Page 4 of Desire

Chapter 3

I spentfour days looking into the adoption of Bridget’s son and finding out what I could about the boy and his parents. In my search, I discovered Christopher and Gail Shipman had been killed in a car accident two months prior. Because the Shipmans had foolishly not drawn up a Will, the courts were responsible for the boy. Even though Alex was biologically Bridget’s son, she had given up her parental rights, so she wasn’t a candidate to home Alex. In fact, she obviously hadn’t even been notified of their deaths. Mrs. Shipman, whose parents were also dead, had been an only child, and the only closest living relative willing to take responsibility for Alex was his uncle, his adoptive father’s older brother.

Malcolm Shipman was single, forty-eight years old, and lived in a small neighborhood in the suburbs. He had no criminal record, not even a parking ticket, and was steadily employed at a big name appliance store. It only took me a single day to find out where Alex was living, so I followed Malcolm for the next three days to observe some of his habits. As soon as Alex left the house and started walking the three blocks to the bus stop, Malcolm would head to the gym where he worked out for precisely an hour. After that, he went to work where he appeared jovial and friendly with all the customers who came into the store. After his shift was over, Malcolm headed straight home and was never home later than 5:30 pm, as if he commanded everyone out of his way. Every night, all the lights went off in the house at exactly 10:00. His routine seemed almost military in its pattern, with no variation..

Alex was a little trickier to observe since he was in school all day. The one thing I did notice during Alex’s trek to and from the bus stop was he didn’t seem to have any friends. He got on and off the school bus alone, and no one walked with him the three blocks from the bus stop to the house. Which seemed unusual for a boy his age, even one who had recently moved to a new neighborhood. He also appeared sullen and unhappy. Granted, he was a thirteen-, almost fourteen-year-old boy whose parents had recently died, but another expression lurked behind his eyes. An expression I tried to ignore, because it reminded me too much of “him”. I avoided thinking of “him” whenever possible, because he made me feel weak and ashamed. Unfortunately, he snuck into my thoughts when I least expected and more often than I wished. I pushed back the memories and brought my attention back to Alex.

The thing that struck me the most was Alex’s resemblance to Bridget. I had become almost an expert in all things Bridget, and I noticed it immediately. Alex had a slight auburn tint to his hair, and he possessed the same large, chocolate-brown eyes surrounded by long, lush eyelashes that grown women would kill for. If not for the more masculine features I could detect, like a strong, square jawline, he could have been described as almost too pretty.

Bridget was worried to death about Alex, so I knew I needed to at least let her know that he’d been located. I also needed to figure out a way to approach Alex without Malcolm being aware, which looked like it was going to be a challenge since, so far, he hadn’t spent a lot of time out of his presence. However, since becoming an adult, I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge.

Even from a distance, I sensed an edge to Alex. An edge no thirteen-year-old boy should have. Something felt wrong about the whole situation, and Alex had obviously called Bridget for a reason.

I figured my best bet would be to try and catch him close to the bus stop on his way to school. It was in the opposite direction of the gym Malcolm went to, and I had yet to spot him coming this way. If that didn’t work out, then I would try during the twenty minutes or so between the time Alex got home from school and Malcolm arrived home from work, but I needed to do a few more days of recon to make sure. I wouldn’t take any chances with Alex’s safety.

It was close to 4:00 pm, and I sat in my office debating what I was going to say to Bridget about Alex. I wanted her to know I’d located him, but I also didn’t want her trying to make contact until I knew exactly what I was dealing with. I took a deep, bracing breath and reached for the phone to try and reach her before she left her office for the day.

“Unique Boutique, this is Bridget, how may I help you?” God, her voice alone made me hard.

“It’s Connor,” I said, succinctly.

“Oh my God, Connor, I’ve been waiting for you to call me for days. Have you found Alex? Is he okay?” She was almost hysterical.

“Yes, I found Alex, and he seems to be safe at the moment,” I told her calmly. “I haven’t —”

“Where is he? I need to see him.”

“Bridget,” I chided gently, “I’m trying to explain if you would please just listen. Now, as I was saying, Alex seems to be safe. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him, but I hope to have the opportunity in the next couple of days. There is nothing you can do right now other than wait for me to talk to him. I need to find out if he was the one who called you and why he thinks he needs help. You came to me. Let me do my job.”

“I know it was him, Connor,” she started, an edge of panic in her voice. “He called again the day I left your office. He said his parents were dead. He sounded scared and said he couldn’t talk long, because ‘he’ would be back soon. Who is ‘he’? What’s going on, Connor? Alex is my son, and I deserve to know, damn it.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me he called again, Bridget?” I snapped in irritation. I needed all the information I could get, and her withholding this from me, intentionally or not, pissed me off. I knew I sounded harsh, but I couldn’t seem to control my emotions knowing a child might be in danger. I waited impatiently for her response.

I heard a slight sniff in the background and knew she was crying. “I’m sorry, Connor. I just didn’t think. It took me by surprise, and I’ve been sitting by the phone waiting for him to call again. I swear if he calls again, I’ll let you know immediately.”

I sighed. “I understand, Bridget, but you need to keep me in the loop. That’s why you came to me. I’m going to try and talk to Alex one day on his way to school. But I need to be careful, just in case. I don’t want to do anything that might endanger him, especially after what you just told me about his last phone call. I’ll let you know when I have news. As hard as it’s going to be, I need you to be patient. Can you do that?”

Silence reigned, and I could feel her hesitation on the other end of the line. As much as I was avoiding it, I knew there was only going to be one way for me to handle Bridget. As with any scene, I had to take control. Otherwise, things were going to go to shit.

“Bridget,” I admonished. “You will be patient, do you understand me?”

As though on autopilot, she replied immediately, “Yes, Sir, I understand.”

“Good girl,” I praised. “I’ll call you in a couple days. Until then, try not to worry.”

I hung up the phone and sighed. God, this case was going to be the death of me. I was already feeling the anxiety and tension start to creep in, my mind was preparing for battle. And my gut told me that was only the beginning.

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