Author's Notes: Based on reviews, I have decided not to skip ahead a few weeks in this story and just keep goingfrom where last chapter left off. I think eventually I will have to skip ahead a week or so every once and a while, but I'll try to make sure it works in the story. Please let me know if you think it's not working or if you have a better suggestion for something I write or a way I wrote a particular thing. Thank you to all who read and reviewed last chapter--it was greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit on the long side, I think, but I also think it has some good parts in it. Let me know what you guys think--PLEASE review!
Also, I will try to add the next chapter by next week, but I have finals this week so I'm not sure how this week is going to go or how much time I will have. Thank you for your support.
Callie
Chapter Six
"I am not staying with her. No way," Courtney stomped her feet angrily on the gravel driveway of Lindsay's summer house. "NO WAY," Courtney yelled again.
"Courtney, you love Lindsay! Why don't you want to stay with her?" Seth asked his daughter patiently.
"Seriously, I am not staying her. You can't just leave me here. I don't want to live with Aunt Lindsay, I want to live at home, in our house, with Riley and Chessie," Courtney pouted at her parents. "I miss Shannon, why do I have to stay here? I want to go home with you and wait for Shannon to come home."
Summer, whom had been standing behind Seth, was trying to hide herself behind him and let him protect her. From what? She wasn't sure. Maybe from her daughters and sons, who were looking at her like she had gone crazy and wondering why they had to stay with Aunt Lindsay. Maybe from Aunt Lindsay herself, because Summer feared that she would get that same, all to familiar, look of pity and fear from Lindsay that she had gotten from the rest of her friends, family, and community. Maybe so she could pretend what was going on wasn't really happening. All Summer knew was that these days she seemed to stand behind Seth a lot more than she ever use to.
"Honey, you just need to give Mommy and I some time. You won't be staying with Aunt Lindsay forever, just for a few weeks," Seth said as he tired to reassure his daughter.
"NO! I want to come home NOW, and I don't want to stay here and I want SHANNON to read me my bedtime story and I WANT HER HOME, TOO!" Courtney shrieked at her father. Seth backed away from Courtney, as if telling Marissa and Summer that he couldn't think of what else to say.
Summer stepped forward, something in her taking charge again. "Courtney," Summer said firmly as she bent down so she and Courtney were eye to eye, "you want Shannon to come home, right?" Courtney nodded slowly. "Well, then you need to do us a favor, and be good for Aunt Lindsay. If you all stay with her, Daddy, Aunt Marissa, Uncle Ryan, and Grandma and Grandpa, and I will all work very hard to bring Shannon home. The less time we spend watching you guys, the more time we'll have to be down at the center to help find her. So we need you to stay here. Can you do that for us, Court?" Summer asked seriously.
Courtney nodded her head slowly and sadly. "I guess so," she whispered.
"That's my beautiful girl," Summer said, wrapping her arms around Courtney. She smoothed down Courtney's hair and kissed her forehead. "You're gonna be terrific, honey. Your cousin just got a new pony and Aunt Lindsay said you could ride him. And you can play with Taylor, Megan, Carrie, and Ashlie…you're gonna have a lot of fun, sweetie."
Courtney nodded again and whispered, "Okay."
At that moment, Lindsay came down the stairs that led to her wide Victorian porch. "Oh, Summer," Lindsay said, wrapping her arms around Summer and squeezing her tightly. "I'm not going to ask how you are, I know words can't describe it," Lindsay said softly. "What have the police said? Are there any promising leads?" she asked hopefully.
Summer smiled softly at Lindsay. Her attitude was refreshing—no one else had gone with this approach to talking to Summer. Most people just whispered in horrified tones, "We're so sorry to hear about Shannon," and then they just said nothing else.
"No, there haven't been many promising leads…the policy are still interviewing family and friends and neighbors and her teachers and just about anyone else you can think of…" Summer's voice trailed off.
"We're hopeful though," Seth said stepping up and standing next to Summer. Seth and Marissa both greeted Lindsay and hugged her.
As the four adults got the Cohen and Atwood children settled in and reacquainted with Lindsay's children, Summer stood aside for a few minutes. She had already hugged, kissed, and said good bye to her five remaining children. Lindsay walked past her and stopped. "Are you alright? Do you need something?" she asked warmly.
"A nap," Summer smiled ruefully at Lindsay.
Lindsay laughed. "I understand," she said nodding her head.
"Speaking of which, are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, with my five, and Marissa's five, and your own four girls, you're gonna have your hands quite filled," Summer reminded Lindsay.
Lindsay waved her off. "Don't you worry about me or any of the kids. Pete will be home tomorrow and I'll have plenty of help. We have an amazing babysitter down the street who needs plenty of confirmation volunteering hours. If we run into any problems and I need an extra hand, I'll call her. Don't worry about them at all. You can come back and visit all you want, and call all you want," Lindsay said smiling at her. "They'll all be fine," she added reassuringly.
"If you're sure," Summer said still feeling a little uncertain.
