A/N: I love writing cliffhangers, they're so much fun, but like I promised here is the next chapter. And thanks again for all the reviews! :)
Chapter Fourteen
Kidnapped!
Police officers walked in and out of the apartment, gathering evidence and talking in low, fervent tones. A radio crackled from somewhere and the flash of the strobe lights on the police cars seemed to fill the room, even from this distance from the street. The afternoon was slowing turning to evening, the sky turning a burnt orange. Soon, it would be night, but this nightmare would still be happening.
Rebecca sat on the couch in the living room, clutching AJ's red race car to her chest. It's been an hour since she first found AJ missing and still, he hasn't shown up. He had told her that he was on his way and then told her to call the cops. She had, and the police had shown up ten minutes later. Rebecca didn't know what was taking him so long. She was falling apart, and she was surrounded by uniform-clad men talking into radios and scrutinizing her every move. Rebecca just wanted to scream at them to get out there and start looking for her son.
A small ruckus at the door broke Rebecca out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Caleb trying to get into the apartment, but a police officer was blocking his path. She could hear him trying to explain to the officer who he was, but the officer wasn't hearing it. He was too busy explaining that this was a possible crime scene and no civilians were allowed here.
"Caleb!" Rebecca exclaimed, jumping to her feet. At her exclamation, the police officer stepped back to allow Caleb inside. Rebecca ran forward as Caleb came into the apartment. He held his arms out for her as she fell into them, burying her face in his shoulder. The tears came then, free falling down her face.
"He's gone, Caleb!" she cried, clutching the edges of Caleb's jacket. "AJ's gone!"
"Hey, listen to me," Caleb said. He pulled back a little to look at her, his hands framing her face. "We're going to find him, ok? We're going to find him."
"How? I didn't even hear anybody come in?" Rebecca said exasperated. "Caleb, he didn't even have a coat on! He could be cold or scared right now!" She covered her face with her hands, trying to stifle her sobs.
"Hey, you have to calm down alright," Caleb told her softly. He gently pried her fingers away from her face. "We're not going to find AJ when you are all strung out like this."
"Like what?" Rebecca questioned, taking an involuntarily step back. "Caleb, my son was just kidnapped, in my own home. How am I supposed to be feeling right now? Calm? Sitting down with my feet up, drinking tea? I am going crazy standing here, doing nothing, while my son is out there, terrified. I have to go out there and find him myself."
Rebecca started to move past him, but Caleb stopped her. "No, you're not," he told her. "The police know what they're doing. Don't you think I want to be out there looking for AJ too? I'm scared not knowing where he is, but I have to trust that AJ will come home to us. We have to let the police do their job."
Rebecca opened her mouth to say something, to tell him just how glad she was that he was here with her. She wanted him to know that she was wrong before, she shouldn't have shut him out of her life. Seeing him here with her, comforting her, worried about her son, made her realize that this was where she wanted to be, where she needed to be. In Caleb's arms. There was only one thing missing; her little boy.
A detective walked over to them just then, a small notebook and a pencil in his hands. He had thick black hair and he wore jeans and brown leather jacket over top a t-shirt. "Excuse me, miss," he said. "I'm Detective Sawyer, I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me."
Rebecca blinked at him. "Um, I already told the other officers everything I know," she shrugged. "I don't really see what else I can say that will be of any use."
"I just want you to go through everything from the beginning," Detective Sawyer explained. "Any small detail you remember can be useful."
"Ok, fine," Rebecca relented. The detective gestured toward couch, offering them a chance to sit down. Rebecca led the way.
"Are you sure you want to do this right now?" Caleb asked her in a whisper.
Rebecca nodded stiffly. "The sooner I get this over with, the sooner they can get out there and start searching for my son." she said. She sat down on the couch and Caleb sat down beside her. Detective Sawyer sat in the armchair across from them.
"So, where were you when the toddler allegedly went missing?" Detective Sawyer asked, his pencil poised over the pad of paper.
"Allegedly?" Rebecca questioned, confused. "My son is missing, there's no question about it. Somebody took him, I know it."
