Off the Deep End (37)
I stepped cautiously toward her, afraid she would run if I moved too quickly. I raised my hands up in a peaceful gesture. “Please, Jules, I’m not here to cause any trouble. Just please tell me where Isaac is. I know you know where he’s at, what’s happening. Please tell me.”
She looked around to see if anyone was watching, but we were still alone. I had to hurry. I just needed to appeal to her good, nurturing side. Mother to mother. It was in there somewhere. It had to be.
“I’m so sorry for what happened with Gabe. I am. I want you to know that.” I looked at her with pleading eyes, hoping she’d see me. Really see me. How much I loved my son. How much I knew she loved hers. “No parent should ever have to go through losing their child like you did.” I clasped my hands together in front of my chest like I was praying, and part of me was. “Please don’t make me lose mine. Please don’t make me go through that.”
“Believe me, Amber, you have no idea what it’s like. Trust me. Losing a child feels just as badly as you imagine it would. No, it feels even worse. And I would never put my worst enemy through it.” She looked insulted that I’d suggested she had anything to do with Isaac’s disappearance.
I took a deep breath. “Please, Jules.”
She raised her shoulders and shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry, Amber. I wish I could help you. I really do, but there’s nothing I can do. I wish there was.” She shrugged her shoulders again. “These things just happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
I stepped closer to her, invading her space, but I didn’t care. There could be cameras in this place, and I didn’t want anyone to hear what I was going to say next. I dropped my voice to a whisper. “I promise you that nobody ever has to know I was here or that we had this conversation. Nobody. If you tell me where Isaac is or return him to me safely, you have my word that I will never breathe a word about it to another soul or anyone else. I—”
“What’s going on upstairs?” someone yelled from below us.
I talked faster, whisper-hissing closer to her face. “Nobody ever has to know, Jules, I swear. Whatever you’ve done. Whatever happened. Whatever you know. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. Just tell me where he is, and I’ll go get him. I won’t ever tell another soul, I promise. We can make up a story about what happened, and we’ll tell that to the police together.”
“Oh honey.” Jules glanced behind me, checking to see if anyone was coming up the stairs. “Do you want me to call someone to come get you? It seems like you’re having a rough time.”
Her look of pity made me sick. “I’m fine. Just tell me where he is,” I snapped.
She shook her head. “I wish I could help you, but I have no idea.”
“Is he with Jeremy Gunkle? Can you at least tell me that? Please, Jules. Does he have Isaac?”
“Sweetie, you’re really having a hard time, aren’t you?” She reached out like she was going to touch me, and I jumped back. “There are lots of counselors here if you need to speak to someone. You seem a bit frazzled.”
I lunged at her, getting in her face. “Where is Isaac?” I grabbed her shirt in my fist and gave her a firm jerk. “Where is he?”
“Amber, calm down.” Her eyes darted around the landing. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Tell. Me. Where. He. Is.” I clutched her shirt in my hand and pushed her backward. My hands trembled with the urge to shake her, to grab her by the throat and slam her against the wall as hard as I could.
An elderly man popped his head out of one of the rooms, interrupting us.
“Oh my,” he said, putting his hand over his mouth as soon as he saw us. He quickly darted back inside the room without saying another word. He could be calling someone. I had to hurry, but before I could say anything else, Jules jumped in.
“I’m so sorry Isaac’s missing, Amber. I really am. Believe me, I know exactly how it feels.” It wasn’t what she said—it was the combination of pride and satisfaction in her eyes when she said it that put me over the edge. There was a part of her that enjoyed seeing me so upset. She was getting off on this.
That’s when I lost it.
TWELVE
AMBER GREER
Detective Hawkins grabbed my arm and jerked me down the sidewalk just like I used to pull my kids out of the toy aisle when they were toddlers and throwing fits because they didn’t want to leave the store. He didn’t speak a word as he stomped away from Samaritan House. He pounded his way down the pavement until we reached the squad car parked alongside the street in front of the entrance. I waited for him to open the door on the passenger side, but he whipped open the back door of the car instead and pointed at the back seat.
I recoiled. “What? I—”
“Get in there,” he practically growled at me in a way that left no room for arguing as a crowd of staff and residents from Samaritan House sat watching behind us from inside the building. I put my head down and slid into the back seat, instantly claustrophobic because of the wire mesh in front of me. The seat was too close to my legs. The black leather pressed against my knees. No wonder people freaked out and started kicking the windows back here.
“Can you roll the windows down, please?” I asked as he slipped into the driver’s seat. He didn’t say a word. It was like I hadn’t even spoken. He tapped something out on his phone. It was impossible to see what he was typing or the expression on his face when I was staring at his back. “You’re taking me to my car, right?”