Page 50 of Stolen Angels

Big Boulder

Priscilla Wilkinson stood outside the door to her cottage, the grief weighing her down like the thick layers of blankets her mother used to pile on top of her and Renee at night when the heat went out in their house. They’d been poor, and home was a white clapboard house with only an oil heater in the living room.

“Let me come in tonight,” Raymond, the architect she’d been dating for the last few months, said as he squeezed her shoulder.

“Not tonight,” Priscilla said. “I… can’t, Raymond. It’s been a year since Kaylee and Renee—”

“You’re obsessed with their deaths,” Raymond said, impatience tainting his voice. “I know it’s hard, but you have to move on with your life and stop living in the past.”

He didn’t understand. How could he?

“I need to be alone. Go home, Raymond.”

His jaw hardened. “Is that what you want? To be alone forever?”

“No, I want my family back,” she said heatedly. “You just want me to forget about them.”

“I want you to face reality,” he said, his voice rising an octave. “Let them go so we can have a life together.”

Anger made her skin feel hot all over. “I can’t forget them,” she snapped. “Not when Kaylee might still be out there. When I might be able to bring her home.” She pushed his hands away when he reached for her. “Now, good night.”And goodbye.

She rushed inside and closed the door, her breath panting out. Raymond would never get it. And she would never give up looking for her niece.

Needing to talk to someone who’d understand, she signed onto the Facebook support group she’d found for mothers of missing children. Although she wasn’t Kaylee’s mother, she felt a comradery with the women that you could only understand if you’d had a child taken from you.

Some of the posts were from mothers of runaway teens, others involved child abductions, and three were custody battles. A lady named Jan Hornsby had started the group after her child disappeared on her sixth birthday.

Pulling her gaze from her laptop, Priscilla looked through the window at the giant rock formations that could be seen in the distance, rocks so big they looked like boulders, inspiring the subdivision’s name. One reminded her of a bear, while three stood together, creating a cluster that Kaylee had said looked like a teepee the Cherokees might have lived in years ago when they inhabited the mountains.

Fresh pain squeezed her lungs. Kaylee, sweet Kaylee… even though she’d been sick for a while, she’d been so full of life. She loved the hiking trips and wading in the creek and singing to the moon at night. But she’d always wanted to see the ocean, so when she’d felt better, Renee had planned that trip to the beach.

The vacation was supposed to be the beginning of a new future for Kaylee.

Instead, it had been the end.

Don’t give up. You have to find her.

Needing to vent, she began to write:It’s been a year since my niece Kaylee went missing. The police gave up when they arrested my sister. Now she’s dead, they won’t even take my calls.

Jan was online and posted,It’s been six months for me. I called the detective who investigated Becky’s disappearance today, but he says there’s no new leads. Frankly, I think he’s given up.

I know how that feels,a woman named Julie posted.My husband took little Ronnie and who knows where they are. The police say it’s not kidnapping since he’s Ronnie’s father.

Jan:I used to love the holidays. I always went overboard and put up a tree in every room. This year, I don’t have the energy to decorate even one.

Priscilla responded:Me neither. Seeing the lights and decorations only makes me miss my family more.

Jan:Did you hear about that little girl who was kidnapped in Crooked Creek?

Priscilla shivered.Yes. Ava Truman. The odd thing is that she was abducted December 20. That’s the same day last year that Kaylee disappeared.

For a minute, no one responded.

Jan:That does sound odd.

Priscilla looked out at the rain streaming down the windowpane and wiped her damp cheeks where she’d been crying.

Jan:It could mean something. Maybe you should call that detective in Crooked Creek.

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