Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) (18 page)

"The video feed," Polly said.

He slapped his head. "Why didn't I think of that? Let's see what we can find. Give me a couple of minutes to bring it up. About what time?"

Polly looked at Lydia. "It had to have been around four o'clock or maybe a little after. She didn't want to stay while I helped Sal pack up her gifts. I could hardly blame her. And since she'd spent the night with Jessie last night..." She turned on Henry. "Call Jessie. Maybe she went back over there to get something she forgot."

He nodded and stepped out of the office.

"Anyway," Polly continued, "she wanted to come home and lie down for a while before we went out again tonight. She’d had a big day and was exhausted, so I let her walk home by herself." Polly dropped her head in her hands. "It's only a few blocks."

Lydia put her hand on Polly's shoulder. "Stop that. She walks around town all the time. Today was no different."

"But it was. She's gone," Polly said.

"So about four?" Jeff asked, clicking the keyboard on the main office computer.

"Maybe a little after, maybe a little before," Polly said. "Start at three forty-five."

Jeff pointed to a video feed. "This is the one that aims toward the driveway," he said. "It has the best chance of picking anything up across the street. Most of the cameras are angled toward the building and the property. And beyond the driveway is going to be partially obscured by the trees."

"Thank god they aren't fully leafed out," Polly breathed. "Please let there be something there."

They all watched the video feed. Cars passed back and forth on the highway, some drove into Sycamore House's lot and she watched through the different feeds as they parked, people got out and headed inside.

"There," Aaron said. "Stop it and rewind."

Jeff did just that and Polly felt Henry behind her as they focused on the screen. It was only in black and white, but they distinctly saw Rebecca across the street where Polly had found the beret. A car cut her off and parked. Though they couldn't see details, a person emerged from the passenger side, concealed by the car. When the car drove off, Rebecca was gone.

"She was taken," Polly gasped.

"Oh." Henry dropped into the chair beside her and bent over, his head between his knees.

Polly put her hand on his back and looked up at Aaron. "What do we do?"

"I need a recent picture," he said.

She swiped her phone open and found a picture she'd taken of Rebecca at the shower. "This is as recent as it gets."

"We're going to the police station here in town and we'll get this information out right away. We’ll post an Amber Alert and notify everyone that she's been taken. You didn't recognize the car?"

Polly shook her head. "I want to be sick."

Lydia knelt down in front of them and put her hands on Polly's knees. "I know you do, but you have to get through this next part to help them look for Rebecca. It's about her right now. You can fall apart later."

"Will you call Marie?" Polly asked. "Tell them to stop looking and we can't come to dinner tonight." She put her hand up. "I need a minute to completely fall apart. If you don't mind, I'm going into the conference room." She stood up and reached back to take Henry's hand. "Come with me."

He looked up at her, tears streaming down his face, then stood and followed her. As soon as she shut the door, Polly collapsed to the floor and sobbed. "I can't do this. I promised her mother I'd take care of her and I failed. How am I supposed to get through this?"

He sat down beside her and they clung to each other. "I don't know," he choked out.

When Polly finally took a breath, she backed away and looked at him. "I think I'm ready now. Thank you."

"For what? I'm useless. I can't be your strength right now, Polly. I truly don't know how to do this."

She put her hand up to his cheek and brushed away the wet tears. "We have each other and we have friends. They'll do what we can't do. Okay?" Polly stood up and held out her hand. He took it and stood up beside her, his shoulders slumped and his face drawn. He kept his head down as they went back into the office.

"Let me take you to the station," Aaron said. "Jeff's going to keep an eye on things here and Lydia's called Marie. All you two have to do is focus on Rebecca."

Polly and Henry followed Aaron back through the kitchen. Sylvie looked at Polly, questions on her face. Polly shook her head, then walked on through. They climbed into the back seat of Aaron's SUV and sat still as Aaron backed around to pull out onto the highway. They rode in silence and waited for Aaron to open the car door once he parked in front of the police station.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Polly’s apartment was filled with friends. Everyone was subdued, even Beryl, who kept walking into the bathroom and then would return, her face more drawn as time passed.

Aaron had brought them back from the police station and tried to assure them that all of the local law enforcement departments were doing whatever they could. Bert Bradford had shown up at the house, just in case someone called with demands.

Polly didn't dare vocalize all of the things that were flying through her mind, though she wouldn't be surprised that everyone else had the same thoughts. If those things were said out loud, she was afraid they'd come true.

While they were at the police station, it hit Polly that the kidnapper could be Stephanie and Kayla's father, which made every single fiber of her being vibrate with fear. If that man hurt Rebecca in any way, his life was forfeit as far as she was concerned. The other thing that she hated to admit was that she didn't want to leave the house and end up on some lonely gravel road, because she was certain that meant she'd be finding Rebecca's body and that was just one thing she couldn't do.

