What Follows After: A Novel (8 page)

At this point, Colt just wanted to run. Go anywhere, be anywhere but here.

But how could he? The two FBI agents were standing right behind him. Somehow, they had figured out his whole scheme. It was shot to pieces now. Nothing had gone the way he’d planned. He should’ve listened to Murph, his best friend. Murph lived across the street. He’d told Colt not to do this, said it could never work. Colt thought he was just being negative. He could be that way sometimes.

This time Murph was right.

Colt looked at the telephone. How could he tell Uncle Mike and Aunt Rose what he had done? He was supposed to show up there with Timmy. They would’ve been upset at first, because of the surprise, maybe even get a little angry. But he figured since they were so nice, they’d get over it quickly and shift their focus to the reason he and Timmy were there. They’d start asking them questions about how bad things had gotten at home between Mom and Dad. The way they were treating them now, and had been for months. Colt’s parents would be the ones getting in trouble.

But now Timmy was gone, and it was all his fault.

“You know the number?” It was the FBI agent who smoked, the meaner one.

“I wrote it down.” Colt pulled the napkin out of his pocket, unwrinkled it, and set it on the counter next to the telephone.

“Take your time,” Vic, the nicer one, said. “You know how to reverse the charges? Want me to handle that?”

“No, I can do it.” Colt dialed the operator, told her what he was trying to do, gave her the number. A few moments later, he heard her and Aunt Rose talking on the phone. As soon as she heard it was him calling, she instantly said she’d accept the charges. The operator connected them.

“Colt, that you? What’s wrong, honey? Why are you calling?”

“Yes, it’s me, Aunt Rose.” He was about to say everything was all right, but it wasn’t. “It’s kind of a long story, Aunt Rose. Mom and Dad are separated and—”

“What?”

“Mom and Dad are separated. They’re not getting along for some reason. They won’t tell us why. It’s been going on since last Christmas.”

“Last Christmas? That’s almost a year. They’ve been separated all this time?”

“Yeah, and see, the thing is, they’ve been making Timmy and me lie about it, all this time, to everyone. Folks in the family, in our neighborhood, even at our school. Timmy and I were getting really tired of it. And the way they were treating us. We were so unhappy, all the time.”

“I’m so sorry, Colt,” she said. “Little boys shouldn’t have to deal with things like that.”

No, they shouldn’t, he thought. But that was something he wanted to hear her say with him standing there in her living room, him and Timmy. Wait till she hears the rest of what I have to say, he thought.

“You better get to the main point,” the smoking FBI agent said. “It’s long distance.”

“Give him a minute, Nate,” Vic said.

“Listen, Aunt Rose, that’s not why I called. Something’s happened. Something bad.”

“What’s the matter?” she said.

“It’s Timmy, he’s . . .” Colt started to lose it. He couldn’t say the word. Vic, the nicer agent, took the phone from him as he started to cry.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but Colt is pretty upset. I better explain, at least what I know. Give him a minute to calm down.” Vic reached over on the counter for a clean napkin and handed it to Colt.

“Who are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m Special Agent Victor Hammond, with the FBI.”

“FBI?”

“Yes, the FBI. You already heard Colt talking about the problems he’s having at home. Apparently, he and Timmy decided to run away this morning. After their mom dropped them off at school, they hopped on a Greyhound bus heading for Savannah, intending to visit you and your husband. Are you . . . what’s your relationship to Colt’s parents?”

“I’m his mother’s younger sister. Mike and I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right in their relationship, Scott seemed so—”

“Scott’s his father’s name?”

“Yes, Scott and Gina. That’s my sister’s name. But I don’t understand . . . you said they took a Greyhound bus to Savannah. Where are they now?”

“We’re about thirty minutes north of Jacksonville, in a diner off US-1.”

“A diner? What are you doing there? Did Colt and Timmy miss their bus?”

“I’m afraid it’s much worse than that. But listen, you better just let me explain. You keep asking questions and this phone call’s gonna cost you a fortune.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“The bus stopped here for people to get a snack and use the restroom. During that time, Colt went to the bathroom by himself. When he came out, Timmy was gone.”

“I told him to stay put,” Colt said. “But he didn’t listen.”

“Gone?” Rose said. “What do you mean, gone?” She sounded frantic.

“It appears that someone took him, a man wearing a gray hat.”

“Oh Lord . . . no.”