"100 percent positive. No doubt," Lindsay said firmly. "Now, get going. I'm sure you have plenty to do."
"Oh, Linds," Summer said as she wrapped her arms tightly around Lindsay, "thank you so much."
Hours later, Summer and Seth sat at Marissa and Ryan's house. They had gone straight to the volunteer center on the way home, to find news that nothing had been discovered on any of the searches that day. This was both disappointing and relieving. Chances were that if they found something now, it would not be something positive for the Cohens. Yet their entire family was praying that they'd, of course, find Shannon alive and well. As if the volunteer center hadn't been gloomy enough for Summer and Seth, they were due back at the police station in half an hour for another round of questioning. Inspector Prescott had called and let them know that Summer's questioning would be about three hours and Seth's only about one. Summer and Seth assumed this was because he had an alibi of being in another state.
Summer took a sip of her water bottle. "I can't remember the last time it was so quiet around us," she softly commented.
Seth nodded. "Even Riles and Chess are quiet," he added. He looked at their dogs, who were lying down in the sunshine that was let in by the kitchen doors.
"Yeah. How long do you think it'll be before we can move back to our house?" Summer wondered out loud.
"Prescott said that they need it for another two weeks, and then it'll take a week to clean out all the graphite. I guess that's normal, I mean, it happened less than twenty four hours ago…" Seth said as his voice trailed off.
For a few minutes, an awkward silence filled the air. Suddenly, Summer's cell phone rang out loudly. She sighed, relieved to have something to do, so that her mind wouldn't drift over to all the 'what ifs' that had been running through her head the entire day. "Hello?" Summer answered the phone.
"Hey, Sum, it's Ryan," Ryan's voice sounded from the phone. "Is Seth there with you?" Summer quickly said he was and Ryan asked that he be put on speakerphone. "Okay, so you're both getting interrogated tonight, but first, the media wants a statement in front of the police station. Sandy looked into it and he said it looks innocent enough, as long as you two know the right things to say and what not to say."
"But how do we know what to say and what not to say? I mean, we've never had our daughter kidnapped before," Summer asked, feeling more than slightly frusturated.
"Well, Sandy talked to Diane Ruback and she said when Natalie was missing, they hired a publicist to handle all their appearances and manage all that media kind of stuff. Diane gave Sandy the number of the guy they used, she says he was wonderful. Sandy had the guy, I think his name is Mark Donahue or something like that, check into the whole statement thing today, and he says it cleared," Ryan explained. "Sandy also thought you should think about hiring him like the Rubacks did, Diane swears by him, apparently, and says it's thanks to him they ever found Natalie, especially alive."
Summer wanted to smack herself in the forehead. One of the other girls Alyson and Shannon danced with was Natalie Ruback, a very famous eleven year old who had survived a two month kidnapping, at the age of four. Summer hadn't even thought of calling the Rubacks, who they were good friends with, to see what they could do to help. Since they had been through all of this before, she was sure they had a better idea then she did.
"I can not believe we didn't think about calling Jack and Diane," Seth said out loud, shaking his head. "That was incredibly stupid of us."
"Diane offered to help in anyway, she said just to let her know if you want it," Ryan offered over the phone line.
"Of course we want it," Summer said sighing. At least Diane might have some idea of where to go next…especially concerning Mark Donahue. Summer had heard Diane say his name before, Diane said he was like an uncle to her children now and a brother to Jack and her. He came to all of Natalie's dance recitals and competitions, as well as the other Ruback children's activities. Chances are Mark would even know who Shannon was, without having to see a picture of her.
"Sandy also said if you leave the house right now and come straight here, Mark's willing to go through what you should say in the statement today, free of charge," Ryan added.
Seth glanced at Summer before answering. She nodded approvingly and Seth answered, "We're leaving right now."
As the couple left their friends' home, they were surrounded, as they had been all day, by reporters and camera crews who were all shoving their microphones in Summer and Seth's faces. They climbed into the car, trying to ignore all the questions being shouted in their direction.
"Mr. Cohen, do you believe that your wife could have possibly killed Shannon?" one yelled.
"Mrs. Cohen, is it true that your other daughter witnessed Shannon being stabbed?" another shouted.
As they pulled away, Seth muttered, "We are going to have to get some police or somebody down here to keep these people away."
Summer nodded numbly. Just when she thought she was beginning to somewhat handle Shannon's kidnapping, those reporters knocked her off her feet with their ignorant and invasive questions.
"Seth, Summer. This is Mark Donahue," Sandy introduced the adults to each other.
Mark stepped forward and put his hand out to first Summer, then Seth. "I'm very pleased to meet the both of you," Mark said smiling warmly. "Would you like to go over your statement?"
Fifteen minutes later, Summer and Seth were standing a few feet away from the podium where they would soon be making their first statement involving Shannon's disappearance. "Okay, so let's go over this one more time," Mark said clapping his hands together once. "State that you believe the kidnapper is someone you do not know, and that the kidnapper is not a family member. Make sure you say that your family members have your full confidence when it comes to their innocence in Shannon's kidnapping. Also say that you cannot disclose to anyone information about what Kaylie saw that night and that it is still being investigated by Los Angeles police."
