We hightail it out of there and get to the house as fast as we can.
“Emily! Emily, are you here?” I yell, running up to the house, looking around. But there is no sign of her. My baby hasn’t come home. “I’m going to sit here,” I say, claiming the chair closest to the door. “Just in case she comes back.”
With everything going on, I totally forget to call my mom. How am I going to break the news that Chris kidnapped her granddaughter? She was a big fan of his back in the day. As I pull her up in my contact list, I take a deep breath, not knowing how this is going to go.
“Honey! I was going to call you tomorrow to check in. How are things?”
My voice starts to crack as I say, “Not so great.”
“You sound—what’s going on?”
“Chris showed up two days ago demanding to see Emily. He threatened to take me to court, and then without me knowing, he picked her up from school, and we haven’t seen her since, Mom.”
“What do you mean you haven’t seen her? Where is she?”
“He took her and we have no idea where. The police are looking for them but haven’t gotten any leads yet.” I explain everything to her and try to stay as calm as I can. My mom was my rock when Chris left, even though she can’t help me financially. She talked me off ledges multiple times and made me believe I could provide Emily the best life.
“I’ll let you go in case the police call. Keep me updated. I’ll pray.”
She hasn’t seen Emily since Thanksgiving three years ago. Shortly after, she lost her job and could barely make ends meet like myself. “I love you, Mom.” I reply before the line goes dead.
Damon brings me some soup, but I’m not hungry and can’t even think about eating right now. How much longer can I sit around and wait? Hell, I should be out there helping them find her, searching every place in town. Surely someone has seen her. They had to stop to eat or get gas at some point.
My biggest concern is why the school let her leave with him. They obviously had never seen him before, and wouldn’t they have found that odd? Aren’t there rules in place to keep the kids safe and prevent things like this from happening? After this, I’ll call a meeting with the school board to discuss their rules because I don’t want something like this to happen to another mother.
My eyes are getting heavy, but I can’t bring myself to allow them to close. What if I missed a call, a knock on the door, or something leading to Emily? Nope, I’ll just make a pot of coffee to keep me awake. I can sleep once she is home and in my arms.
The warm coffee does the opposite of what I hope for, and when my eyes open it’s dark outside. Where is my phone? I search around the room but can't find it.
“Damon?” I yell, trying to find him.
“I’m in the dining room.”
When I walk in, my phone is sitting in front of him, and he’s drinking a cup of coffee.
“I was looking for that. Did I miss any calls?” I jerk the phone away from the table.
He frowns in response. “No calls. I stayed up, just in case. You needed some sleep.”
Ugh. When the hell are they going to find her? I can’t continue to sit around idly waiting. I’m going crazy.
“Here’s your coffee. Have a seat.”
No, I’m not going to sit down. How is that productive in finding Emily? Where is she? The police have probably already canvassed the entire city looking for her with no luck or they would’ve called. No more waiting around. I dial the non-emergency number to the station.
“Grapevine Police Department.”
“Any news on Emily? I haven’t received anything for hours, and I really need to know something, anything.”
The officer replies, “Officers are out at the hotels with her picture and a call was made to Houston PD to check the residence of the father.”
It’s been hours, why haven’t they done that already? Couldn’t they have checked his place hours ago? I’m really starting to doubt our police department's capability to handle this situation promptly. They could be in Canada by now. “Keep me informed.”
Damon talks to his chief and takes the day off; that’s just the type of man he is.
We move to the living room, and put on some westerns to help pass time, trying to keep our minds occupied so we don’t just sit and worry about Emily. Our bodies snuggle under a fuzzy blanket, and my head is on his chest. I feel safe and protected.
About twenty minutes later, there’s a knock on the door.
Damon jumps up. “I’ll get it. Stay here.”