Page 78 of Midnight Creed

“Well then, I made your job much easier. And kidnapping is a federal offense.”

“Kidnapping?” The sheriff shot a look at Taylor, truly confused now. “You know your grandson has been taken? Has someone contacted you?”

“She thinks I took my son.”

This time Norwich let out a long sigh before confronting Dora. “And why do you think she’d do that?”

“Ask her. And then ask her where she’s hiding him.”

“In my experience—my twenty-eight years of experience—the parent who’s kidnapped the child isn’t the first one to call law enforcement.”

“Unless she’s afraid she’ll lose her custody rights.”

“We had an argument,” Taylor told Norwich, but just like the sheriff, she didn’t take her eyes off of Dora.

“It was a discussion.”

“What if Will heard us?”

“Then you have that to feel guilty about as well.”

“Hold on.” Norwich put up her hands. “Ms. Donahue, did you take your son?”

“No. He was with me for the weekend. I brought him back here last night.”

A knock at the door startled all of them. Norwich stepped back into the entrance. “My deputies are here.” She held up a finger to tell them to wait. “Whatever happened between the two of you, I need to hear about it. But right now, it’s my understanding we have a young boy who didn’t make it to school this morning and hasn’t come back home. Is that true, Mrs. Ramsey?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what he was wearing this morning?”

Norwich pulled out a small notebook and pen, and Taylor saw Dora twitch at the question. She couldn’t remember. Hadn’t she even noticed? Will said the housekeeper usually helped him pick out his clothes and had breakfast ready for him.

“Miss Rosa could tell us,” Taylor offered.

“And who is Miss Rosa?”

“She’s not here right now.” Dora gestured as if the woman was out running errands. Except Taylor remembered Will saying she hadn’t been to work for a while.

“You don’t remember what he was wearing this morning?” Norwich looked up at Dora, waiting.

“He’s at that age where he wants to pick out his own things.”

Norwich waited for more, then finally asked, “Did you see him this morning?”

“Yes, of course. We had breakfast together. I don’t remember exactly. You should ask her when she picked him up.” She pointed at Taylor. “And just for the record, I will be filing charges of kidnapping when Agent Perry arrives.”

“Do you drive him to school?”

Dora was still staring at Taylor. Maybe she thought the questions were done. She glanced back at the sheriff as if irritated by such mundane details. “The bus picks him up.”

“And where is that, exactly?”

“At the entrance to the neighborhood.”

“He walks there?”

“Yes, of course, it’s only a few blocks. That must be where she intercepted him.”