“A waitress saw him—this man—leading Timmy out the door of the diner while Colt was in the bathroom. It looks like he lured him away with comic books.”

“Oh no, please, God.”

She was crying, but he had to continue. “Colt ran outside in time to see Timmy and this man riding south on another bus.”

“Where?”

“We don’t know where right now. It was heading toward Jacksonville, but once it got there, we have no idea which direction it went. This all just happened about thirty minutes ago.”

“Can’t you do something? We’ve got to find him! We’ve got to get Timmy back!”

“We’re going to do everything we can. Right now, I need to get word to his parents. Colt said they’re both still at work. He knows his own number but doesn’t have those numbers memorized, said they’re written down on a pad next to the telephone at home. Do you have those numbers by any chance?”

“I believe I have Gina’s work number, but not Scott’s. This is terrible.” She was crying again. “Excuse me, I have to get some tissues.”

“Ma’am?” She was gone. He heard noises on the other end.

“I found Gina’s work number,” she said when she returned.

She gave it to him, and he wrote it down.

“Can I ask you a favor?” she said. “Would you let me try to reach her first? I understand you need to talk with them yourself, but I’d rather she hear something like this from family. It’s going to be horrible no matter who tells her, but it might be a little less painful for her if she hears it from me first.”

“I guess we can do that, but I will need to talk to her right after. Call me when you’re done.”

“Okay. Is there anything you want me to ask her?”

“We’re going to need a recent picture of Timmy to put out over the wire.”

“How’s she’s supposed to get the picture to you?”

“My partner Nate and I are gonna drive Colt down there now. It might take us a few hours, with all the traffic. Tell her to have it ready when we get there. We’ll be contacting all the bigger police departments in central and northern Florida, see if they can get some squad cars to patrol the bus stations. Maybe we’ll get lucky. But it’ll be a lot better if we have a picture to work with.”

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What do you mean by
some
squad cars? A little boy’s been kidnapped by a strange man. What could be more important than that? Every policeman in every city should be out looking for him.”

How could he explain this? “I agree with you, ma’am. They should be. But something big is going on in the country right now. I’m not sure if you’re seeing anything in Savannah, but we’re seeing them all over the place here in Florida.”

“You mean the Army trucks and soldiers?”

“Yes,” Vic said. “President Kennedy’s getting on television tonight to explain what’s going on. I don’t know everything. But I do know this, it’s making life pretty crazy for law enforcement right now, on every level. But I promise you, we’re going to do everything we can to find Timmy.”

There was a long pause. Vic heard her quietly crying on the other end. Finally she said, “How’s Colt holding up? He must feel terrible about this.”

Vic looked at the boy sitting in the booth, staring at the floor. “He’s holding up okay, I guess. But he’s very worried about his little brother.” At that, Colt looked up at him. Tears filled his eyes.

“But please tell him for us, for his Uncle Mike and me, that we love him and we’re going to pray nonstop that God protects Timmy and brings him home safe. And also tell him that we’re gonna drive down there tonight, to Daytona Beach, to be with him and his folks.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear that,” Vic said.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” she said.

“I’ll take care of anything else. You going to call her now?”

“As soon as I get off the phone with you.”

“Then we’ll wait here at the diner a few minutes. Have her call me here after you’ve talked with her. She won’t be able to reach me once we get on the road.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

He gave her the number to the diner then heard Rose start to cry again and say, “What am I going to tell Gina?”

The black-and-white cityscape appeared on the small square screen of her television set, accompanied by the soothing voice of the network commentator: “And now. . .
The
Edge
of
Night
, brought to you by . . . Tide. The one that works the hardest to get your clothes the cleanest clean there is.” She waited as the familiar piano and organ music finished playing the theme song.

Gina hadn’t been able to watch her stories for so long.

She sat back in her chair, knowing this show couldn’t take her mind off her missing boys. Nothing could. But maybe some noise would help to fill the empty space.

She glanced out the front window. Scott had left the house five minutes ago, said he couldn’t sit there anymore doing nothing. He was going to drive around, see if he could find the boys. Since the policeman had left, the two of them had tried to stay out of each other’s way. It felt hopelessly awkward. There was so much to talk about, so much that needed to be said. But now just wasn’t the time. It would only end in another fight, and a big one. Half her thoughts were about blaming Scott for creating the situation they were facing in the first place, by cheating on her with that secretary. And for the ongoing neglect of his sons since he’d moved out. The other half were even worse: flashes of memories—too many of them—of
her yelling at the boys for little things that seemed like a petty overreaction now. She’d never used to do that; she wasn’t a yeller. But now she did it so much, Colt and Timmy felt the need to run away.

