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Author's Chapter Notes:

Heather is starting to feel the noose tightening around her throat, but will she manage to escape discovery again?  Or could a friendship be her undoing?

 

Detective Franklin walked in his front door and could immediately hear the sound of squabbling coming from the back of the house.  It didn’t worry him.  He knew his boys.  If they were fussing with each other, it was all good natured.  Gary and Robbie were close enough in age to be more like twins with the way they interacted.  They were close, but competitive youngsters, which Bob enjoyed encouraging.  From the time they were able to walk, he would take them with him to the park and watch them challenging each other physically.  At home, his wife would challenge the boys mentally with board and internet games.   What he was most proud of was how well-rounded his boys were.  Marie was a born teacher, having been one when he first met her at a school, where he was giving a speech nearly a decade ago.  She retired once the boys came along.  Now she devoted her time to teaching her boys about the world and then challenging them on what they had learned.  Game night was always a favorite after-dinner pastime for the entire Franklin family.

 

 

 

He followed the noises to the back of the house and found his wife and sons in a heated debate over which one needed to take his bath first.  One look at his boys told Bob why they both were in desperate need of a bath.  Bob laughed out loud.  Three faces turned to him with huge grins.

 

 

 

“So, who started the water fight this time?” he asked his wife. 

 

 

 

“It was kind of mutual,” she answered.  “All I asked them to do was water the yard and do a little mowing.  The next thing I know, I’m finding them out in the back yard playing in a mud hole they somehow created with the hose.  I suppose that’s what I get for not supervising them a little closer.”

 

 

 

Bob walked over to his boys and gave them each a pat on the back. 

 

 

 

“Alright, you two little piglets, you’ve had your fun.  Now it’s time to clean up.  We’ll do rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first.  And if you get shiny clean, without making a mess of the bathroom for your poor mother to clean up, I’ll treat you to pizza for dinner tonight.  Deal?”

 

 

 

“Deal!” they both shouted at once. 

 

 

 

Once it was determined who would wash up first, Bob and Marie retired to the living room to wait for their boys to finish.  They settled down on the couch, Bob wrapping his arm around his wife’s shoulder and pulling her close to him.  He always enjoyed the all-too-brief moments when he could spend a little quiet time with his wife.  Mind you, he wouldn’t trade his rambunctious boys for anything in the world, but it was always nice to have a little cuddle time with Marie, while the boys were busy doing something else.  He also recognized that things would change once they hit their teens… when being around their parents would be the last thing they wanted to do.  So, knowing this, he was happy to share his wife with them for now.  Of course, he wouldn’t mind if there was another baby to occupy their time too, but Marie had reminded him more than once that it wouldn’t be financially practical to consider it for now.

 

 

 

Marie sighed and snuggled even closer to her hubby.  She reveled in the affectionate way he always treated her.  They didn’t even need words between them to enjoy being together, although their conversations were always stimulating.  At this moment, she did have something she wanted to talk about.  She hoped it was the right time to bring up the subject that was on her mind.  It had been nearly three years since the last time the subject had been brought up.  Bringing her head up, she gave Bob a sweet kiss.  He kissed her back, loving the feel of her warm lips on his.  Oh, how much he loved this woman, he thought to himself.  Then Marie sat back, a serious look on her face.  ‘Hmmm’, he thought again, ‘something’s up.  I know that look’.

 

 

 

“Something percolating in that lovely head of yours, Sweetheart?” he asked.

 

 

 

“You know me so well,” she laughed.  “Actually, I have been thinking about something lately, and I would like to know what you think.”

 

 

 

“Fire away.”

 

 

 

Marie paused, took a deep breath, and let it out.  “What do you think about having another baby?”

 

 

 

Bob, caught completely off-guard, looked surprised.  Marie grinned at him.  She knew what he was thinking.  He had wanted a large family from the very beginning.  She was always the one being practical, and suggesting they wait until they were a little more financially secure. 

 

 

 

“Well now, where did that come from?  I mean, did you inherit a fortune from a rich uncle you forgot you had?  I thought you said we should make sure we had a lot more savings in the bank before considering another baby.  At least that’s the way I remember it the last time I brought it up a while back.”

