In The Shadows (4 page)

 Chapter Six

It was Thursday morning when Tonya received the disturbing phone call about Danielle’s disappearance. Natalie was a complete mess, and she and Janelle had been praying since they heard the news at school that day.

They knew Danielle was supposed to meet them in the cafeteria that morning for breakfast, but sometimes her little brother caused her to run late. Her mom worked the night shift at the local paper mill and depended on Danielle to get her little brother up and ready for school every morning. When Preston awoke that morning and couldn’t find Danielle, he called his mom at work. After rushing home to search the house and neighborhood without finding any signs of Danielle, she called the police.

The word got around school fast, and the principal called several counselors to come in to speak with the children. Of course the police wanted to question some of Danielle’s teachers and friends, but they had to follow certain procedures when questioning minors. The teachers who were present were able to answer questions as needed.

A list was compiled of her closest friends, and the officers would follow up once they got clearance. School was released early that day to give the officers a chance to follow up on any leads and to give the children a chance to deal with the news. Natalie’s mom was an elementary school teacher and worked within three miles of the high school. As soon as she heard the news, she took the rest of the day off. Mona knew Natalie would be upset, and she wanted to be there for her.

Mona contacted Janelle’s mom on their way home informing her that she was taking Janelle home with her and Natalie. Her mother was grateful and thanked her for caring for Janelle just as she’d done since the girls had become friends. It would have been near impossible for her to get away from the hospital that day, with the clinic already being short staffed.

As Natalie and Janelle huddled in Natalie’s room, they racked their brains trying to figure out where Danielle could be. They were scared to death and had no way of contacting her. Danielle’s mom had found her cell phone at home charging, and there had been no phone calls made to it until word got out that she was missing.

After the police questioned Natalie and Janelle, Mrs. Davis fixed the girls some tea and gave them their privacy. They were all clearly shaken by the events that had taken place. Mrs. Davis assured the girls the doors were locked, and she would be downstairs in the kitchen if they needed her.

It had been said that Danielle had run down to the local corner store to pick up milk for Preston’s breakfast the next morning. The cops still weren’t sure what time Danielle left, which route she took, or if she made it to the store. Search teams had been dispersed that afternoon for a twenty-mile radius.

The girls were in a state of shock. Janelle called home when she knew her father would be there and asked for permission to sleep over at Natalie’s. Their parents decided to keep them out of school the next day too, hoping and believing Danielle would turn up soon.

Danielle was a very responsible girl and knew her mom would not tolerate her reckless behavior if she were out into mischief. The girls also knew Danielle didn’t take her responsibility of caring for her brother lightly. Danielle knew she needed to be there for her mom as much as possible, especially with her father being deployed. The Red Cross had been contacted, and her father was scheduled to arrive home within seventy-two hours.

Preston was still confused and had been very quiet since the police showed up and starting searching for Danielle. He knew something bad had happened to her, and he felt like it was his fault for asking for
the milk.

Before Danielle left, she’d ironed her clothes for school, packed up her backpack, and finished cleaning the kitchen. Her battery was dead on her phone, so she had plugged it into the charger so it would charge while she was gone. Danielle told Preston to get ready for his bath and that she would be right back. She’d left instructions for him to get in the bed immediately following his bath, and she would come say good night before she turned in.

Having had a long day at school and soccer practice, Preston found himself sound asleep minutes after getting in bed. When he awoke that morning to find the house just as it was the night before, with Danielle nowhere to be found, he panicked and called his mom sobbing hysterically.

The girls were terrified something awful had happened to Danielle but took comfort in her toughness. They wanted to join the neighborhood in the search, but their parents thought they could do more help by trying to reach all of Danielle’s friends and checking her MySpace account for any recent activity. The girls knew they would have to stay busy, or the inactivity would drive them crazy. Hopefully by Saturday, Danielle would turn up. If not, the girls would be out bright and early with the volunteers scouring the neighborhood and nearby fields.

Natalie contacted Myron, and he was very distraught upon hearing the news. During the week, he worked in Coker, which was not far from Tuscaloosa, and had not heard about the disappearance. He promised he would be home on Saturday and assured the girls Danielle would be found safe. Later that day, he was contacted by the police and was asked to stop by the station on his way in town.