To escape from her.

The TV characters blurred as tears filled her eyes. The phone rang. She jumped and hurried to turn off the television. She stood by the phone, took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Gina?”

It wasn’t them. It sounded like her sister, Rose. And she sounded upset. “Rose? Is that you?”

“It’s me, Gina. So, you’re home? I thought you didn’t get off till five.”

“I don’t, normally. Why are you calling? Is everything okay?”

“Up here it is. How are you doing?”

Could she know? “Not very well, to tell you the truth.”

“Because of the boys?”

“You know about the boys?”

“I’ve spoken with Colt.”

“You’ve talked with Colt! When? Are they with you?”
Please say yes
.

“No, they’re not. I wish they were.”

What did she mean by that? Gina heard her inhale deeply over the phone. “Rose, when did you talk to Colt?”

“Just a few minutes ago. He’s with some agents from the FBI.”

“The FBI?”

“I’m afraid so.”

She felt instant relief. But why did Rose say “I’m afraid so”? “Then they’re safe, right? The FBI has them?”

“Gina, listen . . . there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What, Rose? What’s the matter?”

“Colt’s all right. He’s a little shaken up, but that’s all.”

“What about Timmy? Where’s Timmy?” A too-long pause. “Rose, where’s Timmy? Isn’t he with Colt?”

“Gina . . . something’s happened. Is Scott there with you?”

“Scott? No, Scott’s out looking for the boys. Rose, tell me. What’s the matter?” She heard Rose begin to cry on the other end. Her legs began to feel weak. She sat in a hardback chair.

“Timmy is missing,” Rose said. “He’s not with Colt.”

“What do you mean, missing? Why isn’t he with Colt? Colt would never leave his little brother.”

“He didn’t mean to. He only left him a few minutes while he went to the bathroom. Apparently, some man lured him out the door with comic books. They were at some bus stop or diner, a little north of—”

“No!” Gina screamed into the phone. “He can’t be missing. Oh God, no!” She let go of the receiver and dropped to the floor. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It seemed like her whole body was sobbing. How could Timmy be missing? Taken away by a strange man? This couldn’t be real. She pulled her knees close to her chest and buried her face as she cried.

A few moments later, she heard a faint voice calling her name over and over through the receiver. She didn’t want to, but she picked up the phone.

“Gina? Gina, please pick up the—”

“I’m here,” she managed somehow.

“I know,” Rose said. “This is horrible. I can’t believe I’m having to tell you these things. I wish I didn’t.”

“You said they were at a bus stop,” Gina said. “Where was this? Were they on a bus?”

“Colt and Timmy took a Greyhound bus this morning. I guess their plan was to come here, to see Mike and me. Really, I don’t know
what’s going on, but Colt said you guys are having some problems and you’ve been separated awhile. I guess whatever’s happening was really starting to bother them, and for some reason, they thought coming here might help the situation. Or maybe they were just trying to escape. I don’t know. The bus stopped awhile at this diner, and that’s when . . . that’s when Timmy and Colt got separated.”

She pulled herself back to her feet. “So Timmy took a bus somewhere? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Looks that way. I don’t have that many details. The FBI agent wants to talk to you. He said they’re going to leave in a few minutes to take Colt back to Daytona.”

“But what about Timmy? What are they doing to find him? Do they know which way the bus went? Where it’s going?”

“I don’t think they do. He said something about there being too many buses and bus stations all over Florida and not having enough people to search them all, because of all these army trucks.”

“Army trucks? How can that be more important than finding a little boy?”

Rose started crying. “I don’t know, Gina. It’s not. I don’t know what’s going on. But listen, Mike and I are gonna drive down there to be with you guys. I called him before I called you. He’s on his way home from work right now. We’ll leave as soon as he gets here.”

“Thanks, Rose. That means a lot.”

“I don’t know what we can do, but we’ll help any way we can. I’m gonna call that FBI agent as soon as I hang up. His name is Vic Hammond. He’s supposed to call you in a few minutes.”

“I’ll be here. I’m supposed to stay right by the phone.”

“Gina, Mike and I are going to keep praying that God will protect Timmy. Don’t give up hope.”

Gina said she would try not to, but that was just something to say. What little hope she had been clinging to had just shattered.