Andrea Kane - The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

Casey was scanning the map. She stopped when she found Pine Street. “We’re not all that far.” She glanced at her handheld GPS. “We’re in the woods just west of you.”

“Okay, well you should be joined by a handful of agents in a matter of minutes. So don’t freak out when you hear them coming. But keep looking. Felicity took Krissy in one of two directions-east or west. They’re the only sections surrounding her house that are wooded. There are trees to the north and south, but they lead to the street and, eventually, to other houses. A group of local cops are covering that territory, but I doubt it’ll lead to anything. Peg took a team to the east. Bob and Hutch are moving west. Patrick and I are about to join them.”

“With Hope in tow?”

“No choice,” Ryan replied in a clipped, coded response.

“Got it.” Casey snapped to as Hero began to strain at his lead. “Ryan, I’ve gotta go. Hero’s picked up a fresh scent trail.”

“I’m on my way.”

Marc was already following Hero’s lead, winding his way through the woods as quietly as he could. Casey hurried until she caught up.

There was the definite crunch of footsteps in the not-too-remote distance. It could be the agents. Or it could be Felicity.

Judging from Hero’s reaction, it was the latter.

Hero was most emphatically “in odor,” as the FBI called it. He climbed over the rocks and weaved through the trees, pulling at the lead until Marc had to pick up speed.

“Krissy?” called out a frantic female voice just ahead of them. “Is that you? Please, princess, answer me!”

Everything happened at once.

Hero lunged forward. The pounding of a surge of footsteps raced up behind them. And a streak of movement flashed through the trees in front of them.

A woman. Blonde. Slim. Frantic.

Felicity.

“FBI! Stop where you are!” Casey heard Hutch’s command even as she felt him rush by her, weapon raised. Peg and a dozen other cops and agents followed suit, forming a half circle around the immediate area.

The woman froze.

“Help me,” she begged plaintively, not even trying to escape. “I can’t find my daughter.”

“We’ll find her for you.” Peg marched over to Felicity, holstering her gun and drawing Felicity’s hands behind her back so she could handcuff her.

Felicity stood by docilely, her face scratched and tear streaked, her eyes glazed, damp with worry. She looked like a frail, broken doll.

“Where did you last see your…daughter?” Hutch went along with the charade, more than aware that now was not the time to slam Felicity with reality.

“In the house. She ran away. I don’t know where she is. She could be hurt. Oh, God, this is all my fault. Please, please find her. I can’t leave her out there. The world is ugly. And Krissy is beautiful. A princess. Save her.”

“We will.” Hutch turned to Marc. “Do you have anything of Krissy’s with you?”

“ I do.”

Before Marc could answer, a shaken voice brought their heads around. Hope was walking slowly toward them, Krissy’s T-shirt extended. She was staring at Felicity. Her mouth opened and closed several times, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know what or how.

Felicity gazed back at her, confusion and wonder flashing across her face. “Hope?” she asked in a faraway voice. “Are you real? I thought that was you at the house. Mama said it wasn’t. She said I was imagining it, that I was just picturing Krissy and me together. But she was wrong, wasn’t she? You’re real.”

“Yes, Felicity, I’m real,” Hope answered in a shattered voice. She released Krissy’s T-shirt into Hutch’s hands, watching as he ran forward and waved it under Hero’s snout.

He and Marc took off with the determined bloodhound.

Hope’s stare shifted back to Felicity. She studied her sister’s depleted state, her mental deterioration, and all the accusations and venom she’d been harboring drained out of her. “Did you take good care of her?” she managed, remembering the laughter of a six-year-old twin who’d been stolen from her life.

“I tried.” Tears were sliding down Felicity’s cheeks. “But not hard enough. She got away. I-I don’t understand.” She lowered her head, breaking down entirely. “I don’t understand.”

Hope raised her head, and her gaze met Casey’s. She looked ill. “Will they find Krissy?” she managed. “Please?”

“There’s not a doubt in my mind,” Casey replied. “She can’t be far.”

Hero air-scented Krissy within minutes.

The instant he began pulling at the lead, Hutch and Marc began calling out.

“Krissy!” Hutch shouted. “We’re the FBI. Policemen. We’re here to help you.”

There was a slight rustle from the left.

“Krissy, it’s okay,” Marc called out. “We caught the woman who looks like your mommy. She can’t hurt you. And your real mommy is here. She wants to take you home.”

“But first you have to tell us where you are.” Hutch gestured to Marc, pointing at a cluster of trees diagonally ahead of them by about thirty feet.

Marc nodded.

Hero was already heading in that direction.

“Krissy?” Hutch called out again. “Where are you, honey?”

Hero rounded the circle of trees and began braying.

His outburst clearly startled Krissy, because she let out a soft cry.

“It’s okay,” Marc repeated, going up to the terrified child, who was cringing against the tree trunk. He squatted down so he was at her level. “This is Hero. He works with us. He’s very friendly. And he is a hero, because he helped us find you.”

The little blonde girl hugged her stuffed panda and robin, gazing at Marc with huge eyes. She had cuts on her arms and face, her clothes were torn and her hair was disheveled. But she was alive and unharmed. “Is he really a police dog?” she whispered.

“Even cooler,” Hutch said, coming around the bend. “He’s an FBI dog. That makes him even more famous. And he’s here just for you.”

“Wow.” Krissy leaned forward and tentatively petted Hero, who was now quiet and rolling over to get a belly scratch, having completed his task.

The bloodhound licked her palm.

“Is that woman really gone?” Krissy asked in a small, frightened voice. “And is my mommy really here?”

“Yes and yes,” Hutch supplied. He extended his hand. “Would you like to see her?”

She put her small trusting hand in his big one and nodded her tousled head, her lashes spiked with tears. “Yes.”

They made their way through the trees, retracing their steps.

“Look who’s here,” Marc announced, as he, Hutch and Hero reappeared, walking Krissy into the clearing where Hope waited.

“Mommy!” Krissy had no trouble recognizing her mother. She ran past Felicity, giving her one terrified glance, and then dashed straight into her mother’s arms, crushing Oreo and Ruby against her.

“Oh, baby. Oh, Krissy. Thank God.” Hope lifted her daughter, openly sobbing as she hugged and kissed her again and again. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“My scratches burn.” Krissy was sobbing, too, her words barely discernible as she buried her face against her mother’s shoulder.

“But Felic-the woman who took you-she didn’t hurt you, did she?”

Krissy shook her head back and forth. “She tried to hug me. But I said no. And she stopped. She wouldn’t go away. But she wouldn’t take me home.”

“Thank God.” Hope buried her lips in her daughter’s hair. “I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too. And I missed you. I was so scared. Oreo and Ruby missed you, too.” She held up the rumpled stuffed animals.

“And I missed them.” Hope planted a kiss on each of their heads. “But I know they took good care of you.”