Matthew - Two Months Later
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?” I yell at the asshole behind the counter.
“Sir, you need to calm down, getting angry will not help anything.”
I swear I hear his words, but my mind can’t even fathom how this happened. Where the fuck did they go? Just when I was able to find someone who would believe me when I told them that the Grants were abusive. The investigation was supposed to be quiet. The social worker who was assigned to the Grants was caught taking payments and looking the other way on several of her cases. It took a young boy dying for the people in charge to even question the woman, but finally, I was getting somewhere.
What if someone tipped them off and they ran? I slam my hands down on the counter, causing several people in the small office to jump. “What are you doing to find my girl?” The menace in my voice is palpable, and the man takes a step back, fearing that I’m about to jump the counter. He’s right to be afraid, I am pissed, and right now, he’s the one who’s pissed me off.
“Matthew, I know you’ve been helping with the investigation. I swear to you we have been watching the house for weeks. We sent the new caseworker in yesterday, and when we went to collect the children today, the house was deserted,” he explains. My worst nightmare is coming into fruition. “We have spoken to the police. They’re looking for them. We’ve got Amber Alerts for all the kids in their care. We will find them.” I can hear the lie in his voice, he knows the likelihood that they will be found is slim to none. I mean honestly, who cares if they disappear? It means the state is free of ten mouths to feed each month. Rose, Benny, Christi, Amy, and all the others are no longer Child Services problem. They no longer have to care what happens to ten unwanted children. To them, their burden just got smaller.
I walk out of the building, knowing in my heart that my Rosie is lost to me forever.