Page 97 of The Husband Diet
‘Sweetheart, your cellphone’s off.’
Sweetheart. That felt even better. Would I ever get used to it? ‘Oh. I’m sorry. What’s up?’
‘Ira came to the school this morning.’
‘Oh my God. Did he make a scene?’
I heard him hesitate.
‘No, he wasn’t looking for me. He told one of the secretaries he was taking Maddy to her dentist appointment. They let her go with him.’
I sat up, my heart in my mouth. ‘I’m on my way.’
‘You’ll find me at the police station near the school.’
*
‘Where is she? Where is she?’ I couldn’t help crying as I exploded through the front doors of the police station and into the hall where Julian was waiting for me with a policeman.
‘Erica, this is Detective Roker. He’s dealing with Maddy’s—’
‘Abduction?’ I whispered in a broken voice. On the way over, I’d dialed Ira’s cellphone a million times in vain. Oh, my sweet, sweet little girl!
The detective led us into a private room, where he sat us down, explaining that because the abductor was a parent, it would be more difficult to trace them, and was I absolutely sure that my husband understood he had to check decisions with me first…
‘Yes, yes!’ I practically screamed. ‘He was never interested in seeing them!’
‘Ma’am, can you give us a picture of your ex-husband and your daughter and a description of his car?’
With shaky hands, I fished in my wallet and retrieved a copy of the picture I’d taken on Christmas Eve, minutes before he’d abandoned them.
‘Uhm, a blue Ford. Boston plates: AB17-2427,’ I informed him, imagining the police swooping down on him with a helicopter and shooting him on sight.
Never too soon for me. I didn’t care if one day he really did bludgeon me with his baseball bat, but my kids were sacred. When I got my hands on him…
‘I’m going to kill him, Julian,’ I rasped as the detective went to answer a phone call in the next room.
‘That won’t be necessary, Erica. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. We’re talking abduction here. I could kill Miss Simpson. She knew she wasn’t allowed to release either of the kids to anyone but you.’
I wanted to kill Miss Simpson, too, because her stupidity was limitless. ‘What if he tries to get Warren as well?’
Julian frowned. ‘I doubt it, Erica. Have you blocked the airports?’ he asked the returning detective.
‘Yes, but it’s difficult to determine where they may be headed.’
‘Colorado!’ I cried, and they looked at me. ‘He might try to get to his parents’ summer lodge!’
‘Alright,’ the detective said. ‘Call your in-laws and alert them.’
I did as he asked but no one was home, so I left a message and sank into my chair, my mind mush and my body liquefied with fear as it really began to sink in and the shock began to wear off.Maddy! Where else could Ira have taken her? And what was going through his deviously twisted mind? He didn’t know anything about her – her tastes, her interests, nothing! And she’d be petrified of him after the baseball bat episode.
It seemed impossible, but it was true. Ira was doing this just to make me suffer for God knows what sins I’d committed against him. I’d always been a patient, loving wife. How could he do this to me? To Maddy? And how the hell was I going to break it to Warren?
‘Anywhere else he could be?’ Julian asked me, and I shook my head.
‘Ira doesn’t have any friends. He spends all his time at his office.’With his secretary.
When we were free to go, Julian took me down to Tech.Com, just north of the highway. There was only one car in the private parking lot – the janitor’s.
