For You I Will

Kai went to the door and opened it. She stepped out onto the porch. “What in the world is wrong with you? You’re going to wake up the entire neighborhood.”

Jasper continued to bark and whine and run in and out from under the house.

“Jasper! Come in here right now.”

Jasper planted himself in front of the porch with his tail banging rapidly against the wet grass.

“So what are you now, a television dog? You trying to tell me something? It better not be a raccoon. I’m warning you, Jasper,” she said as she climbed down the three porch steps. “What is it, boy?” That’s when she heard whimpering and the hairs on her arms rose.

She bent down from the waist and caught a glimpse of pink fabric and a little slippered foot. “Oh my God.” She scrambled down on her hands and knees and peered under the stairs. Tucked under her house was a little girl, curled into a tight ball. The full realization that a child was huddled under her stairs knocked her back on her haunches as if she’d been pushed. For a full minute, she couldn’t think. A million crazy thoughts raced through her head, none of which stayed put long enough for her to make any sense out of it.

Jasper ran under the house and tugged at the pink slipper. The little girl began to cry in earnest.

“What in the...” She lay flat on her stomach so that she could get a better look. “Sweetie, you need to come out, okay?”

The little girl briskly shook her head. Her thick ponytails, covered in leaves and twigs, flapped back and forth.

“Can you tell me your name?”

Silence.

“My name is Kai. And this is Jasper. Say hello, Jasper.”

Jasper barked uproariously and ran in a circle before settling down.

“I think you must be really cold...and wet. Do you want a blanket? Would that help?”

The little girl nodded her head.

“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you a blanket so you can warm up.”

Kai scrambled to her feet and ran inside, doing a pretty bad imitation of Jasper as she spun around in circles trying to think—she’d suddenly forgotten where she kept the extra blankets. Her heart kicked against her chest. Maybe she should call the police. No. Not yet. Her medical instincts kicked in. The first thing she needed to do was to make sure that the little girl wasn’t injured. Right. Blanket. She darted down the hall to the linen closet. She pulled out a light quilt, bunched it up in her arms and hurried back outside.

Jasper was standing guard. Kai got back down on her hands and knees and peered beneath the house. Bright, frightened brown eyes stared back at her.

“Here you go, sweetie.” Kai extended the blanket toward her and wished that she was small enough to crawl under to get a better look at the girl. A little hand pulled the blanket and she was quickly hidden beneath it with only the top of her head and her pony tails visible.

“I bet you’re pretty hungry,” Kai said softly. She thought she saw the child bob her head. “If you come out I can fix you something to eat and get you warmed up. How does that sound?”

No response.

Kai tried again. “My name is Kai. Would you tell me your name so I know what to call you? This is Jasper. Say hi, Jasper.” Japer yip-yipped and ran in circles. “Your turn.”

There was the barest murmur of a response. Kai’s pulse raced. “Jessie? Is your name Jessie?”

“Yes.”

Kai momentarily gave in to a moment of relief. “I bet that’s short for Jessica. Is it short for Jessica?”

“Yes.”

“My name is not short for anything. It’s just short.”

A soft giggle rose from under the blanket and Jessie pulled the blanket down below her nose.

“I was named after my great-great-grandmother. She was a Native American...an Indian. My name means ‘willow tree.’”

“My daddy named me,” came the tiny voice. “That’s what my mommy said.”

“He did a good job. Did your daddy and mommy bring you here?”

“Daddy did.” She sneezed.

“Bless you.” Kai had no idea how long Jessie had been hidden beneath her damp house, but she knew that the longer she stayed the more risk she had of getting sick or catching something. “Jessie, sweetie, now that we’re friends, why don’t you come on out before you catch a cold. I can fix you something to eat and then we can call your dad. Okay?”

Jessie sniffed, sneezed again but didn’t budge.

Jasper ran under the house and began tugging on the blanket, trying to pull it out and Jessie along with it.

This was crazy! She stood up, paced, ran her hand across her hair. Her gaze roamed up and down the soft rolling hills and across the tops of the fewer than half-dozen homes in the area as if seeking answers in the gray clouds that moved across the sky. What in the world was she going to do? She needed to call someone. The child couldn’t stay under her house indefinitely. She’d been trying to coax her out for nearly forty-five minutes. What kind of parent would let their child wander off like this? Her temper flared.

“I’m cold.”

Kai spun around and Jessie was standing in front of her. Her breath caught for an instant at the sight of Jessie’s tiny body that shuddered beneath the blanket, which was more on the ground than around her. Her wide, almond-shaped eyes were slightly swollen from crying. Leaves and twigs stuck to her hair, which was wet with dew and rain.

“Oh, Jessie, thank you so much for coming out.” Kai knelt down in front of her. The moist grass squished around her knees. “Let’s get you warm and fed, okay?”

Jessie nodded her head and didn’t make a peep of protest when Kai scooped her up along with the blanket and hurried inside just as the rain began to fall.

Chapter 5

Anthony nearly tore the door off the hinges when he saw the black-and-white police car pull up in front of his house. He ran out to meet them as they walked up the path.

