She nods as we begin the trek to the house. “Did you know that Jupiter is the biggest planet?”
“No way! It must be massive.”
“Yep! Where’s Frannie? I wanna tell her.”
This scene, on the other hand, is entirely too familiar. My smile slips ever so slightly. “She’s not home. There’s something she had to do.”
My daughter hums thoughtfully. “Like what?”
“I’m… not sure.” Hesitancy chops my statement into pieces.
“Maybe she’s getting us a present.”
“Why would she do that?”
“To be nice, duhhhhh.”
My eyes narrow at her. “Watch your tone, sassy pants.”
“It’s prissy,” she corrects.
“What do you mean?”
“Frannie says my pants are prissy. I never ever wear sassy pants. That’d be silly, Daddy.”
“My mistake,” I mumble.
Ronnie does a twirl when we approach the driveway. “I can’t wait to see what she gets us.”
“Don’t get your hopes up.” At this rate, I’m crossing my fingers that she’ll be back for bedtime.
“It’s gonna be special,” my little girl continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “Like a pink umbrella or sparkly picture frame ‘cause she loves us.”
“Ronnie,” I sigh. “Don’t pressure her to say that she loves you, okay? She needs to tell you on her own when she’s ready.”
“But she is ready,” my daughter insists.
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Yes-huh,” she insists. “She told me so. Her finger swooped down my nose and tapped my chin. Just like you do it.”
My stride falters and I stop in my tracks. “When?”
“At drop-off this morning,” she chirps. “Frannie was actin’ kinda weird, but I guess she just had jitters in her tummy. Loving someone is a super big deal. My tummy gets flip-floppy too. Oh, and I think she was cryin’ a little bit. But those were happy tears.”
Meanwhile, my stomach plummets to my toes. I break out in a cold sweat. Why would Frankie tell Ronnie she loves her on the same day she pulls a disappearing act? None of this makes sense.
“Are you sure?” I ask in rushed tone.
“Positive!”
Without further information, I’m left to assume the worst. She got spooked. Someone took her. There was a fight and she got arrested. That spiral leads nowhere fast.
I check Frankie’s location again just for something to do. When her dot appears on the map, I almost drop my phone. That blue circle blinks like a beacon. She wants me to find her… in the middle of nowhere.
The area is beyond the outskirts of town. It could be a warehouse or some other large building. Either way, it reeks of that biker gang. Dennis assured me they were taken care of, but it’s not uncommon for a few stragglers to crawl out of an attack like cockroaches.
Now, it’s a question of if Frankie went willingly or by force. The answer will determine how I respond. I also need to know what I’m walking into. Maybe she needs reinforcements.