Andrea Kane - The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

Krissy. You need me here.

I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone.

It’s just for a little while. Today’s just an exception. It’s an emergency.

I’m worried. I’ve seen things on the news. Maybe they’re true. Maybe they’re not. I have to find out. But if they are, then photographs are being shown around. To doctors. Drugstores. They haven’t reached here.

But have they reached Sunny Gardens? Have they put the pieces together? I have to know. If they’re figuring things out, we’ll have to go.

We’ll find somewhere safe.

No one will find us. I won’t let them.

You belong with me.

Nothing and no one will take you away.

The construction crew was in full swing when Ryan climbed out of the van. He was still wearing his company work shirt, and he was carrying a toolbox. Gecko was tucked safely at the bottom of that box.

With all that was going on-cranes lifting building supplies, backhoes traveling back and forth across the construction site, and dozens of workmen, hammering, drilling and calling out to each other-Ryan was pretty sure he wouldn’t be noticed even without a disguise. But he wasn’t taking any chances. Looking like a harried serviceman, he stalked over to the requisite garden and squatted down, opening his toolbox and removing various tools.

Linda Turner was sitting ten feet away from him. It took all his control not to look her in the eye and demand to know where Krissy was. But that would destroy their entire plan and kill any chance of pulling things off without being found out and arrested. Not to mention that he had no idea if Linda was coherent enough to even know where Krissy was.

So he kept up the charade.

“Ma’am,” he greeted her when she turned her head his way.

“Hello.” She gazed at him with a vague expression in her eyes, and without the slightest hint of wondering who he was or what he was doing there.

“I won’t disturb you,” he provided, nonetheless. “I’ve got a few wires to check out here. Then I’ll be out of your way.”

“My daughter will be here later,” she replied, as if she either knew Ryan or thought she should. “It’s so noisy here, it’s hard for us to talk. That’s why she comes in the afternoon, when all those builders are going away. I hope you’ll be finished by then.”

“No problem. I’ll be long gone.”

Ryan squatted down, making sure his back was facing the main building and his side was blocking Linda’s view. Then, he began rummaging through his toolbox, flinging tools to the ground in increased agitation. To any onlooker, it would seem as if he were trying to fix something but to no avail.

Amid his flurry of activity, he pulled out the top tray of his toolbox with one hand and grabbed Gecko with the other. Quickly, he turned the little critter on, and placed him just inside the raised, circular bed of shrubs surrounding the garden.

With a few muttered curses, he tossed his tools back into the box, snapped the clasp, rose and turned to Linda.

“I can’t find the tool I need. So I’ll be heading back to the main building. Enjoy your visit with your daughter.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “Thank you.”

With that, Ryan strode back to the building, a look of sheer irritation on his face.

He marched inside and straight to the head nurse’s station.

Jeri Koehler was back at her post.

“Hello.” She looked puzzled. “I thought you’d left.”

“I did. I was halfway down the drive when I realized I’d left my tone generator somewhere in here. Would it be a big problem if I looked for it?”

“Of course not.” Nurse Koehler made a wide sweep with her arm. “I’d just ask that you not interfere with our work.”

Ryan flashed her a smile. “Without my tone generator, I’m screwed.” He walked over to the panel of video monitors, pretending to search for about five minutes. Then, he looked under the panel, reached up and retrieved the missing tool.

“Here we go.” He looked and sounded utterly relieved. “You’re a gem. I can’t thank you enough.” He popped the tool into his toolbox. “I’ll get out of your hair now. See you in a few days when I have the part I need.”

With a friendly wave, Ryan made his exit.

Ruse complete. Time for Gecko to do his job.

Ryan climbed behind the wheel of the van and drove out of the parking lot. He steered diagonally across the street, returned to the alcove behind the trees and maneuvered the van into it. With Marc’s eagle eye, he and Casey would find him when they drove up, no problem.

Scrambling into the back of the van, Ryan fired up his laptop and Gecko came to life. Ryan carefully repositioned him, focusing his camera and microphone directly on Linda. If she sat either a little to the left or right this afternoon, he’d readjust the little critter accordingly. But, for now, the video and audio were perfect.

He put Gecko into sleep mode to conserve power for later, when it was needed.

Then, he called Casey and asked her to detour through the nearest Mickey D’s and pick up a couple of Big Macs and fries. He never ate junk food. But he’d been up since before dawn. And all this activity had made the power bar and coffee he’d downed earlier a distant memory. And, hey, a guy had to eat. So it was time to break a few rules. They weren’t the first ones he’d broken today.

The SOS call to Casey done, he sat back and waited.

Krissy heard her leave.

As always, she wriggled off the bed and searched the room, wishing with all her might that the woman had forgotten her laptop or her cell phone. Krissy knew how to use both. Her mommy had showed her. She even had a very simple cell phone with big numbers on it that she brought to school. Mommy had programmed it with emergency phone numbers. She knew which button was which. And she knew her own phone number. She could call it, even with somebody else’s cell phone.

But whenever the woman left Krissy alone, she always made sure to take everything with her. This time was the same. There was nothing down here. Nothing Krissy could use to call for help.

She scrambled up the long flight of steps and tried the door, pulling and pulling on the handle with every ounce of strength she possessed. But the door wouldn’t budge.

Huge tears filled Krissy’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

At the beginning, she’d known her mommy would come for her, no matter how many times the woman told her she wouldn’t. The woman said that her mommy had moved on without her, that her job kept her much too busy to be with Krissy. And she’d told her over and over again that she was her mommy, and that she’d love her forever.

Krissy hadn’t believed her. But lots of days had gone by. And there was still no sign of her mommy.

Could she really have wanted to send Krissy away? Was even Ashley too busy to play with her? She knew her daddy was.

What if they’d stopped looking?

No. No. No!

She ran down the steps, jumped on the bed and grabbed Oreo, clutching him with all her might.

Then she soaked him with her tears.

Marc eased his foot off the accelerator, pulling slowly up to the spot where Ryan’s van was parked. He and Casey had taken Marc’s Subaru Outback because it was black and would blend in better with the wooded area. Casey’s red Mazda Miata would stand out like a sore thumb.

The sounds of construction pounded through the air. It was midafternoon. Clearly, the crew was making as much progress as they could before quitting time. By three o’clock, they’d be jumping out of their machinery, packing up their tools and taking off for home.