Worst Summer Ever... (Book 7 of Adopted by Jenna and Tyler Joseph)

14. Tyler

"They were spotted in Oregon," Jake said, breathlessly, as he had run into the house as soon as he'd gotten the tip. 

"Are you sure?" I asked. 

"Pretty sure. They went to a restaurant for dinner, and the waitress thought she recognized Samantha. She wasn't 100% sure, but she called in to the tip line to tell them that she thought she saw the two of them. They were in a white panel van."

"They went to a restaurant? Sam would have said something to someone, I'm sure. She would have used the opportunity to get away," I said.  I had to believe that she would. 

"The waitress said the girl with whom she believed to be Mark didn't speak at all other than to order dinner. She spoke quietly and didn't make eye contact with anyone. She said neither of them seemed to speak much but he did order a piece of cake for dessert and she thought she heard him say something about a birthday. She didn't hear clearly, but she said the girl didn't look happy to be there."

"Did she say if either of them left the table at any point?"

"No. They didn't. They went in, were seated, ordered, ate, and left. All in they were there less than an hour," Jake said. 

I wanted to scream. So close! It was so close! If it were Sam and Mark, we could have had her back by now. But by the time anyone would have responded, they were long gone from the one positive lead we had. 

"She did say, though, that though the girl looked pretty miserable, she looked okay. She had a bruise on the left side of her head, but otherwise, she looked healthy."

Jenna burst into tears. 

"Jenna, that's good news," Jake said. 

"I know," she said. "I'm happy to hear that if that girl was Samantha, she's alive and, I guess, relatively okay. But she's not here, and that's all I want. I want my daughter back. I want Samantha here. We were supposed to be the ones to celebrate her 18th birthday with her. She was supposed to be here! She was supposed to celebrate with our family and our friends. Not with a psychopathic maniac who couldn't handle being told no. He didn't even know Samantha existed until a couple of years ago. Why does he think he can just take her? Why does he think he has any right to do what he did?"

"He doesn't have that right, Jenna," Jake said. "You know that. We will catch up to him. I know you're hurting. I know you want Samantha home. We're working to make that happen.  This is the first sighting we've had and he's slipping up. To take Samantha out in public, even in a small town in Oregon, is stupid on his part. Oregon police are now looking for the van. They have a full plate now, and we can update the case with that information."

"I don't care!" Jenna screamed. "I want my daughter back! I don't care that they have a plate, I don't care that they were seen! I want her home! I want her in my arms! I don't want to be sitting here feeling like there is nothing I can do! We know she's alive, but do we know if she's okay? She can't be okay! She's with someone she can't trust! She doesn't have her insulin, she doesn't have her antidepressants. She doesn't have anything!"

I wrapped my wife in my arms as she broke down, weeping. 

"Mama?" Rosie's little voice interrupted us. "Sammy come home tomorrow?" 

"I don't know, RosieRo. I don't know when Samantha's coming home," Jenna cried. 

"Sama?" Junie said. 

I picked Junie up, and kissed her cheek. 

"Want Sama," she said. I sighed. 

"I know, Bug. I know you want Samantha.  We all want Samantha."

Junie lay her head on my shoulder and Rosie leaned into us. The four of  us just held on to each other. I knew two of my kids were okay and safe. I knew only that my oldest was alive and, presumably, in Oregon. But I didn't know if she was safe. And if she's with Mark, I don't think she's very safe. 

My cell phone started to ring so I picked it up. 

"Hello?" I answered. 

"Hi, Tyler, it's Carol," Carol was on the line. I put the phone on speaker so Jake could listen in. 

"Carol, hi. How are you? What's happening?"

"Mark called last night. He didn't say much and I think he was at a payphone on a street. I asked him if he had taken Samantha. He didn't say he did, but he did say that he 'did what he needed to do.'"

"Carol, it's Jake. I'm the detective on the case. Did he give you any idea where he was?"

"Not really. He was definitely on a street somewhere. I could hear traffic behind him."

"If he calls you again,  please text us as soon as possible. Try to keep him on the line and see if you can determine where he is. I'm going to get in touch with the police in your area."

"I already have and I've explained the situation to them. I expect they'll be getting in contact with you soon."

"Oh. Wonderful. I'll be expecting their call," Jake said. 

"Carol, I'm so sorry you've been pulled into this," I said. 

"Tyler, no. I'm sorry Mark has done this to you and your family. Samantha is a wonderful girl and we had been following her when she'd show up in the news. We wanted to, well, I wanted to reach out after the shooting at the school, but I wasn't sure you'd want to hear from any of us."

"Thank you, Carol. I don't know that we would have. But knowing now that you weren't part of his plot to try and sue us for custody. I'm sorry about all that, too. Samantha really lost out on a great family connection because of Mark."

"She did. I would never have wanted any of this to happen. I didn't want to sue you for custody. I didn't want to tear her away from the life she'd known, even if the first part of that life was with her abusive father. And while I've said that I would have loved to have had her here for a semester, she belongs at home with her loving parents and siblings. Please, know that Emma, Benji, and I are devastated by what's going on."

I felt better, actually, knowing that Carol wasn't on side with Mark. But it didn't help us bring our daughter home.