The St Patrick Series Book #1: The St Patrick Bride

Chapter Seventy Two: Woman With A Gun

Court's POV
This damn red shovel.

If I hadn't gone back for it, he would still be here singing mama on repeat. If I had just ignored it and gotten him a brand new one he would never have known the difference. He's only... He was one at the time. He wouldn't have remembered.

It's been a whole year of hide and seek in the dark. Yesterday my son turned two and he wasn't here with us. A whole year and no one can find Bruce.

The Major General retired from the Army and fully put his efforts into looking for Bruce. Daddy is blowing through his wealth to pay for a fruitless manhunt to find Bruce. Lucille and my mom physically walk through town with photos of Bruce asking everyone if they have seen him. Chris does what he can with his job in the army tying him down. I watch it all unfold.

I was enthusiastic and determined at first. I was certain we will find my son but many fruitless attempts have left my hope dimmed. That officer said that the best time to find a missing or kidnapped person is within the first 48 hours and they spent the first 24 hours of that time asking us stupid questions. Lucille sued the police department and she won but it does not bring Bruce back. It just doesn't. We have a hotline where people call with tips if they have seen a boy with dark curly hair and green eyes but all we get are prank calls, people calling to ask us personal questions or lies about sightings of Bruce just for the reward money. Heaven knows how much we have run around only to reach these people and then they say 'He was right there but now he's gone. Can I get my reward money?'

I am exhausted of being taken advantage of.

I have reached a point where I'm ready to let go before I lose my mind. If Bruce is out there, we will find him or someday he will come home. I just don't have it in me to keep going like this.

Marianna walked beside me without a word. We sat on that bench I saw Bruce last. "He was right here." I explained. "I ran over there to get the shovel. I ran really fast, it wasn't even five seconds. I swear I hurried up. But when I turned, Bruce was gone."

She rubbed cir Les on my back.

"I'm so sorry Court. I know how you feel."

"No you don't! You know where your kids are and Helena let's you see Nick!"

The woman on the bench with dark classes was Helena Bale. I met her a few weeks after Bruce disappeared. She was on that same bench reading a new book. Bale Industries is right behind us. She likes to sit on this bench when she's on a break.

I asked her if she saw anything that day and she said she didn't. She left before I put Bruce on the bench. Maybe if she had stayed a little longer, as he would have seen or stopped that person who took Bruce.

"You're right. Our situations are different but one thing is for sure, I understand your pain Court and it's alright to lash out and feel frustrated but is the decision you and Chris are about to make right?"

Chris and I have grown apart. At first we comforted each other but the strain of losing a child was too painful for both of us. In fact for him, double the dose. I haven't seen Christopher's sexy smile in as long as Bruce has been missing. He doesn't smile or laugh anymore. We have both become dark clouds hovering over each other's lives. We bring nothing but sadness and grief to each other and everyone around us.

"We mutually decided it's not working anymore." I looked into Maria's tender brown eyes.

"The wearer of the show knows where it pinches. I'm not going to argue with you. But don't lose hope. Bruce is out there-"

"Or he could be dead."

I would rather work with the worst case scenario than assume that everything is okay to be alright when it won't.