The Devil Child

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 Polly's uncle was a busy man. When she entered his office on Saturday, he was surprised and in the middle of a phone call. An important phone call about the missing children of a family in the neighboring town.

Polly threw herself in the chair at his desk, opposite of him, and she looked distressed. He picked up on that almost immediately, and he debated hanging up the phone call. The children, the man on the other end was saying, were most certainly linked to the mother of the Cole siblings that Polly's uncle was currently dealing with.

"So," he uncle spun around so he wasn't facing Polly. "it is confirmed. Mary Cole is the kidnapper. I want to know how it was confirmed."

The man on the other line faltered. "Well... it's confirmed because of the phone call and the note. Her handwriting was linked from the note to important documents from her previous place of work. But, she's smart - no fingerprints. Not on the paper, not anywhere in the house. She's very smart."

"So, where does she live?"

Polly's uncle fished in his desk for a notepad, and then fumbled for a pen. He jotted notes as he spoke on the phone, his handwriting messy and scrambled. "Tell me, do you know of an ultimatum?"

John would be lucky if the ultimatum was as simple as Mary Cole wanting her children back. It would be easy and clean cut, but in this line of work, he knew things were not that easy. And never would be.

"So far, nothing from her. And an address is listed, but the location has already been checked. She doesn't live there."

John pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "She is one mystery woman. She has no paperwork, no relatives, no nothing. Her children have no father. She is a hard woman to crack."

Polly sat in the chair across from her uncle, staring at his mug of coffee. She felt like she should not be listening in on this phone call, but her uncle had yet to make her leave, so she stayed, soaking in everything her uncle had to say about Elliott Cole and his mother, Mary.

The rest of his phone call consisted of murmurs and grunts, so when he got off the phone, Polly was more confused than when she walked in.

"Was that about Elliott?"

Her uncle took a sip of his coffee. "Yes and no. It was about his mother, Mary Cole. Apparently, she kidnapped two children. Her whereabouts are unknown, and if she wasn't already a suspect, we would have never known it was her."

"Kidnapped? Her own kids?" Her mind went back to the picture of all three boys, and her heart ached for them. Tightened and clenched at the thought of their freedom being taken away.

"No, children of a family living near Elliott and his brothers. A friend of Elliott's, apparently."

Polly nodded, tightening her hands in her lap. Her mind buzzed with this case, and then her own case. She felt the words bubbling in her throat, begging to be set free. Her uncle knew little of what she went through, and knew little of what was happening to her still.

She might as well use her detective uncle to her advantage.

"Someone is following me," she said in a low voice. "They left me a note in my locker today. It hinted to my past, so I know it's someone from before I moved here."

Her uncle was suddenly furious, his eyes hard and his jaw tight. "Following you? Who would follow you? That crazy priest?"

Well, yes, but... she wanted to say, but she kept that part quiet. "Not the priest - someone else. Well, I think it's someone else. They had a picture of me from when I was little."