The Perfect Solution-A Suspense of Choices (22 page)

Linda giggled and wiped her eyes.

"You are so crazy. I don't think I would be able to joke about anything right now," she said in amazement.

"Believe me, it is hard. I can either be laughing or crying. I'm trying not to cry anymore and I want you to stop. We are working by faith here. Brhin will be back, tonight. We just have to believe that."

"I understand that. I just feel as if I lost my child. Brhin has been in my life so long. He's like my kid. And then again maybe like my little brother," she amended.

Phae and Catrine laughed.

"Let's keep it at 'brother'," advised Phalene. "You need no children of your own." Stuffing her hands deep in her pockets, she gave an expressive shudder. "Cat, open the door it's freezing. We can finish this conversation inside." She squeezed out through her chattering teeth.

Unlocking her apartment's door, Catrine swiftly stepped into the silent house. Quickly crossing the small foyer and flicking on the light in the living room, she absorbed the fact that the room was slightly untidy with Brhin's scattered toys and gulped in anguish. The coloring book and crayons that he had used that morning were lying on the coffee table next to a forgotten bowl of half eaten cereal. The forgotten mess in its curdled milk, reminding her of the little things she had not done for him that day.

"God, give me strength to not cry again," she prayed aloud.

Removing her coat and tossing it to the arm of the nearest chair, she continued her determined pace to the desk without a pause in her stride. Pushing the button on the phone system's identification box she sat on the desk's edge.

"Phae, do you think Brhin may have called?" Her glance begged for an affirmative reply.

"I hope so. All we can do is pray. The woman may not have a telephone." Phae fluttered her hand towards Linda. "Linda turn on the television, maybe they are showing a broadcast about Brhin. I hope they have put out an Amber Alert. It is supposed to be a standard thing when a child is missing." She pulled her hat off and sat on the arm of the chair across from Catrine. "Did you get many calls?"

"There are four on the answering machine. I'm checking the id box first. It picks up the identification of those who hang-up without leaving a message." Catrine explained. "There's one call from a coworker, two calls from a M. Boots. I don't know anyone by that name and damn, one from Austin. I wish the police hadn't told him anything. Tonight is not be a good night for confrontations, he probably wants to kill me." She pushed the button on the answering machine. "The answering machine has a prerecorded voice that announces the time that each call was made," she informed the two women.

"Who is Austin?" asked Linda curiously.

"Shhh,” Catrine answered. “You’ll find out before the night is over, the tape is about to start."

The first call was a short message from a squeaky voiced coworker checking on Catrine's progress with her illness. It was timed in at 7:40 p.m. The second call was a hang-up that was timed at 7:55. The beep sounded for the third call and silence whirred. Impatient with its speed, Catrine fast-forwarded the tape. Releasing the buttons, the words 'just like ours' said in a small babyish voice traveled through the stillness of the room.

"That's Brhin." The three women shouted at the same time, Phae and Linda jumping up and running across the room to crowd around the desk.

"Rewind it, Catrine. Hurry up." Phae moved to stand near Catrine's side and leaned over the machine.

"I am I am."

Releasing the button, Catrine prayed that Brhin had somehow given a clue to his location.

"Damn, I went too far."

"Leave it," Phae pulled Catrine's hand away from the machine. "Those messages were short."

"Okay."

Putting her hand over her mouth, Catrine nervously waited for the sound of Brhin's voice.

"Momma, when are you coming to get me?"

Catrine moaned in anguish at the sadness in Brhin's voice. It was obvious he was crying and doing his best to stop. The urge to run out of the door and go get her child was hard not to succumb to. Getting a tight rein on her emotions, she focused on the rest of his words in the hopes that he would give clues to where he was.

"I don't know this lady, Momma. I know you din't send her for me." Brhin continued. "She says you don't want me anymore and that we are gonna leave tomorrow. She's gonna change my name. I don't want my name changed. She says she gonna give me everything I want. I want you. She went across the street to the McDonald's three times already. We go there for brea'fast. She's there now. I don't wanna be here, she left me by myself. If you don't come and get me, I'm gonna call 911 again. This house is big and yellow. Two numbers are just like ours. One is a four and the other is a zero. I don't know if the others are six or nine. And...."

The sounds of a door being opened and closed could be heard in the background.

"Are you playing on the phone, my son?" A woman's voice asked.

"No, my momma said the phone is not a toy." answered Brhin.

"Did someone call?"

"No."

"Did you call anyone?"

"I called a lot of times." Brhin, as honest as the day was long, began to explain what he had been doing. "I called my momma, I called...."

"Right, you're such a funny little fellow." The female voice replied laughter and disbelief in her voice. Speaking as if she were talking to a baby she said, "Let me listen. There is no one there, honey," She gushed. "No more playing on the phone, understand?"

"Yes, lady I’m sorry."

"Call me 'momma'. I have...."

The line went dead. "The time is 7:57," Said the mechanical voice of the answering machine.

"That was thirty minutes ago," Catrine pushed the pause button on the machine. "I should have been here instead of at that damned daycare. I should be there. We must have passed the house on the way here. Let's go back. We'll look for the house, find Brhin and when we do, I'll beat the life out of that woman."

"No." Phae and Linda said in unison.

"What's the matter with the both of you? Wouldn't you want to go and get your child?" Catrine looked at them in disgust. "Do you think I am afraid of her?"