She looked up at a knock on her front door. Lydia rushed to open it and welcomed Sam and Jean Gardner. She spoke quietly to them and Jean walked across the room, hugged Polly and then stepped back and walked over to Marie Sturtz. Polly was shocked that the woman hadn't started talking. Once she started, she couldn't quit.

The door opened again and Andrew flew in, looking around the room, his eyes wild as he searched. Polly was struck by the incongruence of the dance music coming up from the auditorium. They would be completely oblivious to what was happening above them.

"Polly," Andrew cried and people made a path as he ran for her. He leaped the last foot or so and she caught him, then held him close.

"How are you doing, honey?" she asked.

"I don't know. Mom told me what happened and when she couldn't come get me, I finally just ran over here. I can't believe this."

"I know."

"Why aren't we out looking for her?"

"Oh honey," Polly said. "I wish I could, but I wouldn't know where to start. It was one thing for her to be lost in Bellingwood somewhere, but who knows where she was taken." She deflated. "Or why."

Jason came across the room and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Come on, Andrew. Let's get you some water."

"I don't want water," Andrew said. "I want Rebecca to be okay and I want her to come home."

"I know," Jason said quietly. "She's going to be fine. That girl is one tough cookie and she can handle herself. Before you know it, she'll call and Polly will go pick her up."

"Can I come with you?" Andrew asked.

"Let her be," Jason said. "Come on. Over here."

It was a struggle, but Jason finally peeled his brother away from Polly, who was too numb to respond any further. She took her phone out of her back pocket again, willing it to ring.

When it did ring, she jumped and swiped the call open without looking at the number.

"Hello? Rebecca?"

"It's me. Stephanie."

"Hello Stephanie. I'm sorry. Rebecca's been kidnapped and I don't have anything in me right now. Are you okay?"

Polly heard Stephanie's intake of breath. "He has her. I just checked my other voice mail and he took Rebecca."

"Oh god," Polly cried and sagged.

Bill Sturtz was the one who grabbed her around the waist and led her to a sofa. He sat down with her and she tried to hold back tears.

"What did he say?" Polly asked.

"He said that if I called him and promised to bring Kayla back to him, he wouldn't hurt Rebecca. Polly, we're leaving right now, but I don't know what to do."

"We aren't making that trade," Polly said, though it nearly killed her to be so gallant. "Have you called him?"

"I just picked up the voice mail. I have until nine o'clock to tell him what I'm going to do."

Polly leaned back to see the clock on the dining room wall. If they were leaving from Omaha, Stephanie and Kayla could be in Bellingwood just around nine o'clock.

"Don't call him until the last minute," Polly said. Her relief that he promised not to hurt Rebecca began to break through the haze in her mind. "I'll ask Aaron to be here when you arrive. This gives us some time to find them. Even if you do make that call, we certainly don't want you to have to see him."

"I won't let him hurt Rebecca," Stephanie said. "Even if I have to go back to him myself, he won’t hurt those girls. No way."

"We won't let that happen either, Stephanie. I promise." Polly looked up at Bert and was grateful she was thinking clearly again. "Can you give me your password for the phone number? I want the police to hear those messages now. Especially this last one."

"Sure," Stephanie said and rattled off four numbers. Then Polly remembered. The code was Rebecca’s birthday. She took a deep, dragging breath and repeated them to Bill. He nodded, then pulled a card out of his shirt pocket and waited while Marie found a pen for him.

"Be careful coming back, Stephanie. Don't hurry. This is all going to work out."

"I know it will," Stephanie said. "I'll make sure it does. Okay, Kayla is here now. I'm already in the car. We’ll call you when we get to Bellingwood."

"I tell you what, Stephanie. We'll move a truck out of the garage. You pull in there, so no one knows that your car is here, okay?"

"Thanks, Polly."

Polly hung up and then took the card and pen from Bill. She wrote Stephanie's phone number on it and handed it up to Bert.

"Stephanie's father has been leaving her voice mails. That's her number and her pin. He left one this afternoon telling her that he'd taken Rebecca, but wouldn't hurt her if Stephanie brought Kayla back to him. They're on their way to Bellingwood right now. Maybe you can get something from his messages?"

"I'll call this in," Bert said. "You did good."

Polly looked around. "Where's Henry?" she asked his father.

"The crowd was too much for him. He said the dogs needed a walk and left with them about twenty minutes ago."

"I need to find him." Polly turned to Marie. "He's really messed up about this. I don't know how to help him."

"He feels the same way, dear," Marie said, taking Polly's hand. "You two just need to keep talking to each other."

"I'm worried about Heath and Hayden."

Marie nodded. "I'll talk to the boys. You go find your husband."