 

 

 

“I know what I said back then, but it was quite a while ago.  And, Honey, you’ve had several raises in pay since then, and we have been putting a lot more into savings the last couple of years.  I think the time may be right to try for a little girl this time… or another boy, so you can have your baseball team someday,” she laughed.

 

 

 

Bob took a moment to ponder this new development.

 

 

 

“Alright, I certainly like the way you’re thinking, Sweetheart, but just out of curiosity, what brought on these thoughts?”

 

 

 

“Well, I guess you can blame a young lady I met recently in the park.  I think I’ve mentioned her before.  Her name is Cassie, and she just moved here not too long ago.  And, Bob, she has the most beautiful baby boy.  I have to confess that holding that sweet thing has done something to my uterus… kind of making it feel a bit empty,” Marie laughed shortly.  “Seriously though, being around such a precious baby has got me to thinking how much I’d love to have a newborn to care for again.  I mean, our boys are growing up so fast.  It won’t be long before they won’t want to have Momma hanging around them all the time.”

 

 

 

Bob smiled softly at his wife.  “But Marie, you are the one who said we can’t afford the cost of raising another child just yet.  I was only   promoted to Detective a few months ago, and it will be a little while before I receive another raise in pay.  I….”

 

 

 

Marie interrupted.  “I know what I said then, but you did get a decent raise when you were made Detective, and I’ve been stashing away a good amount of the extra income.  The more I think about it, the more I realize that if we wait until the optimum time to grow our family, it might never come.  Before I even said anything to you, I went over our finances carefully, and I know we can handle whatever comes our way.  And later on, when all the kids are going to school full time, I can go back to work… at least part-time, if not full.  Soooo, what do you think?”

 

 

 

Bob smiled again.  “Well, Honey, I suppose it might be a bit of fun trying for another baby.”

 

 

 

Marie swatted Bob and grinned.  “Leave it to you to come up with the perfect reason to work on growing our family.” 

 

 

 

The two kissed and hugged tightly.  They continued their embrace, each lost in thought, until the sound of the boys rushing into the room broke their reverie.  They separated just in time for each boy to launch themselves into one parent’s lap. 

 

 

 

“Pizza, pizza,” the boys shouted in unison. 

 

 

 

As they waited for the pizza to be delivered, Marie brought up another subject with her husband that had been on her mind in the last few days.

 

 

 

“Hon, you know that mother I was telling you about… the one with the beautiful baby boy?”

 

 

 

“Yes… Cassie, or something like that.  What about her?”

 

 

 

“Yes, Cassie.  Well, I have to admit that I’m starting to get a little worried about her.”

 

 

 

“Worried?  Why would you be worried about her?”

 

 

 

“I don’t know exactly.  As you know, I like to take the boys to the park almost every afternoon while the weather is so good, and I had gotten used to seeing her there with her son most of the time.  However, it’s been almost two weeks now, and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her.  Of course, she may have just changed her schedule, so we miss each other.  That’s always a possibility, but I just have this weird feeling that something isn’t right.  I mean, the last time I saw her, she suddenly started feeling very ill… said she had a migraine coming on.  I know how bad they can get, thanks to my cousin suffering from them, but the fact that I haven’t seen her back in the park since that day makes me wonder.”

 

 

 

“Do you know where she lives?” he asked.  “I can always do a welfare check if it would make you feel better.”

 

 

 

“I’m not really sure where she lives, but I suspect it is right in the neighborhood of the park.  I’ve never seen her drive up to the entrance of the park… she’s always walking.  She did mention once that she lives in a duplex apartment, and there are only a couple of those in this area.  I don’t want her to think that we are invading her privacy, but maybe you could check out her name to find the address.  I’m sure I’m being silly about this, but I just have this gut feeling that something isn’t right with Cassie.  I do know that she told me she left her home in California to get away from what was going on there with the birth of her baby.  She said the father wanted nothing to do with the baby, but maybe there is more to it.  Maybe he was abusive and that’s why she ran away.  If that’s the case, maybe the father tracked her down and she’s in some kind of trouble.”

