Chapter 22
When Carter went down to the kitchen at six AM, he wasn't surprised to see that someone was already there. "Hey," he said, sitting at the table.
Abby jumped in surprise, then realized who it was. "Oh. Hi. Want some coffee?" She held out the half empty pot, and Carter wondered how long she had been up.
He accepted the pot and poured himself a cup. "You get any sleep?" he asked.
Abby shook her head. "No. How could I? I just kept thinking about them, wondering if they're okay-" Abby broke off her statement abruptly.
Carter reached across the table and covered her hand with his. "We're gonna find them," he assured her.
"I hope so," she said quietly.
"I'm gonna hire a P.I., as soon as offices are open," he told her.
She smiled at him. "Thanks," she said.
"You don't have to thank me, Abby. They're my kids too," he reminded her.
"Sorry," she said apologetically.
Carter checked his watch. "I'm gonna call now and see if the P.I.'s in his office yet." He picked up the phone and started dialing, but soon replaced it. "No answer. He must not be there yet."
"Well, it is only six o'clock." Abby sighed and put down her coffee cup. "I want to do something. I can't stand just sitting around doing nothing while they're still missing. Let's go and look for them again."
Carter nodded. Even though he knew it was probably futile, he hated sitting there doing nothing too. "Let's drive around near here for a while. Maybe we'll see something we didn't see yesterday." They both knew it was probably hopeless, but it seemed like they should be doing something.
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As expected, the search yielded nothing.
Carter and Abby returned to the house at exactly eight o'clock. As soon as they got in the door, Carter called the P.I. again. "Hello?...yes...this is John Carter...yes...okay...yes...we'll be there." He hung up the phone. "We have an appointment at his office in fifteen minutes."
Abby nodded, and rebuttoned the coat that she had been about to take off. "Let's go, then."
When they returned to the house, the phone was ringing. Abby raced for it, and Carter realized that she was hoping the phone call would bring news of the twins.
"Hello?...oh, yes." He immediately realized from her tone that it wasn't the call she was expecting. When she hung up the phone, he asked, "Who was it?"
"Susan. She was calling to see if we had any new news." Abby sighed. "I wish I had something to tell her," she said.
"We should probably get the stuff together for the flyers," Carter said after a moment of silence.
"Flyers; right," Abby said quickly, glad to have something to do. The P.I. had informed them that they should make and start distributing flyers with pictures of Eric and the twins.
Abby went to her bedroom, where she pulled a lone photo album out of the closet. She sat on the bed and opened the photo album across her lap.
The P.I. had said to look for 'clear, recent, full-face shots'. Abby would use the same pictures of Jill and Riley that she had given to the cops, but she had to find a picture of Eric.
Abby quickly flipped through the first few pages, forcing herself not to linger on the pictures of her children. However, she couldn't miss a picture taken when the twins were two. They were both sitting in her lap, wide smiles on their faces; Jill was reaching for the camera. The picture became blurry, and Abby realized it was because there were tears in her eyes. I can't afford to fall apart right now, she thought. I have to keep myself together, for the kids' sakes. That thought dried her eyes, and she flipped past the picture, trying to forget the happy image of the past that was already burned on her brain.
As she flipped through the album, she realized how few photos she had of Eric. The ones she did have were all taken more than ten years ago. Finally, at the back of the album, she discovered a picture than Eric had given her four years ago. It was slightly blurry, but it was the best she had.
As she slid the picture out of its sleeve, the phone rang. She dove across the bed and answered it before it could ring again. "Hello?" she said anxiously, hoping, praying for news of the twins.
Carter, having heard the ringing, now stood in Abby's doorway, listening to her end of the conversation.
"Yes...I see...I will...yes, thank you." He couldn't read the expression on her face, but it didn't look happy.
When Abby hung up the phone, there was a sad smile on her face. "What's wrong?" Carter asked.
"I got the job in Ped's," she said quietly. "Somehow, it just doesn't seem as important now. All that's important is Jill and Riley-" she buried her face in her hands, unable to go on.
"Hey, hey, hey," Carter said, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. "Don't give up on them yet, Abby."
"I just want to know that they're okay," she said into Carter's shirt. Carter rubbed her back, unsure of how to answer her.
They stood there for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms. Then Abby broke away from him abruptly. Busying herself with the photo album, she said, "We should get going to the print shop."
Carter felt like he should say something else, something to comfort her, but what could be said? Their children were gone, and they didn't know if they would ever see them again. There really wasn't any hope he could offer. So he simply said, "Yes, we should," and followed her down the stairs.
The phone rang again just as they were about to walk out the door. Dropping the pictures on the table, Abby dashed to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" she said breathlessly. There was a moment's pause, then, "Oh, God," in a voice so devastating that Carter knew it could only be terrible news.
Abby's face had paled, and she gripped the phone tightly. "Okay...I understand...we'll be right there." She hung up the phone very slowly.
"What's wrong?" Carter said anxiously, for the second time that day.
"It's Eric. They found him."