Isabella’s heart stopped. She had to grab the edge of the counter to keep from falling. “What do you mean she’s gone?”

 

Jeanine was sobbing. She could barely speak and Isabella was having a hard time understanding her.

 

“Slow down, Jeanine. What happened?”

 

Isabella realized she was getting looks from the two customers in the store. She hurried to the back and found her purse.

 

“She was…backyard,” Jeanine choked out. “Then. Gone.”

 

“Did you hear her scream or anything? You looked for her?”

 

“No scream. Looked everywhere.” Jeanine was hysterical and Isabella could feel her own panic approaching that point. She had to think.

 

“You’re home?” Isabella asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m on my way.”

 

Isabella hung up and dashed into the office where Sue was doing paperwork. She looked up, startled. But the look in Isabella’s eyes must’ve told her something because her own eyes went wide.

 

“What is it?” Sue asked.

 

“Sara…” She choked on the words. Somehow, if she said them they would be more real. She wanted this all to be a nightmare. Maybe she’d sat down on her lunch break and fallen asleep and this wall all just a dream. “Sara’s missing,” she finally said.

 

Sue gasped in shock. “Oh my gosh. What?”

 

“I have to go.”

 

“Yes, go.” Sue got to her feet, walking with Isabella to the door, both of them hurrying along.

 

“I’ll call you,” Isabella said as she reached the door and pushed it open.

 

Sue stood in the door way, watching her, shock still etched in her face.

 

Isabella didn’t know how she managed to get to Jeanine’s. She didn’t remember getting into her car, pulling out of the gift shop parking lot, or making several turns. She fumbled for her phone. It took three tries to enter the passcode. When she finally did, she scrolled to Jace’s name with shaking hands, trying to drive and not hit anything.

 

She called him and his voice mail picked up. She hung up and immediately called back. Nothing. She didn’t want to leave a message, so she let her phone fall to the seat beside her.

 

It had to be the same men that had put a gun to her head. The men looking for Jace. The men after Jace, who’d nearly killed him. Oh God. What if they had Jace, too? What if that was why he wasn’t answering? The thought made her cold.

 

She tried to think about what was happening right now, but her mind kept jumping. What were they doing with her daughter? She pictured Sara’s little face, how it must be terrified, and the tears flooded her vision. Did she have Cuddles with her? Was she clutching her little friend close for comfort? Was she wondering where her mommy was and why she wasn’t there to save her?

 

She had to stop the sobs so she could drive, but she couldn’t breathe anymore. Her chest hitched and when she saw Jeanine’s house, she was so grateful that she’d made it.

 

She slammed her car into park and ran from the car to find Jeanine. She was in the backyard, looking and calling out for Sara through her tears.

 

“Jeanine!”

 

She turned and ran toward Isabella. They met in a hard embrace.

 

“I’m so sorry, Isabella. I thought she was fine. She plays outside all the time and she’s fine. I just…I just…”

 

“No, it’s not your fault.” Isabella rested her hand on Jeanine’s shoulder. “Did you call the police?”

 

Jeanine nodded. “They’re on their way.”

 

Isabella looked around the yard. There was no clear sign of struggle, but she didn’t really know what to look for. Trampled bushes? Damaged trees? Jeanine’s yard was lined with thin trees on one side, bushes on the two others. Through the line of bushes were her neighbors and through the trees was a creek and then the backyards of other houses.

 

“Which way did they go?” she asked.

 

“They?”

 

“The people who took her.”

 

Jeanine blinked at her. “You think someone took her?”

 

“Don’t you?”

 

“I…I thought she just wandered off. Took her?”

 

Could Isabella be wrong? Maybe Sara had been playing and saw a butterfly or something and chased it? Could it be so simple? Maybe no one had her daughter at all. Maybe Jace wasn’t answering his phone because he was busy. Or didn’t want to talk to her. Could life be so wonderful?

 

“What happened exactly?” Isabella asked.

 

“I don’t know. Sara was out here playing. I went inside to get my phone and when I came back out, she was gone. I called for her. I thought she just wandered off.”

 

“Maybe she did.”

 

She was sure Jeanine had checked, but just to be certain, Isabella went to the trees and looked at the creek, up and down to make sure she didn’t see any sign of her. What had she been wearing that day? Think. Think.

