His face distorted as a mess of emotion crossed his face, and I realised something wasn’t quite right.

“Get out of our house, Andrew.”

I didn’t see him pick up the vase at first from the table beside the couch, but I sure as hell felt it as it slammed into the side of my face. My head spun at the sudden impact. The vase was solid glass, and didn’t shatter but hit with a thud.

Rowan screamed, and I felt myself falling as everything turned to black.

M
ia’s crying
.

My head was spinning, my eyes blurry as I opened them.

Rowan will get her.

I shook my head, trying to stop the room from moving.

Rowan? Shit. Where is she?

Fear engulfed me as I stood, and realised someone was thumping at the door. Mia needed me, and I stumbled into her room, rubbing the side of my face, tender to the touch. No doubt there was one massive bruise where I was hit.

Mia looked up at me with those big blue eyes. Her hair had started to darken, and she looked more and more like me every day. Her little face screwed up as she squawked about whatever was upsetting her.

I picked her up and headed for the front door. Rowan was nowhere to be seen, and an ache engulfed my stomach at the realisation that she was gone. She wouldn’t leave me, and she wouldn’t just leave Mia; nothing would separate them. Andrew had to be responsible.

My heart raced as I ran to the door, finding two cops knocking. The female one recoiled at seeing my face. Mia had calmed, but still let out the odd wail to remind me she was there.

“Mr Warner? We had a report from one of your neighbours that your wife was taken forcibly into a car. I can see something’s happened. Can we come in?”

“Oh God, he took her? Please.” I rocked Mia in my arms. She screeched in my ear, presumably annoyed I wasn’t doing something to sort out her problem. “I need to sort my daughter out.”

They both nodded, following me into the house. I grabbed a clean nappy from the pile, and sat on the floor. As hard as it was not to run out and try to find Rowan myself, Mia had to come first right now.

“You need to find her,” I said

“Mr Warner, the licence plate has been called in and there is more help on the way. Can you give us any details as to what happened?”

“I came home to find my wife arguing with Andrew. That’s Andrew Carmichael. He’s been hassling her lately, and I told him to back off. Please, you have to find her.”

“We will.” The female officer nodded, still looking over my bruising.

“He was trying to talk Rowan into going with him, and she’d refused. I told him to leave and he smacked me with something heavy. Next thing I know, Mia’s crying and you two are on my doorstep.”

Mia lit up as soon as I put the clean nappy on her, and I hugged her tight. At least it was an easy fix this time.

“Do you have any idea where he might have taken her?”

Exasperated, I shook my head. “I don’t know? His place, maybe. I don’t know him that well, he was Rowan’s old friend.”

“I’ll call a doctor in, get that face of yours seen to as well. Looks nasty,” she said. I was barely paying attention to them; my thoughts with Rowan and my daughter. I hugged Mia so tight she squealed in protest.

I pointed at the vase on the floor. Made of thick glass, it had been the perfect weapon in the perfect spot for Andrew to hit me with.

“I’m guessing that’s what he hit me with.”

“Do you know why he might have done something like this?”

“Andrew’s wife died on their honeymoon a while ago. They were both good friends with my wife, and he tried to turn to her when it all happened. He told her he loved her and wanted to be with her, as if she could just replace Charlie. The whole thing screwed him up. I told him to back off and leave her alone, and I thought he got the message. Clearly not.”

They were both franticly taking notes. “The wife’s death. Was it suspicious at all?”

I shook my head. “As much as I dislike Andrew, that’s barking up the wrong tree. Rowan said Charlie had really bad asthma as a child. She had a massive asthma attack and it took too long to get her to the hospital. It’s his reaction to it that’s not right.”

They sat, talking quietly while I looked at Mia. I didn’t care what they had to say, as long as they found Rowan. Neither of us could cope without her for long, and she needed to be home, where she belonged. The one consolation I had was that Andrew wouldn’t hurt her. Not if she meant this much to him.

“Mr Warner?” I looked up, and one of them was smiling at me.

“What?”

“We’re going to set up base here, just in case you get a ransom call. There’ll be someone on site to monitor the situation, but from what you’ve told us we need to find where they are and assess the situation. Do you have anyone who can come and sit with you?”

Mia gurgled. She’d be hungry soon, and I knew Rowan had some milk she’d expressed in the freezer. I should make a move and get that heated, ready for her feed.

“Mr Warner?” The female police officer was talking to me and I could barely hear what she was saying.

You have to snap out of it and pay attention.

“Um, yeah, my dad. I’ll call him.”

