103. Things we might have lost

Bridgeport, present day

Still National Vampire Day...

On the surface, Eloise and Devon showed a united front.

Their statements to the police had no contradictions, no flaws in the way they denied the insinuations by the media that they had something to do with the disappearance of their own child. No hint of the slow buildup of anger and resentment towards the other.

They were grief-stricken parents, worried sick about their stolen baby. Every free moment they found was spent praying for his safe return. They spoke in the same voice; they had a clear idea of what they wanted and how they wanted the case to be handled. They were two devastated people, firmly held together by the love they felt for each other and their baby boy.

Inwardly though, each had never felt so alone, so far removed from the other. There were things they both wished they’d done differently, things they knew for sure would have produced a different outcome had they paid close attention.

Eloise wished she’d taken a good look at the nurse. If it wasn’t for the woman who had been waiting with her in the waiting room, the police would not even have had the identikit picture to circulate on the Amber Alert.

He would never say it, but she knew what Devon was thinking. She could see it in his eyes. She was a bad mother. She’d let a stranger take their baby. She’d trusted a crazy woman with their child and only because she was dressed as a nurse.

How could she?

What good mother does that?

Devon, on the other hand, was winning hands down in the self-blame game. He wished he could go back and change things, wished he’d gone the hospital with Eloise and Blake as they’d originally planned instead of attending a sudden meeting with a potential client.

This whole mess was his own fault. He wasn’t around to protect his family. Signing on a new artist so they could have enough money for the deposit of their new home shouldn’t have been high on his priorities list. He’d put work and money first.

He shouldn’t have...

Eloise burst into tears again as she silently went over her brief encounter with the nurse.

“El, it’s okay. We’ll find him,” Devon murmured soothingly, taking her in his arms. He said the words with so much conviction, but he was having a hard time believing them.

He knew the stats, chances of finding a missing child alive decreased dramatically after the first 36 hours. But he couldn’t afford to believe anything other than that Blake would be found alive and well.

“Is there anyone, anyone at all who might want to hurt you? Enemies? Anyone who has a grudge against you?” Jonah, the detective assigned to their case, pulled them from their private hells.

His voice was low and soothing; his big brown eyes were compassionate and kind, the air of openness about him made Eloise and Devon want to trust him and open up to him. If only they had something to share, something to tell him that would help apprehend the woman who took their baby.

“No. We are good people! We don’t have enemies. Why are you wasting time asking ridiculous questions? You should be out there, finding my son!” Eloise screamed.

She got up and paced the small office.

Occasionally she glanced beyond the glass, at the hive of activity going on in the cramped cubicles.

Phones rang; printers and fax machines buzzed constantly, frenzied fingers trying to solve cases worked the keyboards.

Generally life seemed to move forward.

The hands of time ticked, painfully reminding her of the hours she was forced to endure without her son.

A dark cloud of despair washed over her.

What would they do if…No, She shook her head firmly. She couldn’t start thinking along those lines.

“No. We don’t have any enemies!” Devon’s voice made her turn from the window. Their eyes connected and held for a brief second before she looked away. She felt ashamed of herself; she couldn’t even bring herself to express how sorry she was.

“Ex-spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, who might want to get back at you?” The officer carried on, unperturbed by Eloise’s anger.

“In such cases, it’s not uncommon to find children or babies were taken by people close to their parents. Most of the time it’s a vindictive spouse…” Jonah’s impassioned explanation was cut short by Eloise’s outburst.

“Oh God! I remember. The nurse, I mean the woman who took Blake. She had a watch, Dev. The same one we picked for Tamsyn. She said she got it from her mother, a gift, but I don't know, it looked exactly like the one you gave Tamsyn. I know it's impossible, but she was wearing it!” Eloise cried incoherently. For the first time since they walked into the room Devon saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

“Who is Tamsyn? And what is the significance of the watch?” Jonah inquired.

Devon ran through his turbulent relationship with Tamsyn, and explained why the watch could be significant...

