AN: Sorry this has taken so long to come out. Life has been getting in the way and I got a little carried away with part. There was so much I wanted to get in it. I hope you enjoy it. :)
The police station was big, and busy, there were people sitting at desks covered in files and other people walking back and forth between desks and rooms and offices. Wayne thought it looked nothing like it did last time he was there. His Boy Scout troupe had gone on a tour of the station earlier in the year but it had been in the evening and most people had already gone home. This new environment looked intimidating he felt his mom reach down and take his hand. He looked up at her and smiled, she looked more uncomfortable than he was. She scanned the room looking for the person they needed to speak to, he saw them before they saw him.
"Ms Grant," A tall heavy set middle aged man said, he held out his hand and introduced himself as a detective. Wayne recognised him as the man he'd spoken to the night before. "Thank you for bringing Wayne and Raymond down. We're going to set you up in this room here. "
He walked them across the station and into one of the rooms in the corner. The room wasn't very big; it had a table in the middle of it with a half a dozen chairs and a television on a stand with wheels at one end.
Wayne took the seat closest to the television, he knew what he was there to do, and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. The detective asked them if they wanted anything to drink, he said he'd like some water; the detective smiled at him and walked out the room.
"Mom how long is this going to take?" Raymond asked when they were alone. He wasn't nearly as keen to be at the police station as his brother. He didn't want to talk about what had happened he wanted to try and forget about it.
"It won't take too long," Wayne said not giving his mom a chance to answer. "They just want us to find the man and woman in the tape. Then we can go."
"Okay," Raymond nodded and he pulled his chair a little closer to the TV.
It seemed to take forever for the detective to come back; eventually he walked in carrying a picture of water, four glasses, and a collection of DVDs. He put the first DVD in the TV and the black and white security footage from inside the supermarket began playing. This first disk showed the entrance and a bit of the front of the store. The detective fast forwarded the footage until they saw Margie walk into the store, she'd already put Nell inside the trolley, there was no one else around and she quickly disappeared from frame. The first disk was useless, the second disk was better; it showed footage into a couple of the aisles, there were lots of people in the frames. Systematically Wayne looked at every one of those people but none of them were the couple who'd come into their home.
They tried another disk, it covered a few more aisles but there were less people around. Margie was in the aisle alone and then a couple approached her from the other direction, they stopped and talked, and then as Margie went to walk away the woman grabbed her arm. Everyone in the room gasped, the look on Margie's face had changed from a smile to fright.
"Is that them?" The detective asked.
"I'm not sure, I don't think so." Wayne said slowly, the shot was of the back of them, he couldn't see their faces but they didn't look right, "The man was bigger, and the woman smaller." He said processing it out loud.
"Okay," The detective nodded but they still moved through the next few frames very slowly, when the woman let go of Margie's arm, she took off as fast could, she looked scared and then the man and woman turned around to watch her flee, the detective paused the footage. "Have a closer look." He suggested.
Wayne stood up on his chair; he looked closely at the couple who'd just scared Margie. "It's not them," He said sitting back down.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Wayne wanted it to be them but he was sure it wasn't. "The man was huge, and the woman tiny. It's not them."
"Okay," The detective sounded disappointed, he put the last disk in and pressed play. They watched a clearly spooked Margene pay for the groceries she'd already collected and leave the store as quickly as she could. They were at the end of the tapes and they'd found nothing.
"Play them again." Wayne said, he was sure he'd missed something, if Margie had said they were there, they had to be there. They watched the tapes again, the ones where she was inside, they played them in slow motion, Wayne looked at every single face, Raymond looked too but he was quickly losing interest he wanted to go home.
They watched the tapes two more times but Wayne couldn't find the man and woman, he was getting frustrated and mad at himself. If Margie had said they were there, they had to be there.
"Wayne, sweetie maybe Margie was mistaken." His mom tried to tell him, they were ready to go home but he wasn't.
"They have to be there Mom," He said sitting down in his chair. He needed to think, work out what he was missing. "The first tape put that back in." He said. It was the only tape he hadn't stared at to death, Margie was only in it for a few seconds, he watched it forward frame by frame, and then backwards, and then finally he saw it. Just outside the door she stopped and talked to someone before she went inside. "There!" He said pointing at a shadow at the corner of the screen. "That has to be them. Do you have a tape of outside?"
"Not with me," The detective said, "I'll be right back."
He left the room and Wayne sat back down, he was smiling for the first time all day. He'd done it, he was sure that had to be them. His mom gave him a pat on the back and told him he'd done well. Soon the detective came back and he put the final disk in the player. They fast forwarded it until the moment Margie arrived at the shop. They watched her park the car, get Nell out from the back seat and carry her over to the trolleys. She strapped her in and they walked to the entrance, she was smiling she looked happy. And then there they were, the couple, just outside the door they stopped Margie, they talked to her for a while and then she seemed to be writing something down, the woman handed her a small bit of paper, she shoved it in her bag and walked inside.