“I think you have enough on your plate. Give me his number and I’ll call him. That little one looks like she’s hungry, from the way she’s pulling faces. Go and sort her out.” I gave her Dad’s number, feeling guilty about not calling him myself, but Mia was more important, and she let out a wail as I walked into the kitchen with her.

“Oh, sweetie, Daddy’s got you.” I wasn’t as skilled as Rowan at doing things one-handed, but I found some milk in the fridge and heated some water to sit the bottle in. Mia fussed, and I clucked at her, trying to appease her, but I knew she’d feel the loss of her mother even if she wasn’t old enough to know what was going on.

I opened the freezer door. Stacked neatly was enough milk to last us maybe the next twenty four hours. Rowan had to be back before then.
Please let her be back soon
.

“Oh, Mia.” I sighed, hugging her tight. She started to cry as I tested the milk to make sure the temperature was okay, and finally settled as she started to feed. “I miss her too,” I whispered. “The police will find Andrew and get her back, I promise.”

I walked back into the living room. “Your father is on his way. Just let us know if there’s anything else we can help with,” the police officer said.

I nodded, barely hearing her. They needed to find Rowan as quickly as possible. For Mia, and for me.

M
y mother died
from breast cancer when I was six, and Dad became everything. I still remember climbing into his bed and snuggling up to him, missing her warmth and her love. He struggled, but we got through it somehow. The sacrifices he made turned me into the man I am today. I know I didn’t always get things right, but I also know that he was sometimes disappointed in me.

He was proud of me now, married to an amazing woman, and with a beautiful child. Now, I needed him, and he was on my doorstep, taking care of me again. The police still sat in my living room, waiting for a ransom call. The call I didn’t expect to get. Andrew didn’t want a ransom; he wanted Rowan.

For two days, stories about my missing wife were blasted over television and radio. A crowd gathered outside my house, a mix of supportive neighbours, nosey outsiders, and the media. Not one of them knew what I was going through. I’d had no sleep in all that time, and in the midst of it all, cared for our daughter, who pined for her mother.

It was some crazy hour, and Mia had just fallen asleep in my arms. I’d fed her until she’d fallen asleep, with that blissful full tummy look. Dad had gone out to get formula to cover the shortfall, the thought of that making me grimace. Rowan was so happy to have the breastfeeding relationship with Mia. If it were broken, she would be devastated. Mia had fussed at first, but hungry, she’d given in. Rowan’s health weighed heavily on my mind. I had no doubt that Andrew would take care of her, wherever they were, but her separation from Mia could cause her issues. Whether Andrew was in any state of mind to realise that, I didn’t know. All I did know was that if he laid a hand on her, I would kill him.

I’d called her parents to let them know what was going on. Her dad was angry, and I would not want to be Andrew if he ever had to face either of us. It broke my heart to hear her mother crying in the background. She was their baby.

Dad took Mia from my arms, smiling as he did so. She had long, curled, eyelashes that were just beautiful, and he kissed her little cheek before carrying her to the nursery. I flopped on the couch, burying my head in my hands. The police had an APB out for the car, but there hadn’t been anything. Andrew’s place was empty when they’d gotten there, and I drew a blank for anywhere else to look. They’d been to Rowan’s old apartment to check, but nothing. This was frustrating beyond belief.

Dad came back and sat beside me on the couch. “Kyle, get some sleep,” he said. “It’s three in the morning, and I know you haven’t slept since the day before yesterday.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. She’s out there somewhere, Dad. I don’t know if I’ll sleep until she comes home to me.” I broke down, and he held me while I cried. A cup of cocoa appeared from seemingly nowhere, and I looked up to see the policewoman holding it out for me.

“Tell me if you need anything,” she said, smiling as I took the cup from her. I sat back, cradling the mug in my hands and sipped at the drink.

“Thank you.” I sniffed.

“They’ll find her, son. Go and get some rest. I’ll be here if anything happens, and I’ll come and get you. What’s important is that you rest up and be okay to look after Mia. She’s important too.”

“I know. I just don’t know if I can sleep without Rowan.”

He grinned. “I bet you as soon as your head hits that pillow, you fall asleep. Especially after that.” He nodded at the cocoa.

“I know you’re right.” I sighed, taking another sip.

“Kyle, they’ll find her. They have to. If I know Rowan, she’s not going to be sitting idly by. She’ll do what she can to get back to you. You know it.”

I nodded. “I know.” I picked up Mia’s drained bottle. “Mia knows there’s something up, too. She’s so unsettled.”