“Have you heard anything?” he lobbed at them the instant they were within earshot.

“Let’s talk inside,” the middle-aged officer suggested.

Anthony looked from one to the other. A wave of panic rose up in his stomach. “What aren’t you telling me?” he demanded.

“Son, we’re not telling you anything ’cause we don’t have anything to tell.”

The air was sucked out of him.

“Let’s talk inside,” the officer said again, more gently this time.

Anthony lowered his head for a moment then led them inside.

The younger officer, who looked more like a Boy Scout than a cop, closed the door behind them.

“I’m Officer Cobb. This is Officer Monroe,” the older of the two said.

Anthony nodded impatiently. “Yes, we spoke on the phone. Now will you please tell me what you’re doing to find my daughter?”

Officer Cobb waved his hand in the air as if to calm him down. “Easy. I know this is upsetting. My team is rounding up volunteers as we speak. I want to get a few more details from you, and a picture...of your daughter.”

Anthony’s stomach knotted. A picture. The very idea brought on a wave of nausea. No, this wasn’t the Big Bad Apple, where terrible things happened every day and kids went missing like socks in the dryer. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone else, but as chief assistant district attorney who’d seen all kinds of depravity, he knew it happened in these Happy Hollow towns, too. Only, when it did, it was all the more shocking. But he couldn’t allow himself to go down that road.

“You mind if Officer Monroe looks around while we talk?”

“No. No, of course not.” He knew the drill. Monroe would be looking for any signs of a struggle or indications that there might have been a break-in. He also knew that he was their first and prime suspect. When children went missing right out of their own bedrooms, the parents were the usual suspects.

Officer Cobb took a seat at the kitchen table. He pulled out a notebook and a pen, flipped the pages and stopped when the one he wanted caught his attention. “So you said you put her to bed at ten last night.”

“Yes. Ten. Then I came downstairs to watch some television. I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up it was about three. I went to check in on Jessie and she was in her room sleeping. I went to bed. When I got up this morning to wake her she wasn’t in her room. She wasn’t in the house!”

“And what time was that?”

“Seven, seven-fifteen.” His impatient hand ran across his close-cut hair.

Officer Cobb slowly nodded his head, as if somewhat assured that the words in his notebook matched the ones coming out of Anthony’s mouth. “And her mother?”

“I told you, she’s out of the country. She left yesterday.” He had no idea what he was going to tell Crystal. He’d tried her cell phone nearly a dozen times with no luck. Half the calls wouldn’t connect and the rest either rang busy or went to voice mail. Maybe it was best. The last thing he needed right now was Crystal being hysterical hundreds of miles away.

“Did you say you had a picture of your daughter, Mr. Weston?”

He did. He had dozens of pictures of Jessie and they were all taken with his cell phone. “I have to print it out from the computer.”

Officer Cobb gave him a look as if to say, Young people, no wonder.

Anthony excused himself and went into the next room where he’d set up a mini office with his laptop, printer and a box of files from the office. He sent the most recent picture that he had of Jessie to his email and then opened the picture in his email account.

Jessie’s cherubic face filled the screen. Her smile dimmed the sun. Anthony’s eyes stung. If anything happened to her... The knot in his stomach tightened. He pressed the print key and slowly the image of Jessie slid out. He clenched his jaw, got up from his seat and returned to Officer Cobb.

“Here’s a picture of Jessie,” he said, his voice thick.

Officer Cobb took the picture. “We’ll get copies out to the other officers.”

“How many officers do you have working on this?”

“The entire office. Five.”

Anthony’s stomach swam.

Officer Cobb stood and tucked the photo in his notebook. “As soon as we hear something, we’ll call you.”

“I’m going with you. I need to be out there looking for my daughter.”

“You need to stay here in case she comes back.”

Cobb’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket. “Cobb.” His eyes widened for an instant. “I see. We’ll be right there.” He disconnected the call. His gaze jumped to Anthony’s. “They think they’ve found your daughter.”

* * *

“Do you want some more soup, Jessie?”

Jessie bobbed her head as she slurped up the rest of the thick soup. Kai had gotten her out of her damp clothes and put her in an oversize T-shirt and pink sweat socks that pooled around her ankles. But at least she was warm and dry. She’d groomed and towel-dried the thick hair.

While Jessie played with Jasper, Kai had placed a call to the local police office only to be told by the secretary that the officers were out on an emergency—missing child. But when Kai advised her that she’d found the girl they were looking for, she was told that the police would be there right away.

Kai hung up the phone, only mildly mollified. They should be there any minute and Jessie would be reunited with her very irresponsible parent. Just thinking that anyone could have been so careless as to let a four-year-old get out of the house caused her head to pound. Anything could have happened to her. It was only by the grace of God that Kai had found her and not some stranger that could have... She didn’t want to think about it. Jessie was safe. No thanks to her father, whoever he may be.

Not more than ten minutes later, the sound of cars pulling into the drive drew her to the window. She pulled the curtain back. A police car and a black SUV.

Jessie was busy playing with Jasper.

