Taken (7 page)

“Well for one,” Tina said, “the woman was driving a different car. Not the one she got into at the garage sale.” She pulled off her stocking cap. “I got the license.” She handed a slip of paper over the front seat to Jessie. “I don’t think she figured out I was following her. She never turned around.”

“Can you give the number to the police, Daddy?” Jessie asked. “I think this might be the fake kidnapper nurse.”

She turned to Tina. “Make some more notes on the woman. What she wore, how tall, the scar and anything else.”

“Okay,” Tina said.

“You know,” said Jessie, “she was in the hair dye section. I’ll bet Andel will become a blond very soon.”

“I want to talk to you girls,” Mr. Hanson said. “I know you think this is kind of a game, but, believe me, people who steal a baby are genuine criminals and would hurt you in order to keep you quiet.” He pulled to the curb in front of Tina’s house. “We’ll check out the folks in your notes. But we have to be careful. Try to be patient. If this woman is the kidnapper and she’s looking at baby clothes and hair dye, the baby is probably still alright.”

Tina got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Mr. Hanson. I promise I’ll remember what you said.”

She opened the wrought iron gate and ran to the house.

“What about you, Jessie? Are you going to remember what I said?” asked her dad. “Don’t forget—the kidnapper actually
saw
you at the hospital. People remember you because of your braid.” His voice was stern and Jessie knew he meant what he said.

“I’ll be careful, Daddy.” She pulled on her wool cap and tucked her braid into it. “But remember, Daddy, Tina and I were only going into the grocery store to buy shoelaces. We weren’t looking for trouble.”

He looked at her and frowned when he saw that her braid had already disappeared.

At home that night, Jessie was practicing her lesson when the phone rang. She ran to the hall.

“Hi,” said a woman’s voice. “I’d like to come by and see your kids’ clothes.”

“Sure,” said Jessie. “We’ll be here tomorrow between four and six after school.”

“I’m sort of in a hurry. Could I come now?” asked the woman.

Jessie’s mother was standing in the kitchen doorway listening to Jessie.

Jessie covered the receiver and whispered, “Some woman wants to come now and look at the sale stuff.”

Her mother shook her head and whispered, “It’s too late. You have to finish practicing. Tell her no.”

“Sorry,” said Jessie into the phone. “It’ll have to be tomorrow. We’ll be here then. Good-bye.” She hung up.

The next day was Tuesday. Five days had passed since Andel was taken. Jessie hurried home from school to be there if last night’s caller stopped by.

“Hi,” said Phillip. “What you doing?”

“Right now I’m getting home from school. What’re you doing?” She still wore her coat and her braid was tucked under her stocking cap.

“I went shopping with Mama. Want to see?” Jessie followed him into the living room. Several bright new toys were arranged in a neat row.

“See—new tractor.” He grinned up at her. “And two cars. Look at the animals. That’s a cow. And here’s a horse. And here are two chickens.”

Jessie sat on the floor next to Phillip. “These are really nice,” she said. “Did you pick them out by yourself?”

“Yes,” he said.

“May I pick them up?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Jessie examined each toy while Phillip glowed with pride. “You have a farm started here,” she said. “Do you have any money left?”

“Yes.”

The doorbell rang. “Wait a minute, Phillip. I’ll be back.” She ran to the door.

A woman stood there. She was tall with brown hair and wore dark glasses. “Hi. I’ve come to look at your sale. I called last night.”

“Right,” said Jessie. “Meet me at the garage door. I’ll go through the house and open it.” She ran through the kitchen and pressed the door opener.

Inside the garage, the woman first went to the larger sizes of clothes. After a few minutes she began to sort through the newborn stuff.

Well,
thought Jessie,
maybe she has several kids.
She studied the woman so she could write up her notes. She wore a heavy brown winter coat. And a matching scarf and gloves. When she took off her gloves, Jessie could see her hands. There were no marks or scars.

“How old is your baby?” Jessie asked.

The shopper ignored her, picked up the stack of newborn clothes she had chosen and carried them to the little table where the change box sat. “I’ll take these. How much do I owe you?”

Jessie added up the price stickers. “That will be $22.30,” said Jessie.

The woman removed her dark glasses and slipped them onto the top of her head. She pulled her billfold from her handbag and looked up.

Jessie froze.
I’ve seen those sleepy gray eyes before. Why doesn’t she recognize me? Oh, because my braid is tucked in my hat?
Jessie picked up the clothes and turned her back to the woman while she put the little garments into a bag. Her hands shook.
I need to follow her.

A loud scream came from the house.
Phillip!
thought Jessie. She ran through the kitchen door and into the living room. Her mother was already there.

“I thought you were with him,” said her mom.”

“What happened?” asked Jessie.

“He cut his hand on one of his new toys. Can you believe it?” She held a tissue over the palm of his hand. “Come on, Phillip. Let’s go put something on this.” He was still crying as his mother carried him upstairs.

Jessie ran out the front door to the garage. No one was there. Next to the cash box lay a twenty-dollar bill and a five.
Great! I didn’t even see what she was driving.

She took a tissue from her pocket and carefully placed the twenty-five dollars in a bag.
Just in case there are fingerprints.

Chapter Fifteen

“Okay, Jessie,” said her father. “Let’s go over this again.” They were in the living room on the sofa. “One of your suspects has a mark on her hand. Think back. Can you remember which hand showed the mark in the hospital?”

Jessie tried to visualize the nurse reaching for the baby. “It was her left hand. The mark was also on the left hand at the grocery store.”

“This is important. Are you sure?” asked her dad.

“Yes,” said Jessie.

“Did you see the grocery store person’s eyes?”

“No. She had on dark glasses and never took them off.”