“Sleep while she’s sleeping then. If she wakes up, I’ll get her.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I finished the cocoa, smiling at him. “I’ll go and lie down.”

He patted me on the back. “Everything will be okay, Kyle. I just know it.”

I walked into the bedroom, so cold and lonely without Rowan. Turning down the cover, I sat on the bed, picking up the wedding photo from the bedside cabinet. We looked so happy and in love. This was my favourite photo of us; Rowan looked so shy and yet alluring in the picture. Her hand was held up to her face, covering her mouth as she laughed at something I’d said.

I’d have given anything to have her with me. Instead she was out there somewhere, scared and missing me and Mia.

I lay down in the bed, pulling her pillow towards me. Her scent still lingered, and I hugged it tightly.

I just want you home.

Dad was right. After the cocoa and the stress of the evening, my eyelids were heavy, and I fought sleep for a while before it overtook me.

Rowan.

I dreamed of her. The night she entered the spare room at her parents’ place, dropping her nightgown to the floor. Making love to her for the first time, her cries of joy smothered by my kisses so her parents didn’t find out. The look of ecstasy on her face when she came.

The way she laughed, acting shy even after we’d made love for the first time. Telling her off for putting her feet on the dashboard of the car as we drove home together. She’d poked her tongue at me, pointing out the beach where she’d spent time as a kid, the place where Andrew’s family used to have a beach house.

Andrew’s family had a beach house.

That was it.

I sat up, looking at the clock. I’d slept for twelve hours, and it was mid-afternoon. There were spots of light through the gaps in the curtains, and I thought of my girl somewhere out there with the light soon fading. Maybe now I had some idea of where she was, but I felt like I’d wasted so much time coming up with it.

“Dad,” I said, stumbling from the bedroom. He was fast sleep, snoring on the couch. Mia was in the arms of a policewoman; they’d clearly had a change of shift in the night and this new one was engaged in conversation with my daughter. Mia frowned, before lighting up at the sight of me. This wasn’t Mummy, but Daddy was here.

“She’s lovely,” the lady said, handing Mia over to me. “Your father fell asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake him when she cried. I’ve changed her nappy and made her up a bottle of milk.”

“You’re a godsend,” I said. “I had an idea about where Andrew has taken Rowan.”

“Where?”

“Andrew’s parents used to have a place along the coast. It makes sense. Maybe he’s taken her somewhere familiar, somewhere quiet.”

“Used to have?”

“Rowan said they went there when they were kids, but they’d sold it years ago. Andrew was pissed about it; they used to spend weekends in the summer there. It’s just a hunch, but it’s the only place I can think of. His parents might not have even considered it.”

She nodded, and while they called Andrew’s parents, I picked up the phone to call Rowan’s father. He picked up on the first ring, and I imagined him sitting there, just waiting.

“Kyle? Is there any news?” He didn’t even say hello, and I knew he was as anxious as I was.

“No, but I had an idea. Rowan showed me a place a while ago where Andrew’s parents used to have a holiday house on the beach. She said she spent summers there when she was growing up.”

I could hear the excitement in his voice as he agreed it was a possibility.

“The police are getting directions now. If they can confirm it’s the right place, want to meet there?”

The relief in his voice was obvious, tinged with caution as this was just a hunch. But I felt more optimistic than I had for two days. She had to be there.

I swung Mia around, to her delight, and she grinned at me with that gorgeous toothless smile. “Fingers crossed,” I said, swinging Mia in my arms. I tickled her under the chin. “Maybe we’ll see Mummy, sweetheart.”

Both police officers nodded. “There’s a helicopter being sent to check out the area. We should have some news soon,” one of them said. I sighed, sitting back on the couch to wait for news.

I
buried
my head in my hands, waiting for any news. The police had requested a helicopter more than an hour before, and finally a phone ringing broke the silence in the living room. I looked up hopefully at the police officers, and the smiles on their faces gave it away before they said the words.

“Andrew’s car is parked outside the house. Local police have arrived, and we’ve made contact with him and confirmed that Rowan is with him. He was agitated and hung the phone up, so they’ll try again soon. We need to confirm that he has no weapons, and if he does, we need to talk him down before he does anything stupid.”

The thought of that made my blood run cold. Clearly he was suffering some sort of breakdown, but he wouldn’t hurt Rowan, would he? If he had in any way …

“I have to go.” I stood, looking around for my keys. All I wanted was to get in the car and get to Rowan.

