Read Online The Abducted Book 0 by Roger Hayden - Free Book Online

Jenny’s
kidnapping, there were no witnesses. He thought to himself as a
waitress came to the table asking him if he wanted another Coke. He
shook his head and thanked her. He’d had yet seen a picture of
Emily, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
     
    ***
     
    Ana was dropped off by
Jessica ’s mom around eight p.m. She walked up the
driveway with her book bag over the shoulder of her blue cardigan
sweater. Her short black hair bounced above her neck, and she
quickened her step when she saw two cars parked in the driveway.
There was her mother’s Tahoe and what looked like her father’s
Toyota pickup truck. Ana was suspicious. She walked in between the
cars and hurried to the front door as lightning quietly flashed
above like white electric veins.
    She walked inside and could smell the
aroma of Hamburger Helper. Her mom ’s voice sounded
from the kitchen. She was talking to someone, likely her dad, and
when Ana came around the corner of the foyer into the kitchen, she
could see him sitting at the table, just like the old days, his
same short, frazzled dark hair and good tan, looking like he always
had. He raised his head and smiled at her. Her mother stood against
the kitchen counter with her arms crossed, as if Ana had
interrupted something.
    “ Hey there,” Freddy said. His thin
face looked more sunken than before. He looked tired and
overworked. He had issues Ana knew little about. Issues that had
driven her parents apart, though her mother wasn’t entirely
innocent either.
    Ana stood motionless for a moment with
her backpack still in hand. Her dad pulled a chair out from the
dinner table and patted the seat with a smile. “Come
sit next to your dad.”
    She hung her backpack over one chair and sat
in the other, next to her father.
    “ I’ll go ahead and make you a plate,”
Miriam said, turning to the stove.
    “ I already ate at Jessica’s,” Ana
said.
    Miriam dropped the spoon into the pot
and sighed. “I told you I was going to make
dinner.”
    “ Relax,” Freddy said. “You can’t
expect a kid to wait that long to eat, can you?”
    Miriam said nothing as she held the
pot up and shoveled the rest of the food into a Tupperware
container with a spoon. Ana looked toward the sink and saw two
empty bowls. Confused, she wondered what it was all about. Had they
eaten dinner together? Her dad lived close but rarely visited. Why
was he there now? When they spoke, their courteous tones made her suspicious.
    Miriam placed the Tupperware in the
refrigerator and walked to the table. “I asked your
father here tonight so we could all talk.”
    “ About what?” Ana asked.
    “ Your mom has to do something
important, and I’m going to be watching you for a little bit,”
Freddy said.
    Miriam cut in, as though she
didn ’t trust Freddy’s assessment of the situation.
“I’ve been called back onto a case that’s very important to me.
It’s important to a lot of people.” She stopped and placed a hand
on the back of Ana’s chair. “I’ll be gone for a week, and I’d
rather you stay here and continue school. Your father agreed to
stay here and take care of you while I’m gone.”
    Ana looked from parent to parent,
confused. “So does this mean you guys are getting back
together?”
    Freddy smiled and shook his
head. “No, honey. That’s not it.”
    “ Why not? If you’re going to stay here
a week, you might as well just move in.”
    Both parents looked at each other, then back
to Ana.
    “ That’s not happening,” Miriam said,
patting her head. “I have a job to do, and I’m leaving
tonight.”
    In the past, Ana had heard them fighting. She had seen her father drink and drink.
She had seen him sitting around the house all day while her mom
worked. She had seen him go to jail for driving after drinking. She
saw a lot. But the scene before her at that moment was perhaps the
most surreal of all.
    “ Can’t I just go with you?” she
blurted out, noticing a disappointed expression cross her