The Forgotten Night (21 page)

“No, that’s fine. I don’t mind.” Cassidy smiled at the doctor and nudged Andrew awake.

“You said your last period was the beginning of November so that would make you about ten or eleven weeks pregnant.”

Andrew smiled at Cassidy.

“You’re almost done with your first trimester.” She sounded astonished. “I’m running the calculations and I believe your due date will be anywhere between July twentieth and twenty-eighth, approximately.”

After getting the fundamentals on paper, the doctor proceeded to give Cassidy a full examination. Andrew opted to stay with her, which she didn’t mind.

“Your blood pressure is normal, which is a good sign, we just need to take a sample of your blood and we’ll be done. We’ll set up another appointment in about a month to check your progress and by that time you will be able to see the sex of the baby.”

“Thank you,” Cassidy said after they were all finished. It had taken them a little over an hour to finish their appointment. “I’m starved,” she said as they stepped onto the elevator heading down to the first floor.

“Me too, we’ll grab something to eat before we head home, how does that sound?”

“As long as it’s not fish,” she said, grabbing his hand.

“The smell of fish is making you sick?”

“Yeah, this morning I woke up and Sherry was already working on lunch. Something with…okay, I can’t even talk about it,” Cassidy said, clutching her stomach.

“You’re not repulsed at the smell of barbeque ribs anymore?”

“No, in fact do you think there are any left over from yesterday?”

Andrew chuckled. “I doubt it.”

“Why? Only you and Ian ate them.”

“I might have snuck out last night and ate the last of them.”

Cassidy hit him playfully. “Well, then I suppose a burger sounds good.”

Andrew laughed. “Burgers, it is, then. I love you, Cassie.”

“I love you, too, Andy,” she said as the elevator doors opened.

“Baby, why don’t you wait right here,” Andrew said, gesturing to a bench as they walked outside. “I’ll go get the car.”

“Andy, I’m not incapable of walking to the car.”

“I know, but I parked far away. I don’t want you slipping on any of the ice.”

“They’ve plowed the roads. I don’t think I’m in danger of slipping on any ice.”

“You never know.”

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t do a good job at catching me if I did slip.”

“Baby, I would catch you, but whether or not I could keep you up would be another thing.”

Cassidy hit him on the arm softly. “Are you implying that I’m fat?”

“No, not yet.”

“Hey!”

“In a good way, baby. Just sit here and wait for me, okay? This way the car will be warm when you get in.”

“So I’ll freeze out here waiting for you?”

“Exactly.” He smiled down at her then kissed her lovingly. “You see this guy had the right idea,” he said, pointing to the Toyota Camry that sat unattended in front of them.

“Well, he’s parked in a no parking zone, no one’s in the car and—”

“He’s probably getting his pregnant wife from inside, she probably went inside while he went to go get the car.” He winked.

“Yeah, yeah. I might go inside if you aren’t back soon.”

Andrew bent down and kissed her once more before stepping away. “I’ll be back.”

Cassidy waved at Andrew as he started to walk across the large parking lot. Andrew looked back at her sitting on the bench and smiled and nearly lost his balance.

Cassidy couldn’t contain her laughter.

“See this is why I’m bringing the car to you!” he yelled.

“I believe you, now!” she called back with a huge grin on her face. Cassidy had her purse in her lap while she waited for Andrew to come back with the car. He really must have parked far. She was glad he had made her wait. She was tired from waking up so early and answering so many questions.

Cassidy looked around the area and noticed how empty it looked. No one was outside, she didn’t even see anyone looking out of any of the windows. Eerie how quiet everything was, how empty everything felt. Where was Andrew?

Cassidy looked down at her watch just as she heard movement behind her. Her heart began racing faster and she felt uneasy. She heard the noise again and she turned just as something covered her face. She screamed but everything began to get blurry, fading, growing darker.

* * *

Andrew turned on the car, put it in reverse, and made his way back toward the entrance to the building. He pulled up to the sidewalk, to the bench Cassidy had been sitting on, but he didn’t see her. The car that had been parked there earlier was gone. Andrew killed the engine and stepped out of the car. She had probably just gone inside. Andrew left the car with the hazards on and went inside the building. No one was around, and he could find no signs of Cassidy anywhere.

