Karen Rose - Have You Seen Her?

"If it's good enough, I'll throw in the turkey for free."

"I love you, Aunt Bea."

"Shut up, Matt."

He grinned. "Check the back."

Helen turned it over and read Jenna's address and phone number. "She has good penmanship."

"And great legs. Hey," he added at her impatient sigh, "at least I stayed at her legs."

"And this is supposed to please me? Don't answer that. Where did you find this card? Or do I not want to hear the answer to that either?"

"In Dad's suit pocket. I was looking for loose change to support my arcade habit."

"Uh-huh. Okay, so I guess the ball's in my court now."

"So you'll call her and invite her for dinner?"

"Was my plan so transparent?"

"Predictable, at least."

Helen looked up at him, suddenly suspicious. "Why are you helping me?"

Matt pulled a glossy brochure from his pocket. "I found this under the cushion on the couch. When I was looking for-"

"Loose change to support your arcade habit," Helen finished and took the brochure from his hands. "Africa, the Dark Continent," she read. "I was wondering where I'd left this."

"And I overheard you talking to your friend Sylvia."

"Quite the little spy, aren't we?" Helen asked, not sure whether to be annoyed or repentant.

"I didn't mean to," he defended himself. "You were right here in the kitchen and I got hungry. I didn't sneak or anything. Anyway, I heard you tell her you couldn't go on the safari because no one could watch the kids for that long. I started to think about all the cool places you went before you came here and…" He let the thought trail off with an awkward shrug.

Repentant it would be. "You know I love you guys," she said, relieved when he nodded.

"You just want to have fun. I can buy that." He gently yanked a hank of her hair. "You know you'll have to get a buzz cut when you go to Africa or the tsetse flies will make nests in your hair."

"I'll have to take my chances," Helen returned dryly. "You want mashed potatoes or Stove Top with that turkey tomorrow?"

Mart's eyes lit up. "Which is easier?"

"Which do you think?"

"Then you know which 1 want." He took the yearbook and sauntered out of the kitchen.

Helen watched him go, wanting to swat his sauntering behind and marveling at his growing maturity at the same time. She'd done a good job raising these boys if she did say so herself. And Brad would come around. "Mashed potatoes, turkey, three pies, and repentance," she said aloud to no one at all. "This Jenna better be worth the trouble."

Saturday, October I, 2:30 P.M.

Marvin Eggleston surged to his feet, pushing back from his kitchen table so hard the chair fell to the floor with a clatter that made his trembling wife jump in her chair. "So you're telling me you are no closer to finding my daughter than you were two fucking days ago!" he exploded. He leaned on the table, balancing on the knuckles of his clenched fists, his face inches from Steven's. "What the hell have you been doing, sitting with your thumbs stuck up your asses?"

Steven smelled whiskey on the man's breath and said nothing. Eggleston was a grieving father. Steven would have preferred to see the man sober, though, if for no other reason than to answer the questions he needed to ask. But everyone dealt with grief and terror differendy. While Marvin Eggleston blustered, his petite wife sat quietly crying.

Anna Eggleston grabbed her husband's arm, holding on for dear life. Her face was haggard, her eyes haunted. Beyond pale, her skin had a translucence, the look of being stretched too thin over her bones that came from forty-eight hours of constant fear and tears. Her voice shook when she spoke and Steven's pity grew. "Marvin, please. Serena will hear you." Steven was grateful Mrs. Eggleston's mother had taken four-year-old Serena upstairs when he arrived. No child needed to see her parents so wildly grieving. More tears welled in Anna's eyes and spilled to her cheeks, unchecked. "You're not helping. Please, sit down." She turned to Steven. "I'm sorry. It's just that we've had no sleep." She bowed her head, her shoulders shaking as a new wave of sobs took over. "We can't sleep. He has my baby," she whispered, her hand still clutching her husband's arm.

Steven placed his hand over hers, feeling the chill of her skin. "It's all right, Mrs. Eggleston. I truly understand. You don't have to apologize to me." He placed his other hand on Marvin's arm, creating a circle, connecting them. "Mr. Eggle-ston, if I knew where your daughter was, believe me, she'd be with you right now. I know it doesn't help, but we're doing everything we can."

Eggleston slumped, his chin dropping to his chest. "God, I can't believe this," he whispered. "I feel so damn helpless." He looked up and in his eyes Steven recognized the desperate terror he himself felt when that bastard Winters held Nicky.

"Yesterday, the young one from your office…" Eggleston shook his head as if trying to clear his thoughts. "The one that took the cast of Sammie's footprint outside her w indow."

"Agent Thompson?"

Eggleston nodded, not breaking eye contact. "Yes, he's the one. He said it had happened to you. That someone had stolen your child out of his bed."

Steven wasn't sure whether to thank Kent or curse him to eternal perdition. "That's true."

Anna looked up, her face streaked and puffy. "But you got your son back."

Steven nodded. "I did, yes."

She bit her lip. "Was he… all right? After you got him back?"

Steven knew what she was asking. Was his baby molested? Was his baby normal? Was his family normal? The answer to every one of those questions was a resounding no. "The man that abducted my son didn't physically hurt him, if that's what you mean, Mrs. Eggleston. But no, my son is not all right. He has nightmares. He refuses to sleep in his own bed. His schoolwork suffers. He doesn't hug anyone and hasn't since that day."

The Egglestons absorbed this information. Finally Marvin Eggleston drew a deep breath. "So even if we get her back, she won't be our daughter anymore, will she?" he asked gruffly.

Steven carefully avoided the "if." These parents were grasping at straws, trying to hold on to hope. "She'd need counseling. You all will."

Anna blinked, sending fresh tears down her stained cheeks. "You did?"

Steven nodded. "I did." He squeezed Anna's hand and Marvin's arm, then let go and sat back in his chair. "I need to ask you all some more questions. Some of them may sound the same as questions I asked yesterday and the day before. Please don't become frustrated with this process, though. Sometimes you remember tidbits today that you didn't think about yesterday."

"And those tidbits could help you find our Sammie," Anna said, very faintly.

"They might."

Marvin Eggleston pulled his chair forward and collapsed into it. "Then ask."

"Please understand I am in no way blaming your daughter for what happened," Steven began. Marvin held out his hand and Anna placed hers in his, the gesture so trusting that Steven found himself wishing he had someone to lean on. Jenna . Steven let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and focused on his notebook. "Can you tell me about Samantha's friends?"

"She was popular," Anna said. "She had lots of friends."

"Did she date?"

Anna shook her head. "She had a boyfriend, but they broke up about six weeks ago."

"What happened?"

Anna lifted a shoulder wearily. "They're sixteen. Nothing lasts forever when you're sixteen."

"Why did they break up, Mrs. Eggleston?"

Anna clearly hesitated and Marvin turned to fully face her. "What, Anna? What happened that you two didn't tell me?"

Anna sighed. "He dropped her for another girl."

Steven watched Marvin's fist deliberately clench and release. "You didn't approve of the boy I take it?" Steven asked and Marvin tightened his jaw.