Dad grabbed me, shaking me until I looked at him. “Kyle, you have to be practical. You can’t do this without taking Mia. That little girl needs her mother, and Rowan will need Mia. I’ll help you pack the baby things, but you need to prepare for the long haul if this takes a while to resolve.”

I looked around the room again. Oh God, he thought there might be some type of siege situation.

“Uh, I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll go grab the portable cot, and you grab the nappies and formula. Take some clothes for Rowan, too. She’ll want them after a couple of days of this.”

I rubbed my forehead. Of course he was right. The police were all over this situation, and with any luck, by the time I was there Rowan would be free, and I could hold her in my arms again. Just the thought made me dizzy.

“If you hadn’t had that sleep, I’d offer to drive, but I think the fewer people there the better.”

I nodded. “Her dad wants to meet me.”

“Well, there you go. I’ll be here just in case you need anything done back here.”

He froze when I hugged him tight. Our relationship hadn’t been a huggy one since I was a kid, but lately it seemed we were doing it a lot.

“Just bring our girl home, Kyle. She means a lot to me too.”

I looked at him. His eyes were full of tears, and I knew he meant it.

I called Rowan’s father before grabbing the washing basket and throwing it in the boot of the car.

It was probably mostly Mia’s stuff, but there had to be some of Rowan’s clothes, too. She didn’t need that much to come home in.

Dad laughed, shaking his head at me as I climbed in the driver’s seat and opened the garage door. The flash of lights from the group of media told me they were waiting for a story. They’d have to wait for a while longer. Dad waved as I backed out of the garage, closing the door after me. Like hell those vultures would get into my home. Some of them even had the nerve to chase me as I drove down the road.

I was glad for Mia’s company along the way. It was tempting to speed, but with my daughter in the car, I behaved. She gurgled and grumped all the way, torn between the rumble of the car putting her to sleep, and being disturbed by her mother not being there. At least, that’s what I put it down to. She was such an even-tempered child, but Rowan’s sudden disappearance had rattled her.

“We’ll get her back, kiddo,” I whispered, as the car movement finally put her to sleep. So much like her mother.

I got to the road where I had to turn off, and in the darkness found Rowan’s dad standing beside his car, not far from where he’d told me the house was. Alongside him was an ambulance and a couple of police cars. He hugged me, smiling at Mia, still fast asleep in the back. “How are you holding up?” he asked.

“Shit. I feel like crap that I didn’t think of this earlier. I still don’t know why I thought of it. Why here?”

He nodded. “I didn’t think of it, Kyle, and yet I spent a lot of time here myself over the years with the family. I suspect he’s brought her here because of all the memories. I spoke to his parents; he’s cut himself off from speaking to them. They’ve been quite worried about him too. “

“Can we get closer to the house?”

He shook his head. “The cops said to stay back here, just in case he sees something and thinks he’s threatened. They’ve called him to confirm she was there and safe. He was agitated, so they’re giving him a bit more time before calling again, and are going to try to speak to her. He hasn’t threatened her, but they’re going to try to find out if he has any weapons.”

I shivered at the thought of that. “Do you think he does?”

“I don’t know. If his goal is to convince her to be with him, I can’t see him hurting her. But, who knows what he might be thinking, the frame of mind he’s in?” he said.

I nodded.

“Kyle, I’ll stay here with Mia. You go down the road a bit and you’ll find a small group by the side of the road. See if you can get more information. There are so many police here poised to get our girl out. We have to believe everything will be okay. They have the ambulance here, too, to make sure she’s okay when she gets out. They seem to be confident. We need to be too.”

I nodded again, struggling to smile. “I know. I’ll stop being worried when she’s in my arms again.”

Moving away, I went down the road a bit, and soon found the group Rowan’s dad was talking about. They were suiting up in bullet-proof vests, toting guns bigger than I’d ever been around.

“Jesus, I hope you don’t think you’re going to need those,” I said to the really big guy standing in front of me.

He looked up. “Who are you?”

“My wife. He’s got my wife in that house.”

“Shit, mate. We’re just waiting on word and we’ll go in if we can and get her,” he said, gruffly. He patted me on the shoulder. “I know this must seem scary, but we dress like this no matter what. We’ll get her out.”

Within minutes came the call, and he lit up with a big grin. “We’re good to go. Sounds like the way is clear.”

I closed my eyes, clasping my hands together.
Please be okay.

When I opened my eyes, they were gone. Whoever thought big men with big boots could move so quietly? But they did. Now all I could do was wait.