Free Through the Darkness by Marcia Talley Page A

suddenly erupted. “What the hell does any of this have to do with finding Timmy, you asshole! The longer you screw around with us here, the farther away the SOB who took Timmy can get with him.”
    Emily chimed in. “Other than wasting time asking us damn fool questions, what the hell are you doing, anyway?”
    I sighed. At least they were agreeing on something.
    If Powers was upset by their insults, he didn’t show it. “Let me assure you that we’re doing everything within our powers to return your son to you,” he said calmly. “There’s only one road in and out of the Bay Ridge community. The minute we learned the nature of your 911 call, we set up a roadblock at the entrance. We’ve been stopping every car coming out of your community.”
    â€œAren’t you going to issue an Amber Alert? Whoever took Tim could be miles away by now!”
    Powers shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. “Once we determine that an abduction has occurred—”
    â€œWhat?” I thought Dante would fly across the room and attack the man. “Of course an abduction has occurred, you moron!”
    Paul laid a restraining hand on Dante’s arm. “It won’t help to insult the officer.”
    Dante’s eyes blazed. “This is such bullshit!”
    Emily glared. “They always suspect the parents.”
    I waved both hands in the air. “Time out!” When I had everyone’s attention, I turned to the officer and said, “I know you’re just doing your job, Officer Powers, and that you have to eliminate us as suspects, but I think I speak for everyone in this room when I say that we’re all willing to take a lie detector test to prove we had absolutely nothing to do with Timmy’s disappearance. Once that’s out of the way, you can move on to other more promising suspects.”
    â€œTest me right now,” Emily insisted. “Get the guy with the polygraph down here right now and let’s do it!”
    â€œI’ll arrange it,” Powers said. “In the meantime, do you have a recent picture of the chi—Timmy?”
    A worried glance passed between Emily and Dante. “We’ve just moved here, and most of our pictures are still packed.”
    I reached into my purse and pulled out a wallet-sized photograph of my grandson. “I took that picture last week,” I said, handing it over, feeling a deep sense of loss as Timmy’s image slipped from my fingers to his. In the photograph, Timmy was dressed in a white and blue sailor suit, posed next to Coco, their chocolate Labradoodle. Coco wore Tim’s sailor cap lopsidedly between his floppy ears. “Can you crop out the dog?”
    Powers nodded, and tucked the photograph carefully between the pages of his notebook. “If, as I suspect, Timmy was taken away in a vehicle, it would help if we had a description of that vehicle.” He turned to face Dante. “I notice you have security cameras both inside and out. Are they working?”
    Tears pooled in Dante’s eyes, overflowed, and spilled down his cheeks. “They’re coming to install the monitors this weekend.”
    â€œThat would be no?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œHe was trying to save money,” Emily snapped. “He hired some cut-rate outfit run by a friend of his just to save a few bucks. I told you we weren’t ready to open yet! Ooooohhhh…”
    â€œDid anyone notice anything suspicious today?” Powers continued, interupting my daughter’s rant. “Any vehicles that didn’t belong, or ones that were parked too close to the building?”
    Everyone simply stared.
    â€œDid anyone show any unusual interest in the child? Give him gifts?”
    Emily said, “Everyone loved Timmy, Officer Powers. But I don’t remember anyone paying more attention to him than they would to any other cute baby.”
    Powers tucked the notebook into