Detective Sawyer held up a hand when he saw her getting agitated. "This is only standard procedure," he explained calmly like he dealt with this kind of stuff on a daily basis. Which infuriated Rebecca even more, but she remained silent. "We want to make sure we get all the facts right, so that we can lead the best search we can for your son. Trust me, we're on your side."
"Okay," Rebecca shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "AJ was in his room and I was in here cleaning up. My phone started ringing, but the reception was really bad, so I went outside on the balcony to see if it got better..." She drifted off as she closed her eyes. Revisiting the moments leading up to her son's disappearance wasn't easy, in fact she had to take a shuddering breath to keep herself calm. She felt Caleb take her hand and give it a squeeze. His strength filled her enough, so that she could open her eyes and finish. "The call got disconnected and that is when I heard a loud noise like a door slam come from inside. I rushed in and immediately started calling for AJ. I looked everywhere for him and I...couldn't find him." A lone tear slid slowly down her cheek. Caleb moved his arm to around her shoulders and she leaned into him, thankful for his presence and comfort.
"Did you recognize the caller?" Detective Sawyer asked. He'd been silent throughout her whole story, scribbling down notes in his little notebook.
"What?" Rebecca asked, slightly confused. She sat back up, wiping the tear quickly away. "Oh, yeah, I did." She glanced quickly at Caleb before continuing. "It was Adam, my son's father." Rebecca felt Caleb stiffen beside her at the mention of Adam's name.
"And how would your relationship with the father be like?" Detective Sawyer asked again.
"Um, good, I guess," Rebecca answered hesitantly. "I don't see what that has to do with anything?"
"I'm just trying to get a feel for who would want to take your son," the detective explained. "We don't have any other witnesses beside yourself, so we can't rule anybody out. At this point, everyone is a suspect."
"Well, Adam just came back into my life after two years," Rebecca said tersely. "He was just starting to get know AJ, he wouldn't do something like this. He wouldn't do this to me."
"And where was he in the two years he was gone?" Detective Sawyer questioned. He was starting to get under Rebecca's skin and she didn't like it.
"I don't know," she admitted, hating that it gave the detective even more reason to suspect Adam. "Adam ran out right after AJ was born, but he's really been trying to make up for all his wrongs."
Detective Sawyer mumbled an interested 'huh' and wrote something else down in his notebook. When he looked up, he looked right at Caleb. "And how do you fit into all of this?" he asked him.
"I called Caleb when I couldn't find AJ," Rebecca answered quickly for him. "I didn't know what else to do."
"And calling the police didn't cross you mind?" Detective Sawyer questioned.
"I was panicked and I wasn't thinking clearly," Rebecca defended her actions. "Caleb was able to calm me down and then I was able to call 9-1-1."
"She's a mother who's just had her child taken from her, why are you accusing her of kidnapping him herself?" Caleb asked, leaning forward. Rebecca put a hand on his arm, stopping him.
"I'm not accusing anyone, like I said before-" Detective Sawyer stopped when another police officer walked over to them.
"Sir, we have a witness downstairs claiming she saw a man leave the building with a child around the time of the abduction," the officer said. Rebecca's hopes immediately went up, someone had possibly seen AJ. It meant she would get him back sooner.
"What were their descriptions?" Detective Sawyer asked the officer.
"The child was a little boy matching the victim's age and he was wearing brown cargo pants and a white, long-sleeve shirt that had a dinosaur bone graphic on it. He had dark brown hair and matching eyes," the officer explained.
"That's AJ!" Rebecca blurted out.
"The man was a bit harder to identify," the officer continued, after glancing once at Rebecca. "He apparently had a baseball cap pulled low over his face, obscuring his features, but he was wearing jeans and a dark sweatshirt. The child didn't seem to be scared or upset, which was why the witness didn't think anything of it at first."
Rebecca's heart sank just then. By nature, AJ was a compliant child. He would very willingly go with anyone, Rebecca handed him off too. If he wasn't causing any trouble, then he could be anywhere by now. Detective Sawyer excused himself and then walked away with the other officer. Rebecca leaned forward on her elbows, burying her face in her hands.