Andrew walked back outside and looked around the area, seeing no one in sight. His heart started to pound and his pulse began to race. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Cassidy’s number. He heard the ringing both in his ear and close by. He looked around until he came upon a bush and saw her phone blinking. Her purse was also strewn in the bushes.

Andrew began to panic. He ended the call and searched through his wallet for the card the detectives had given them. It had been a year since the investigation had been finished, but he knew he had never taken their card out. He found it and dialed the number.

“This is Detective Coulter,” she answered.

“Detective Coulter, this is Andrew Winbright. I’m not sure if you remember me, but you worked on a case involving Cassidy Ames.”

“Yes, yes, I remember, what is it? The case has been closed and Mr. Stokes put behind bars, if I’m not mistaken.”

“No, you’re right, it’s just Cassie. I took her to a doctor appointment and she’s missing, Detective. Someone has her! I only left her for a few minutes. I came back and she was gone. I found her cell phone and purse in the bushes.”

“All right, calm down, Mr. Winbright. Detective Rice and I are on our way over. Where did you say you were?”

Andrew gave her the location and address and waited for the detectives to arrive, all the while praying that Cassidy was all right.

“Now tell us again, what happened?” Detective Coulter asked. Andrew walked over the scene with them, but when they found nothing else, they went to Cassidy’s house to inform her parents what had happened and see if they knew anything.

“We went to a doctor’s appointment,” Andrew explained uncomfortably.

“For what? Is Cassidy okay?” Edward demanded.

“Uh…” Andrew hadn’t told the detectives about the pregnancy. “She was feeling sick—you know that bug has been going around.” Mr. and Mrs. Ames nodded in understanding and pressed Andrew to continue. “I left her sitting on the bench, there had been a silver Toyota Camry, 2008, I think, parked near her. I went to go get the car, it took me a couple of minutes because I had parked so far away. When I came back, she was gone. And I looked inside, but nothing.” Andrew felt his throat tighten. “You have to find her, please.”

“Andrew, we are doing everything we possibly can, but as of right now, there’s not much to work on,” Detective Rice told him.

“Wait, there is something else,” Andrew said, looking up at the detective. He looked over at Rachel, who had been sitting quietly with Ian.

Rachel nodded. “Well, every time I’m with her she always seemed to get these phone calls, she claimed they were wrong numbers, but they came so often and she always seemed to be a little scared or upset when she got off the phone.”

“I told Edward and he said he was looking into it,” Andrew said and Mr. Ames nodded in confirmation.

“Did you recognize the number?” Detective Coulter asked.

“No, it was always a private number. That’s why I asked Edward to take a look,” Andrew answered.

“My guy is still working on it, tracing the number back, whatever it is that computer guys do,” Edward said tightly.

“Anything else?” Detective Coulter prompted.

“Right before the phone call,” Rachel continued, “she got this letter. It was addressed to our house, but it was for Cass. It had no return address and no postage, like somebody dropped it in the mail that day. She was kind of apprehensive about opening it up.”

“What did it say?”

“I still have it,” she said, pulling it out of her bag. “It says, ‘I hear congratulations are an order’.”

“You know, Cassidy has been getting those same kind of letters in the mail,” Edward said. “She never told me who they were from, so I guessed they were from Andrew.”

“They aren’t from me,” Andrew supplied quickly, wondering why she’d never told him about them. “Do you know where the other letters are?”

“Probably somewhere in her room, she might have thrown them out. You’re welcome to go look for them,” Mr. Ames said to Andrew and the detectives.

“I think I might know where they are,” interjected Rachel. “I’ll be right back.” They all watched as Rachel went upstairs and waited until she returned with a small shoebox in her hands. “I think these are all of them,” she said, handing over the box to the detectives.

Detective Rice opened the box. “These are all handwritten.”

“Why would someone hand write letters if they thought there was a possibility of tracing it back?” Andrew asked.

“Maybe this person doesn’t plan to get caught,” Detective Rice thought out loud.

