The Rawlings family listened to Phil through the telephone’s speaker. His explanations and revelations regarding Natalie’s strange text message and subsequent messages did little to relieve their anxiety.

“She didn’t disappear into thin air!” Tony’s deep voice resonated as his statement was punctuated by the pounding of his fist on the antique desk. Normal reasoning had been lost days ago. A wizard in all things business, Anthony Rawlings could be ruthless. His family, however, was another matter. They were his salvation, his joy, his world. The deep lines emanating from the sides of his dark eyes as well as dark circles below were but outward evidence of the sleepless nights since their family holiday was derailed.

Claire’s face fell forward at the sound of her husband’s frustration. Each piece of unrest added to the stress. Her emerald green eyes were bloodshot from crying too many tears, yet they hadn’t seemed to dry out. As the family looked closer at the computer screen, more moisture teetered upon her swollen lids. Taking a deep breath, she too focused on the image.

“These are the photos from the Munich airport in customs,” Phil said through the speaker. He and Taylor had flown immediately to Germany to track down the missing Rawlings princess. “With the holiday, it’s been difficult to get cooperation. Finally, I involved the US Department of State. Even with them, half the workforce is unavailable, on holiday themselves. The problem is that Natalie is an adult. We have no proof of foul play. According to her messages, she’s simply missing the planned stay in Nice.”

As Phil spoke, repeating the excuse they’d heard from every public agency they’d contacted, Claire stared at an ever-changing slide show of grainy black and white pictures. According to German customs, this was the footage that showed Natalie’s entrance into Munich. In each shot, her head was down.

The hairs on Claire’s neck stood to attention. This was the first time they’d seen the pictures.

“As you can see, that’s the backpack she always carries when she travels,” Phil said.

Claire shook her head. “Something isn’t right.”

“...no issues with the border patrol...” Phil continued to speak.

Claire knew her daughter and even with the poor quality of the photos, she was certain that wasn’t her daughter.

“That’s not her,” Claire said, speaking louder.

Everyone in the room turned her direction. There were only two eyes she saw. The room grew quiet until Phil spoke again.

“It’s difficult to see with the quality of image, but these are from the German border patrol, with the help of the US embassy. They were able to trace her back from her passport.”

Claire shook her head as Nichol wrapped her arm around her mother’s shoulders. “Mom, we can’t really see her.”

“Tony, that isn’t her.”

He looked from his wife to the screen. “Stop the slide show,” he said. “Go back.”

Slowly the pictures showed in reverse order.

“Stop.”

It was a rare look at the young woman’s face.

“Goddamn it!” Tony said as he turned back to Claire. “You’re right.”

Slowly all four sets of eyes took a step closer.

The image on the screen enlarged. Again, it was Phil speaking. “I think you’re right. I’m sorry. I was going with the information…”

“What does this mean?” Nate asked. “Does that mean someone else had her passport? Did she ever get on the plane? If that’s not her, where is she?” His concern was evident in the way his deep voice pitched higher with each question.

“Do you have any images of the plane disembarking?” Tony asked.

“Yes,” Claire said, a small kernel of hope coming to life. “Let me see everyone getting off that plane. I don’t care if she’s been disguised. I’ll know her.”

“Phil?” Nichol asked, “what about the text messages?”

“They’re now coming from a new phone. Nat’s phone was found at the airport. I wish that were a good thing.”

“Why isn’t it?” Claire asked.

“It was left on. Natalie would know we’d find it.”

“So it was done on purpose. Couldn’t she have done it?” Nichol asked. “I mean, maybe she wanted you to find it, to know she was avoiding you.”

“Phil,” Claire spoke without acknowledging their older daughter. “In the text messages I’ve asked her personal questions, as you suggested, and she’s answered them.” She reached out to her husband’s extended hand. “It has to be her. She has to be…” Claire couldn’t get herself to say the word alive. She refused to believe there was any other possibility.

“Even though the location is turned off, Taylor and I have been able to triangulate the origins of the texts to a wide geographical area. If she would call and speak for any length of time, we’d have a better chance of pinpointing her location.”

“I’ve tried to call back,” Claire said.

“We all have,” Tony said.

