Lucas put in the new Keane CD and turned the volume up sky high to his favorite track. It had been a good night and he had never felt better. He'd worked his ass off in the gym and now driving back home to Connecticut, it was a clear and starry winter night. The first flakes of snow had begun to fall and he couldn't wait to get home. If Harmony was still awake, he could take her out and let her experience her first snowfall. Just the very thought made him smile. He couldn't wait to see and hold his baby daughter. Driving his car up to the main house, he parked and entered.
"Brooke! Hello! It's me! Anybody home?"
His calls were met with silence and the bedrooms were empty. Shrugging, Lucas returned to the guesthouse. Taking off his layers of winter clothing, he checked the messages on his answering machine.
"Hey Luke, it's your agent. Just reminding you of the ESPN interview you have next week. Don't miss it and we need to prep anyway. Call me…"
"Lucas, it's Mom. Haven't heard from you in a couple of days and I couldn't get through to your cell. Give me a call when you can. Love you, honey."
"Treasured AT&T customer, this is Candace with an MCI courtesy call seeing if you are indeed satisfied with your current long distance service. If not, we would be happy to switch your line with no cost to you of course and at a lower monthly rate. We will call again soon. Thank you."
"Luke, it's Jake. Saw that dunk on Iverson the other night! Sweet! Call me, dude."
"Mr. Scott…Mr. Scott, pick up if you're there. This is Officer James Duckett from the Greenwich County Sheriff's Office. We need to contact you right away. Please give me a call back at 555-9343."
The last message made Luke's heart drop in his stomach. What the hell could the Sheriff want? Not missing a beat, he picked up the receiver and immediately dialed the numbers.
"Duckett…"
"Officer Duckett, this is Lucas Scott. I received a message on my machine from you…"
"Yes, Mr. Scott. We need you down at the station as soon as possible."
"Officer, can I ask what this is about?"
"Mr. Scott, it is best if you just come down to the station."
"Okay, man but can you at least tell me what's going on? I'm starting to freak out a little bit. Are my wife and baby okay?"
"Mr. Scott, please…"
Cursing and dropping the phone, Lucas put on a jacket, grabbed his keys and dashed to his car. He could barely think straight! What the hell was going on? His heart raced as he called Brooke's cell phone.
"Hi. You have reached the voicemail of Brooke Scott. I cannot take your call right now. Leave a name and number and if you're lucky, I'll get back to you."
Damn, Lucas thought as he pulled into the police station lot.
"Officer Duckett! I'm looking for someone named Duckett."
"That's me", an officer said, emerging from the desk.
"Man, what the hell is going on? I'm Lucas Scott."
Before the police officer could answer, Luke's eyes diverted to a red head woman in the corner holding Harmony. Instantly he ran to his child only to be pulled back by Officer Duckett.
"Easy, son."
"What do you mean, take it easy? That's my daughter and some stranger. Where is my wife?"
"Sir, we were hoping you could answer that very same question for us. That stranger in the corner is Lisa Terry from Child Protective Services. Your infant daughter was found alone in your residence without the presence of an adult."
Child Protective Services? Greenwich County Sheriff? Harmony alone in the house? Lucas could barely get his psyche around the situation. None of it made sense.
"I don't understand…"
"Where were you tonight, Mr. Scott?"
"In New York. I…I play basketball for the Knicks. I worked out with the team from about four in the afternoon until seven this evening."
"What time did you leave your house and when is the last time you saw your wife?"
"I left about 2:30 or so. Brooke was there and so was our nanny, Mrs. Patterson. Judith Patterson."
"Do you have any idea where your wife is now or where she could have gone? Any idea why a child was left alone?"
"No, I…is she alright? I mean, how did you find her?"
"She's fine", Lisa Terry spoke up for the first time. "A neighbor walking her dog heard the child screaming. When she went to buzz the gate, she found it open as well as your front door."
"Mr. Scott, let's try to contact your wife again."
Lucas waited with bated breath as the voicemail picked up on the house phone and Brooke's cell phone. Harmony was okay and that was a relief but what about Brooke?
"Mr. Scott, is it typical behavior for your wife to leave your child alone?"
"Hell no. Harmony is a baby. She's just six months old. Of course we don't leave her alone! Brooke would never do that."
The officer nodded and scribbled some notes on a pad.
"Do you reside in the main residence, sir?"
"No, I stay out in the guest cottage at the front of the property."
"Is it not true that you and Mrs. Scott are currently in the middle of a divorce?"
"Yes."
"Is it amicable…messy…what?"
"No…I mean, we're okay. Look, what are you getting at, man?"
"Mr. Scott, I'm going to ask you again. Where is your wife?"
Lucas felt that infamous Scott temper beginning to flare.
"I told you that I don't know!"
"Mr. Scott, please have a seat. Listen. Sometimes things…happen. They get out of control. I understand that. You're going through a divorce, the Old Lady is nagging and holding out for more dough and all you're trying to do is go into the city and practice your little ball game. She won't leave you alone, the kid is screaming and an argument starts and things escalate…"
"What the hell are you saying?"
"I'm saying that if something happened, if hypothetically maybe you hit her a little harder than you meant to…son, it's just best in these cases to fess up right away. Makes it a lot easier on everybody."
Lucas lunged from his chair straight towards the accusing man before two other officers restrained him.
"Adding assault of a law enforcement officer is not a charge you want, Scott. Calm it down."
"Calm down? Calm down! What the fuck? I come home with a message on my machine to come down to the police station, I get here and my kid is with some stranger, you tell me my wife is missing, then you all but outright accuse me of killing her! Are you fucking crazy? I'm calling my attorney!"
Lucas did just that and one of his lawyers, Jeff Carpenter, arrived immediately, taking charge.
"Officer Duckett, Ms. Terry, first of all there will be no more insinuations or accusations thrown about regarding the guilt or innocence of my client about what may or may not be a crime. You want to search his property? Better get a warrant. You want to accuse him of something? Better read him his rights and be prepared to have some evidence to back it all up."
"Fine, Mr. Carpenter", Officer Duckett complied. "First things first. Mr. Scott, why don't you try giving that babysitter of yours a call."
Lucas searched his wallet for the number and used the speaker mode on the station phone to contact the nanny. She picked up on the third ring.
"Mrs. Patterson? It's Lucas Scott…"
"Good evening, Mr. Scott. Is everything alright? Is there something I can do for you?"
"Yeah, um, I need to know what time you left the house today."
"Oh around three maybe. Not long after you left, sir. Is there a problem?"
"Was Brooke there when you left?"
"Yes, sir. Mrs. Scott was there."
"Was she alone? Was she okay?"
"Yes, just her and the baby and she seemed fine. A little tired maybe. Is everything okay?"
"No, Mrs. Patterson", Lucas sighed. "Something happened. Harmony was apparently left alone in the house and her neighbor heard her crying and the front gate and door were open with no sign of Brooke. We…we can't find her. I'm at the Greenwich Sheriff's office now."
"Oh my God! Oh God! My poor little Harmony! Mrs. Scott…oh sir, I will be down right away", the woman said, near hysterical before hanging up.
Judith Patterson was in the station in less than twenty minutes.
"I can't believe this", Lucas mumbled, his voice cracking with raw emotion. "I can't fucking believe this is happening! Duckett, you've got to get some cops out looking for my wife. Brooke wouldn't just disappear like that. Something…something must have happened to her."