Chapter 21
"Jill? Riley?"
It had been more than an hour now. Carter and Abby had searched the entire house, the yard, everywhere, but they still hadn't found Eric or the twins.
Carter shook his head. "They're not here," he said wearily.
"Where are they?" Abby said. Where had Eric taken them, and why?
"I think we should call the cops."
Abby stared at him. "You can't be serious," she said.
"I am. Eric's gone, he took the twins, and we don't know where they went."
"Eric's my brother! What are you trying to say, that he- kidnapped my kids?"
Carter didn't respond.
"He wouldn't do that, Carter, I know he wouldn't!"
"But you said yourself that he was acting strangely."
Abby looked down. "I know. I should have asked him what was wrong. But that doesn't mean he kidnapped them!"
"No, but it does make him look suspicious." Abby didn't respond. "Maybe he's having a manic episode, and he doesn't realize what he's doing."
"He's on his meds; he wouldn't do something crazy like this."
"Maybe he's involved in drugs, or something else that altered his mind."
Abby shook her head. "No. Eric wouldn't do this to me, no matter what."
"Well, then what happened?"
"I don't know, Carter," Abby said wearily. "Let's just keep looking."
_______________________________________________________
An hour later, they called the police.
"And what were they wearing?"
As Abby listened to Carter describing Jill and Riley's clothing, she felt detached from the situation, like she was floating above them observing the action. This couldn't be happening. Her children couldn't be missing.
Carter still had not convinced her that Eric had, for some strange reason, purposely taken her children. She was sure that this was all just a big, horrible misunderstanding. But in the end, worry about her children won out over loyalty to her brother. When they found them all, she would apologize to him for reporting him to the cops.
"And you say you heard laughing before you went downstairs? Are you sure that's what it was?"
"It was Riley laughing," Abby said quietly, and that settled the matter.
"And you heard a crash? What did it sound like?"
"Like a metal bowl hitting the floor," Carter said, looking to Abby for confirmation. Abby nodded in agreement.
"Okay, and do you have a recent picture of the twins?"
Abby slid the photos across the table. She had dug them out while Carter was calling the police. They were old, taken on the twins' third birthday, but they were the most recent ones she had. She regretted not documenting their childhood on film more thoroughly, but film had seemed like such a luxury. Now she wished she had more pictures of her children when they were babies. Were these the last ones she would ever take?
Abby realized the officer was talking. "...missing persons report. We'll call you if anything develops."
Now Carter was standing with the officers, shaking their hands. Abby could not imagine being so civil right now. She wanted to jump up and yell at them, "Stop wasting time and go find my kids!" But instead, she stayed in her seat.
The cops left, and Carter and Abby were left alone.
___________________________________________________________
Abby sat on the side of her bed, her head in her hands. This was so unfair. Where were they?
She and Carter had spent the entire day looking for them. They had enlisted the help of Carter's coworkers and scoured the city. Still, after eight hours of searching, there was no sign of the twins.
What had Eric done? She remembered sending them all down to the kitchen, hearing the crash and the giggle, and walking downstairs. It had all taken less than five minutes. Where had they gone?
Abby shuddered as she wondered where her children were right now. Were they okay? Safe? Were they hurt? Were they even alive? Abby realized that she could torment herself all night with images of her children in peril, but it wouldn't do any good. She had to think of a practical solution.
Carter sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Were the twins okay? The question had tormented him throughout the day. He had just met them a few weeks ago; would this be the end?
He wished he had called the police as soon as they had turned up missing. Now, who knew how far away they were from the house?
He wondered what was wrong with Eric. For some reason, Abby still seemed to believe in his innocence, but Carter saw that there was no way Eric could have not been involved in this. The question now was, what to do?
They had no idea what Eric's motive was. All they knew was he had shown up at the house acting strangely, then he had disappeared with the kids. Carter shuddered when he imagined what Eric had done to them. He prayed that they were okay.
He didn't know what to do next. The cops didn't seem to have any ideas, except to wait for new clues. He decided that he would hire a P.I. first thing in the morning, the best one in town. He looked at his clock. It was almost four, but he didn't think he'd be getting much sleep tonight.
As the night wore on, Carter and Abby continued to plan.