book Read online

  He ate his burger slowly, one eye on a cute blond kid dressed as a cowboy. Jack munched a couple of fries and watched as the boy struggled to spin a plastic gun on his finger. He was surprised they’d allow a toy weapon in the place. A gun would have made Kate more cooperative and that old guy easier to kill but Jack was fond of his knife.

  He felt eyes on him and turned to see a boy on his own at the next table, looking not at Jack, but at the Happy Meal box.

  “Hi,” Jack said with a smile.

  The child looked down. Three years old, blond hair, big eyes, beautiful. Fuck, this was him. His son.

  “You hungry?” Jack asked.

  No response.

  “Is your momma getting you something?” Jack glanced toward the counter.

  Still busy. He opened the box and took out the toy, a plastic spinning thing.

  “Want this?” The boy’s eyes opened wider. Jack removed the wrapping and held out the toy.

  The eyes said yes, but the mouth said nothing.

  “You can take it, s’okay.” The mother would most likely appear any second.

  She’d probably put the kid there to secure a table while she stood in line. The boy got down from his seat and took the few paces to Jack’s side.

  “Here you go.”

  The fingers softly brushed Jack’s as he took the toy.

  “Samuel! What do you think you’re doing? I said stay put!” The boy scuttled back to his seat as a woman strode toward him, a younger child, a girl in a frilly dress, clamped on her hip like a pink growth.

  “Sorry if he was bothering you. Sammy, give that back right now!” She put her tray on the table.

  “I wanted a Happy Meal.” The boy finally spoke. Jack liked his voice.

  “Well, you don’t get a Happy Meal. Sit still this time while I get the drinks.” What a bitch. Her straw blond hair was frizzy and unkempt, an inch of dark roots showing. Overweight and dressed like a slut, her fat midriff rolled over the top of her skirt. Jack looked away as she returned with the drinks, the snotty pink thing still on her hip.

  “I said give that back.” She snatched the toy and offered it Jack.

  He clenched his fists under the table. “He can have it.” Jack changed the accent and pitch of his voice. More Boston than Texas. Just in case. “The meal, too, if he likes.”

  “You don’t want it?” The woman raised her eyebrows.

  “My son’s at the party.” Jack gave a small wave to the cowboy conveniently looking the other way. “We got here early and he’s starving. You know what they’re like.” He waited for the sympathetic nod. “I bought this for him, now he’s too busy to eat.” Jack turned on his smile and this time the woman smiled back.

  “It’ll go to waste if you don’t take it.”

  “What about the toy? Doesn’t your son want it?”

  “They get one at the party.” Jack thought it a reasonable guess.

  “Oh, well, thanks.”

  Jack continued to eat. He had to be patient. The opportunity might not happen or it might come without him having to make it happen. The woman barely settled down before Jack heard her swear.

  “Shit, Kirin! We just got our meal. Why didn’t you tell me before? Sammy, don’t move. Don’t let anyone clear this away.” She moved past Jack’s table, her daughter in her arms and then hesitated.

  “Would you mind keeping an eye on him while I take her to the bathroom?”

  “Sure.” It was meant to be. A woman this ignorant didn’t deserve to raise his son. The moment the restroom door closed, Jack moved. It was almost too easy.

  The offer of another toy and they strolled hand in hand across the parking lot.

  Jack carried the remains of his meal and Sammy clutched the box.

  Jack’s heart raced. He yanked open the rear door and lifted the kid onto the back seat. “Look under that blanket for your toy and then stay there so you can jump out and surprise Mommy.”

  He did exactly as he was told and Jack smiled. He got in the front, pulled off his sunglasses and cap, tossed them to the floor, and then bent below the level of the window to change. When he sat up, he buttoned his green shirt.

  As he pulled out of the Plaza, Jack let out a whoop of glee.

  The boy didn’t stay under the blanket for long. After a few moments, he sat up and started to eat the fries, one of the toy cars clutched in his hand.

