Author's Note: I'm so glad all you wonderful readers are continuing to enjoy this story! Johnny is not enjoying it much at the moment, though. Thank you to Piscean7264 and katbybee for beta reading — your feedback is invaluable!
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Chapter 5
Sarah Kate had never been to the zoo before, at least, not that she could remember. When they stepped through the entrance to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, her heart was thumping as her eyes darted about and she tried to take everything in. They checked the clunky double stroller and rented a pair of umbrella strollers for the twins instead, and then they set off to find the bears.
DJ had spent the whole bus ride talking about bears. They were his favorite animal and he wanted to see them the very first thing. Sarah Kate didn't mind — she was just happy she got to come along. She wasn't sure what she wanted to see most. Wolves, maybe, or lions. And definitely elephants. But she was nervous about asking. Something about being enfolded into this happy group had made her uncharacteristically shy, so she quietly slid her hand into Melissa's and followed along, soaking everything in.
After they had spent a while at the bear exhibit, though, JoAnne turned to her and asked, "Well, Sarah Kate, what should we see next?"
"Wolves, please." It was a logical next stop. Sarah Kate had seen their enclosure almost straight across the path from the bears when they came walking this way, and she'd heard them howling from a distance. The spooky sound gave her the shivers.
"Wolves it is," JoAnne agreed, and she took DJ's hand. "C'mon, Little Bear. Let's go see what else is here."
DJ pouted for a minute, but then the wolves howled again, and he brightened. "OK!" he shouted. And off they went. Nita and Jo were pushing the twins in their strollers, and DJ was skipping along between them. Sarah Kate stayed near the back of the group, talking with Melissa. She tried to keep their conversation to unimportant things, but Melissa had lots of questions. What kind of work did her dad do… where was her mom… why did they live in a hotel… where did she come from… that sort of thing. Over the last several months, Sarah Kate had come up with stories to explain all these things to her classmates, but the problem was, she had more than one story and sometimes they got a little tangled up, and she had never really talked with one grown up like this for more than a few minutes. By the time they stopped for a bathroom break, she felt like her head was spinning, trying to keep everything straight.
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Melissa's legs were trembling, and she was having trouble catching her breath, so she was glad for a stop even though she didn't need to visit the facilities. She hadn't been feeling well since morning but had kept quiet about it because she didn't want to ruin the day for everyone else. She also didn't want anyone to ask questions. Matt didn't seem to suspect anything, probably because he was used to her headaches and the nausea that went along with them, but she was pretty sure Nita was catching on. In response to a slight fluttering sensation, she placed a hand on her belly, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing.
"Are you OK?" Sarah Kate asked. The girl was a bundle of contradictions. Sweet and caring and open one minute, totally closed off the next, she had made it clear that she preferred to talk about trivialities.
Melissa, however, had wanted to figure out why she felt like she should know Sarah Kate, so she asked questions. If her head weren't pounding so hard, maybe she could have made sense of the answers. Based on the stories Sarah Kate had told, she was born in either California or Ohio, her mom died when she was three or walked out when she was five, and her dad either worked as a lawyer, a policeman, or a spy. Finally, Melissa had given up the questioning and settled on talking about favorite animals, but she was convinced that Sarah Kate Hamilton was hiding something. Well, I guess I can't judge her for that, can I? "I'm fine," she said. "I just need to sit down."
The twins were both sleeping and neither needed a change, and DJ said he didn't need to go, so Melissa offered to sit on a bench outside the small building and watch the little kids while Sarah Kate, Nita, and Jo went inside. She was grateful for the break.
The fluttering moved from Melissa's tummy to her chest. Something wasn't right. Even sitting down, she was dizzy, and she could feel an intense throbbing in her neck. Maybe I just need water. She saw a drinking fountain close by, so she got up. Before she could take even a step away from the bench, her vision greyed around the edges and her knees buckled. She was only vaguely aware of hands catching her before she hit the ground, and then everything went black.
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"Come on, baby… Mama's got you." While any potential witnesses were distracted by the young woman who had fainted, the crooning mother took advantage of the opportunity she'd been given. She smoothly exchanged an empty rental stroller for the one holding the sleeping girl with the silky black curls. "Come on, Ada, love, time to go home."
The strawberry-blond boy protested and grabbed at her arm to stop her, but she pushed him away with a menacing glare and a stern threat. She hadn't intended to push him so hard he fell down, but she couldn't let him get in her way. She wasn't going to let anyone steal her baby ever again. The boy was the only one who had noticed her, and she wasn't afraid of a dummy like him. Most likely he wouldn't remember anything about her five minutes from now, and even if he did, he'd be too scared to say anything. Not that she would actually carry out her threat, but she could see in his eyes that he believed her. While he was still crying on the ground, she darted around a corner and disappeared into a crowd.
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When JoAnne followed Sarah Kate out of the restroom, she found a chaotic scene. Sarah Kate ran straight to DJ. He was on the ground, crying and cradling his right arm against his chest. Melissa wasn't immediately visible because she was lying down, surrounded by a small crowd of strangers. And the twins… Jo's heart skipped and her gut twisted. Jamie was still asleep in his stroller, but JoJo's stroller was empty.
JoAnne caught hold of the restroom door before it closed and yelled inside. "Nita. Come quick." She set her jaw and sucked in a deep breath. I can't let myself panic. There's too much going on here for me to fall apart now. Then she plunged into the chaos. First she headed over to DJ and Sarah Kate. Pulling her son carefully into her arms, she kissed his tear-streaked cheeks and checked him over, murmuring gently to him all the while. When she tried to look at his arm, he pulled away and cried harder. She didn't think it was broken, but she couldn't be sure. At least he seemed all right otherwise. Now she turned to one of the strangers who were with Melissa. "What happened?"
