Until I Find You - Rea Frey Page 0,59

back cracks.

“Easy, babe. There are bones in there,” Jess reminds him. She takes the baby from me and disappears to get both boys situated in the nursery.

“Drink?” he offers.

I shake my head but walk to the kitchen anyway. I reach for the bar and sit on an available stool.

“Man, Bec. I don’t even know what to say.”

“I just feel like no one is doing anything.” I rip my hands through my hair. “Don’t communities like this rally together with signs and go knocking on doors or something?”

“When the police say you can, sure.” He pours me a glass and slides it over. “Your friend Jake—does he have any leads?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. He’s working a case right now so he can’t give it his full attention, but he’s looking into surveillance cameras. And Officer Toby, who was at your party, is helping too.”

“Toby’s good police.”

I know he’s spent a lot of time working cases with local cops, since it’s a close-knit community and he’s the only criminal defense attorney in town. I rotate the glass in my hand. “Let me ask you a question. You know criminal behavior. Take me through this. What would be someone’s motive?”

“Plenty of reasons. One parent or relative wants custody or guardianship. In your case, this doesn’t make sense, of course, because there’s another child involved.”

“This isn’t an act done by a relative.” My mother floats to mind. If she were here, she’d go to the ends of the earth to bring Jackson back. If she were here, he wouldn’t have gone missing in the first place. I smack away that loss and focus on this one. This is the one I have to get through. This is the one to survive. “What about a stranger’s motivation?”

He sighs. “Where do I begin? Extortion, ransom, legal adoption, sex trafficking. The list is endless.”

He must register the horrified look on my face because he quickly backtracks.

“Those are just the typical reasons someone would take a child. I have to say though, babies aren’t as common. And to leave another child in his place?” I hear him scratch his head. “That’s a new one for me. Probably why Elmhurst PD is a bit slow to start. They may not have seen it before. Chief Holbrook is notoriously—”

“Conservative. Yes, I’ve heard.” I groan and drop my head in my hands. “Or they just don’t believe me and are biding their time until this all blows over.”

“It’s possible.” He takes a swallow of the brandy he’s poured.

Jess enters the kitchen and pulls another glass down. “What are we talking about?”

“Chief Holbrook.”

“Pussy,” Jess says. Her foul mouth warrants a reprimand from Rob.

“Don’t say that about the chief.”

“What? It’s true. He’s so concerned with Elmhurst’s reputation that he overlooks most things.”

I almost remind her that she’s overlooking her own feelings to help me, but refrain.

“We need to know whose kid this is,” she continues. Jess situates her laptop on the island.

“What are you going to do, Google ‘Elmhurst babies’ and hope he turns up?” Rob asks.

“What do you think Facebook is for?”

“Not that.”

“Okay, genius. Do you have a better idea?”

“This is so ridiculous,” I say.

The two of them stop bickering. “What is?” Jess asks.

“That we’re sitting here, in your kitchen, on a laptop, when someone has Jackson.” My voice shakes, but I center it. “How do parents just sit and wait? No, I can’t do this.” I slip off the stool and grab my purse.

“Rebecca, what are you doing?”

“I’m going for a walk to clear my head, okay?” I head upstairs to the nursery, grab the baby, and strap him in.

“I’ll be quick,” I call to them in the kitchen and then retrace my steps toward the front door, unfold my cane, and hurry down the porch steps before they can stop me. Where to?

I falter on the sidewalk. I could go home and wait. I could take the Metra into Chicago, bang on Jake’s door, and demand he help me instead of his unit. I could go to the Elmhurst police station and beg Officer Toby to just issue the damn Amber Alert. I could call Dr. Gibbons and ask for an emergency session. I could paste flyers throughout the entire neighborhood, get a band of mothers together, and go door-to-door until I find Jackson.

The baby coos on my chest and yawns, and I reach down and automatically kiss the top of his head. “What should I do?” I whisper.

“Bec!” Jess swiftly approaches, her feet pounding pavement. “Rob is