Chapter 29

            "She's not here."

            At Abby's words, Carter's spirit crumbled. "No," he said weakly. It was all he could say. What else was there?

            The two kidnappers had been arrested, but Jill was not with them. The cops had found Joey's house and broken into it. There, they found a room with two small fold out beds, and in it was a shirt that Carter had identified as the one Jill was wearing when she disappeared. But there was no one in the house.

            Abby had been at the river for more than an hour. There wasn't a stranger she hadn't asked or a tree she hadn't looked behind. Jill was not here. What could they do now?

            "We'll organize a search party, get her picture on the news, see if anything shows up."

            Abby shook her head, the horror of the situation finally sinking in. It wasn't supposed to end this way. They had given up the money; now, they were supposed to get Jill back safe and sound.

            Carter wrapped his arm around Abby. "Let's go home, okay?" he suggested gently.

            Abby closed her eyes. This was too horrible to be real. It had to be some terrible nightmare. But when she opened her eyes, the same scene was still in front of her.

            She nodded at Carter. "Okay," she said, her voice raspy.

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            "Jill?"

            Riley came bounding down the stairs, eagerly looking around. "Where's Jill?" he asked eagerly.

            "She's not here, honey," Abby said softly.

            Riley's face fell. "But I thought you were going to bring her home. I heard you and Daddy talking about it."

            Abby looked down, tears threatening to fall. "I'm sorry, baby; she's not here."

            Riley's face crumpled, a mask of disappointment. "I thought you said you'd get her, Daddy," he said, looking up to Carter for an explanation.

            Carter dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, Riley; I thought I was going to be able to. But it's not over yet; I'm going to keep doing whatever I have to. I'm going to find her." Looking up at Abby, he said once again, "I'm going to find her."

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            "I'm gonna go look by the river."

            Carter looked up at Abby. Her face was etched with sadness.

            Carter looked up at her. "You know they already had the search party looking all around the river for three hours."

            Abby nodded. "I know, I know. I just want to help."

            Carter took her hand. "Abby, there's nothing to find by the river. There's no one. She's not there."

            Abby snatched her hand from his. "Well, I can look. At least it's better than just sitting here doing nothing." She headed for the door.

            "Abby, stop." He stood up. Quickly walking over to the door, he stood in front of it, blocking her path.

            "Move!" she yelled, losing her temper. She hit Carter in his chest. What was his problem? Jill was missing, and he was trying to stop her from looking for her!

            "Abby, you're not gonna find her by the river." He grabbed her shoulders. "Riley needs you here. He's scared that he's never going to see his sister again, and he needs you to let him know that things are going to be okay."

            "How can I tell him that when I don't even know it myself? Jill could be d-d-dead-" at that words, all the fire leaked out of Abby like air out of a balloon. She just wanted Jill to be okay. Was that too much to ask?

            Abby shook her head. "I'm not just going to give up on her, Carter."

            "I'm not asking you to-"

            "Yes you are! You want me to sit on the couch like you, pretending like nothing's wrong! Well, something is wrong! My daughter is missing, and I'm not going to stop looking for her until she's safe at home!"

            "Jill isn't the only child you have! You have to think about Riley too! He's scared and he needs his mother, but she's too busy running off to think about him!"

            "I am thinking about him!" Abby screeched. "I'm thinking that the best think for him is to have his sister back, and I'm not going to get that by just sitting on my hands doing nothing!"

            "Oh, is that what you think I'm doing?"

            Abby's head snapped up and down quickly. "Well you're sitting here, doing nothing, while Jill is still missing. And now, you don't even want me to go and look for her!" She jerked to the side, dodging Carter.

            "It's not that. I want you to be here for Riley, too."

            At the sound of his words, Abby stopped. He was right. She needed to think about Riley too. But he was safe right now; it was Jill who needed rescuing. But was there really anything she could do that would bring her home sooner?

            Abby closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "You're right. I'm gonna go and talk to Riley."

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            "Hello?"

            Abby wasn't as quick getting to the phone now; she didn't have any reason to be. So it was Carter who answered at the end of the second ring.

            "I have Jill. Drop off fifty thousand dollars in the trash can behind the deli on forty-fifth street if you ever want to see Jill again."

            "What?" Carter said, confused. He realized that the caller had hung up.

            He slowly replaced the handset. What was he supposed to do now?

            When the phone rang twenty seconds later, he picked it up automatically. "Hello?"

            "Doctor Carter? This is Sergeant Mills. We got the call, and we wanted to tell you: don't do anything. We're pretty sure that call was a fake. This is just some guy who heard about you on the news and is trying to capitalize on your misfortune."

            "What?" Carter said. So much had happened in the past minute. What was going on?

            "The caller sounded nervous, unsure of himself. We're pretty sure it was a hoax." When Carter didn't respond, he added, "He doesn't have your daughter."

            "Okay," Carter said, but in the back of his mind, he thought, What if he does?

            "Who was that?" Abby asked anxiously, coming down the stairs.

            Carter turned to face her. He didn't want to get her hopes up, but he couldn't keep this from her. "A man just called and said he had Jill. The cops called right after him and said it was a hoax."

            Abby only seemed to have heard the first part of his statement. "He has Jill," she said quietly. "What did he want?"

            "Fifty thousand dollars. But the cops said he doesn't have her."

            "But what if he does?"

            Carter shook his head. "They're cops; they should know."

            Abby looked at him in amazement. "You just don't want to pay the money, do you?"

            Carter stared at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious," he said.

            "Of course I'm serious! You just don't want to part with the money unless you have a guarantee that it will get you something! Isn't it worth the risk to get your daughter back?"

            "Abby, this is ridiculous. He doesn't have her. The cops said so." He reached out a hand towards her.

            Abby snatched her arm away from him. "This is our daughter, Carter. Even if it's not much of a chance, we have to try." Abby was begging at this point. She could feel Jill slipping from her grasp. Why wouldn't Carter help her get her back?

            "Abby, there's no chance. He doesn't have her. He's just some jerk trying to make a buck!"

            Abby shook her head at him. "I can't believe you. I can't believe you're not willing to take a chance, any chance, to get Jill back." She pursed her lips. "I don't know why I expect anything more than that from you; you barely even know them, how could you care about them?" Her words were laced with bitterness.

            "Fine," she said, voice trembling. "Keep your money. I'll rescue my own daughter. I don't need you."

            Carter was bewildered. "Abby, what are you talking about? Of course I care about the kids! I want Jill back just as much as you do! But we have to be reasonable. Anyone can call us and say they have Jill. The police are experts in this kind of thing; don't you think we should take their word when they say it's a hoax?"

            Abby was near tears. "No, I don't. I think we should do whatever we have to to get her back." Abby knew at this point that she was being unreasonable, but how could she ignore this? A man had called and said he had Jill; how could she not pursue this?

            "Well, what do you want to do?" Carter asked.

            "I want to go where he asked us to go and see if he's there. I want to try," Abby said in a weak voice.

            She squeezed her eyes shut. "I just don't want to do the wrong thing," she said quietly. "I know it's probably nothing, but please, we have to try."

            Carter nodded slowly. "Okay," he said. "I'll go there, see if I see anything."

            "Thank you," Abby whispered.

            "You don't have to thank me, Abby," he reminded her. "She's my daughter too."