Reflecting Love's Charms (Bellingwood Book 14) (19 page)

The door to the feed room opened, its light shining into the barn's alley. Obiwan, Han, Kirk and Khan all dashed out, running for Polly. Obiwan jumped up on the bench, taking the spot where Henry had been sitting and pushed his head into her body.

"I know, bud, I know," she said. "It's going to be a long night."

He whined and lay down beside her, his head and front paw on her lap. Han wagged his tail in happiness and when she scratched his ears, he settled on the floor in front of her. She petted Khan and Kirk and then ran back to the feed room to find Eliseo.

"Where are the donkeys?" she called out.

"Do you want them in here?" Eliseo asked, stepping into the alley. "I shut their door so they'd stay out in the pasture while you two were here."

"Ask Henry," she replied. "I'm fine with having as many animals around as I can."

Henry came back, holding a Diet Dew. "Want it?" he asked, then held up a Coke that had already been opened. "Eliseo's got everything we need down here."

"It's probably not a good idea to get completely drunk and pass out, is it," she said.

"Not tonight."

She reached for the Dew and popped it open, the fizz and citrus scent a safe, comfortable sensation.

"I never thought that having kids would be so difficult," Henry said. "Until Rebecca and Heath came into my life, I never felt like this." He took Polly's hand and looked desperate as he spoke. "I want to kill this man, Polly. I want to hold him down and choke him until I see the life leave his eyes. I've never felt that way about anything or anyone before. Ever. And if he does hurt her, I don't know how you’ll keep me out of jail for what I plan to do to him."

"I know," she said.

"We can't have any more kids in our lives."

Polly frowned. "What?"

"I can't do this."

"Are you serious?"

His shoulders drooped. "Probably not. I'm not handling these emotions very well, am I?"

"Neither of us are. Don't you think we'll be better when Rebecca is home?"

Henry reached across her lap and stroked Obiwan's head. "How am I going to let her walk outside by herself ever again? How will I let her go off to college? How will I let her..." He stopped. "I want to fold her up in bubble wrap and lock her in her room."

"The thing is, Henry, we can't stop her."

"I know. It's what I want to do, though."

"All we can do is teach her how to be strong and confident so she can take care of herself. I don't want our daughter to think that she has to rely on you or any other man to keep her safe."

"Kind of like you?"

Polly gave him a crooked smile. "If this man's balls aren't kicked clear up to his teeth at the first opportunity she has, I'll be very surprised."

"Do you think she'd do that?"

"In a heartbeat," Polly said. "We've talked a lot about how girls are taught to be nice and not fight back when they're being attacked. That's wrong. If someone tries to hurt you, don't worry about hurting them in order to protect yourself. I've shown her how to poke at eyes, rip at nostrils, grab or kick at nuts." Polly smiled. "You men have a lot of tender parts and they're fair game when abuse is involved."

He took a deep breath. "I hope she remembers everything you taught her."

"She's a smart girl, Henry. She’ll be watching for any chance to get away and find safety. If it requires her to hurt him, she'll do it. If she has to take a beating to get out of trouble, she'll take it. We talked about how a person recovers from those types of things. She won't like it. She didn't like it when she took that punch at school, but she lived through it and now it’s just a memory. As long as he doesn't touch her, Rebecca will be fine."

"He'd better not." Henry shuddered at his words.

"Stephanie thought that he'd wait for her to get here with Kayla. And speaking of that, we need to move one of the trucks out of the garage so she can pull in and hide her car."

"I can go do that. I'll bring my truck down here," Henry said. He reached out and pulled her close to him. "As much as I don't know how to do this," he whispered. "I would be lost without you. I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"You take strength from everyone around you and then you give it back ten-fold. I saw you drawing it from Demi and that blew my mind."

"He's a big horse," Polly said with her arms around Henry's neck. "He has a lot to share."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Overcome with emotion, Henry and Polly finally said goodbye to Eliseo and walked up to Sycamore House, hand in hand, the dogs running by their sides. They went around back so Henry could move his truck. Polly went on in and up the back steps with the dogs. He'd be a few minutes since he was parking it down at the barn. Many of the people that had come to stay with her had gone on home. She'd responded to texts, telling her that they were loved.

When she walked into the media room, Hayden jumped up from the sofa where he was sitting with Heath, Jason and Andrew. He pulled her into a tight hug, but couldn't find the words to say anything. Polly smiled at him, put her hand on Heath's shoulder and walked on through to the living room.

Bert Bradford had been joined by Stu Decker and Aaron Merritt. Bill and Marie Sturtz were talking quietly with Lydia, but everyone else had gone home. Polly was thankful for some quiet in her household. They didn't need everyone here while the rest of the night unfolded.

Aaron stood and pulled her into his arms. "I'm so sorry, honey. We have everyone on the lookout. I wish we could have gotten more on that car."