"I can't believe this is happening," Rebecca said incredulously. "My son's been kidnapped and the police suspect me having something to do with it, Adam too."
"It's not that far of a stretch," Caleb mused from behind her.
Rebecca looked at him sharply. "What? That I've staged my son's own kidnapping, or..." A more horrifying thought came to mind, and she almost didn't want to voice it. "Caleb, you don't think Adam has something to do with this, do you?"
"I don't think he has something to do with this," Caleb clarified, sitting up. "I think he did do this, no question about it."
"No, no,Caleb, no," Rebecca automatically dismissed the idea. "Adam was literally trying to call me when AJ was taken. There's no way."
"That's exactly how he did it," Caleb tried to reason with her. "He wanted to distract you, hoping you'd go outside for just one second, and you did. That's when he took his chance, ran inside and grabbed AJ. This has his name written all over it."
"No, you're wrong," Rebecca shook her head, blinking back the sudden tears of betrayal. She stood up and walked a few paces toward the window. Adam wouldn't do this to her, he was changed, he wanted to make amends. The Adam she knew would never kidnap a child, especially theirs. Brushing away the unshed tears, Rebecca turned back around to face Caleb. "And I'll prove it."
Rebecca picked up her cell phone from the coffee table and held it up so that Caleb could see it. She said, "I'll call him."
~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~
The little boy was rubbing at his eyes when the man carried him through the front door of the one-story house. He had been quiet most of the long drive, for which the man was thankful for. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to calm the toddler if he'd started crying. The toddler clutched a blue-and-green race car, much like the one he'd already given him. It was how he'd coaxed the child to come with him. He placed the little boy on his feet in the living room and took off his hat.
Adam smiled down at his son, finally, they were together. Soon, they would all be a family in the house they used to call home. He unzipped his sweatshirt and tossed it on the worn sofa. Adam felt bad that he didn't have anything, clothes or toys, available for AJ, but he'll just have to improvise for now.
"Ok, AJ, here we are," Adam said to his son. "Are you hungry?"
AJ nodded as Adam took his hand and led him into the kitchen. He lifted the toddler up into a booster seat at the kitchen table and then started rummaging through the cabinets for some of the food he'd recently bought. He came out with bread, peanut butter and jelly.
"You like peanut butter and jelly, right?" Adam asked as he carried the stuff over to the table.
AJ nodded again. The little boy was quiet as Adam made the sandwich, but spoke up suddenly when he cut the sandwich into four slices. "Mommy comin?" AJ asked.
Adam slid the plate in front of his son and sat down in the chair next to him. "Soon," he said simply. "We are all going to live here, me, you, and mommy, just like we were supposed to."
"Daddy too?" AJ asked, after he took a bite of his sandwich.
Adam couldn't help the swell of anger that started in the pit of stomach and boiled its' way up. He clamped it down, though, not wanted to scare his son. "AJ, I'm your daddy, ok?" Adam told his son, suddenly wishing that AJ was older so that he could truly understand everything. "And nothing is ever going to change that."
AJ just stared up at Adam, chewing absently with jelly already sticking to the corners of his mouth. Then, Adam's phone started ringing in his pocket and he rushed to get it. A smile formed on his lips as he read the caller I.D.
"Speaking of mommy," Adam said. He showed the phone to AJ, even though the toddler was too young to read. "Here she is calling already."
AJ smiled and pointed to Rebecca's picture on Adam's phone, "Mommy!"
"That's right," Adam replied. "But we're not ready to talk to mommy just yet." With that, he clicked the call reject button. "We have to make this house nice for mommy. You want to surprise her?"
AJ nodded excitedly.
"Alright! Mommy's going to be so happy to see us together," Adam said. He leaned forward and kissed his son on the top of his head, his dark hair soft against his cheek. The next thing he said, he whispered, "And if she's not, then you'll always have me."
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, but I hope it was worth the wait! Please review, I always enjoy seeing what everybody thought. :)