“So the first time you saw the sleepy gray eyes was in the garage today with the woman who bought infant clothes.”

“Yes. She took off her glasses and looked right at me,” Jessie said.

“Did she seem to recognize you? You know—from the hospital.”

“No. Not at all,” said Jessie. “But I still had my coat and hat on and my braid was tucked into my hat.”

“Why was that?” asked her dad.

“Because when I got home from school, Phillip wanted to show me his new toys right away. So I didn’t take them off and then the doorbell rang,” said Jessie. “It was the shopper so I ran to the garage and opened the door.”

“This is pretty odd,” said her father. “But I think it’s more likely to have two sleepy-eyed women around town than two women with scars on their left hands.” He sat thinking. “I’m going with the grocery-store woman. We have two license plates numbers. One from the garage sale and one from Tina’s following her from the grocery store.”

“Have the police checked them out?”

“They’re watching three properties. One of the plates was out of town. Omaha. The police there are watching that house.”

“I wish you’d tell me the addresses here in town,” said Jessie.

“That won’t happen,” said her dad. “I worry about you and Tina enough already. Go ahead and practice. I like to listen. You’re doing very well! Stick to music.” He unfolded the newspaper and began to read.

* * *

On the way to school the next day, Bryce caught up with Jessie and they walked together.

“Bring me up to date on the kidnapping, Jessie,” he said. “I haven’t talked to you since Sunday at the garage sale.”

Jessie smiled, very happy to see him. “A few new things have happened.” She told him about the grocery-store woman and the sleepy-eyed lady from yesterday. “Tina and I used the signals in the grocery store. They worked great! Tina didn’t even change her expression.”

“What next?” he asked.

“Who knows? I went with Mom to the Novaks’ and felt so bad. Those poor people. This is Wednesday. It’s been six days since the baby was taken.”

“I know. It’s awful,” he said. “I haven’t told anyone the stuff we’re supposed to keep a secret.”

“Thanks,” she said. “My dad says that’s really important.” Jessie looked up into his eyes. His expression was full of concern.
You are so cute,
she thought.

“Do you have a lesson Saturday?” he asked.

“Yeah. At one o’clock. Mrs. Livingston’ll be back. How about you?”

“I do. At two. Want to walk over together? I have to go to the library. I can do that during your lesson.”

“Okay,” said Jessie.
Very okay! “
Pick me up around twelve thirty. Then I’ll meet you at the café after your lesson.” They ran up the school steps and said good-bye.

* * *

In the car on Friday afternoon with Phillip strapped in his car seat in back, Mrs. Hanson said, “This is a nice amount of money to give to the homeless shelter. They’ll be pleased.”

“Did Daddy tell you the real reason we had the sale?”

“He did,” said her mom. “You could have told me, but, it’s okay since the money’s going to a worthy cause.” She turned the car into the shelter parking lot. “Besides, I think it was a smart plan. You don’t have to tell me everything.”

“Thanks, Mom,” said Jessie.

Jessie took Phillip from his seat and stood him on the sidewalk. “How’s your hand?”

He held up his hand, all wrapped up in a bandage. “Tractor did it. Hurts.”

“Are you going to let Mom take the tractor back to the store and maybe get a different toy?”

“Maybe,” he said.

They removed several boxes from the trunk that were filled with what was left from the garage sale.

“What happened to Sunny’s baby dolls?” Jessie asked her mother. “They were beautiful.”

Her mother took Phillip’s uninjured hand. “Tina’s mom bought them for the twins. In fact, she bought almost everything that Sunny contributed. The clothes and toys.”

“Sunny will see herself everywhere,” laughed Jessie.

“The shelter will be able to use these things that weren’t sold,” said her mom.

“Oh, Mom,” said Jessie. Did you see the $25.00 in a bag by the cash box?”

“I did,” said her mother. “I left it on the kitchen counter. Why was it in a bag?”

“Thanks for keeping it. It was from that woman who came Tuesday after school. I kept it for fingerprints.”

Her mother smiled. “I figured it might be some kind of clue.”

Jessie smiled back.
Boy, Mom’s getting smarter every day!

Chapter Sixteen

When the doorbell rang on Saturday, Jessie ran to greet Bryce. She had on a blue parka and snow boots and carried a red zippered envelope with her music inside. He was smiling and so was she.

The sun was bright and most of the sidewalks had been cleared of snow. The two hurried toward the library in the Square.

“What music are you learning?” asked Bryce. He looked fresh from the shower and his hair shone in the sunlight. He wore jeans and a soft green sweater under a camel-color barn coat.

“I have my very first Beethoven piece,” Jessie said. It’s beautiful—and not too hard.”

“I’m working on Beethoven, too,” Bryce said. “He’s the best, I think.”

“With the piano, I hear that Chopin is ‘The One,’” Jessie said. “I can hardly wait.”

“Anything new on the kidnapping?” Bryce asked. He took her free hand and they jumped together over an icy patch.

Now I can’t think,
thought Jessie. “Uh…nothing that I know of. My dad is not telling me much because he thinks Tina and I will do something crazy.”

Bryce laughed. “Well I suppose that could happen. But he liked the idea of the garage sale, didn’t he?”

“Sure. Sometimes he gives me credit for being smart. He just worries. Does your dad worry?”

“If he does, he doesn’t show it. Maybe it’s different with boys.”

“You know, Mrs. Livingston has been out of town for a couple of weeks. Do you think she knows anything about the kidnapping?”

“Probably not,” said Bryce. “I don’t think she’s interested in local news. Her whole life is about music.”

By now they were at the library. Bryce hurried up the steps and turned to wave before he opened the big double doors.

Oh, honestly will I ever get over melting when I’m around him
? She waved back, cut across the snow in the Square and headed to her piano lesson.