Sitting in the living room with two policemen, it had been twenty-four long hours since she had come home to a dark and empty house. Thoughts racing through her head the entire time then finally these two men had showed up on her doorstep. The two of them opposites of each other, one bulky and at least a foot taller than the other, one fair and the other dark. The feeling of numbness had completely taken over as she sat and let them look around her home. Mostly they spent time in Lindsay’s room, taking photos and collecting items that were most suspected to have been touched by whoever had climbed through her daughter’s window. Which they were sure had happened as there was a muddy boot print on the wall of the house as well as one on the window sill.
This was even harder for her to imagine, a man had scaled the side of her home, entered into her daughter’s room through an open window. She couldn’t imagine how much fear Lindsay had felt, there were signs of an obvious struggle around the desk area of the room. Still clutching the phone in her hand as the officer across from her waited patiently, his hands were clasped together in front of him, his elbows resting on his knees.
“Ma’am?” he spoke softly, making Suzanne look up and chase away her thoughts,
“Yes, sorry, what did you ask?”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” his voice was smooth and calming, deep brown eyes looking at her with compassion, she found herself shaking her head before answering.
“No, I told you everything, please, just find my daughter.” Suzanne’s voice cracked, feeling on the verge of tears. She had spent the last four hours talking to these officers, telling them every detail of the night before.
“Ma’am we’re going to do everything we can, Constable Morris and I will stay parked outside, Sergeant Irwin and Pascel will be here shortly to set up in case of a ransom call. Is there anyone who can come stay with you?” standing as he spoke, his much taller partner who had been taking down notes the entire time, doing the same.
Responding with another head shake, it all still seemed so unreal and hard to believe. The sight of Lindsay’s room, her journal had been out on her desk, the entry unfinished, pen on the floor and her chair tipped over backwards. Suzanne had called everyone to find out where Lindsay was, but no one had seen her since school had ended. Cassidy had dropped her off and gone home. The police wouldn’t even let her declare Lindsay as missing right away, no matter what she said about how the room looked.
After the fourth phone call to the station getting her nowhere, she had gone downtown herself. Had even refused to leave unless someone took her seriously and came to check her home and dust for fingerprints. The front desk Constable had finally taken pity on her and taken a statement, promising to dispatch the next men who were available. Advising her to go back home and make sure she didn’t disturb her daughter’s bedroom. It was nearly five hours later with the Constables has finally come, she’d been left to worry and pace the day away, feeling sick to her stomach.
Standing now and walking the officers to the door, she bid them a good night and immediately walked to her office. Phone still in her tight grip as she started to rummage through the drawers. It was here somewhere, lifting a notepad out of the drawer, pushing some loose papers aside until she had uncovered a brown leather address book. Placing the book on the desk and settling into the high backed chair. She licked her finger and flipped through the pages quickly.
Using her finger as a guide as she found the page she was looking for, lifting the phone and punching in the number. Lifting the phone to her ear and listening to it ring over and over until the voicemail picked up. Why had she thought he would even answer? She hadn’t even seen the copper-haired man with the angelic features since the night their daughter had been conceived. All these years Suzanne had kept the number, the last time she had left a message on the voicemail was to inform, Keagan, he was going to be a father.
He hadn’t phoned her back or come around then, she wasn’t even sure why she was trying now. Resting her forehead in her palm and closing her eyes, feeling close to tears as she waited for the tone to sound.
“It’s me.” taking a deep breath before she continued “I never called and asked you for anything. I need you to call me. Lindsay. Lindsay’s gone missing. Please, call me.” hanging up the phone and folding herself over the top of the desk. Closing her eyes as her head rested on folded arms, she felt tears stinging her eyes. The emotional turmoil draining her to the point of exhaustion. Not having slept since the other night because every time she closed her eyes the image of her daughter haunted her. Resting her head now she felt like she could sleep for a week.
The sound of the doorbell jingling through the house and echoing off the walls made her jump. Sitting upright and gripping the phone tightly, her heart hammering in her chest. Looking around her eyes finding the clock on the wall, Suzanne had fallen asleep and it was now nearly two hours since she had shown out the police. It took a moment for the thought to register, she didn’t recall falling asleep, or even closing her eyes for more than a moment. She was up and rushing out of the room for the front door, ripping it open,
“Lindsay!” her shoulders dropped as she what she saw was not her daughter returning but two police officers standing there instead. “Sorry, I thought-”
“No Mrs. Hattling, it’s alright, I’m Sergeant Pascel and this is Sergeant Irwin.” the man with kind, soft blue eyes spoke gesturing to himself and the man to his right as he made the introductions.
“Yes, hello, the Constables said you would be coming,” she answered softly stepping aside for them to enter, her heart had dropped like a stone, making her feel queasy.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Pascel tipped his head making his auburn curls fall over his forehead, a kind smile on his lips as he stepped through the door “is the living room a good place for us to set up?”
“Yes, please, just through here.” gesturing with an arm as she walked on ahead, Suzanne lead the two into the living room through a large archway in the hall. Stepping back as they carried in two heavy looking cases, settling them onto the coffee table side by side.
“We’ll be using these devices to listen in on your phone line and possibly trace incoming calls.” The brunette Irwin explained as they unlatched the cases, folding them open and pulling out laptops and other equipment she couldn’t begin to identify.
“Have you received any phone calls about your daughter, Mrs. Hattling?” Pascel asked softly, his light blue eyes meeting her green ones calmly.
“It’s Miss. I’m not married, and no, nothing,” she responded. Pain starting in her chest and rising to the back of her throat as tears welled in her eyes. She felt like she was choking on shards of glass.
“Was anything left behind? A note?” Irwin spoke without looking up from setting up his equipment, electronic whirring filled the room as each of the items was turned on.
“No, I already went over this with the Constables. I came home, she wasn’t here, the door wasn’t even locked.” swallowing hard and closing her eyes for a moment, mostly to calm herself enough to speak without bursting into tears. Picturing the room again “she has written in her journal everyday since she was eight years old and at the end of each entry she writes the date and time, she hadn’t even finished her sentence.” opening her eyes once more and looking at the two, Irwin was now watching her, his hazel eyes soft and warm, something flickered there that she assumed was compassion.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, we have to ask.” his voice had softened and was less business-like as he spoke. Nodding her head in understanding, Suzanne lowered her eyes for a moment.
“Can I get you anything? I can make a fresh pot of coffee.” looking back up as she asked, eager to do something, anything but stand here and answer even more questions.
“Yes ma’am that would be much appreciated.” Irwin nodded with a small smile, both men now turning to work on setting up the items from their cases, Pascel moving to the wall where the phone line was, a long folded cord in one hand and a tool that looked like a wire cutter in the other.
Finally setting down the phone in the charging station on a small end table near the archway before leaving the room. Happy to have her hands busy, she walked down the hall into the kitchen, it was now that her stomach growled in protest, having not had much of an appetite between the current cases at work keeping her busy and now this situation, that was when it hit her that she’d been so busy she didn’t even know when the last meal her and Lindsay had shared, or what they had even talked about.
Going about the process of making a pot of coffee, as the machine hummed and gurgled to life, she forced herself to search the fridge for something to eat, or at least to nibble on.
Thinking about the plate left in Lindsay’s room, once again her appetite was gone. Closing the fridge and leaning back against it, Suzanne slid down to the floor, her knees bent and her head in her hands as she started to cry silently, letting everything go finally, her teeth biting into her bottom lip to keep herself from making much noise. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, the pain in her chest unbearable.
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