 

That morning they had cereal for breakfast. Sara still had on her pajamas and she spilled milk on them when she tipped the bowl to drink the leftover milk. Her pink kitty cat pajamas. They’d gone into her room to change, put the pajamas in the hamper and picked up…

 

Her mint green shirt with a glittery heart on the front. That was what she was wearing. And black leggings. With her silver sparkly flats. She loved those shoes and Isabella could barely manage to get her to take them off. “But they sparkle, Mommy!” she’d protested one night when Isabella was trying to get her to take them off to get in the bathtub. “They don’t need to be cleaned,” she’d protested, which didn’t make any sense. Isabella had pointed out that if they were sparkly and didn’t need to be cleaned, then she better leave them out of the tub, or the glitter might get cleaned off. That had been enough to make Sara immediately kick them off. She’d let nothing take away her sparkle.

 

Isabella looked up and down the creek again, making sure there wasn’t one of those sparkly shoes sitting on the shore. She walked back up the bank and crossed through into each neighboring yard. No sign of her anywhere.

 

“I did look everywhere,” Jeanine said.

 

“I know you did.” Isabella patted her shoulder. “When did the police say they were going to get here?”

 

“They said right away, but it’s been several minutes.”

 

Of course. To them, it was probably just a kid who wandered off. Not an extreme emergency. They’d be here soon, but likely wouldn’t come with sirens wailing, flying down the street.

 

“I’m going to drive around a little,” Isabella said. “Call me as soon as they get here.”

 

“Okay.”

 

In her car, Isabella called Jace again. Maybe she should leave a message? She called back and this time when the voice mail recording came on, she said, “Jace, please call me back. It’s Sara and it’s an emergency.”

 

She drove up and down the street slowly, pulling over when another car was behind her. She called out for her, but saw no signs of her. No a shoe, her stuffed bunny, nothing. She turned around again and drove back.

 

Would Sara even have wandered off? That seemed so unlike her. She liked Jeanine and always looked forward to going to her house. She wouldn’t just leave without some reason. She wasn’t the type to wander off. Even in stores, she clung to Isabella and would point and tug at her mother to go look at something rather than go over on her own. She was the type to cling, not to wander. So would she really have left Jeanine’s yard to go exploring?

 

As much as she wanted to believe it could be true, Isabella had to admit that just didn’t sound like her child at all. Sara wouldn’t wander off. Certainly not so far that she couldn’t be quickly found. Certainly not so far that looking for her by car wouldn’t locate her. No. Isabella had to face the truth. She’d been taken. And she’d most likely been taken by the men after Jace. Though there was always the possibility that Craig had shown up and snatched her. At this point, Isabella didn’t know which would be worse.

 

If Craig had taken her, he might hurt her, but that was less likely at this point. Craig only hurt people when they didn’t do what he wanted. Though if he’d tried to take Sara and she’d resisted, he could easily have smacked her to get her to listen. But that would be the worst of it. Probably. He wouldn’t kill his own child, would he? Or hurt her worse? He might use her as bait to get Isabella back. And what would he do when Isabella refused him?

 

The thought terrified her. But if Lionel and his guys had her, wouldn’t that be worse? They’d beat up Jace very badly. Almost killed him. Thought they’d killed him. So clearly they were violent people. But a child? She was only bait for them to get to Jace, which had to be why they had her. If a man had held a gun to Isabella’s head to get info about Jace, then surely this was about Jace, too. They wouldn’t rest until he was dead. But they wouldn’t go so far as to kill a child over it, would they?

 

She pulled back into Jeanine’s driveway and saw that a police car was there. An officer exited the car, closing the door behind him. He’d just arrived.

 

He turned to her when she got out of her car and she said, “I’m the mother. It’s my daughter who’s missing.”

 

“Is this your home?”

 

“No, this Jeanine’s house. She watches my daughter. She was here when she was taken.”

 

The officer made notes in his notebook. “Taken?”

 

“Sara wouldn’t just wander off, and I have reason to believe that she was kidnapped.”

 

“Let’s go inside and discuss this.” The officer gestured toward the door.

 

They went in and Jeanine came to meet them. They sat at the dining room table and Jeanine first relayed what she’d told Isabella of how Sara had just vanished.

 

“But you said you believe she was taken,” the officer said to Isabella.