He’d bought it for Tamsyn’s twenty-sixth birthday. The design was common enough, but at Eloise’s suggestion, he’d had the face of the watch encrusted with two rows of clear crystal rhinestones since he couldn’t afford real diamonds.

“Do you know where she is now? This Tamsyn?” The cop asked.

They both didn’t know where she was. After she left Bridgeport, they’d put her out of their minds, grateful she was out of their lives. They’d had no reason to think about her, no reason to suspect she'd want to harm them.

 Maybe they shouldn’t have been so quick to forget her.

Devon looked up and found Eloise’s eyes on him. The message in the grey depths was clear. His past was catching up with them in a very nasty way. And if Tamsyn was responsible for their baby’s abduction, it would take Eloise a long time to forgive him, if at all…

“Is there anything else you want to share? Anything you remember? Anything that struck you as odd in the weeks leading up to today? A person or car that may have been tailing your movements? Please, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is, it could increase our chances of finding your son,” Crystal, Jonah’s partner, who had been silent until now, spoke.

Her questions were directed at Devon. Eloise was once again too caught up in her grief to piece together the past few hours. She looked drained and shell shocked.

Maybe it was Crystal’s questions, or maybe he was ready to unlock the disturbing memories buried in his subconscious. Whatever it was though, Devon was grateful. He’d suddenly remembered the day Blake was born and the woman at the hospital two weeks earlier, and how uneasy he’d been…

He glanced at Eloise, a hint of unease and worry in his eyes, wondering if he should say anything. He was already in her bad books, and he didn’t want to upset her more that she already was. But keeping quiet might harm Blake and he would never forgive himself.

 “El,” he ignored Crystal’s question, and tried to get Eloise’s attention. But he gave up after a second or so when he got no reaction from his fiancé.

The longer he thought about the woman at the hospital, her features and how familiar she’d looked, the more convinced he was it was Tamsyn. Or maybe he was reaching, wanted to blame his ex for the hell they were growing through.

He looked at Crystal, doubt and anxiety evident on his face. His eyes were filled with such grief and sorrow the detective found herself looking away first.

“Mr. Starlington, it’s important. If you have anything else to share, now is a good time,” Jonah took over when he saw his partner obviously struggle with the parents’ despair.

Before Devon could reply, through the window, he saw Leigh run down the rows of cubicles, screaming and demanding to be let in. Krisis followed closely behind her, trying to calm her down.

Devon rushed to the door, his hell forgotten for the moment.

 “Mr. Starlington, we are not done here!” Jonah bellowed after him, but Devon ignored him, as he, too, pushed through the cubicles and scooped his sister in his arms. All the anxiety and tension he’d felt these past few hours burst forth in a stream of tears.

“It’s okay, I’m here now,” Leigh assured him over and over.

“I don’t know what to do,” Devon explained, hating himself for sounding weak. He shouldn’t be crying in front of Leigh. She was his little sister, and always looked up to him for strength and support. But at that moment, he wished for once, Leigh would take on that responsibility.

“Come on, let’s get you guys home,” she told him firmly.

But Jonah had different ideas. He still had a lot of questions to ask Devon and Eloise about Tamsyn. After establishing their relationship and how they were connected to the case, he invited Krisis and Leigh into the interrogation room. They were on his list of people he had to interview, and now that they were there he saw no point in prolonging the inevitable; they would have been called in for questioning anyway at some point in the obscure future.

It looked like they were going to be at the police station for a while and Krisis excused himself for a bit. He had to call Krimsyn and J.D to cancel their plans for the barbeque they were supposed to have later that evening.

When he came back, he found Leigh slouched in her seat, a pained expression on her face.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” He asked, as he dropped in the seat beside her.

“I…” Leigh tried to assure him she was, but another wave of cramps in her lower abdomen slammed her hard, and she closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the tide to pass. Krisis sensed her discomfort though and turned to her angrily.

“What’s wrong? You’re in pain!” He accused.

“I think we are in trouble.” Leigh stood up, trying to rush to the bathroom. But the room spun in dizzying circles and she swayed on her feet.

The last thing she remembered before darkness claimed her was the blood spots forming around her feet…

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