UNSEEN (12 page)

"
Then be excited for her if she recovers, and mourn with her if she doesn't."

"
This is what I've always wanted, but I didn't want to get it this way, and what about..." She stopped and looked away.

"
It is okay to be excited." He shook her by the shoulders, "This is a good thing. Super good."

"
It's just such a big change in our lives. How will our relationship change?" The floodgates were threatening to open.

"
Whatever happens, we're in this together. I'm not going anywhere."

"
This could be the biggest thing we've ever had to face."

"
We've had challenges before, we'll work through this one too."

She nodded stiffly. "You're right. I'm worrying for nothing." She dabbed the sides of her watery eyes. "I'm glad you were here. I feel so much better about this whole thing.” Her eyes flicked up. "Aren't you supposed to be buried in sales today?"

He avoided the topic of his job, figuring that pill would go down a lot smoother if she were to get the contract with the traveling theater company. He went straight to the crisis with his sister. "My mom called this morning. It's about Gabe."

She gave him a fragile look.

"
You know the killer, the one on the news?"

She gasped.

"
They think he has Gabe."

Her eyes looked like they were going to explode out of her head. "Why didn't you tell me? Here I am going on and on..."

"
It's okay, Jenna. You didn't know."

"
How? How does that even happen in Sunbury?"

"
That's what I thought, but it's happening. I spoke with the FBI agent running the investigation. They're trying to piece the clues together and talk to suspects."

"
Holly must be devastated."

"
She’s well beyond that."

"
So—what are you doing here?"

That question threw him off, but he recovered quickly. "I grabbed Dan's laptop from his apartment and stopped by here to use the bathroom and grab a couple things."

"
Is there anything I can do?"

"
Not really. Are you done with the theater for the day?"

"
We're supposed to go back, but this is way more important."

"
Well, why don't you go, and if anything comes up, I'll call you."

"
Are you sure? I wouldn't feel right abandoning you..."

"
You're not abandoning me. There isn't much we can do except wait for the FBI to catch this guy."

"
You’re sure?" Her lip trembled.

Jenna was not as good at suppressing emotion as Jake. Her body’s response to everything was to cry. She cried when she was happy. She cried when she was sad. She cried when she was frustrated. Jake wasn't sure why she started crying now. It could have been a feeling of helplessness, he didn't know, but he knew better than to ask. Jenna could never make sense of the plethora of emotions swirling around inside her. The best course of action for Jake to take was to wrap his arms around her and let her work through whatever emotions she needed to process.

So that's what he did. He held her tight, and looked toward the kitchen. On the counter, still sitting in the water glass, sat the little white rose, a stark reminder of what had happened that morning, and of what the mysterious old woman had said to him. Her words echoed in his mind. "Don't let the flower die, Jake. Don't let the flower die."

A single question formed in his mind.

Was Gabe the flower?

Chapter 13

Jake pulled out his phone as he got to the elevator at the end of his hall. He thumbed in Dan's number and put it to his ear.

"
Hello?"

"
Hey, Dan. Have you heard anything new?"

"
There was a special news break on channel five a few minutes ago, but they didn't say anything we don't already know."

"
What’d they say?"

"
You know, standard stuff. On his fifth anniversary the Cape murderer strikes in Sunbury, Maine, blah blah blah. They mentioned Holly, but it was obvious they don't have a clue about what's going on. You should see all the activity out front. It's a circus."

"
How’s Holly doing?"

"
She's been making calls. It sounds like she’s trying to figure out if any of her friends know anything." Dan spoke low into the phone. "She keeps calling this one girl, Stacy. I get the impression she knows something."

Jake didn’t know much about Stacy, but what he did know wasn't good. Stacy was plugged into the drug scene. She was one of Holly’s suppliers, and for a high school drop-out, she sure knew a lot about chemistry.

The elevator made a ding, and the doors opened. A man stepped out with a box. Jake gave him a nod and stepped on the elevator.

"
What do you think she knows?"

"
I don't know for sure, but I get the impression from Holly's side of the conversation that there are a lot of people who have hung around Gabe in the last year. She's trying to figure out who he would trust enough to go somewhere with."

Jake looked up. The red-haired woman was stepping onto the elevator with her little girl trailing behind. Both had somber looks, and the woman was red around the eyes, like she’d been crying. Her daughter clung to her leg.

"
Well, tell Holly to be careful what she says on that phone. If you know what I mean."

"
You think it's tapped?"

"
I'm sure it is. That’s probably the first thing they do."

"
Hold on a sec, she just got off." Jake listened.