"But what about everybody who's here?"

Lydia stepped in and sat down on the table in front of Polly. "We're all here for your family. You don't need to be here for us. Go on. Find your husband and take care of each other. I'll call you if I hear anything from Aaron."

Polly stood up and headed for the front door, turned to look around the room. Finding all of their stares uncomfortable, she opened the door and bolted down the steps. She quickly crossed to the addition and ducked inside, taking refuge in the dark and quiet hallway. Then she called her husband.

"Hi Polly. I'm sorry I left."

"It's okay. I left too. Where are you?"

"In the barn with Eliseo."

"Do you care if I come down?"

"As long as you don't bring a crowd."

"Your mom and Lydia have that under control."

Polly darted out the door and ran down the sidewalk to the gates, opened them, and headed for the barn. She took a deep breath when she opened the barn door. It had only been three years since these horses had come into her life, but just the scent of them was enough to steady her nerves. Passing Daisy's stall, she opened the door into Demi's and slipped inside.

"Do you mind if I take a minute with you?" she asked him.

He nosed her hands, looking for a treat.

"That's the way it is? I'm falling apart and you want something from me?" She reached up and stroked his shoulder, then leaned against it. "You are so strong." Polly stepped back. "I remember the first time I saw you in that farmer's pen. Your coat was a mess and honey, you could barely lift your head. I hope you never remember those awful days." She smiled and touched his chin. "And then there were all of those days when I had no idea what I was doing. But you just let me learn. You didn't judge or criticize me. Nothing. And that's the way it is with my kids. I feel like I'm always tossed into the middle of the fire, then I have to learn something new so I can get out. But I don't know how to handle this. I can't fix it. I can't feed her good food or brush her coat or do anything." Polly leaned on him again. "I can't even tell her I love her and it's going to be okay. I've never been so scared in my life."

"Polly?" Henry came into view.

"Hi. I'm just getting some strength," she said.

He bowed his head. "I'm sorry I ran out on you."

"Don't be. There were too many people up there. Andrew just showed up. He's completely freaked out."

Henry ran his hand through his hair. "I can't stand the waiting. We should be doing something."

"Stephanie called."

"Oh god," he said. "It
is
him." Henry started to retch and Polly rushed to his side.

"No. It's okay," she said.

It was too late. Henry ran for the front door of the barn and she heard him throwing up outside. Polly sank to a bench and started crying again. This was more than she could handle. She couldn't worry about her daughter
and
her husband.

"He'll be okay," Eliseo said, coming up to stand in front of her. "He just needs to take it all in."

"I keep trying, Eliseo, but I don't know how to do this."

"The first month after I was burned, I said those same words every time I was alert enough to focus on my body. I heard doctors talking about how I should have died and they couldn't believe I was still here. And then they weaned me off the drugs that kept me knocked out. I wanted to scream because of the pain I was in, but I couldn't find my voice. I couldn't even scream. I had no idea how I was ever going to come back from that. The buddies who made it out without injury felt guilty, so they quit coming to see me. I was alone and didn't think I could do it."

He smiled again, his eyes showing Polly how much he loved her. "But every day, a young man stopped by my bed for just a few minutes. He turned my hand so that my palm was up and he could touch my skin. And he closed his eyes for a minute. I knew he was praying. Then he smiled at me and told me that I had the strength to get through anything. I never spoke to him; I never found out his name. He was gone by the time I was mobile and starting physical therapy. But I want to tell you that you have the strength to get through this. Both of you do."

Polly looked up to see Henry standing in the doorway.

Eliseo continued. "You have friends up in your apartment that are praying for you and for Rebecca. You have the strength to get through anything." He gently squeezed Polly's shoulder and walked to the back of the barn, disappearing into the feed room.

Henry came over and sat down beside her. "I'm so sorry. I've never felt like such a weak human being in my life. What did Stephanie say?"

"He does have Rebecca. He called and left a voice mail on her phone. But he told Stephanie he wouldn't do anything to Rebecca if she consented to bring Kayla back to him."

"We can't do that," Henry said, pounding his fist on his thigh. "We can't let her do that."

"We won't," Polly said. "Stephanie is supposed to call him tonight at nine o'clock to tell him what she plans to do. That gives us some time. And once she makes the phone call, that gives us even more time. And if they set up a place to meet, that gives us something more."

Henry looked at the watch on his wrist. "I can wait until nine o'clock. What did people say when you left?"

"Lydia told me not to worry about them. She and your mom will take care of everyone upstairs. We don't have to go back tonight if you don't want to."

"I don't want to," he said. "Can we just stay here?"

"Sure." Polly leaned up to kiss him and he backed away.

"Not yet. Let me clean my mouth." He stood. "Eliseo, do you have gum or something?"