“You wait right here.” Kai went to the front door and pulled it open in unison with the car doors opening and slamming shut. She stood beneath the overhang to keep dry from the rain that had gone from a light shower to a steady downpour. Fog hung heavy over the trees and settled around the homes and rolling hills like a scene from an old English movie.

She recognized Officer Cobb from town, who was trudging up the walk through the rain and was nearly pushed aside by the man who’d come up behind him breaking through the fog.

Kai’s chest constricted and held her breath in its grip. It was him. Him, the man in the photo, the man she’d seen walking the streets, then that night at the gallery. The one who’d invaded her thoughts and her dreams. Her lips parted but no words came out as he took the steps two at a time and was right on top of her.

Anthony’s gaze ignited with hers and his forward motion froze. He blinked, started to speak.

Kai found her voice first. “She’s...in the kitchen.” She stepped out of the doorway, turned on shaky legs and led him into the house.

“Is she...is she all right?”

“She’s fine. Sneezing a bit, and she has some bites on her legs. I put some ointment on them. Got her dry and cleaned up.” She came to a stop at the entrance to the kitchen and turned to him. Her breath drew in sharply. Her heart pounded. He was staring right past her and into the depths of her soul. A shiver fluttered along her spine and for an instant they were locked in an invisible embrace.

“Daddy!”

The spell was broken.

Jessie scrambled up from the floor and leaped against her father’s thighs. He snapped to attention and snatched her up in his arms. He pressed her against his heart, covered her cheeks and hair with kisses until she giggled.

“Jessie, Jessie,” he breathed as relief swept through him. He looked over her head into Kai’s wide gaze. “Thank you,” he said on a rough whisper.

Her skin heated at the sound of his voice. “I’m not sure how long she was out in the weather.” Her voice took on a chastising tone that Anthony didn’t miss.

He momentarily glanced away. “Thank you, Ms....”

“Dr. Kai Randall,” she offered.

“Anthony Weston.” He smiled.

Her stance softened. “Take care of her.”

“I intend to.”

“Dr. Randall, I’ll need to get a statement from you,” Officer Cobb said from the doorway while he shook the water off his hat and broke the tenuous thread between Kai and Anthony.

Kai folded her arms. “Sure.” She led Officer Cobb over to the kitchen table and provided the details of how and when she’d found Jessie.

“Is it okay if I get Jessie home?”

“Of course, Mr. Weston,” Officer Cobb said, closing his notebook. “Thank you again, Doctor.”

She nodded and led them to the door. A crack of thunder seemed to shake the foundation of the house. Kai took an umbrella from the rack by the door and a jacket that she kept hanging there. She put the jacket around Jessie and handed the umbrella to Anthony.

“She doesn’t need to get wet.”

Jessie sneezed as if to confirm Kai’s statement.

“And you behave yourself, young lady. No more leaving the house to follow squirrels. Promise?”

“Promise,” she chirped then buried her face in the curve of her father’s neck.

What would it be like to press her lips against his neck, inhale his scent?

“Thank you...again.” The hint of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

Kai ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. She held the door open. The trio stepped out into the rain. Anthony glanced back once, then darted to the SUV.

She stood in the archway until the cars were only memories. It was then that she realized she’d been holding her breath or, at least, it felt as if she had. She pushed the door closed. Her thoughts tramped through her head as she tried to make sense out of the chaos that had come when she saw the man who’d only been something fleeting become real flesh and blood and stand in her house.

Back in the kitchen, she pulled out a chair and sat, her chin propped up on her palm. How incredible was that? If someone had told her this had happened to them, she wouldn’t have believed it. It was the kind of thing that happened in Lifetime movies...no those were the ones where the woman always killed the husband or boyfriend. But...anyway, it was just hard to believe.

As if stung, she sprung up from her seat and darted upstairs to her attic. She flipped thorough the photographs that she’d mounted in a large book. Her pulse kicked. There was the picture that she’d taken that rainy afternoon....

She slipped the black-and-white photo out of the plastic sleeve and held it up. Anthony Weston.

* * *

“Crystal, she’s fine. I swear to you. No...there’s no reason for you to come back. Apparently she went out of the back door, wandered off and got lost. She wound up at a doctor’s house of all places.” He squeezed his eyes shut against his ex-wife’s barrage. He deserved it. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how it had happened. “As soon as she wakes up, I’ll have her call you. Yes. She’ll call. All right.”

Anthony heaved a breath and disconnected the call. At least that hurdle was over with. Crystal had every reason to be furious, hysterical and accusatory. If he was hundreds of miles away and received that kind of call from her, he would have reacted the same way or worse.

He ran his hand across his face, then went into the room to check on Jessie. He stood over her sleeping form and slowly shook his head as the events of the day ran in his mind like an endless reel. His gaze lifted from his sleeping daughter and the image of Kai Randall emerged in front of him. His gut flexed. Jessie stirred, moaned softy.

Anthony shook off the sensation, tucked the light blanket around Jessie and eased out of the room, leaving the door open. The last thing he needed to have on his mind was a woman, even if she was the woman that rescued his daughter. What he needed to be thinking about was never letting what went down that morning ever happen again. He was going to have a long, serious talk with his daughter when she woke up.

* * *

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