"I know," she said. "Thanks for coming back." Polly glanced over her shoulder at the clock. "They should be here pretty soon. What is Stephanie supposed to say to him?"

Lydia handed Stephanie's phone to Polly. "Jeff brought this up so she could call him from a familiar number."

"Thanks." Polly turned back to Aaron. "I don't want her or Kayla put in harm's way over this. Rebecca would hate that."

"I'll talk to her," Aaron said and gestured for an unfamiliar woman to join them. "This is Lenore Hart. She's a psychologist and a negotiator in situations like this. I want her to spend a few minutes with Stephanie and Kayla, to measure how they're handling this. If she thinks they can be strong, we'll recommend that Stephanie agree to meet him and we'll be right there to protect her."

Polly nodded at the woman who had come up to stand beside Aaron. She was medium everything. Medium height, medium length-medium brown hair. Just medium. She looked nice enough, pleasant even, but she would easily get lost in a crowd. In fact, Polly hadn't noticed her in the living room until Aaron called her up.

"You don't think he's stupid enough to just tell them to meet him somewhere and then actually be there, do you?" Polly asked.

Ms. Hart shrugged. "He's in unfamiliar territory, and he's been on the hunt for these girls for a week at least. All he's thought about is getting to Kayla and punishing Stephanie. That's his focus. He's been frustrated by the fact that they weren't immediately accessible to him. In looking at his background, the man isn't extremely intelligent, so I don’t expect him to come up with an elaborate, convoluted plan to sneak the girls away from us. In all likelihood, he'll bully his way through this. He probably has at least one weapon - a knife and maybe a gun. He will threaten Rebecca's life. Will she remain strong if he does?"

"She sure will."

Polly heard Henry's footsteps behind her. "This is my husband, Henry Sturtz. Henry, this is a negotiator with the Sheriff's Department. She says that Stephanie should agree to meet him."

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I know it isn't fair, but I just want my daughter home."

"It's okay, Henry," Aaron said, taking Henry's hand. "We all do. But we will keep the Armstrong girls safe, too."

"He killed their mother," Henry said. "And then he escaped from prison in order to track them down. Keeping them all safe just can't be that easy."

Aaron smiled as he released Henry's hand. "I've spoken with the warden and state police in Ohio as they've tried to figure out just how he managed to escape. The man took advantage of a hole in their security that rarely happens. Everything had to come together just right and one night it did. The power cut out for a few minutes due to a storm coming through. A delivery truck was right in the middle of crossing through a gate. Before the generator could start up and the gate could manually be closed, several prisoners were gone into the darkness. He made it out, and while the others were captured, he'd known exactly where he was headed."

"To Iowa," Henry said.

"We'll get him," Aaron said.

Obiwan and Han skittered across the floor, heading for the back door.

"They heard the garage door," Polly said, and followed the dogs. She got to the top of the back steps when she heard a quiet knock on the door at the bottom and ran down to open it.

"We shut the door, is that okay?" Stephanie asked.

"I hoped you would. Come here. I've missed you," Polly said and pulled both girls into a hug. She shut the door behind them and pointed for them to go upstairs first, even though they'd be greeted by the two dogs.

Kayla sat down on the top step and pulled Obiwan into her arms, hugging him. "I've missed you guys. Did you miss me?"

"Get up, Kayla," Stephanie said, tugging at her sister's arm. "You're in the way. Go on into the apartment."

Kayla stood up, brushed her bottom off and headed for the media room.

"I'm so sorry for all this trouble, Polly," Stephanie said. "Kayla really has no idea what's going on. I told her that Dad kidnapped Rebecca, but she doesn't know what he wants. All she knows is that we're here to help get her friend back."

"You don't have to apologize for any of this," Polly said. "It isn't your fault."

"If I hadn't left, Mom would still be alive and Rebecca would be here."

"And you'd have to put up with continual abuse as well as watching your sister go through the same thing."

"It's just that..."

"It's just nothing," Polly interrupted. "Aaron is here and wants to talk to you. They're going to recommend that you agree to meet your father."

"I was afraid of that," Stephanie said. She sat on the edge of Henry's desk, bracing her hands on her thighs, as if it were an effort for her to hold herself upright. "It's the right thing to do, but it scares me to death. I never wanted to see that man again. I thought I was done with him."

"Come on in," Polly said. "Do you two need something to eat or drink?"

"I can't eat a thing. My stomach feels like it could revolt at any minute." Stephanie looked through the doorway. "Are there a lot of people here?"

"There were, but most everyone has gone home. It's just Lydia and Henry's parents. Andrew and Jason are here and then some other law enforcement."

"Okay. That's good."

"Jeff's downstairs. Do you want him to come up?"

It was the first light Polly had seen in Stephanie's eyes, but then it faded. "He's probably busy with the reception."

"Honey, you're more important than a reception to him." Polly took out her phone and sent a quick text. "He'll probably be at the front door before you get to the living room."

