Atonement (36 page)

y parents came and helped us try to think of ways to look for Ty. Chloe and Maura finally arrived too. They were going to be staying with Elle. They had already planned to come over for part of the summer, so they just bumped up their dates to now. Harrison was coming out with Maura too; I’m not sure about Brett. Chloe and Brett are still not that serious. I did fall asleep on Tate’s lap at some point. I didn’t think it was possible, but I really am sensitive to medicine.

Sometime, an hour or two after I had fallen asleep, I woke up screaming, thinking Ty had been taken. “Tate! Tate! I screamed. You won’t believe the dream…” Then when I realized there were at least six sets of eyes staring at me with full on sympathy, I knew it wasn’t a dream. “No!!! NO! Where is my baby?! I buried my head in Tate’s chest.

{Tate}

“Reese! Reese! Oh God. Reese. I’m here. I’m here. We’re going to find him baby. Shh, Shh. You’ll see.” I was sobbing, gut-wrenching sobs. I couldn’t believe some deranged son of
a bitch had taken my baby boy. I wanted to kill someone. God help me, I wanted to tear someone’s head off. What was my boy feeling right now? What was he doing? What if they’ve hurt him? I could barely breathe. I had to stop thinking the worst. Reese needed me. She needed me to be here for her, to be the man of the house and the protector. I should have had a better system in place.

“Tate. I can’t live like this. What if we never find him?” Reese buried her head in my neck. She was holding on to me like I was her life preserver. I needed to be her life preserver; this woman, the love of my life. “I love you Reese. We
will
get him back. Shhh. We’ll get him back.” The words barely came out. My throat was so constricted. I heard the front door open. My parents. Reese’s parents. My dad walked over to me hugging me hard. I broke down again. I hesitated letting go of Reese, but I could see her parents were here for her, sobbing with her. Her cries would be the death of me. There is one thing I absolutely can’t bear…my wife’s pain…her stinging, searing, pain. It tore through my already pierced heart. I would be half of the man I was by the time this was all said and done.

“Dad. What. Do. I. Do. Dad?” I belted between cries. I was lost. How did I stand up to this? I needed advice.

“Son, you pray. You hope. You never give up. By the grace of God, you will see your son again.” My dad shook me hard. “Do you hear me…you will see your son again! I love you. I believe he isn’t gone for good.” Then he squeezed me tight again. My mom had fallen in love with Ty…her mini-me she kept saying. I know this was killing her too. I had to get it together.

I walked over taking hold of my beautiful wife again. Holding firm to her waist I walked her over to the couch. I
couldn’t let her out of my sight. I needed her like the waves need the ocean to function. I felt a strong power to be touching her at all times. God I loved this woman. “Reese,” I whispered in her ear. “I love you. Don’t ever doubt that, or the fact that I need you…more than my next breath. Come on. Come sit by me. Take some breaths. Listen to your family.”

The first long day turned into three long days. The search was still occurring frantically outside of our house. They had taken as much evidence as they could find in and around our house. The only piece that had been discovered was a possible mode of transportation for the kidnapper. It appears there was a white Toyota Camry parked down on the curb below our street for about twenty minutes, and no one in the area knows who it may have belonged too. What a smart move. A Camry is one of the largest mass production of vehicles, make and color in the US. It may have been rented. Either way, no one remembers the plates. That was it. Someone took our baby and left not a trace.

I was sitting, staring, and crying for the hundredth time today when my phone pinged. I kept it on me at all times…just in case. Tate was sitting by my side. As usual for the last three days, He didn’t lose contact with me. He was touching me, holding me, or sitting with me, even while we laid our heads back. There had been no real attempt to sleep in our beds. The detectives were giving the impression that this may be a stalker fan for Tate, and if so, they were worried I was the next target. Tate said if something happened to me, he would
just end it. He couldn’t live without both of us. I wasn’t sure I could live without either one of them. I was slowly falling into a pit of despair. I was back to blaming God. While everyone else was praying fervently, I was pressing Him to tell me why?! Ty was my innocent baby. He didn’t deserve this. I was begging for God to let him still be alive, and for him to not have had any harm come to him. Each thought in that direction put me over the edge, and Tate was rubbing my back and kissing my forehead. What would I do if I didn’t have him, my loving husband to support me?

All of the thoughts of despair had distracted me from my phone until it pinged again. Looking down I read a text from...John. I tried to read it without Tate seeing. It read:

Reese, I need to talk with you. I

know you asked me not to be

involved, but I have to be. I

can’t stand the thought of you hurting.

I have my detectives on it. I will

Keep you updated. – J

Before I could finish the text, Tate was grabbing my phone. “That SOB! What is he doing? Can’t he leave us alone?” Tate jumped to his feet, knocking over the end-table. Then he realized he had left me, and he quickly came back and grabbed my hand. “Are you okay Reese? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I was crying again. It didn’t take much.

“Tate, what is it going to hurt for him to use his detectives? We need all the help we can get. It doesn’t mean anything,
except another chance to find our baby.” I was sobbing into his chest. The emotions were so raw they were about to break me. I could feel it.

