Read Online Vanished (The Saved Series, A Military Romance) by Lorhainne Eckhart - Free Book Online
Authors: Lorhainne Eckhart
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picked up the baby. “Jason, no. He’s working on another case, but I have some ideas. There’s a shelter, actually, in South Norfolk, a women’s shelter, and another run by a nun. I’d like to go there, show Abby’s picture around, and talk to that nun.”
“ Haven’t we been there? I thought we went to every shelter in Norfolk, talking to everyone on base and on the streets. Abby just vanished into thin air, and no one’s seen her.”
“Well , the thing about the streets, Eric, is that those living there go unseen. Every day there can be different people. We haven’t talked to this nun yet. I just heard about her.”
She was still holding his baby, swaying back and forth. He’d pictured Abby with his child, holding him, loving him, raising him, but she’d been gone for almost Charlie’s entire life. Would he even recognize her now if she came back, if Eric found her? He felt bitter and angry for a moment that it was Terri holding his son and not the mother of his child. It was Eric who stumbled out of bed at night to soothe him, to hold Rachel when she’d wake up crying for her mommy. As he watched his children and how Rachel was standing closer to Terri, he knew they needed a mother.
“What do you think happened to my wife?” Eric asked , feeling foolish for the sting of tears he couldn’t believe had sprung to his eyes.
“I think something happened to her.” She glanced down at his baby. “From what I ’ve been able to figure, as I’ve gone through everything of Abby’s and learned what she went through, I don’t think she left you. I think something happened.”
“ What are you talking about? You’ve already made it clear that no one broke in here,” Eric said, watching her with his baby as Rachel pulled open a drawer and dragged out a pink shirt. He hurried behind Rachel and helped her. “You want this shirt? What pants do you want today?” He pulled open the bottom drawer, which was empty. “I guess Daddy needs to do laundry, too.”
He set the long -sleeved shirt over her head as she wandered to the dirty clothes and pulled out yesterday’s pants, which had soup spilled on them. “No, let’s find something a little cleaner,” Eric said. He sifted through and found the cleanest pair after helping her step into a dry pair of Pull-Ups. Eric just couldn’t make potty training happen right now, and Rachel needed to have a settled home and environment to be successful.
“When we spoke to Abby’s doctor , he said Abby had left Rachel in the bath and didn’t know it. He said then that he thought she was overtired, but he didn’t have details of her abduction two years earlier or what she’d been through. If he had, with what you’d said after her delivery, how odd she was acting, he said he would have taken it more seriously.”
Eric glanced up and over at Terri as he helped Rachel dress. “I don’t understand what you’re getting at. With that worthless excuse… he was just covering his ass because he couldn’t be bothered to talk to Abby and take more time.”
Terri looked away , uncomfortable. He didn’t know what she thought. When she glanced back his way, she said, “One of the shelters I want to talk to sees a lot of vets with PTSD.”
Eric stood up a s Rachel raced to her toy box in the living room. He stepped into the hallway so he could see his daughter and faced Terri, trying to figure out where she was going with this. “Are you telling me my wife has PTSD?”
“I think so , and I also think that’s what happened here. I mean, when you brought Abby home with you, did she get help after what she’d been through?”
Eric didn’t know why he was feeling defensive , but he reached for his son, cooing in Terri’s arms, staring up at her. “No,” he said, and he left the bedroom.
“Eric , I’m not pointing fingers,” she said. He turned so fast she bumped into him, and her soft breast brushed his arm. She stepped back. “I’m just saying that to
“ Haven’t we been there? I thought we went to every shelter in Norfolk, talking to everyone on base and on the streets. Abby just vanished into thin air, and no one’s seen her.”
“Well , the thing about the streets, Eric, is that those living there go unseen. Every day there can be different people. We haven’t talked to this nun yet. I just heard about her.”
She was still holding his baby, swaying back and forth. He’d pictured Abby with his child, holding him, loving him, raising him, but she’d been gone for almost Charlie’s entire life. Would he even recognize her now if she came back, if Eric found her? He felt bitter and angry for a moment that it was Terri holding his son and not the mother of his child. It was Eric who stumbled out of bed at night to soothe him, to hold Rachel when she’d wake up crying for her mommy. As he watched his children and how Rachel was standing closer to Terri, he knew they needed a mother.
“What do you think happened to my wife?” Eric asked , feeling foolish for the sting of tears he couldn’t believe had sprung to his eyes.
“I think something happened to her.” She glanced down at his baby. “From what I ’ve been able to figure, as I’ve gone through everything of Abby’s and learned what she went through, I don’t think she left you. I think something happened.”
“ What are you talking about? You’ve already made it clear that no one broke in here,” Eric said, watching her with his baby as Rachel pulled open a drawer and dragged out a pink shirt. He hurried behind Rachel and helped her. “You want this shirt? What pants do you want today?” He pulled open the bottom drawer, which was empty. “I guess Daddy needs to do laundry, too.”
He set the long -sleeved shirt over her head as she wandered to the dirty clothes and pulled out yesterday’s pants, which had soup spilled on them. “No, let’s find something a little cleaner,” Eric said. He sifted through and found the cleanest pair after helping her step into a dry pair of Pull-Ups. Eric just couldn’t make potty training happen right now, and Rachel needed to have a settled home and environment to be successful.
“When we spoke to Abby’s doctor , he said Abby had left Rachel in the bath and didn’t know it. He said then that he thought she was overtired, but he didn’t have details of her abduction two years earlier or what she’d been through. If he had, with what you’d said after her delivery, how odd she was acting, he said he would have taken it more seriously.”
Eric glanced up and over at Terri as he helped Rachel dress. “I don’t understand what you’re getting at. With that worthless excuse… he was just covering his ass because he couldn’t be bothered to talk to Abby and take more time.”
Terri looked away , uncomfortable. He didn’t know what she thought. When she glanced back his way, she said, “One of the shelters I want to talk to sees a lot of vets with PTSD.”
Eric stood up a s Rachel raced to her toy box in the living room. He stepped into the hallway so he could see his daughter and faced Terri, trying to figure out where she was going with this. “Are you telling me my wife has PTSD?”
“I think so , and I also think that’s what happened here. I mean, when you brought Abby home with you, did she get help after what she’d been through?”
Eric didn’t know why he was feeling defensive , but he reached for his son, cooing in Terri’s arms, staring up at her. “No,” he said, and he left the bedroom.
“Eric , I’m not pointing fingers,” she said. He turned so fast she bumped into him, and her soft breast brushed his arm. She stepped back. “I’m just saying that to
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