"Oh my gosh," The detective said under his breath. "They sold her a raffle ticket, she gave them her address, her phone number, everything." This was good information, the first good strong lead they'd had so far. "Thank you young man, you've done great." The detective told him before they were told they could go home. There was nothing more they could do right now but, the information was good.
The family walked to the car with small smiles on their faces, they all felt like they'd done something good, that they'd contributed in some way. The police and FBI still hadn't found Nell but they were one step closer.
"Mom," Wayne said as they reached the car. "Can we go see Margie now?"
Nikki stopped walking and looked at her son. It was the second time he'd asked her that question. She didn't want to say yes, she disliked hospitals almost as much as she disliked police stations but she could tell he really wanted to go, that it was important to him. "I'm not sure sweetie," she told him, "I'll have to phone Barb, see what she says."
"Okay," he wasn't going to be put off by that, he knew his mom didn't want to go but he did. "Can you phone her now?"
Nikki sighed and pulled out her phone. She was secretly hoping Barb would say no, that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring the boys down but she didn't. Barb told her the boys could come if they really wanted to but she had to make sure they knew Margie would be asleep, that she wouldn't be able to talk to them.
Nikki tried to use this information to change Wayne's mind, Raymond didn't seem to care either way but Wayne wanted to go. He was adamant he just wanted to see Margie, that it would be okay if she didn't speak to him.
-8-8-8-
Sarah walked into the living room of Nikki's house carrying a hand full of paper and a small bucket full of pencils and crayons. She placed them on the coffee table and told her youngest brothers they should do some drawing. She was trying to find something to occupy them with, to keep their hands and minds busy so they'd stop asking her questions she didn't have answers to.
She sat down on the sofa and lent back against Scott. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her just below the ear.
"You're so good with them," he told her.
She let out a long sigh, "I wish I could do more." She wanted to take away her brothers' pain and anxiety. She wanted to tell them everything would be okay, that their mom and sister would be home soon but she couldn't, she didn't have the answers and she didn't want to lie. Instead she helped them pray and tried to keep them busy. It wasn't so hard, Teeny and Cara-Lyn were there too, and they helped a lot.
Taking care of Lester and Aaron, and Raymond and Wayne to an extent seemed to be the only thing the three girls could do. None of them were there when it happened, they couldn't contribute much to the investigation, all they could do was try and hold the family together.
"Sarah look," Lester had finished his drawing and brought it over to show her, the drawing had a lot of red and black in it. "That's the police and that's the bad man," he told her. "The police got the bad man." She looked at the drawing and smiled, she could just make out the people from the mess of lines.
"That's good," she told him, "how about you draw a picture for mom."
"Okay," he walked back to the table and picked up another piece of paper. He looked at the sheet for a moment as if trying to decide what he wanted to draw, and then he reached for the pink and purple crayons; Margie's favourite colours.
-8-8-8-
Wayne waited anxiously outside the ICU ward while his mom talked to a lady behind a desk. This ward where Margene was wasn't like the other wards in the hospital, they couldn't just walk in, someone had to let them. He could hear his mom getting frustrated with the woman, she didn't want to let them in but then Barb opened the door and scooted them in before the woman could stop them. They walked down a small corridor and stopped at a hand basin. One by one they scrubbed their hands and carefully dried them. Then they kept walking, as they walked Barb explained to them what to expect.
"Margie is still very sick," She told them. "The doctors have given her some medicine to make her sleep so she can get better. You can talk to her but she's not going to wake up."
"Okay," His mom had told them basically the same thing on the drive over; they could talk to Margie but she wasn't going to talk back.
At the door Barb seemed to pause for a moment and then she twisted the handle and they all stepped inside. Nikki and Raymond both stopped at the door, they closed it behind them but they didn't go any further. Wayne kept going; he took two steps forward and stood by Margie's beside. He slowly took in her appearance, her eyes were closed, and around her face was a thin tube with two little prongs going up her nose. There were lots of monitors around her, with lines and numbers on them; they had wires and tubes attached leading down to her body.
"You can hold her hand if you want." Ben told him from his seat on the other side of the bed.
He reached down and took her hand; he took a deep breath and began talking. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop the man hurting you," he told her, "I didn't see until he was gone and then it was too late, I'm sorry." That was what he wanted to tell her, what he needed to tell her but then he kept going. "I talked to the police today," he started saying. "I found the man and lady in the tapes at the supermarket. The police know who they are; they're going to find them."
He let go of her hand and wondered what else he was supposed to do. He didn't have anything else he needed to say then he remembered what his mom always did with him when he was sick. He stepped up to the head of the bed, stood on his tip toes and lent forward. He kissed her on the forehead and then stepped back. He turned around and smiled at his mom.