"Alright," Summer said quietly, taking everything in.
"And remember that you choose whether or not to address the kidnapper in your statement," Mark reminded them.
"We've decided to address the kidnapper," Seth said firmly, as Summer nodded at his side.
"Okay, that's fine, but just remember all the tips I told you. Don't threaten the kidnapper, especially in a live statement. The media will go nuts over seemingly angry or even violent parents. Remember what I said—play the role that you are. You are the victim right now. Shannon is a victim, too. You want people to sympathize with you and your daughter so that they will be willing to help you find Shannon. Plus, if you threaten the kidnapper, you could just make him or her do something that we'll all regret later," Mark explained. He paused for a moment and said, "That's about it. Do you have any questions?"
Summer and Seth looked at each other and then shook their head 'no'.
"Alright, well, then good luck," Mark said, as he nodded reassuringly at them.
"Mr. Cohen? Mrs. Cohen? We're ready for your statement now," Officer Evans said. Summer smiled at him. She was beginning to like him the best of all the police. He seemed to be the only one who was at all sensitive about the nature of the case.
"We're ready," Summer answered.
"Okay, Inspector Prescott is introducing you to the media as we speak. Just walk up there, and as soon as Inspector Prescott moves from in front of the podium, move there and go through your statement," Office Evans explained kindly.
"Alright," Seth answered him. "Thank you," he added as he and Summer walked over to the podium. Inspector Prescott moved aside almost immediately and Seth stepped forward. "My name is Seth Cohen, and this is my wife, Summer. Early this morning, our daughter, Shannon, was kidnapped from her bedroom. While one of our other daughters, Kaylie, did witness the kidnapping, we cannot disclose, at this time, any information about what Kaylie witnessed. We can tell you what we know for sure, however. We are positive the kidnapper is not someone we know, and we want the public to be aware of the fact that all of our family members have our full confidence in their innocence."
"Mr. Cohen, do you deny that Shannon's uncle, Ryan Atwood, is behind her disappearance?" a reporter shouted.
"Yes, the Cohen family does stronger deny that Ryan Atwood or any other family member is behind Shannon's disappearance. As we've said, we have full confidence in all our family members and believe in their innocence," Seth said firmly. "As for the kidnapper, where ever and who ever you are, we want you to know that our entire family is pleading with you to bring Shannon back home to us. We love her, and miss her incredibly already."
Summer stepped up next to Seth and said, "And, most importantly, Shannon Elizabeth Cohen, if you can hear us, we want you to know we miss you and love you very much. Courtney, Kaylie, Emily, Jake, and Ben miss you terribly as well. Come home to us, sweetie."
Inspector Prescott stepped in front of Summer and Seth and said, "That is all the comments the Cohens have for now." As Inspector Prescott lead Summer and Seth away from the podium and the reporters who were still yelling their questions out, he turned to them, "Officer Rogers is waiting to question you both. You have five minutes before Mrs. Cohen's questioning starts."
Inspector Prescott walked off, leaving Seth and Summer alone. Ryan and Sandy walked up to them, with Mark Donahue following them closely. "What was that?" Summer snapped angrily.
Sandy tilted his head to the side and said, "What was what, sweetie?"
"The reporter," Summer said. When no one answered, she snapped again, "The one who was questioning Ryan's innocence in Shannon's case."
"Mrs. Cohen, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but it's just procedure. Family members are always suspected at first. The media will be pointing fingers at anyone who is a member of the Atwood, Cohen, or Roberts families," Mark explained gently.
"Summer," Summer said. "Call me Summer. And you're right, I don't want to hear that, but I suppose you're right."
Ryan stepped forward. "Don't worry about it right now, it's not a big deal. You and I both know I'm not behind Shannon's disappearance. Let's just get you ready for questioning. You want me in there with you again, right?" Ryan asked.
Summer nodded. "Of course. Yes, let's focus on the questioning," Summer breathed in and out a few times. "Sandy's going in with Seth?" she questioned. Sandy nodded.
"Well, I'm going to get going, but if you ever decide I could be of some help," Mark said, as he pulled a card out of his pocket. "Here's my number…and here is my home and cell phone number," he added scribbling the two numbers on the backside of his card.
Summer took the card and Mark began to walk away. "Wait!" she called after him. She stepped forward a few steps and said, "Wait, we want you to handle our media. Diane Ruback swears you are the reason Natalie is home. We'll hire you and pay you twenty-four hours a day, whatever you want."
"Summer—" Sandy began, but Seth stepped forward.
"No, she's right. We want you working for us and helping us to find her, Mark. Will you do it?" Seth asked as he moved next to his pleading wife, whose hands were clasped together tightly and hopefully. Summer believed that Mark would do so much good for Shannon's case.
"Yes, I will take the job. I'd be honored to help you with yours and Shannon's media," Mark said warmly.