“Or maybe they are mimicking someone else’s handwriting,” Detective Coulter offered.

“Whatever their motive, you have to get to the bottom of this,” Andrew pushed.

“Did anyone else know you were going to this appointment?”

“No, just Rachel and Ian, but they were at home this entire time,” Andrew said.

“We’ll look into every avenue, but for now we’ll wait to see who has been calling,” Detective Rice said.

“Do you know of anyone who has a grudge against Cassidy or you, for that matter?” Detective Coulter asked him.

Andrew looked at Rachel then back at Detective Coulter. “Brian Fisher. He and I had a fight a couple nights ago, Christmas Eve. He’s always disliked Cassie, but it wasn’t until recently that he’s really been more aggressive.”

“Okay, we’ll take a look. We’re doing everything we can to find her. We’ll keep in touch.” Detective Coulter gave him a reassuring smile as she turned to go.

“Detectives?” Mr. Ames said. He had stepped away for a few moments and was just now entering the room. “I just got off the phone with my tech guy. He says he’ll have everything by tomorrow morning.”

“Okay, thank you. Call us when you have a name and we’ll work on a warrant,” Detective Coulter said. She and Detective Rice left.

* * *

Cassidy felt nauseous. It was dark, and she was sore and groggy. She opened her eyes but she could see nothing. She tried to move, but her arms and feet were tied. She was lying on a bed, someplace she didn’t recognize. Cassidy’s pulse quickened. She was scared and she wanted to believe this was all a dream, but she couldn’t. She had been sitting on a bench when someone came up behind her.

She tried pulling on the bonds around her wrists but it only made them chafed and red. She gave up her feeble attempt and focused on trying to see what was around her. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and she could make out certain features in the room. There was definitely a staircase leading up to somewhere along with some other miscellaneous items gathered in one corner. If she had to take a guess, she would suppose she was in a basement.

The lights turned on and Cassidy closed her eyes, blinded by the sudden brightness. She heard laughter along with footsteps. Cassidy opened her eyes slowly, giving them time to adjust to the light.

“What do you want?” she called out. “Who are you?”

Only more laughter. Cassidy’s throat tightened. She would not cry. She would not give this psycho the satisfaction. She opened her eyes to the blinding light and looked in the direction of the voice. “You?”

Brian laughed. “Yes, me. Who else were you expecting?”

Robert. She had been terrified that he’d escaped again. “Why are you doing this?”

“Oh, there are so many answers to that question. One of which involves you and my brother.”

Cassidy stared back in confusion. “Your brother?”

“Oh, so you don’t know the family history? Well, my father, the bastard, cheated on my mother and got someone pregnant. I didn’t even know I had a brother until three years ago, but imagine my surprise when he comes knocking on my door telling me I’m his half-brother.”

Cassidy tried to think of who it could have been and why it involved her.

“You see, Robert was my brother and we were doing so great, finally feeling like a real family but then you had to go and ruin it all. You had to go and cheat on him. You drove him over the edge.”

“I didn’t cheat on him! He was crazy, you’re crazy!”

“You’re hurting my feelings,” he mocked her. “It was all your fault. You shouldn’t have toyed with his feelings. You were only dating him because of Drew, don’t think I didn’t know that. I tried to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen. In fact, no one listens when it comes to you. I tried to tell Drew, but no, he just had to have you.”

“Shut up! You’re fucking crazy!” she screamed.

“See and there is my number two. You’re such a bitch! You don’t deserve Drew! You two were never supposed to happen. You made a mistake turning me away.”

“You’re punishing me because I turned you down, because I made a joke out of you in front of your friends? You’re a fucking loser, Brian!”

“Shut up!” he shouted at her, marching up to her.

“You’re playing the ‘if I can’t have her, then no one can’ card?”

“You put my brother behind bars! No chance of parole. Twenty years!”

“He fucking attacked me…twice!”

“Because you provoked him!”

“You are crazy,” she said softly. “Sooner or later Andy is going to find me. He’s going to figure out it was you, that it was all you. You want to know your first mistake? Handwriting the notes.”

“But that’s the thing, my handwriting is so perfectly similar to Robert’s.”