* * *

Tonya had been released to resume her normal class activities and started class back on Tuesday. Due to Danielle’s disappearance, Tonya skipped her last class on Thursday, telling her professor she was going to be absent due to an emergency. She packed an overnight bag and headed to Natalie’s.

Once she paid the cab driver and started walking toward the house, she noticed the increase in police activity in the neighborhood and felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

Tonya called her parents to let them know what had happened and to tell them she’d be staying overnight at Aunt Mona’s house. Tonya’s car would be ready for pick up on Saturday if everything worked out okay. Luckily she could miss her Friday classes and still be able to keep up with the work, thanks to the blackboard Web site.

After Tonya arrived, she was at the house and began to question Natalie and Janelle and discovered another girl had gone missing over the summer and still had not been found. The missing girl was visiting for the summer when she disappeared. The locals believed she used her summer vacation as an opportunity to run away from home. Her parents said she had a history of running away and could only hope she was safe. The police still had the case open, but there was nothing mentioned on the local news about her until now as the girls sat in front of the television set.

Tonya decided to stay the entire weekend and would get a ride to the body shop to pick her car up before heading back to campus. Due to the injuries she received, she would have to sit out the next six games until she was well enough to play. Tonya was really disappointed she couldn’t play but was thankful for her life.

She decided to travel with the team only if the opposing team was local. She found it hard and sometimes uncomfortable to sit for long periods of time. So for now, she would support her team at every home game until she received clearance to travel.

Once she was able to calm the girls, Tonya settled into her room and tried to focus on anything other than what was going on at that moment. She had grown very fond of Danielle and prayed she was safe and would be found soon.

As Tonya closed her eyes, she remembered the kind gentleman who called 911 the day of the accident. A week had passed, and she still didn’t know anything about him other than his first name, Brandon. Brandon was the Good Samaritan who came to her rescue and also the one who visited her at the hospital.

For unknown reasons, the cuddly bear that was delivered along with the beautiful bouquet of flowers she’d received while in the hospital went everywhere she was. The bear was like a lucky charm to her and also helped her to remember his kindness.

Sitting up quickly in the bed, it suddenly hit her that Brandon was the same guy she’d seen in Subway before the accident. Brushing it all off as a weird coincidence, Tonya tried to put him out of her mind. It was almost midnight before she drifted off to sleep.

The girls spent Friday trying to brainstorm and think of something the police hadn’t. Natalie searched Danielle’s Facebook and MySpace pages while Janelle called everyone she could possibly think of. Tonya pitched in where she could, asking tough questions she hoped would lead to something helpful. She watched every news report that came on that day and was disappointed each time after hearing the police chief state there was still no sign of Danielle. He urged those who may have seen something suspicious that night to call the tip hotline.

 Chapter Seven

Brandon thought back to his last trip to the hospital and remembered how disappointed he was when he discovered Tonya was gone. Since she had been discharged, he had no way of locating her. He knew there were ways to go about getting her information, but he wasn’t so sure she would want to be found. Although a week had passed, he couldn’t get her out of his thoughts. Brandon then wondered if she would even look at him in
that
way.

Saturday would be the start of his first weekend off that month, yet he found himself dressing in the appropriate gear to assist in the search. He’d heard about the disappearance of the seventeen-year-old senior from Northport High School and wanted to do something to help. He would be in an unofficial capacity and would join the groups of volunteers to help with the search.

Brandon still had not met many people there other than the people that worked at the station. He still spent most of his time studying or at the gym. School was going well, and he tried to keep his days filled with busy work so he would have an excuse not to go home. His father had asked him several times when he would be making a trip to Selma, but Brandon would always find a good excuse to remain in the area.

He often wondered about his mom and if she thought of him or the life they once shared in Selma. He knew there was turbulence between her and his father, but he had to wonder if she ever meant to return to Alabama even if it was solely to get him. Brandon tried reaching her several times for months after she left to no avail, which made it harder and harder to continue with his quest to find her.

Once he pulled up at the local church, he donned his sunglasses, sunscreen, baseball cap, gloves, and a huge stick he found along the way. Brandon found a group needing more volunteers and joined them while they received their briefing from the search commander. They combed the area almost shoulder to shoulder and must’ve covered five miles before lunch.

