3am

Chapter 20

"Hello?" I answer, tentatively. I clamber down the ladder and edge back over to my car. I can hear a sniffling sound, as if Becca's trying not to cry. "Becca? Are you okay?"

"Zeke?" she finally says. "Zeke, you've got to help! The police... they... they won't do anything, and..." Becca blubbers into the phone.

"Becca, please calm down," I say. "I can't understand you. What's the matter? What won't the police do?"

"James is gone!" Becca half-shouts. "He was supposed to go to his friend Mikey's house but Mikey's mother said he never showed up! Someone has kidnapped him!"

"Okay, please calm down, Becca," I say again. "Are you sure he didn't just sneak off to another friend's house? Maybe someone you don't want him associating with?"

"No, you know James! He'd never do something like that! Besides," Becca adds, dropping her voice with a hiccup. "Just an hour ago... I... I got a strange phone call. It was some guy. He said he was the 'New Field Strangler' and that he had James. He said I could call the cops for all he cared. But he... he told me I had to call you as well. If I didn't... he'd... he'd kill James."

I feel my heart skip in rhythm. My worst fear had come true. The serial killer was after me. After my family. And he's taken my only son. After pausing a moment to collect my thoughts, I return to Becca. "Listen, I'm heading over to the house now, okay? You can tell me everything that's happened. Is that okay?"

"Yes," she says. "Thank you, Zeke."

I hang up and return to the bottom of the ladder. "Hey Terence?" I call up toward him. He pops up and peers over the edge of the roof. "Listen, I have some family business I have to take care of. Could you gather up the supplies and put them and the ladder back in the shed?"

"Sure thing, Detective Frost," he says. "If you want, I could finish fixing up the gutter too. We're supposed to get a nasty storm rolling through tonight. Wouldn't want Mrs. W's house flooding..." I nod my consent and hop into my car. As I back out of the driveway and speed up the street, I contemplate cranking my lights and sirens. But I figure Easmon would frown upon such a blatant abuse of power...

Instead, I press my luck with the speed limit. I edge the speedometer as high up as I dare to go. I choose the back streets, in an attempt to avoid the worst of the traffic lights. Still, it takes almost half an hour to get across town, thanks to rush hour traffic. Finally, I turn off of the main road into the first road of the subdivision I used to live in.

As I pass those first houses, the memories come flooding back. All the years of scrimping and saving to finally afford the house, just before Lila was born. All the birthday parties, backyard grilling parties, the Christmases and Halloweens. It's like a sucker punch to the gut how much I miss it. After a few turns, I reach my old house. I see Becca's car parked in the driveway, and thankfully, no one else's.

I climb out of the car and trudge to the front door. The instinct of throwing it open and shouting "I'm home!" is so strong that it takes me a full minute to repress the feeling. Eventually, I get myself back under control and gently knock. Instantly the door is thrown open and a blur of blond hair tackles me. "Whoa!" I say, taking a step back to avoid being knocked onto my ass. Lila just about jumps into my arms with a shout of "Daddy!"

I hug her close as tears fill my eyes. It's been almost two years since I've held my baby girl in my arms. She's ten now. I know that it won't be long until she won't want to even be seen with me. But right now, the best thing is just feeling her long legs wrapping around my waist, her arms clutching my neck tightly, her face buried in my shoulder.

When Becca left, and I moved out, I swore I'd always put Lila and James first. Those first few weeks, I had the kids over the weekends, but then I'd caught a tough case, and well... it became harder and harder to schedule visits. Soon we were only talking on the phone a couple of times a week. And even that had faded out in the last 6 months. But in that instance, I swore a vow to God that I'd make Lila and James a priority no matter what.