“It’s just—”
“Next door.” Memphis held up a hand. “That’s what you said last time.”
Without another word, she swept up Drake’s car seat and his diaper bag from his hook, then she marched to the center’s office, where two older women were chatting.
I stood at Memphis’s back and watched her read the riot act to the ladies and immediately pull Drake from their facility.
Both claimed they had no idea Memphis hadn’t given her approval.
“Jill said you didn’t mind. That he could go with her.”
“I did no such thing,” Memphis barked. “We’re done here.
You will not see us again.”
“We require a thirty-day—”
“Finish that sentence and I’ll call my sister-in-law, the chief of police, and let her know that your staff is taking children off premises without parental permission.” I leveled the women with a glare. “I believe they call that kidnapping.”
Both blanched.
Memphis turned and walked out the doors, looking both ways. Her hands were shaking. “I don’t know which house is hers.”
“Hang tight.” I stormed into the center and demanded Jill’s address.
When I came out, Memphis was standing on the sidewalk, the car seat and diaper bag at her feet and her eyes full of worry.
“It’s this one.” I steered her to the home next door, a small, single-level home with blue siding and a green door. Every window was dark. The porch light was off.
There was nothing but silence as I rang the doorbell over and over. Then I pounded my fist on the door, but it didn’t matter. No one was home.
“Are you sure it’s this one?” Memphis asked.
“They said blue house next door.” Every other home around the daycare was a shade of tan.
I pounded on the door again with no answer.
“What the fuck?” I backed away, scanning the street.
The color drained from Memphis’s face. “Where’s my son?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MEMPHIS
In just minutes the street had filled with police cruisers.
Winn pulled in last, getting out of an unmarked SUV, and rushed over to where we stood. Her officers followed, crowding in close to form a blockade around us.
My entire body trembled as I stood tucked into Knox’s side.
Winn took my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Tell me everything. From the beginning.”
The idea of saying the words— she took my son—made my throat close. Like he knew I wouldn’t be able to do it, Knox held me tighter and spoke for me.
He told her how we’d come to pick up Drake. How we’d gone to Jill’s house only to find it empty. How we’d both raced for the center, panicked and frantic, and demanded information from the owner and other caregivers—there hadn’t been much to share. No one in the building, not the women in the office or the girl in the nursery, had a clue where Jill would take Drake.
All we knew was that Jill had left with him, promising to return soon. And then she’d disappeared.
With every word Knox spoke, the tremors in my limbs amplified until I was sure that if not for his arm around my back, I would have buckled to the icy sidewalk.
Winn soaked in his statement like a sponge, listening without comment until he was finished. Then she began issuing orders to her officers. “Get Jill’s information. Start with her car. Description. License plate. Make and model.
Push an AMBER Alert immediately. Then run her plates and get it out around town. Dig into her phone after that. See if we can track her to a cell tower.”
“You got it, Chief.” One of the men took off running for the center’s front doors.
“Search her house,” Winn ordered two other officers.
They rushed off and only seconds later, I flinched at the boom of a door being kicked in.
“Has this ever happened before?” Winn asked.
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Once. She took Drake with her to run home. But she was only gone for a few minutes. I told her she couldn’t do that again.”
“What’s her relationship with Drake?” Winn asked.
“She loves him. She acts like she loves him.” Maybe she loved him too much. My head was spinning. My legs began to crumble.
“Breathe.” Knox held me tighter. “Breathe, Memphis.”
I filled my lungs, the sting in my nose bringing a new set of tears. “Do you think she might have taken him? That she wants to keep him?”
“This is most likely just a miscommunication,” Winn said.