The man looked up and frowned. "She with you?"
Jo nodded.
"She fainted. I was on my way to the bathroom and noticed just before she fell, so I was able to catch her and lay her down." He nodded toward DJ. "I didn't see what happened to the kid. My son ran to call 911, so help is on the way." He scratched his neck and offered a wry smile. "Uh… if she's with you, I… uh… really need to go."
"JoJo?" Nita called from over by the strollers. "JoJo, honey?"
JoAnne could hear the panic in her friend's voice. It was a feeling she knew all too well. She steeled herself against the unwelcome memories that threatened to overwhelm her. "The baby," she said to the man. "What about the baby?" JoAnne had hoped that maybe JoJo had awakened to the commotion and started crying and a sympathetic bystander had just picked her up to comfort her, but that hope was growing thin. The little girl was nowhere to be seen. The guy shrugged, then got up and hurried into the restroom.
JoAnne needed to help Nita, but she thought maybe DJ had seen something. He was still crying, but she hoped she could calm him down. "DJ, honey," she asked, forcing her voice to remain calm and steady in spite of the lump of fear in her throat. "Did you see what happened to JoJo?"
He looked up at her, his eyes wide, and shook his head. Then he looked down again and hunched his shoulders together. He was clearly terrified, which meant he had definitely seen something. Right now, Jo needed to give him time to calm down and feel secure. She also needed to support Nita. She glimpsed a zoo security officer coming their way with the paramedics, so she turned her attention to Sarah Kate. "Stay with him. Make sure he keeps his arm still until the paramedics can check him over, and don't either of you move an inch until I come back. I need to be with Nita while she talks to Security." Sarah Kate, suddenly solemn, nodded her understanding.
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She fastened the crying baby into a car seat in the back of her little green VW Bug. Even with the child throwing a tantrum, no one had given her a second glance. Of course not. Little Ada looked just like her Mama with those big brown eyes and black curls. "Aww, honey, it's OK. Mama's going to take you to see your Papi. You'll be happy then, I know you will." She dug into the diaper bag that had been in the stroller basket and found a package of graham crackers. She opened it and handed one to the baby, who finally started to calm down. "Good girl."
"Papi?" Ada said around the cracker. "Papi Tex?" She blinked her moist eyes and then almost smiled.
"Yes, yes, of course," she soothed. She kissed the little girl on the forehead. "Mama loves you, baby girl."
Now that Ada seemed content, she climbed into the driver's seat of her car and started the engine. She had to get as far away from the zoo as she could before they started looking for her baby.
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Roy was listening to Johnny answer a question at the second roundtable he and Johnny had been asked to participate in, pleasantly surprised at how much smoother Johnny seemed at public speaking than he used to be. Roy suppressed a laugh as he remembered some of the real disasters they'd had.
At the back of the hall, a door creaked open, drawing Roy's attention. Swede Halverson came in. Roy noted the man's scowl and his furrowed brow as he approached the dais and came up the stairs. He had a folded sheet of paper in one hand, and he handed it directly to Johnny, who stopped talking and took it. It's gotta be bad news, Roy thought. He watched his friend unfold the paper and read it. Johnny paled, got to his feet, and headed for the door without another word while Swede whispered something in the moderator's ear.
The moderator narrowed his eyes, then leaned forward and spoke into his mic. "I apologize for the interruption. Captain Gage needs to attend to a family emergency. Captain DeSoto, perhaps you could share your thoughts on the matter?"
Roy watched Johnny head up the aisle and toward the door, Swede right behind him. He spoke into his mic. "Sorry. Um… my partner needs me." This crowd was made up mostly of paramedic firefighters — they all knew where his priorities lay. With that, Roy got up, grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, and followed Swede as quickly as he could.
Just outside the conference room, he found Johnny talking with a police officer. His friend's jaw was set, his face stony, his shoulders tensed. Roy recognized his stance — Johnny was doing everything he could to hold it together.
"Mr. Gage," the officer said, "We've got a car outside, waiting to take you to the zoo to meet your wife. I want to assure you, we are doing everything we can to find your daughter."
Roy drew up next to his friend. "JoJo? What happened to her?"
"Taken." Johnny's voice cracked. His hands curled into fists. His resolve was slipping. "Someone took her, Roy."
Roy closed his eyes and carefully controlled his breathing. Now was not the time for a flashback to those awful days when his Megan was missing.* She had also been taken from a zoo. He clasped Johnny's arm. "We'll find her, Junior."
"Before you leave," Swede interjected, "do you know where we can find Matt Carter? I need to get him to the hospital — his wife collapsed. She's been taken to Harborview."
"Damn. I knew she wasn't feeling good." Roy rubbed at the bridge of his nose, trying to remember which sessions Matt had said he was attending. "I think he was sitting in on Dan Berkey's talk… if he's not there, you might find him in the coffee shop next door."
"We'll find him," Swede promised. "Just get going yourselves." He clapped Johnny on the back. "We're praying. We'll come help search as soon as we get Carter squared away."
"Thanks," Johnny murmured.
As they followed the police officer into the elevator, Roy put a hand on Johnny's back. "Breathe, Junior. We're going to find her. We won't rest until we do."
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NOTES:
*This reference is to my story From the Ashes.
