Chapter Eleven
When I opened the door to my apartment I knew something was wrong. The entire place was completely dark; there were no lights turned on anywhere despite the fact that it was after six at night
I had just gotten home from a long meeting with the Dean to discuss how the semester was going to shape up, if I had a syllabus in place I was putting together yet, how the course had previously been set up, my office hours, my class schedule, and the publication requirements that I would be expected to complete each year.
As a law professor, I would be expected to publish essays and legal papers periodically as a requirement of the job. I was not sure what the hell I was supposed to write about, but I supposed I was going to have to go into research mode at some point and make it happen.
Despite the fact that a meeting I expected to last two hours, ended up lasting four because I had to meet with the Dean of the department and the Dean of the university, I was in a surprisingly good mood. In just three weeks I would start my first semester as a teacher.
I had to admit it was going to be weird sitting on the other side of the classroom for once, but in a sense, it was no different than teaching the jury what they were looking for, what the evidence really meant, and how they should think about things to reach their final conclusion in court.
I was excited and nervous all at the same time. It felt very much like there was some crazy tug of war happening inside of my body right then. But I was optimistic, for the first time in a while, optimistic about the future.
I had called Julia and let her know I was going to be late and she said that was fine. She had sat with baby Devon for a long time and there was not a person on the earth I trusted him more than her.
I imagined that he had taken a nap and she had too. The past few weeks had been brutal on her studying nonstop for exams. Soon I was going to be the mean professor who made lives miserable for so many young students. It was going to be great.
I sat my purse down on the chair and went to the fridge to grab a soda. I was dying of thirst, and even though I had been slacking on my water intake, sometimes a girl was just in the mood for sugar. This was one of those times.
I sat my coat down on the kitchen chair and quietly walked into the living room and turned on the lamp. I figured that Julia had fallen asleep on the couch (it wouldn’t have been the first time). But she was not there.
That was odd. The apartment wasn't that big. I hadn't begun receiving any of my checks from teaching yet and even though Tony had offered to let me and Devon move into his place, I was content to make it on my own two feet. As great as things were and the fact that I was falling more and more madly in love with him every single day, living together was a big step. Not just for me, but for Devon. I don't think a bachelor has any idea what he is getting himself in for when he signs up to live with a one-year-old.
As I walked through the apartment with no sign of Julia and no sounds coming from Devon’s room, I started to get scared. There was an eerie feeling that came over me right then. I don’t know how I knew, but I did. There was something horribly wrong.
I found myself jogging those last few feet to Devon’s bedroom door. I flung the door open and flipped on the light. Devon’s crib was empty. He was not there.
Julia. She was lying on the floor, face down, a bit of blood trickling out from her head.
I couldn’t breathe. Every mother’s worse nightmare, the one that every single mother on the planet pictures happening at least once a day to her kids, the thing that wakes you up screaming in the middle of the night more often than you would ever admit to anybody- was happening to me right now.
My baby was gone.
“Devon!” I screamed.
I clutched the sides of my head as I made my way to his crib. Out of some last minute desperate strand of hope, I thought he might be there, hiding under the blanket somehow.
A groan came from the floor. Julia!
I knelt down beside Julia and helped her turn over. She was conscious but obviously very dazed.
“Julia! Where is Devon! What happened? Are you ok?”
I knew that she could not focus on hardly anything right then but I could not stop myself from asking her every single question in the world right away.
“A lady…” she moaned. Her eyes closed as she tried to doze off again. I knew she at least had a concussion. There was a huge gash on her forehead.
I lightly smacked her face to keep her with me.
“Julia, you have to think. What happened?”
“A lady hit me… she came out of nowhere… I heard her taking him.”
Julia began to doze off again.
I reached for my phone and dialed 911.
I received an answer on the second ring. “Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?” The voice was calm, almost serene. Very eerie.
"My baby has been kidnapped! Please come quick! Oh, my God! Please! My babysitter has been attacked! Someone took my baby! We need an ambulance to 175 Mercer Lane. Apart 5 B. Please come quickly!"
I was speaking so fast I had no idea if the operator could hear me or not. I was losing it. I had to regain my composure. Freaking out was not going to help anything. I took several deep breaths as the operator repeated the information back to me.
“Ok, ma’am an ambulance and police officer are on their way.”
“Ok,” I said hanging up.
I didn’t know what to do. I needed to find Devon. Who would have taken my son?
I stopped suddenly. My mind was racing a mile a minute. I had to get myself under control or I would never find him. A cop was on the way, but they were too slow. Even if they got here they would probably give me some stupid story about how they would let me know if they found out any information, meanwhile, I would do nothing but wait. I couldn't let that happen. If Devon was found, it was going to be up to me. I would tear the city apart—
Beth.
The word popped into my brain. I had no idea why at first, but as I dwelled on it I became aware of a scent. Devon’s room did not smell normal. It did not smell just like him, or like Julia, or even like me. It was different. There was a difference to it.
It was Beth. I had been around her enough to know her sent. In my heightened bear state, I knew that she had been here. My senses were on full alert with the adrenaline coursing through my body and I was surprised that I was not shifting right then.
It had been three days since Beth went on the run from the cops. There had been rumors and reports of sightings, but no one had heard from her and no one had a clue what she was doing or when she was going to be found. It had to be difficult to catch a bear shifter who didn’t want to be found.
Unless you were also a bear shifter.
The ambulance arrived and took Julia to the hospital. Shortly thereafter I was met by a police officer who came to take my statement. I told him everything I could remember and of course, he told me that they would let me know as soon as they found something. I knew that to mean that this case was unlikely to be solved. There was a reason why this city had such a high missing child problem.
The second the cop left I ran out the door and got in my car. I was going to track Beth down and get my son back.
But I was not going to do it alone.