Christy Joy shook her head. “I don’t believe this. Either you’ve kept an eye on her or you haven’t.”
With the strength of an earthquake’s first jolt, a burst of guilt-laced fear shot down Darcy’s spine, but she refused to add to her partner’s dismay and fought to respond calmly. “Twink’s been darting in and out of the shop just as she always does. She can’t have gone far.”
George hurried back toward them, his face a mask of concern. “The shed’s empty. Could Twink have gone upstairs to your apartment?”
“I’ll look.” Christy Joy hurried out the back gate and up the stairs. She unlocked the back door and nearly yanked it off the hinges as she entered. In a moment, she came back outside through the shop. “Twink’s not upstairs. She’s not in the shop, and she’s not out here. I’m calling the police.”
Darcy saw her own terror reflected in her friend’s eyes and thought it a wise move. “You stay here, George, in case Twink turns up. I’ll take a look on the street.”
Foot traffic was light that afternoon, and a quick glance in either direction revealed no sign of the little girl. Hoping Twink might have gone back up the street to her preschool, Darcy broke into a quick jog. The Sunshine Nursery School was located in a buttercup yellow cottage that could have come right out of a Beatrice Potter tale, but after leaving earlier with her mother, Twink had not reappeared on her own.
Darcy sprinted on to the park where a small crowd had gathered to watch a chess match being played with the four-foot-tall pieces on the big outdoor chessboard. She circulated through the onlookers asking about Twink, but no one had seen a fair-haired little girl in the park.
Swallowing her dread, she forced herself to check the small adobe structure which housed the women and men’s restrooms, but her voice echoed with a hollow ring through the empty stalls. As she came back outside, she tried to think where Twink might have gone, but the adorable little girl had always been right underfoot. She felt sick to her stomach and could only imagine how desperate Christy Joy must be.
She immediately thought of the sad ending to Griffin’s beautiful composition, but she refused to consider his music appropriate here. She was positive children strayed all the time and just as often turned up within a matter of minutes. She had to believe Twink was all right, beca
use the hideous alternative was simply too painful to contemplate.
She was out of breath by the time she returned to Defy the World, and a police car was already parked out in front. She shook her head as she passed George and went on into the shop where Christy Joy was clutching a photograph of Twink while she provided a tearful description of her daughter’s clothing.
“I checked with the preschool,” Darcy announced, her heart firmly lodged in her throat. “Mrs. Kelly would have called you immediately had Twink turned up there, and what staff she can spare is going out to look for her too.”
“What about Twink’s father?” the officer inquired. “Could she be with him?”
Christy Joy wiped away her tears. “He’s a San Francisco attorney. He’d take me to court to win custody rather than snatch her off the street.”
The police officer was a freckled young man with bright red hair. He frowned as he made a notation on the report form. “What about her friends from preschool? Does she ever go home with them?”
“She has,” Christy Joy replied. “But their mothers would surely have called me if she’d arrived at their homes without our having made prior arrangements. I take good care of Twink, really I do.”
“We all do,” Darcy echoed, but she’d failed miserably that afternoon. She’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of surprising Griffin with the spectacular fountain that she’d been less than attentive with their customers, but she’d never dreamed Twink might slip away unnoticed.
“What about an Amber alert?” she asked.
“I’ll ask the chief,” the officer replied, “but with no license plate number or description of a car, freeway signs for an Amber alert won’t be of much use.”
Christy Joy sagged back against the counter. “Oh, please, don’t tell me it’s possible she’s been kidnapped. You’d have noticed if a stranger had grabbed her, wouldn’t you, Darcy?”
“Of course, I would have,” Darcy insisted, but she was horrified to think how easily someone might have scooped up Twink while her back was turned. A target of opportunity, she believed it was called. Someone might have seen Twink playing alone, grabbed her and been gone before either she or George had noticed a suspicious stranger lurking nearby.
She feared she was going to be sick. “We’ll find her,” she vowed hoarsely. “Let’s close early and we can conduct a store-by-store canvass.”
Mary Beth came out from behind the counter. “I think I ought to stay here with Christy Joy,” she offered.
With that decided, Darcy went out the door praying they would find Twink before nightfall. It was difficult enough searching for a small child in daylight, and she didn’t even want to consider going out with a flashlight.
Christy Joy barely made it to the shop’s restroom before becoming ill. She was terrified her precious daughter had been abducted by some sick monster who would abuse her and toss her tiny body on some filthy trash heap. She retched until she was dizzy and then, positive Twink deserved better, splashed cool water on her face and blotted it dry.
Mary Beth was pacing the front of the shop when she returned. “I swear I’ll lie down and die if something’s happened to my baby. None of this will mean anything if she’s gone.”
Mary Beth hugged her tightly. “She’ll turn up any minute now. I know she will. She’s such a sweet little thing, no one will harm her.”
“No, that’s only what you hope, but there are children who have disappeared and never been seen again, while others—”
“Stop it,” Mary Beth ordered. “This is a very small town. Everyone knows Twink, and she’s probably perched on a stool in one of the neighboring shops chatting happily with the owner.”
Christy Joy bit her lip until she tasted blood. “I ought to call J. Lyle, but he’ll just curse at me. Even if I don’t call him, he’s bound to find out that Twink was missing and he’ll insist I’m unfit. What am I going to do, Mary Beth? Even if we find Twink, I’m sure to lose custody.”