Ding. Slowly the elevator doors crept open. The woman moved quickly, pulling free of her daughter’s grip, and headed off down the hall. The girl quietly chased after her. Jake thought it was odd, but he had enough on his plate to think about.

He stepped off and looked down the hall toward the east wing of the schoolhouse. He decided it would be wise to check one more time for the ghost-girl before heading back over to his sister's apartment.

"
Jake?" That was Dan.

"
Yeah, I'm here."

"
Your sister’s not happy."

Jake heard her screaming in the background. There was a shuffle with the phone, and Holly came on. "They tapped my phone?"

"
I don't know, Holly. I'm not a police officer, but I think it’s standard procedure for them to tap the phone in a kidnapping case."

"
What am I going to do, Jake?"

"
Well, who did you call, what did you say?"

"
I called everyone I could think of that's been here in the last year, everyone I had a phone number for."

"
Did you talk about anything illicit?"

"
No. I told them what was going on, and asked if they’d seen anything—or asked for phone numbers."

"
You told them Gabe had been taken?"

"
Yeah. I wanted to see what their reaction was. I wanted to see if they acted suspicious. They're going to kill me. The FBI's gonna break down their doors and dig through their stuff. I'm dead, Jake, dead!”

"
Calm down, Holly. It's okay. These guys are careful. You told them Gabe was taken. They know what that means. They’re probably covering their tracks as we speak."

"
You think they knew about the tap?"

"
I don’t know what they know, but since the feds are in town, they’re probably being extra careful."

"
You're right, Jake. Now that I think of it, some of them did sound weird, like they were being careful what they said." Her exhale of relief was noticeable.

"
So you're okay, Holly. Just hold tight and don't make any more phone calls."

"
I wouldn't say I’m okay. They may be able to cover their tracks, but they’re still not going to be happy about it."

"
Yeah I know. It's an ugly mess. But just stay low until I get there. I won't be long."

"
Okay. I'll stay off the phone, but hurry."

"
I will, Holly."

He pressed the cancel button and slid the phone back into his pocket with more emphasis than usual. As far back as he could remember, his sister had always had a way of making every situation worse. The only reason either of them still had a relationship at all was because Jake continued to forgive her. It wasn't always immediate, as was the case now. Sometimes he allowed himself a brief moment of bitterness, but that was all. As quickly as the fire rose up inside his heart, the waters of forgiveness were already beating it down.

Jake came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. In the distant echo of the staircase, he heard the muffled cry of a baby. He froze and listened. The crying persisted. Slowly he climbed the stairs, listening intently. The sound was growing louder as he went, it was definitely inside the stairwell.

He rounded the turn to the last flight and looked up, expecting to see a mother with her baby, but there was no one. Where was the sound coming from? It was very loud now, filling every square inch of space at the top of the stairwell. He continued climbing, and, as his eyes crested the top of the last stair, he saw it, a baby, lying on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. As he approached, the baby's cries dwindled to a coo. It's large round eyes locked onto his face, and remained fixed.

"
Hey, little—guy?" Jake said, checking to see if the child was hurt. "How did you get here?"

The baby stared through the droplets still clinging to his lashes. Jake decided it was a he. The male traits were distinct in his face, and he was wearing blue.

"
Where's your mommy? We need to find your mommy."

Jake heard a noise beyond the stairwell door. When he got to his feet to check it out, the baby began crying again.

"
It's okay. I'm not going anywhere, buddy. I'm just looking for your mommy."

This did not appease the baby in the slightest, and he let Jake know by taking a deep breath and letting loose a howl.

Jake opened the door and looked down the hallway just in time to see a woman reach the elevator. There was no possible reason why she could not hear the baby’s crying, yet she ignored it and pressed the button. Jake started to call out, but when she turned sideways, he froze. Judging by the size of her belly, the woman in the hallway was at least eight months pregnant. How could she be the mother of the child in the stairwell? But still, even if she wasn't the child's mother, why was she ignoring his cries? She stepped on the elevator.

Jake called out, "Hey!"

He took two steps forward and looked back at the door closing behind him. When it sealed, he could still hear the baby clearly. This solidified his assumption. The woman on the elevator may not have been the baby’s mother, but she had to have heard him crying. He started running for the elevator. He thought to call out again, but if she was ignoring him, he didn't want to give her warning that he was coming. He heard the ding and saw the doors beginning to close. Five more feet! If he could just get his hand into the door, he could prevent it from closing. His feet slapped against the rug as he slowed himself down. His hand reached out for the crack that had almost sealed, but there was no way to reach the rubber bumper inside.

"
Hey!" he screamed, slapping on the elevator door. "Hey!"