 

She nodded. She had to be very careful about how she answered this. She knew enough from life with Craig to know that any police attention on the MC was bad news. If she told him that part of the story, it might get Jace in trouble. But she still wasn’t sure who it was—Craig or someone after Jace—so either reason should work.

 

“My ex was abusive. We had to leave him abruptly and I think he may have found us and taken Sara.”

 

The officer scribbled down more notes. He asked about Craig. Name, last known address, etcetera. She gave him all the info she had. He’d radioed some of Craig’s physical appearance details to the car that was driving around the area. They’d look for Sara and keep an eye out for someone who looked like Craig as well.

 

When they finished talking with the officer, she sat with Jeanine, waiting. The police would be coming back in an hour with an update. They turned on the TV and tried to watch, but every time the phone rang, they jumped up, and Isabella couldn’t keep from checking out the window constantly. She walked to the back door, the front door, pausing in the middle to watch Jeanine talk on the phone and glance at the TV. Jeanine had the whole neighborhood looking for Sara.

 

Isabella hated that she had to stay there, waiting. But the officer said that was the best thing. She was in no state to drive around looking for her and they were well practiced in cases like this, they assured her. Still. She felt so helpless just sitting there. She tried to call Jace a few more times. She’d left one more message, telling him that Sara was missing and that she thought maybe it was Lionel’s guys or her ex.

 

He had to just be unavailable or had lost his phone or something. There was no way he wouldn’t call her back after messages like those, right? Could he be that heartless? She didn’t think so, but she kept checking her phone and calling his, wondering why in the world he wasn’t answering or calling her back.

 

An hour and a half later, the officer returned. He told them they had no solid leads, but that they were opening a full investigation and would continue searching for Sara. While they were talking with the officer, her phone rang. She looked down and saw an unknown number. Maybe it was Jace, though.

 

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” Isabella said, and walked outside onto the porch where she’d have privacy. “Hello?”

 

“Isabella Smith?”

 

She didn’t recognize the voice, but it certainly didn’t sound like a friendly sales call. Her heart raced as she listened.

 

“Yes?” she said.

 

“If you’d like to see your daughter alive, come to the farm at 494 Greenville Road in exactly three hours.”

 

“494 Greenville Road,” she repeated.

 

“And I’m sure it goes without saying, do not get the police involved. Unless, of course, you want to be rid of this kid. I’m sure they can be a pain in the ass and all. I’d understand.”

 

“No, I won’t.” Her voice shook and she hoped the officer inside the house right now couldn’t hear. And that the guy on the phone had no idea the cop was there.

 

“Oh, and that little pussy boyfriend of yours? Jace? If you were smart, you wouldn’t bring him either. See you soon, doll.” The man laughed and hung up.

 

Isabella stood on the porch and gripped her phone so tight it dug into her hand, shaking. Okay, well, at least she knew that this was about Jace and it wasn’t Craig who’d taken Sara. But she felt no relief at that. Had she expected to?

 

Suddenly, the fact that Jace wasn’t answering worried her far more than it had before. What if they had him? And what if they had his phone? They’d just told her not to call him. They’d know if she did. She couldn’t even try calling him again. But why say not to bring him if they had him? Unless they were testing her. If that was the case, she had to get away from this cop as soon as possible. She couldn’t risk being seen near him.

 

She ducked back inside the house like she just needed to get something from her purse. She held the phone to her ear and when she was near Jeanine said, “One sec, Sue, let me find my notebook and I can tell you.”

 

She walked back out to the porch with her purse and then put her phone in her pocket and dashed to the front of the house where her car was. She hopped in and quickly drove off.

 

But she had so much time to kill. She wanted to drive right to this farmhouse right now. But she wanted more not to mess up and endanger Sara. She’d already caused her too much pain by not being there when she was taken. By getting mixed up with this guy in the first place. She was the worst mother in the world. Picked a horrible man to be her father, and now another man that brought them trouble. Maybe she deserved to have her daughter taken for all the better care she’d given her. How could she be so stupid?

 

She turned into her apartment’s building. Where else could she possibly go right now? She paced for a while, then thought, what if they needed to make a getaway for some reason? She packed bags for her and Sara and filled the car with her stuffed animals so that when she got Sara back, she’d have all her favorite things. She had to believe she’d get her back. There was no other option than to keep believing that. And she had no other option right now but to sit and wait.