“The phone is turned off, immediately going to no voicemail. I know,” Phil said a mask of professionalism hiding the combination of grief shrouded with annoyance. It wasn’t like him to run up against brick walls. Claire knew he was as upset at himself as he was at Natalie.

“Phil, don’t give up, please,” Claire said.

“Roach, we know you’ve got this. I don’t give a damn that we don’t have proof that she didn’t do this willingly, but I think there’s more. I think...” He hesitated as he looked toward his wife. “...we need to at least consider that she was taken.”

Claire saw the conflict in her husband’s handsome features. “Taken?” she repeated, goose bumps dotting her skin as the dam inside her mind burst, flooding her thoughts with suppressed memories.

“Claire,” Phil said through the speaker, “Taylor and I have been discussing the same possibility. I wasn’t going to say anything until I had more.”

“The pictures of the passengers?” Claire said, searching for a way to help Natalie. “Get me the pictures and then we’ll be sure she made the flight. If she didn’t, she’s still in the United States.” Her voice grew higher. “I’ll go back today. If she’s there, I’ll be there.”

“I’ll go,” Nate volunteered.

“No,” Tony said. “No one else is leaving. We’re all staying together. Eric flew back to the States. John is there. If we need anything there, one or both of them can handle it.”

Phil spoke again. “I’ll get the manifest and any surveillance from the boarding and debarking as soon as I can. The timing couldn’t be worse. With the holiday, no one is on the job. Whether it’s US or German agencies, or the airlines, everyone is operating with crews of temporary or part-time workers. No one knows what he or she is doing, much less who I need to speak to. Getting answers is worse than pulling teeth.”

Claire took a deep breath as she sat. “It’s been three days since I spoke to her. Christmas…”

Tony turned to his wife. “Our daughter will be with us by Christmas.” His tone left no room for disagreement. “She is just ashamed of failing at Harvard. She was embarrassed. We need to let her know that doesn’t matter.”

Tony had known about Natalie’s grades and decision not to pursue tutoring or remedial assistance. He’d learned when the payment for her next semester had been returned to his bank account. He’d considered speaking to her about it long distance. He and Claire had even talked about flying to Boston, but they both decided that Natalie would tell them when she was ready. They assumed that it would be during this trip. They weren’t happy, but it didn’t qualify as something warranting this type of behavior. Never had they devalued their daughter’s ambition or achievements in any way. They were waiting to hear her explanation and learn her future plans. No matter what they would have been, Tony and Claire would have supported Nat.

They knew that. It was difficult to believe that Natalie didn’t.

Nichol let out a sigh at her mother’s statement, as she too sat on a sofa opposite her mother.

The rest of the family turned to her.

“Fine,” Nichol said, her hands in the air. “I’ll say it. Everyone is thinking it. I’ll be the one who rips off the Band-Aid. Natalie is spoiled. She always has been. She’s throwing a temper tantrum so that when she shows up on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, you’ll be so happy that you won’t get upset about Harvard. If this was a kidnapping, don’t you think we’d have heard something by now? Some demand?”

“We’re not ruling anything out,” Phil’s voice transcended the miles, the voice of reason that he’d been for as long as Claire could remember.

“Good,” Claire said, standing and staring at her oldest. “You’re wrong. Natalie wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t. I don’t care about Harvard, and for your information, your father and I already knew. We were waiting for her to tell us. Besides...” The tears were back. “This is your baby sister.”

Nichol stood too facing her mother. “Mom, I know. I just think that it helps you rationalize her behavior if you think she was taken, but she is a Rawlings. Something you and Dad have told us all forever: a Rawlings can’t be taken without anyone noticing.”

“We are noticing. And yes, she is a Rawlings and worth a fortune to us.”

“Then why haven’t you received demands? Why have you only received her I’m going to find myself text messages? Maybe because that is really what happened; she’s pouting at some expensive hotel in Germany or Sweden or resting by a warm fire with some hot guy buying her drinks.”

“Nichol.” Tony’s one word received the room’s attention. “If you were missing—”

“She isn’t missing, Dad. She’s texting.”

“If you were avoiding us, doing something completely out of character, we would want to learn why and make sure you were safe.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Claire’s neck straightened. “Neither would Nat.”