Tate was stroking my hair again. We had taken a couple of showers together in the last couple of days. Nothing intimate, just togetherness. He was smoothing out my non-styled, clean hair and kissing the top of my head. “Shhh, let’s not talk about him Reese. Let’s just drop it okay.” I wanted to argue, but frankly I didn’t have the strength. The disappearance of our son was all over the news as it was. Surely there were all kinds of other search efforts going on. Somehow I dozed off. When I woke up in the middle of a nightmare, I brought myself back to the reality yet again that it was in fact all real, all of it. I was frantically searching for my phone to see if I had missed any calls. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I was losing it. Tate grabbed me up and hugged me. Then he asked me to take a ride with him. He thought we needed to get away. I was pissed but relieved at the same time. I had wanted to be out actively searching, but the officials said it was best for us to stay at home in case we got a ransom call.

We hopped in my Range Rover. I cried all over again looking in the back at Ty’s car seat, and his green frog mirror hanging on the back. The one he always made spitting faces at. “Oh Tate, where is he? Who took him from us?”

“Reese. I had to get you out of there. I need you to listen to me.” I was still babbling. “Listen to me Reese!” Tate shook my shoulders. I have your phone. John texted you.

“Tate stop it okay! I can’t think about that right now. Why…”

“I’m not mad Reese. Just hear me out. He texted you that he had a lead. He found a small house in Lakeside, CA that he
thinks the kidnapper is hiding out in. He didn’t say who it was, but he texted you this address. He thinks he’s been communicating with you each time, but you were asleep.” Tate peered at me out of the corner of his eyes. I know the fact that John was texting me again and trying to be the hero was killing him. I didn’t give a shit! I wanted my son back. No matter what it took. Tate went on to say, “once I thought he was legitimate, I took the chance and called him back.” He seethed those last words. I know if he never had to speak to John again, it would be too soon.

“What! Why don’t we just tell the police? We need to have people there right away!” I was stunned. We had a lead, and we weren’t calling the police?

“Reese, John has skilled marksmen, ex-army rangers he has on payroll for security with his company, hiding out within shooting range of the house. He says Ty is there.” I let out a hard gasp, covering my mouth. My baby was alive? Oh thank you God!

“Tate, go! Go faster!” I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t speeding faster, and going crazy. He was driving just a little over the speed limit, but…

As if Tate could read my mind, he grabbed my hand. “I can’t have the police following us, or pulling us over. John thinks the kidnapper is someone we know.” Tate slowed down the car for a moment, trying to get my eye contact. “He says it’s someone from NC, someone who lost a son, a husband, and wants at least one of them back. We have to be very careful with this situation, and talk her down…”

My gasp cut him off. “Her? Her Tate?” My brain was going entirely too fast. What was he saying?

“She bought a one-way plane ticket to California nearly a month ago, and has been here in San Diego evidently the entire time,” he said.

“Lisa! Lisa Davis kidnapped our son!” It wasn’t a question, but a fact. I knew it. “I saw her Tate. I saw her at your game the night Ty was taken. I didn’t say anything because I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Oh God! Why?” I was screaming again, my hand flew to my mouth. I thought I was going to be sick. “Why Tate? She’s crazy. What if she hurts him? We need to call the police. I want to kill her!” My thoughts were scattered, I was frantically rambling.

“I can’t take that chance Reese. I’m the only one she’ll listen to. I can get through to her. I need you to trust me.” My mind was racing, my eyes darting all over the place. I don’t know what we were doing or why. All I know is that my husband is planning to play cop and try to get our son back. I just need to lay eyes on him. I need to see him, to touch him and feel his soft skin against my face.

“I’m going in with you Tate.” I was firm in my decision.

“No, you’re not Reese. John had his security team to slip a bug in the house today through some vents without her knowing it.” He hesitated. My breathing was loud and labored and filling up the entire space of the interior of our SUV. “John overheard her talking to Ty in baby gibberish. But, she was saying how she just needed to get rid of…of…” Tate looked at me with knowing eyes. “Get rid of his fake mother so she could be his only mother, and me his only daddy.” My heart fell…if it was even possible for my heart to be crushed any further. She wanted to be my baby’s mama. She was delusional, and what if she was dangerous. “I can’t let you near her Reese, not until
she’s in handcuffs.” I could understand his fear, but I felt the same about him.

“What if she hurts you Tate? And, she could! How will I survive?” My skin was starting to shake. My lips were even quivering with fear. I could lose my husband and my son in one moment. “Please! Let’s call the police, my family, Elle and Finn. Why aren’t we Tate?!”

“John and I,” he cringed and quickly closed his eyes. I knew deep down he couldn’t grasp working with him on this. “We both agree I can talk her down. The cops might get our baby hurt Reese. I can’t take that chance.” I did trust him, I had to trust him. I was just scared out of my mind. My hands trembling, my heart aching, I covered Tate’s hand with mine.