Page 168 of State of Denial

“Hi, this is Therese Andrews from Child and Family Services. Dolores asked me to give you a call.”

“Thank you so much for calling.”

“I understand you’re asking about Isaiah Wiley?”

“Yes.”

“That young man has been through hell.”

“That’s what Dolores said. Can you elaborate?”

“I’ve been assigned to his case for sixteen years. I first met him when he was a year old, in the hospital with a skull fracture, his body covered in cigarette burns.”

Sam winced and closed her eyes, steeling herself for what else she might hear.

“He’s been in and out of the foster care system ever since and had every terrible experience you can imagine. Sexual, physical, emotional abuse. Despite our best efforts to provide good homes for the children under our care, we can’t prevent older kids from preying on younger ones or bullying that turns violent. Isaiah has had a very, very hard road.”

“Can you tell me about his experience with the Blanchet family?”

Her deep sigh came through loud and clear. “They tried so hard to make it work with him, and for a while, it did. That was the happiest I ever saw him, even as he pushed back hard against the structure they tried to instill. I’d become invested in him and stayed in contact after the adoption. Everything was working out well for them until the Blanchets began having babies. They’d had Isaiah in intensive therapy from the start, and the counselor worked with him to try to temper his resentment of the children, but it just grew and grew until the Blanchets began to fear for the safety of their other kids. The counselor agreed that the adoption should be terminated.”

Sam’s heart ached for a young man she’d never met. “Where is he now?”

“I don’t know. He left the group home where he was living a few weeks ago, and we haven’t had any luck finding him.”

“Do you think there’s any chance he could’ve harmed the Blanchets?”

“I wish I could say an emphatic no, but he never got over what happened with them. He loved them and hated them at the same time.”

Freddie came to the door of Sam’s office.

“Can you hang on a second, Therese?”

“Sure.”

Sam put her hand over the phone. “What’s up?”

“The grandmother says Isaiah came to the house two weeks ago, asking for another chance to be part of their family. She said Marcel was heartbroken to have to turn him away. He said he just couldn’t risk a repeat of what’d happened before.”

“We need to find him.” Returning to the call, Sam said, “Do you have any idea where he might be?”

“I wish I did. The MPD Patrol division has been looking for him since he went missing and hasn’t had any luck.”

“Do you have a recent photo of him?” It would be quicker to get it from her than to track down the officers who’d been working the case.

“I do. I’ll send it to your email?”

“That’d be great.” Sam gave her the address. “Do you have his cell number and the address of the place he was living?”

Therese gave her the info she’d requested.

“I really appreciate your help.”

“I wish there was more I could do. I’m praying he had nothing to do with what happened to the Blanchets.”

Sam was, too, but if the sinking feeling inside her was any indication, Isaiah could’ve had everything to do with it.

“What’s the plan?”Freddie asked after Sam updated him on what she’d learned from Therese.

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