A Son's Tale

And he’d introduced Sammie to Frank, not knowing if his father was a child abductor or not… .

Her phone rang. Morgan almost ignored the call. She didn’t want to talk to Cal. Or even her parents. But it could be Sammie. She grabbed her phone out of her purse.

And didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Whittier? This is Coach Safford. You nee

d to come right away, ma’am. Sammie is missing…”

She went cold.

“…already called the police…”

Like a robot, Morgan started her car, put it in gear and drove out onto the street. She knew the school. Sammie had played Little League there. She knew the way and she drove.

But she also dialed the phone.

“Detective Martin, please.”

Hands shaking, heart breaking, she waited. Turned a corner. And sped in between cars, crossing lines illegally, breaking the speed limit. A cop stopping her would be a blessing. He’d be able to get her there more quickly.

“This is Detective Martin.”

“Detective? I’m Morgan Lowen. I don’t know if you remember me, but—”

“Of course I remember you! How’s Sammie?”

“He’s missing… .” Her voice broke. She tried to speak again, but choked.

“Calm down, Morgan. I need you to talk to me.” The detective’s voice was commanding, just short of sharp. “Tell me what’s happened. Where are you?”

“In my car. Driving to Sammie’s basketball tryouts.”

“You shouldn’t be driving, Morgan. Can you pull over?”

She shook her head. She had to get there.

“Are you pulled over? Morgan? Tell me what happened.”

She was only a couple of miles away now. Clear road ahead. Blinking rapidly to keep the tears out of her way, she pushed farther down on the gas.

“I just got a call from Sammie’s basketball coach. He asked to use the restroom during tryouts and never came back.”

“He ran away again.”

“No!” She missed a stop sign. “Please! Sammie was at basketball tryouts, which is right where he wanted most to be. He doesn’t have any reason at this point to run away. He just told me that he told his counselor he wants to live with me. You have to listen. We can’t waste any time!”

The school was right ahead. And by the time she pulled into the parking lot she’d told Detective Martin about Frank Whittier and his association with Sammie.

“You said you’re at the school now?”

“Yes.” She climbed out of her car and ran toward the police cars gathered by the back door of the gymnasium with her phone still to her ear.

“Tell Detective Sanchez to call me. I’m going to have someone bring you in.”

“Okay. And…” She saw the detectives through the crowd gathered around them. “Can someone please deal with my dad? I don’t want him showing up here.”