Nikki released a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "We can go now." He told her and she felt herself relax even more. Seeing Margene look so helpless had shaken her more than she expected, she wanted to get out of there. She gave Barb a hug and told her to phone if anything changed then she led her boys out the room and through the hospital towards the car.
-8-8-8-
Bill arrived in Salt Lake just after 11pm, his final plane had arrived early, the only good thing to happen to him all day. He used a payphone to call Barb and arranged for her to meet him at the front of the hospital, he wanted to talk to her before he saw Margie, and then he walked outside and caught a taxi.
Barb waited outside the hospital for Bill. She wished he'd hurry up and get there, the night was starting to cool off and she was getting cold. She wasn't sure why Bill needed to meet her at the front of the hospital, he could find his own way to the ward but he'd insisted she meet him at the front. Finally his taxi pulled up, she watched him hand the driver some money and climb out.
"Barb," he said walking straight to her, he held out his arms and embraced her in a tight hug. He held her for a long time, breathed in the scent of her hair, it felt good to be home. Eventually he let go and began the conversation he needed to have.
"How bad is it really?" He asked, his mind has been doing back flips all day trying to process and get his head around the situation, he kept hoping it wasn't as bad as it seemed but Barb didn't look like she was going to tell him it was fine.
"Margie's in real bad shape," she started telling him. "The doctors are worried about her kidneys and infection but they say she's doing alright."
Bill nodded taking in the information. "Is she going to be okay?" That was what he really needed to know.
"I think so," Barb said slowly and she indicated they should start heading inside. "This evening the doctor said he was cautiously optimistic about her condition."
"Good," Bill let out a sigh that was one less thing to worry about. "And Nell, what are they doing to find her?"
"The police and FBI are working together," Barb began trying to remember all the things they were doing. "They've got the phones tapped in case they phone, someone is going through all the letters, they've got ABMERs out all over the country, and Nell's photo along with the couples' distributed at every border crossing into Canada and Mexico."
"Is that all?" It didn't seem like much, he was expecting more.
"I don't know there might be more." She hadn't been paying as much attention as she should to the police investigation; she'd left that job to Nikki while she stayed at the hospital. "I've been here all day. I don't know exactly what all they're doing."
"Okay," Bill made a mental note to chase that up, he needed to know exactly what the police and FBI were doing, he needed to make sure they were doing everything humanly possible to find his daughter. He didn't ask anymore question, they walked in silence while he continued to process.
At the door to the ward the lady waved them in and they began making their way towards Margene's room, at the door they paused for just a moment. Barb thought to say something but instead just opened the door.
Ben stood up when he saw his father enter. "Dad," he said as he stepped towards him. He held out his arms and gave him a quick embrace.
"Ben," Bill was surprised to see his son in the room. Barb hadn't mentioned that he was there, a little part of him felt uncomfortable that his son had been playing the man while he'd been gone but another part of him was grateful that he had. His oldest son was turning into quite the man and seemed to be shouldering responsibilities beyond his years.
He couldn't dwell on his son though he was there to see his wife. She looked so peaceful laying there in the bed, sleep hid all the pain he knew she had to be going though. He stepped towards her and picked up her hand, he kissed her knuckles and then gently rested her hand on the bed. He bent down so he was closer to her, and kissed her softly by her cheek bone.
"I'm sorry," He told her, "I'm going to make it better, I'm going to fix everything." Then he rested his hands on her forehead and began resighting her a blessing. By the time he was done his voice was a little shaky, he kissed her again and stepped back.
"We should go home now," he said to his wife and son. "There is nothing more we can do here."
"Bill," Barb sounded surprised and concerned, she'd half expected he would want to spend the night. "Someone should stay here, in case something happens."
"The doctor will phone if something happens." He didn't see why they had to stay. He was exhausted, and Barb and Ben didn't look any better. "We all need to get some rest, we need to stay strong."
"I can stay, I don't mind." Ben couldn't bear the thought of Margie being alone at the hospital. The doctors said she wouldn't be awake until morning but he didn't want to miss it. She'd been alone and vulnerable when she'd been attacked, he didn't want her to be alone when she woke up. "You two go home. I'll stay, I'll be fine."
"Ben you don't have to do that." Barb didn't like the idea of leaving Margie but she was a little apprehensive about leaving Ben there on his own. "I'll stay with you. Bill you can take the car home, go see Nikki and the rest of the family."
"Barb," Bill really wanted to take his wife home with him. He felt a need to lay down with her, to hold her, and talk this nightmare through. "Come home with me. If Ben wants to stay he can stay but I want you to come home with me, please."
Bill was almost pouting when he finished talking. Barb looked at him, and then every other person in the room. Ben looked okay; he seemed to be as relaxed as anyone could be given the situation.
"Okay," she agreed to leave. She gave Ben one last hug and kissed Margie's forehead then she took Bill's hand and together they walked out the room.