The heat made it difficult to continue without constant breaks. Brandon met some of the locals and carried on brief conversations with them during the search, not wanting to hinder hearing any distress calls. Brandon had not been trained to conduct a search such as this, but he felt it was good on-the-job training. He, of course, would make changes and implement things to improve on the procedures of this particular search if ever he were in charge of one.

It wasn’t until they broke for lunch did Brandon see
her
again. As he walked toward his vehicle, there she was, exiting the front doors of the church. Brandon could not believe his eyes as he watched Tonya speaking with a group of people before turning in his direction. As her eyes stopped on him, her eyes showed a hint of familiarity. Tonya slowly walked down the steps and finally in his direction.

He’d been thinking of her earlier that day and couldn’t believe his luck. Immediately he could hear the lyrics to Charlie Wilson’s song “There Goes My Baby” playing loudly in his head.

Of all the places to run into her, it would be during a search, he thought as he considered the circumstances for which he was there. Brandon wished he had a chance to examine himself before she reached him but quickly dismissed the thought as she got closer, and he tried to be as cool as possible.

“Hello Tonya, how are you? It’s been awhile since I last saw you, but you appear to be recovering quite well.” Extending his hand to shake hers, he was about to reintroduce himself when Tonya interrupted him.

“Brandon, right? It’s good to see you again. I’m doing much better now. Thank you for asking. It has been awhile, but I’m glad we bumped into each other,” Tonya said, shaking his hand. She was smiling as she studied his face before she realized the silence was beginning to linger. “I never got a chance to properly thank you for helping me out that day or for the beautiful bouquet of flowers and teddy bear you sent to my room at the hospital. That was really thoughtful.”

“No need to thank me. I’m just glad I could be of assistance. It was a freak accident, and I’m glad you made it out okay.”

“Yeah, thanks to you. How can I ever repay you?” Tonya asked, wishing she could see his face without the sunglasses and baseball cap, to read his expression.

“Believe me, it was my pleasure.”

“Well, perhaps one day you’ll let me buy you lunch or a cup of coffee,” Tonya offered, taking in his muscular build, faded blue jeans, and perfectly fitted T-shirt. Before the conversation could go any further, a lady appeared at the church doors and beckoned for Tonya to come inside.

Just as she walked away, Brandon’s stomach growled as if in response to her offer. He laughed with pleasure as he watched her walk away. He had brought his lunch and decided to find a shaded area to take a break in. Brandon didn’t know if she was going to come back; he still didn’t know her last name or what she was doing there.

What he did know was that he was interested in her more than ever after that brief meeting. Brandon noticed immediately that she wasn’t wearing a wedding or engagement ring and that she was more beautiful than he remembered. Tonya had gotten her hair cut since their last meeting and wore a cut similar to that of Rihanna’s.

Brandon loved Rihanna’s music and style. He’d been a fan of rhythm and blues for as long as he could remember. He grew up on Mary J. Blige, Teena Marie, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Destiny’s Child, SWV, TLC, and the list went on and on. Some of his favorite male artists were Luther Vandross, Gerald Levert, New Edition, Boyz II Men, Freddie Jackson, and R. Kelly. His choice of music was one of the many things his father didn’t appreciate about him.

Brandon had known since middle school that he preferred to date or befriend women of color. He’d dated a girl from Puerto Rico in his freshman year of high school because they were on the track team together and had always liked each other. He chose dating Maritza over Bridgette because he figured his father would be more willing to accept her over an African American girl. Needless to say, he was wrong; both were considered impure in his father’s eyes, and the relationship soon turned sour after Maritza realized his father was never going to change.

As Brandon stared off into space while propped up against a huge oak tree, Tonya appeared out of nowhere. “Oh, there you are! I thought you’d left already. I left a note on your windshield for you.” Now trying to answer the question the expression his face obviously possessed, she added, “I left you my number just in case you wanted to take me up on that offer.”

Standing to his feet, with his mind many miles away, he said, “Offer? Uh, oh, lunch. Okay, well, thanks for leaving me your information. I was beginning to wonder if it’d be another two weeks before I bumped into you again.” He laughed awkwardly, which caused Tonya to laugh too.