  “Where’s Mommy?” he asked.

  “I’m taking you to her.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To Mommy. Want some candy?” Jack reached back, holding out three M&Ms with a smaller yellow pill.

  Sammy ate them and then took another handful of fries from the box. He suddenly gasped. “I’m not supposed to have candy until after I eat.”

  “We won’t tell Mommy. Our secret.”

  “If I eat all my nuggets, maybe she won’t get mad.”

  “Good idea,” Jack said.

  “Mommy gets mad if I’m not buckled in my seat.”

  “We want to surprise her. Lie down so she can’t see you.”

  “Okay.”

  He lay down and continued to eat. Jack sighed. If only Kate was as cooperative.

  By the time they reached the motel, the boy was almost asleep. Jack got out and opened the rear door.

  “Look what I bought for you. Let’s take this old thing off.” He changed him out of the orange T-shirt into the one with the dinosaur.

  Sammy settled down on the seat, and Jack laid the blanket over him. He put the boy’s top into a bag together with his Florida T-shirt, hat and sunglasses and pushed them under a box in the rear. Picking up his knife from the side pocket, he used it to refasten the registration plate before returning to the room.

  Kate woke as he peeled the tape from her mouth. Jack held a bottle of water to her lips and tipped it. As she swallowed, he pinched her nose, slipping a yellow pill into her mouth before tipping up the bottle again. He kept pouring until all the water was gone, most of it sinking into the pillow under her head.

  “What…?” Kate mumbled.

  She was still zoned out. The pill was probably overkill. He cut the ties at her wrists, putting the remains in his pocket before dragging her arms back to her sides. Kate gasped in pain.

  “Get dressed.” He tossed over the yellow dress she’d worn the day before and watched to see what she’d do when she saw the ring on her finger.

  Kate picked up her sandals and stopped moving. As she started to pull off the ring, he caught her hand.

  She struggled to get free. “I don’t want it.” Jack twisted her wrist to bring her arm up the middle of her back and Kate yelped.

  “If you take it off, I’ll take off one of your fingers. Understand?” Kate whimpered and nodded. He let her go. As she stood rubbing her wrist, Jack picked up her new glasses and placed them on her face.

  “I’ve got a wedding present in the car. Bet you’ll never guess what it is.”

  ***

  Thad Skinner heard the scream from his office and rushed into the restaurant.

  One of his staff had their arm around a sobbing, almost hysterical customer.

  “What’s wrong?” Thad asked.

  “My son, Sammy, he’s missing.”

  Thad breathed out. Missing children turn up. He’d have been far more worried about a mouse’s head in a burger.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. He couldn’t have gone far. What’s his name?

  What’s he wearing?”

  By the time they’d searched the restaurant, including the storeroom and the outdoor playground with its green dragon slide, time had ticked by. Old customers left and new ones arrived. Amy Howe was a quivering wreck in his office and her daughter sobbed as well because her mother clutched her too tight.

  Thad tried to get Amy to loosen her hold, but she gripped harder.

  Thad only called the Plaza Security when he was satisfied the boy wasn’t in the restaurant. He had no children of his own, but he knew kids disappeared
all the time. They wandered away from playgrounds, even from daycare centers and generally, someone found them. He’d made the mistake of overreacting the last time a mother panicked. He called the police and the kid had turned up under one of the tables. He’d felt a complete fool.

  Minutes ticked by.

  “Where is he? Where is he?” Amy repeated.

  “They’ll find him, don’t worry,” Thad said. “Security’s checking everywhere, including the service areas at the rear.”

  Easy with little ones like Baskin-Robbins, but not so easy with Wal-Mart. Still, Thad felt confident the kid would come walking through the door any moment.

  Only he didn’t.

