Piece of My Heart (Under Suspicion #7) - Mary Higgins Clark Page 0,18
he described the couple who would give her baby a loving home. And, of course, the joy on the adoptive parents’ faces when they picked up Johnny at the hospital. He had taken a photograph so he could show it to Michelle. “I can tell they already love him,” she had said.
He wanted to believe that Michelle had never regretted her decision, but she never came back to church again, nor did she return his phone calls when he tried to reach out to her a few times. Sandra made the decision to switch to another parish a few months after the adoption. Seeing the Buckleys without having a relationship with her grandchild was simply too much for her to handle, she said.
Of course, Father Horrigan assumed that, as the parish office manager, Cynthia knew none of this.
“It must have been seven years since I saw Sandra last,” Cynthia said. “It’s a shame that she suddenly stopped coming.”
“Is it possible we still have her contact information?” he asked. “I’d like to give her a call.”
Maybe he could put Marcy’s mind at ease without breaking his promise to Michelle.
* * *
A few minutes later, he was back inside his house, dialing Sandra Carpenter’s number. After three rings, a woman answered.
“Hello?”
The voice at the other end of the line sounded weaker and much older than the one he remembered. “This is Father Mike Horrigan from Blessed Sacrament Church. I was looking for Sandra Carpenter.” It had been seven years since he’d spoken to her. She had probably changed her number since then.
“Well, you found me, Father Mike. How nice to hear from you.”
Her voice brightened slightly, but still seemed frail. They spent a couple of minutes chatting about her retirement from her secretarial position with the federal government and a new priest at St. John’s who was creating quite a stir incorporating what she called his “stand-up comedy routine” into his services.
“Well, I’m happy to hear you found a home there. We were sorry to lose you at Blessed Sacrament. I hope you don’t mind, but I was wondering how things worked out for Michelle. Where is she these days? Is she here in D.C.?”
He had decided that there was no need to upset Sandra or Michelle by telling them that Johnny was missing. He hoped that he could get confirmation from Sandra that Michelle was nowhere near Long Island, New York, without causing unnecessary anxiety.
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. “Sandra? Are you there?”
“I guess you didn’t hear the news.”
He could tell from the tone of her voice that the news wasn’t good. “I’m sorry. No, I didn’t.”
“I lost her.”
“Oh, Sandra. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“I’d say I lost her the first time not long after the baby was born. She became a completely different person. Distracted. Depressed. Defeated. She withdrew from everyone she knew, including me. She lost any desire for happiness. Any thoughts of returning to college were out the window. She moved to Denver for a while, then to Philadelphia. She’d call me on birthdays and Christmas, but otherwise, she was practically a stranger.”
He told her again he was sorry. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No. My daughter died six months ago.”
“Oh, Sandra. No.”
“It was a drug overdose. The police found my number in her cell phone, so at least someone told me. I still can’t believe she’s gone. At least she knew her son has a good life. Despite everything she went through afterward, she told me that she never regretted having him or giving him a chance at a happy life. How is little Johnny, by the way?”
Chapter 13
The humming sound beneath Johnny Buckley suddenly changed. The car was slowing down. His body rocked in the trunk as they drove over a series of bumps. He believed they were pulling off the highway, maybe onto a dirt road.
The car came to a halt. The engine stopped, too. He heard one of the car doors open. Maybe it was two. He couldn’t tell. And then there was silence. Complete and total silence.
He began to take slow breaths—in and out—the way his mom had said they did in her yoga class. She told him doing that would make him calm. It had worked when she took him to the dentist. It was helping, but he was still so afraid.