 

 

 

“Stop fretting.  Give me her full name and I’ll see what I can do about finding her and making sure she is okay.  If it upsets her that you’re checking up on her, then at least you’ll know you did the right thing caring about her welfare.  You know, Babe, sometimes your heart is just too big.  But then again, that is one of the things I love best about you,” he added.

 

 

 

“Just one of the things?” she teased. 

 

 

 

She wasn’t sure if Cassie would appreciate her gesture, but she was relieved to know that Bob would be on the job.  If anyone could make sure her new friend was okay, it was her darling husband.

 

 

 

***************************

 

 

 

Heather hung up her phone, a feeling of relief washing over her.  For almost two weeks, she had been frantically trying to finalize preparations for a move to a new location.  It hadn’t been easy.  She was able to make the move to Dallas much easier, because back then she had plenty of time to make all the necessary arrangements.  She had known exactly where she was going months before the birth of the babies.  She had all the important documents needed to establish her new identity.  At the time, she didn’t think she would ever need to make any other arrangements.  Thinking about it now, she realized that she might be a little paranoid for no good reason.  Just because she had learned that her new friend, Marie, had a husband who was a detective in the Missing Persons Division of the police force, it didn’t mean her future was in any danger… not really.  And yet, she had been in a cold sweat from that very moment Marie told her about it. 

 

 

 

Despite the fact that Heather had somehow managed to convince herself that the baby in the other room was her son, Steven, there was still a part of her conscience that knew it wasn’t true.  It was that part of her which made her so anxious.  Somehow, she just knew she had to put distance between Marie and herself.  Since that day, she had put all of her efforts into finding the right place to relocate.  And this time, there would be no friendships made.  Maybe, later on, she thought to herself, when the baby was much older and needed to be around friends, then she would consider opening up again.  But until that time, it was going to be her and Steven, and no one else.  The phone call that had just ended was the first step in cementing her plans for the future.

 

 

 

The realtor she had just spoken with finally found her the perfect piece of property tucked away from both big cities and close neighbors.  Originally, she had thought that it would be easy to lose herself in such a large city like Dallas.  But now her thoughts pivoted to something more remote.  She spent much of the previous ten days deciding where she wanted to move to.  She finally settled on Crested Butte, Montana, where the realtor was able to find the perfect house to fit her needs.  Although the town had a lot of tourist traffic during certain times of the year, it was quite remote with a very small population of permanent residents.  The house, which her realtor found for her, was tucked away from prying eyes and nosy neighbors, and included a couple of acres that ‘Steven’ could play in, once he was older.  Now her job was to pack up everything and prepare to make the move the minute the deal was closed on the house.  For a brief moment, she felt a twinge of sadness that she couldn’t allow herself to find Marie in the park again, so that she could say goodbye.  Yet, some innate sense of self-preservation told her it was not a good idea.  So be it, she told herself, as she made her way to the storage closet where she kept the totes she would need to pack up her belongings.

 

 

 

******************************* 

 

 

 

“Has there been anything new to report since we finally learned about the car that Heather bought?” Brian asked his private detective.

 

 

 

“Not yet,” he answered.  But, there is now a nationwide alert sent out to all law enforcement agencies with all the necessary information about the car and its license plate, as well as a full description of the lady herself and your grandson.  She can’t hide forever.  In addition, we are still sending out reward-for-information notices in ads in as many forums as we can.  Unfortunately, your most recent personal plea for help with the news media did receive a lot of tips, but none of those have panned out yet.  That doesn’t mean that something won’t come of it soon.  You are certainly doing everything you can to locate her whereabouts.”

 

 

 

Brian flinched.  He couldn’t help feeling that he wasn’t doing enough.  It had been nearly six weeks since that woman had taken his son’s precious boy away from them, and the strain of worrying about his family was getting to Brian.  Yet, he knew he would never give up.  And Heather had better hope that it was the police or FBI who found her, and not his detective.  Because, he knew that if he got to her first, he just might throttle her within an inch of her life before turning her over to the cops.  At least, that was how he felt.  All he really wanted was to put his grandson back into Gus and Jason’s arms.  What happened to Heather after that was only secondary in importance.  But please, he silently prayed, let it be soon…  and very, very quickly.

 

 

 

To be continued……..  

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