Mad About You

saw a small crowd of kids taking turns. She scanned their faces when she walked up. "Does anyone here know Chad Green?"
    The kids looked at one another, then one rangy boy asked, "Black hair, red and blue skateboard?"
    She nodded hopefully.
    He shook his head. "Haven't seen him—but Buddy found his skateboard a couple of hours ago."
    Virginia's heart dropped to her stomach. "His skateboard?"
    The boy nodded, then a second boy stepped forward, holding out the skateboard. "Found it over there, near the trees." He pointed.
    "Sh-show me," she whispered, reaching for his skateboard with trembling hands. She frantically searched the area the boy showed her, but she didn't find anything else of Chad's. A horrible sense of deja vu washed over her. She had visions of a stranger dragging Chad into his vehicle, and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.
    Clutching the skateboard, she stumbled toward her car. Tears blurred her vision, and she gasped for every breath. She didn’t have her phone, and how she drove the few blocks home without causing an accident, she didn't know. She ran for the phone, then stabbed in Bailey’s number.
    He answered, his voice low. "Ginny, I’m in a meeting—is everything okay?"
    "No," she whispered, tears dripping into her mouth as she talked. "I can't find him."
    "Chad?"
    "He's not at the park, and the other boys said he hasn't been there all afternoon. One of them found his skateboard." She broke down, sobbing.
    "Call 911. I'll be right there."

Chapter Fifteen

    WITH HIS HEART IN HIS THROAT, Bailey doubled every posted speed limit on his way to Ginny's house. Dusk was beginning to fall—it would be dark soon, the streets too dangerous for a lost eight-year-old. He pulled to a tire-squealing halt, ran past the police car at the curb, and through a knot of milling neighbors. Then he bounded up the steps and through the front door. "Ginny?"
    She was sitting on the edge of the sofa in the living room, her face gray and pasty. Two police officers stood in front of her, taking notes and asking questions.
    She jerked her head up when she heard him, then her face crumpled. "Bailey, we can't find him!" The officers stepped aside for him. He pulled her to her feet and into his arms, rocking her back and forth as she sobbed against his shoulder.
    "I shouldn't have let him go by himself," she cried hysterically. "Someone's taken him again, I just know it."
    "Shh," he said, blinking back his own tears. "You don't know that. Maybe he went home with some kid he met and lost track of time."
    One of the officers coughed. "We were just wrapping up, sir. We've already talked to the kids at the park and put out an Amber alert. We're also notifying all patrol cars on southbound I-23 and I-35. I understand he's from Florida."
    Bailey rubbed Ginny's back. "That's right. Fort Lauderdale. Do you think he's run away?"
    "Could be hitchhiking back to Florida. Kids run away more often than they're kidnapped, sir."
    "You have to understand how we're feeling right now, officer. Our son was kidnapped when he was an infant. We just got him back into our lives a few days ago."
    The man nodded sadly. "I saw it in the papers. I've been on the phone with Detective Lance—he filled us in and said he would contact the Florida State Police and the shelter where the boy stayed."
    Stroking Ginny's hair, Bailey asked, "What can we do?"
    "Someone needs to stay by the phone, of course. Call everyone he knows." He turned to Ginny. "Ma'am, check his room again and let us know if you can figure out what he was wearing when he left."
    She pulled away and dabbed a shredded tissue at her puffy eyes as she explained to Bailey. "The clothes he was wearing when he asked to go to the park are on his bed, and"—she started crying again—"I didn't see him before he left." Looking into Bailey's eyes, she said, "I didn't even tell him good-bye." She bit her bottom lip, tears streaking her face.
    "That's all we can do now, sir," the man said. "I'm Officer Handler. Be sure to call the station and ask for me if he turns up or if you think of something else. I'll keep you informed."
    Bailey shook hands with the policemen, but let them find their own way out.
    He made Virginia sit down again, then asked her to repeat everything that had happened since Chad had returned home from camping. She told him about the shadow box and the talk they'd had. "He seemed a little quiet," she said, sniffling, "but I figured it was everything happening so