Nate cleared his throat and took a step toward his dad. “We’ll pursue both options?”

“Yes,” Tony said. “I’m tired of the dead ends. I don’t give a damn if she’s an adult. We’re involving all the governmental authorities. No media. I don’t want this made into a public spectacle with a million false sightings. It’s time to bring her home.”

Sitting back on the sofa, Claire closed her eyes as a dull ache pounded behind her temples. She liked the tone of Tony’s voice. This was the man in charge, the one who would bring their baby back. She needed to trust in him as she had always done.

Her mind slipped back to years, decades before. A dew of perspiration covered her flesh as horrors she’d willed away bubbled to the surface. Claire recalled the terror of awakening in a strange bedroom. Her stomach twisted with the rekindling of fear, the knowledge that she was a prisoner...that she was at the mercy of…

When her eyes opened, the same dark eyes were right before her. Tony was kneeling by her legs with his large hand on her knee. His thumb gently wiped away a lone tear that had escaped from her eye.

“Don’t, please,” his deep voice held more emotion than he often showed, even to his children. “She is safe.”

“But...I know what it’s like...”

“That isn’t happening.”

The fact that both Nichol and Nate knew their parents’ history allowed Claire to express her concern without the need for explanation. Though they’d kept it from Natalie, their baby, Nichol was older. At too young of an age, she’d been exposed to a web post that she was never meant to read. And then, one night in a fit of rage at her parents, she told her brother. It wasn’t the type of memories a family discussed over Easter ham, but nevertheless, it was their history.

“I can’t help but worry...I can’t help remembering.”

Nichol sat down beside her mother. “The texts say she’s off on her own, thinking. That’s where she is. History isn’t repeating itself.”

It was strange how they could all refer to that tragic time with no more than a wistful sigh.

Claire reached for Tony’s hand as she leaned against Nichol. Nate took a step closer and reached for her other hand. “I love you,” she said. “All of you.” She nodded at her children and also toward the screen, where Phil’s image now showed. “I’m scared for her.” The words rang true in a way that only one who has also suffered the unimaginable can recite. Yet, as Claire stared from one face to another, even into Tony’s regretful gaze, she knew she wouldn’t change her past. It brought her the present.

She also didn’t want her daughter to experience anything similar.

Nichol’s reasoning was harsh, yet it made sense. However, if Nat were off pouting at a ski resort, why did Claire’s stomach twist with dread.

“Have there been any indications of her using her credit cards?” Claire asked.

“In the airport in Germany. She bought two disposable phones and a bottle of water,” Phil answered.

“See?” Nichol said. “She’s all right.”

“How did she get where she was going? What about a hotel. It’s been three days.”

“Any charges since then?” Nate asked.

“A cash withdrawal of 1000 euros.”

Nichol forced a smile and nodded.

“What about a picture from the ATM?” Tony asked.

“It’s grainy and with the cap, you can’t see her face.”

Claire sighed as Tony helped her stand. “Please, Phil, find her. Bring her home. We don’t care about Harvard. She has her whole life in front of her. Please bring her home.”

“What if you stopped her credit cards?” Nate asked.

“No,” Tony replied.

“I agree,” Phil said. “The activity is helping us track her.”

“Roach,” Tony said, “Let us know when you get the other pictures. We know this woman who went through customs wasn’t Natalie. Now we also need to know where that woman is and why she had Nat’s information. Did she abandon Nat’s phone or was that Nat? We need answers. We need them—”

“Three days ago,” Claire said, finishing Tony’s sentence.

They all looked toward the live transmission of Phil Roach. Since his hair had always been white, it wasn’t as easy to see the aging that had occurred over time. Truly after Taylor came into his life, he seemed to grow younger, not older. His hazel eyes glistened with genuine concern for the Rawlings family. The Rawlings were his employers, but more importantly, they were his and Taylor’s family.

“We won’t stop. Try to get some rest. Taylor and I will find her.”

“Thank you, Phil,” Nate said, disconnecting the call. “You know,” he said turning back to the room, “I’ve never seen Phil fail. We don’t know where Nat is now, but we will.” He again reached for his mom’s hand. “She’ll be back.”

Claire feigned a smile. “You’re right.”

“Phil won’t disappoint us,” Tony confirmed.