  By the time the police arrived, Thad’s assurances that Sammy would stroll up wondering what all the fuss was about, had worn thin. Forty-five minutes had passed since the boy was last seen by his mother. Amy was incapable of speaking to her husband, so Thad had to do it. He tried to sound upbeat, but knew the father feared the worst because he was beginning to feel that way himself. The

  guy would end up driving much too fast to get to the plaza and yet it wouldn’t be fast enough. His son was gone.

  ***

  When a child’s face appeared at the car window, Kate froze. Jack dragged her the last few yards, opened the rear door and pushed her inside.

  “You’re not my mommy.” The boy’s eyes opened and closed as he struggled to stay awake.

  Jack started the engine and reversed out of the parking space. “Fasten him into the seat.”

  “My God, what have you done?” Kate said in a choked whisper.

  The boy clutched his toy car and closed his eyes. As Jack pulled onto the road, Kate quickly fastened the safety clip.

  “Take him back right now.”

  “Kate, he’s our son.”

  For a moment, time stopped and Kate hung suspended in a world with no noise and no movement. Then she shook her head.

  “He’s our son,” Jack repeated.

  “No.”

  “I’m not lying. He’s ours.”

  “No.”

  “Our baby didn’t die. Your parents told you that so you didn’t make a fuss about keeping him. He was adopted by a couple in Vegas. His name’s Tommy.” Kate fastened her seat belt as Jack turned onto the highway.

  “You’re lying,” she said.

  “No, I’m not. What I’m trying to do is make up for what happened four years ago. I know I’ve done things in a crazy way, but after I saw you at Ashlands, I knew if I wanted to get my life straight, I had to put your life straight, too. All the therapy my dad paid for started to make sense. Last night, we got married and now we have our son back.”

  “Married?” Kate twisted the ring on her finger. What was he talking about?

  “Well, I guess you don’t remember. Too much champagne on an empty stomach, but I have the photos and certificate to prove it. You’re now officially Mrs. Jack Thompson, darlin’.”

  Kate didn’t believe him. He’d just stuck the ring on her finger while she slept, but as she looked at the boy sleeping beside her, it seemed unimportant. She shook him, but he didn’t stir.

  “Have you given him something?”

  “He’s fine.”

  Kate panicked. “Not the same as you’ve made me take? They’re too strong, you stu—he’s a baby. Tommy! Wake up, don’t go to sleep.” She shook him again, but his eyes stayed closed.

  “I haven’t given him anything. He’s just tired,” Jack said.

  “Take him back. His parents will be out of their minds.” Jack pulled up at traffic lights, and Kate banged on the window. “Help, please help,” she screamed. They were about to pull onto the interstate. She had to get someone’s attention. “Help!”

  Jack reached back with the knife. “Shut the fuck up, Kate. I mean it.” The car next to them drove off, and Kate slumped on the seat. “Where did he come from? Did you…did you just snatch him from somewhere?”

  “I already explained. I did some research. His adoptive mother was a fat, loud-mouthed bitch who treated him like shit. He’s going to be happy with us, have everything we can give him. He’s our son. He belongs with us.” Kate took hold of the sleeping child’s hand and blinked back tears. She looked over her shoulder and Las Vegas faded away like a bad dream. Resting her head against the window, Kate closed her eyes, thinking about the day she and her mother went to the doctor. They’d returned home in silence, her mother white-faced with shock. Kate was ordered to her room until her father came home from work. Her parents talked for a long time before they came up. Everything sorted.

  Too late for an abortion, she’d give the child up for adoption. Kate would leave school now. They’d say she was ill. No one need ever know.

  The rape was brushed aside. They were angry Kate hadn’t told them, but no point discussing it because it was too late. Not too late for them to hug her and say how sorry they were, how they knew it wasn’t Kate’s fault, but none of that happened. Their faces said everything. Too much to be done to waste effort on sentiment. The important thing was to make sure no one knew their bright teenage daughter was pregnant and had ruined her life—their lives.

