Page 140 of Stolen Fate

Evelyn

“Where the fuck is my son?”Jace asked as soon as he walked through the door, Jerry following close behind him.

I stood up from the chair in the security office Simon and I were currently occupying as we looked through the security videos at the mall.

“Jace,” I began, but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

“Not right now, Evelyn. I can’t deal with you right now.”

Hurt stabbed at my heart. I didn’t think Jace had ever spoken to me that harshly before, though I understood why. I closed my eyes and looked away, worry and fear churning in my guts at the thought of Elliot lost and afraid, and me not being able to get to him.

I couldn’t imagine how Jace was feeling now. I was already feeling like this, and I had only known Elliot for a couple of months.

When I opened my eyes, they connected with Jerry’s sympathetic ones. I quickly looked away. I didn’t deserve any sympathy from anyone. I should have never taken my eyes off Elliot, especially in a public place.

“We’re looking at the recording now,” one of the security guards at the mall said, his expression solemn. I wondered how many kids he’d seen gone missing over the years, and I wondered how many of them were actually found and brought back to their family safely.

I rubbed the ache in my chest and stood up when the recording came on. I tried to look for Elliot, but all I saw were crowds of people, indistinguishable from this angle.

“Look, there he is,” Jerry said, pointing to a small blob on the screen. I couldn’t quite make Elliot out at first, but as the image cleared a bit on the screen, I could see his unruly hair.

I let out a stuttered breath as I watched Elliot tug on my arms in the video. Then I watched as I said something to him before turning to my phone. I tried to remember what Elliot had said to me when he tugged on my arm.

“He thought he saw Charlie,” I said, the memory coming back to me now. But the girl he saw wasn’t her. Jace looked at me, and I didn’t know what the look on his face meant. I hated how closed-off he was to me.

I discreetly wiped away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks as we continued to watch Elliot. I could see him moving off the chair and walking away from the table. My fists clenched by my sides, and it was taking everything I had in me not to yell out at myself on the screen to look up.

I wasn’t usually so careless, and I hated that Elliot might have to pay for my mistakes.

We watched as Elliot tugged on the girl’s arm, and when she turned around, he stepped back a little when he realized she wasn’t Charlie. The girl’s mom said something to Elliot, and he shook his head.

Then he turned away and looked around the food court. The girl’s mom stood up, probably to keep Elliot from going anywhere, and I knew he was looking for me based on the way his head moved from side to side.

We followed Elliot on the screen and watched as he stood in front of the bathroom not far from the food court. He walked inside the door, and that was the last we saw him.

“Where is that?” Jace asked.

“Not far away. Come on, I’ll lead you to it,” the security guard said, standing up. We quickly followed him out. It didn’t take long to get to the bathroom and Jace pushed the men’s room door open. It was empty.

I ran out of the men’s room and opened the door to the women's room. Elliot wasn’t here. The bathroom was empty. This was the last place we saw him, so where could he go? Did someone take him? Hurt him? I didn’t want to think about it, but the intrusive thoughts persisted, and I didn’t know what to do anymore.

Jace’s face hardened when he came into the restroom and found it empty, too. I looked away from the anger, heartbreak, and fear in his eyes.

We turned around and headed back out the door. I was the last one in the group, and just as I was about to close the door, I heard something.

I paused and looked back at the stall.

All of them were open except for the last one, and there was a noise coming from it. I walked over to it, not knowing what I was supposed to do if it turned out Elliot wasn’t in there.

I knocked on the stall, but no one answered.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

There was silence at the other side of the stall, though I was almost positive someone was in there. I had half a mind to peek through the crack, but if it was anyone but Elliot there, I didn’t want to invade another person’s privacy.

Then I heard a distinctive sound of sniffles that nearly broke my heart, before a voice said, “Evelyn?”

I let out a small cry and tried to push the door open but it was locked. “Elliot, honey. I need you to open this door for me, can you do that?”

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