"No, but you don't know if that woman is dangerous. She might have a gun." Phae continued. "She may even hurt Brhin. Anyone that goes through the trouble that she has to get Brhin obviously has a backup plan if something went wrong. Be glad that the machine was on and he was able to leave so many clues. Get the phone book. Maybe we can find her address by using the name and number from the id box. God, aren't you glad I talked you into getting the system? You being cheap and not wanting to add it to your phone bill."

"Yes, Mother. You have the greatest ideas." Catrine pulled the phone book from the drawer and flicked through the pages. "Damn she must have a private number. It’s not listed in the book."

"Maybe it's a new number. Sometimes those don't get in the book before printing."

"Maybe we can find it on the internet. Sometimes you can on reverse search on Anywho.com."

"Great idea, you go get on the computer and search it out for me. While you're doing that, I guess we could listen to the last call before I call the police and give them the information we did get."

She pushed the 'play' button on the machine and stepped back at the voice that erupted. The anger in his voice could be felt throughout the room as if his presence was right there. It had been years since she had last heard Austin's voice and still the deep baritones did something to her. Holding her hand close to her heart, Catrine listened to the message.

"Catrine, this is Austin. I guess you remember me, right? What a hell of a way for a man to find out he's a father, huh? I cannot wait to see you. I will be there within the hour. I wish I was close to you, now so I could show you how I feel." The line clicked dead.

"Well, now I know who 'Austin' is." Linda sat back in the chair she had vacated earlier. "He sounds like a hunk. Is he?"

Catrine shot a look of irritation at Linda and didn't answer.

"Is he?" Phalene made a fanning motion. You've never seen a picture of him? Wait a minute." She bent down to the shelf under the coffee table and pulled out a photo album.

"No." Catrine yanked the album from Phalene's hands and shoved it back under the table. "Not right now. I don't want to see him any sooner than I have to. Linda you go ahead and get on the computer."

"I guess you'll be meeting the infamous Mr. Sanchez in person within the next few minutes. He’s outside using his cell."

"Damn, as if I don't have enough eating my nerves." She punched out the numbers to the police station. "This is Catrine Teddi," she turned her attention to the telephone receiver and responded to the questioning voice on the other end of the line. "I reported my three year old son missing earlier this evening."

"Yes, I'm the one that took that call. Has he been found? Have the police been there to talk to you yet?"

"No, but I just returned home from The P. S. Center, listened to my answering machine, Brhin had called. He left a few clues to his location. The woman's voice is even on the machine. I believe that Brhin is being kept somewhere on Washington Street near the McDonald's."

"That's great. It should really be a big help. I believe a 911 call was made from a house on that street. It was canceled though. Seemed a woman at the house claimed that her kid was playing on the phone. Hold on just a minute. I need to see why no one has been to your house. Someone should have come there by now."

"He has put me on hold," She said in undertones to Phalene and Linda. "He agreed that this message should make it easier to find Brhin. He also said that a child on that street made a 911 call, but the woman in the house said her child was just playing on the phone. I bet that was Brhin." She stated proudly, doing a little two-step in her excitement. "He is so smart."

She turned her attention back to the phone.

"Oh, yes I am still here. “She hung up the phone.”He said to sit tight and they will call back when they find out something and in the meantime someone should be coming to setup a tap on the phone."

"I'll call Frank and the girls and let them know how things are going. They must be worried sick. They really love Brhin." She picked up the phone and dialed home. "Frank? What?" She put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Catrine. "He said to put the television on Channel 22. They're showing the newscast about Brhin."

Moving in one accord, the three women went to sit in front of the television and watched as news of Brhin's abduction was flashed across the screen. Linda and Catrine sat with their hands over their mouth, while Phalene talked into the phone's receiver.

"Yes, yes Frank we're watching."

The film clip came on with an outside shot of The P. S. Center. It reviewed old clippings of the fanfare the media had made of the center's grand opening and spouting its virtues before announcing the enormous mistake that had been made that day.

The newscaster, a woman wearing a green jacket, described the abduction and the camera panned into the photo of Brhin that Catrine had given to the police officer. Fragments of the conversations between the staff and Catrine were played. The tape showed Mrs. Wall giving a tour of the building and Stephanie Franklin begging for the child to be returned to his mother. The broadcast ended by showing various phone numbers to call if any information was known.

"You know," Linda sat back in her chair. "When most broadcasts like this end, it's usually the mother that cries for her child. Do you think Mrs. Wall had them do it this way so that she could gain some kind of leverage in case you decided to sue her?"

“That's exactly what I was thinking," Catrine agreed. "She's lucky I don't go over there and burn down the damned center with her and her staff in it." She leaned back and closed her eyes, dragging her hand through her hair over and over again before letting them fall loosely to her side. "God I'm miserable."

"You are going to make some kind of lawyer, Linda." Phae stated at the observation made by Linda. "What? Yes, Frank. The police say they have a few clues that they are checking out and they'll call back. When we know for sure, I'll call you. I love you too, Honey. Bye."

Catrine left her chair to get a Kleenex. She blew her nose and coughed a couple of times.

"I think I'm going to lie down for a while, my head is killing me. I'm...." she paused at the ringing of the doorbell. "I'll get it.”

Austin stood in the doorway, beautiful as his features were; the anger in his face caused her to pause in her rush to welcome him.

“What’s the problem, Austin?”

“There’s no problem.”

“You’re looking as if something has happened.”

“It doesn’t matter just something at work. I’ll handle it. Are you going to back up and let me in?”

Catrine stepped out of his path

“Sorry come on.”

"I'm going to leave now." Linda spoke from the doorway of the living room. "My mom is probably worried."

"Okay." Catrine walked around Austin to hold the door open for Linda. "I'll call you as soon as something happens."