  Once the baby had gone, they pretended it never happened. Kate was seriously ill. Her mother said the baby died, didn’t want to tell her what sex it was, but in the end because Kate promised if she did, she’d never mention the child again, her father told her. A boy. Her son died and now Jack was trying to convince her it wasn’t true.

  She didn’t believe him.

  But what if it was true? Had her parents lied? And the hospital? Kate had vague memories of signing forms. Were they adoption papers? Her parents had lied to everyone else so why not to her? She turned to look at the boy. Could he really be hers?

  Chapter Eleven

  Special Agent Hedley Moss from the FBI’s Las Vegas field office took in the scene the moment he walked into the restaurant manager’s office. Frightened father, weeping mother, sleeping baby, defensive restaurant manager and in the middle of it all, Detective Mike Nicholson, from the LVPD, who happened to be an old friend. Mike looked relieved to see him and made the introductions.

  “What are you doing to find my son?” Marshall demanded.

  “Everything we can,” Hedley said. “Officers are searching. We have Sammy’s description and details of what he’s wearing. Orange T-shirt, blue shorts and white tennis shoes, right? But any small child will be checked out.”

  “How come no one saw this guy walk off with Sammy?” Marshall glared at the restaurant manager.

  “We were busy. Adults and kids are coming and going all the time. The boy didn’t make a fuss, so no one reacted. To be honest, even if he’d screamed, we get so many kids throwing tantrums, it wouldn’t necessarily have rung alarm bells.”

  “Why didn’t you phone the police right away?” Marshall said. “You could have damn well done that.”

  “Mr. Howe,” Hedley stepped in before the father lost his temper, “please sit down. We need everyone focused on the only thing that matters.” He crouched down by the woman’s side. “Mrs. Howe? Is there anything else you remember about this man? Anything at all?”

  She looked at him with a tear-stained face and shook her head.

  “Tall, in his twenties, fair hair showing under a blue baseball cap, a T-shirt with something written on it and jeans?” Hedley asked.

  Amy nodded.

  “Tattoos? Scars? How about his accent?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  Her husband strode toward the door. “I’m going out to look myself, check the cars.”

  “It would be bet—” Mike began.

  “He’s my son.” Marshall turned his anguished face toward them and walked out.

  Hedley took a deep breath. If it was his son missing, he’d be out there shouting his child’s name, banging on locked cars, listening at their trunks.

  “The Amber Alert’s in operation,” Mike said and Hedley drew him away from the mother.

  �
��Good,” Hedley said. The more people they had looking for Sammy the better.

  “Crime scene personnel are en route.”

  Hedley nodded.

  “You saw I’d closed off the Plaza? We’re searching vehicles before they leave and taking car and driver details, including exactly where they parked. I’ve alerted the airports. Dogs are on the way and I’ve sent a guy to collect items of Sammy’s clothing. Road blocks in place but—” he dropped his voice, “too late, I reckon.”

  “No clue about what he was driving?” Hedley asked.

  “No. The customers who stayed after the mother started screaming are being interviewed. Those that left, well….”

  They both knew it would be impossible to trace all of them. Unless they came forward, they might as well have never existed.

  “We’ve spoken to all the staff. So far no one remembers serving the man.”

  “There are tapes,” Thad said. “Security tapes.”

  “In here?” Hedley asked.

  “No, but around the Plaza.”

  An officer was dispatched to collect them.

  “Maybe the kid just wandered off,” Mike said. “This guy could be a red herring.

  Or some other person could have taken him.”

  “It’s possible,” Hedley said.

  He shot Mike a glance. They both knew the boy was probably dead.

  ***

  Hedley sighed as Marshall Howe slammed back into the restaurant. The place had been marked off with tape. All the customers had gone and the staff, apart from Thad, sent home.

  “Any news?” Marshall asked.

  “Not yet,” Hedley said.

  He watched the man deflate like an old balloon, instantly aging.

  “We need to put Sammy’s picture on the TV,” Hedley said.