When they went into the media room, Polly smiled at the sight of Kayla seated between Heath and Andrew. She was telling them what had happened during the week and asking questions about all of the events in Bellingwood.

"Can I help with anything?" Hayden asked.

"She hasn't eaten supper," Polly responded. "If she's hungry or thirsty, maybe you could take care of that."

"Thanks. I will."

Polly took Stephanie's arm and walked with her into the living room, then released her and got to the front door before Jeff knocked. He shook his head when she opened it.

"I was just getting ready to knock," he said.

"I knew you'd be here. Come on in."

Jeff strode over to Stephanie and gathered her in his arms. "Don't you ever leave me like this again," he said. "I have been so scared and I'm so pissed at you and I missed you so much and..." He took her upper arms and held her at arm's length. "Don't ever do that to me. You're too important. We can take care of anything."

"I hope we can take care of this," she said. "I'm sorry for running out. I know you had a lot of work around here."

"It's not about the work. It's about you and me. We're a team. We needed each other this week and you were gone." He pulled her close again. "Have I made you feel guilty yet?"

"A little bit," she acknowledged.

"It's after nine o'clock," Aaron said, interrupting. He handed Stephanie her old phone with cords hanging out of one end of it. "Make the call. We'll be able to listen and record it, but the only thing he'll hear is your voice." He plugged the cords into a box that was sitting on the table, with more cords and headsets weaving in and out of it. Polly hadn't noticed any of that earlier, either. She hated to admit how out of it she was.

Aaron, Lenore Hart, and Stephanie, who kept Jeff close, stood in a huddle for a few moments, talking quietly. Polly sat down beside Henry and took his hand. His mother had his other hand clasped tightly in her own lap.

"It's going to work out," Polly said.

Henry squeezed her hand. "You almost have me believing," he said.

She leaned around him and said, "I'm so sorry we messed up your parent's dinner tonight. How long are they going to be in town?"

Marie smiled and shook her head. "No one was thinking about dinner. They'll be here for a few more days. Mom and I were planning to drag our husbands down to Des Moines tomorrow morning for a Mother's Day extravaganza. She chuckled. "They won't think it's that exciting, but they'll go along to make us happy." Tears filled her eyes. "Of course, we aren't leaving Bellingwood until your little girl is home and safe."

"It's okay, Mom," Henry said.

Aaron pointed to one of the chairs and Stephanie sat down. She put the headset on that he handed to her and adjusted it. They checked volume and she made a test call to Aaron's phone. When they were certain that everything was in place, he nodded.

Stephanie closed her eyes, took a deep breath and pressed the button to re-dial the call that had come in earlier.

Polly put both hands on the back of her head and rubbed her scalp, worry and fear driving themselves to the forefront of her mind again. She looked around the room. Stu had stepped into the dining room and spoke quietly to the kids while Bert, with another headset on, stood back from Stephanie.

Polly looked up at Aaron and he gave a quick nod. She didn't know whether to be grateful or upset that she wasn't listening to the phone call, but chose grateful.

Jeff knelt in front of Stephanie and put his hands on hers when she set the phone down. "You've got this," he whispered.

"Hello?" Stephanie said.

Polly let go of the breath she'd been holding. Some part of her had been worried that he wouldn't answer the phone.

"I know. I'm sorry." She paused and listened. "You're right. I've never been on time. No, you can't expect much from me. I told you I'm sorry."

Polly's heart broke as Stephanie's voice grew more and more childlike. "Please, daddy. I said I'm sorry."

Glancing at Lenore Hart, Polly set her jaw. This wasn't going well. Stephanie didn't have the strength to face down her father.

Stephanie dropped her head. "I'm sorry."

Pause.

"Please let me show you how sorry I am. Just like I used to."

Aaron's lip turned up in a snarl.

"Where do you want me to come?" Stephanie asked.

Pause.

"And the little girl is still okay? Can I talk to her?"

Aaron, Stephanie, Bert and Lenore all cringed and Henry nearly leapt up, but Aaron put his hand out and gave a slow nod, then mouthed, "She's fine."

"Tonight? What time?" Stephanie asked. She listened and said. "I'll be there. I promise. Will you let her go now?"

Pause.

"I know it's not about her. But I don't want you to get in any more trouble."

Pause.

"Of course I'm alone. Kayla's in the other room, but I'm all by myself. No one knows where I am."

Pause.

"I'll see you soon, daddy." Stephanie shuddered and gulped. "I love you, too."

She swiped the call closed and threw the phone at Jeff. "That bastard. That asshole." She stood up, flung the headset off and paced toward the front door. "Thinks he can try to make me feel guilty. Like hell." She spun on Aaron. "I don't care what happens tonight. If he puts up a fight, shoot him. Don't let him get away with this. He either needs to die or else rot in a cold, dark cell for the rest of his life."