CHAPTER 13

"I’m telling you, Sheriff, she’s the one." Gregory Tate was sitting in the sheriff’s office, leaning forward in his chair, hands clamped on the edge of the desk.

Jake Benson leaned back, putting more room between the two of them. He could never quite get a handle on the man before him. He’d watched him grow up in the town, a bit of a bully, but never an outright problem. There had always been something in his eye, in his voice, in the way he carried himself; something that seemed to speak of trouble but never anything specific.

There had always been gossip, especially during the long, slow winter’s when the tourists were no longer a topic of interest, but again, nothing that he could prove. Ellen’s death had been ruled a horrible accident, and father and daughter had cut a tragic picture in church each Sunday, with little Faith slowly retreating into herself. The mothers in the group had clucked about how sad it had to be for her to lose her mother.

Then when Faith had disappeared the gossip had started up again, but with a grief stricken father roaming the streets, it hadn’t lasted long. Now the man sat in front of him, railing against a perfect stranger. The one thing he knew for certain was that the woman he had met four days earlier had not been the one to take her.

"Are you listening to me? I’ve seen her out there in the woods, doing God knows what. I want you to go up to that house she’s staying in and see if she has my daughter."

"All right, Greg, all right. Calm yourself down. I’ll go up there this afternoon," he said as he stood up, a clear indicator that he meant for Greg to do the same.

"That’s all I’m asking, Sheriff." Greg did stand, and Jake was able to quickly usher him out the door.

He shut it quietly and then sat back down in his chair. He had to admit that the woman and her friend had seemed interested in finding out what he knew about Faith. Maybe they really had found her. Giving his head a little shake he started finishing up the paperwork he needed to file before he could head out to the mountain. If they had her he wasn’t looking forward to taking her back to her father. Better that she stay missing in the woods than go back to him.

*****

Monica looked up from where she was fixing Faith a sandwich when she heard a knocking at the door and her heart immediately jumped into her throat. Andrew and Tess had headed into town awhile ago to pick up some groceries and she had elected to stay at the cottage with Faith, having no desire to run into Greg again if she could help it. But now the knock at the door reminded her of the fact that she and Faith were indeed alone.

"Faith," She said softly, trying to contain the nervousness she felt, "I want you to stay right here, okay? Wait for me to come back."

Faith’s eyes grew wide, sensing the angel’s seriousness, "Is it my daddy at the door?"

"Probably not, but we want to be safe, right?" She waited until Faith nodded her head before she continued, "So you stay right here until I come and tell you it is all right to come out."

"I will," The little girl whispered, nipping at her bottom lip in concern, "Don’t let him take me…"

"I won’t, sweetheart, I promise," Monica’s words were firm and she knew she would do everything in her power to assure no harm came to the child.

The knocking persisted as she walked slowly into the living room, willing Tess and Andrew to pull up outside, but no amount of wishing was making it happen.

Standing up on tip toe, she looked through the peep hole and only felt a twinge of relief at seeing Sheriff Benson standing on the other side of the door.

"Hello, Sheriff," She smiled as she opened the door to him, purposefully blocking his entrance, "Is there something I can do for you?"

He removed his hat, his eyes apologetic, "Miss, I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but I have a small problem on my hands. Gregory Tate has all but been camping outside my door this week, insisting that you know something about his daughter. Now, I’m not saying you do, but in order to shut him up, I just need to take a look around and ask you some questions."

The little angel felt frozen to the floor, though she tried to remain calm and hoped she looked calmer than she felt, "I don’t understand why he would say such a thing…" She ventured, wondering if there was any possible way she could talk him out of coming inside.

"Well, he’s a bit of a strange one, as I mentioned before, so I hesitate to put much stock in anything he says. But he has managed to keep his nose clean, and this way, I can go back to my office and assure him that I’ve done my duty by checking you out," He nodded his head towards her, "So just let me do that and I’ll be out of your way."

Her feet felt like lead as she moved aside to allow him to enter, knowing she had no other choice, though in her heart she was praying furiously for just a wee small miracle. If he found Faith, he would take her away, and very possible to the arms of her father and she had made a promise…

"I’m just going to take a look around…" He smiled at her and she could see that he was nearly as uncomfortable with this as she was, only their reasons were quite different.

"Monica..." She stammered, realizing he had been waiting for her to tell him her name.

"Monica, thank you."

She watched helplessly as he walked upstairs first and she debated racing to the kitchen to tell Faith to hide. That would be wrong though, not to mention deceitful and she hesitated to do it. No, any intervention had to be Divine.

A few moments later, Jake came back down the stairs slowly, a perplexed expression on his face, though he remained silent as he looked around the living room and dining room before he swung open the kitchen door. She blinked back tears and increased the furor of her prayers. She felt as if she had stopped breathing when he came back out of the kitchen…without Faith.

"Do you have any children, Monica?" He asked, his friendly tone of before was gone, replaced by something much more serious.

"No," She answered quickly, telling herself it was not a lie. There were no children here who belonged to her.

He scratched the top of his head, looking more uncomfortable, "Can you maybe tell me why you have children’s supplies here then? I noticed some coloring books and crayons, a doll baby and a story book upstairs on the bed next to a stuffed bear. If there are no children here, then why are these items out, looking as if they have recently been used?"

Monica faltered. To lie would be wrong. She was an angel and lying once before to protect someone had gotten her into great trouble. But to tell the truth endangered Faith. She only had one option left. To say nothing.

He waited a beat and seeing she was not going to answer, he let out a deep sigh, "Look, Monica. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for these things, so if you could just fill me in, this can all be over and done with."

She gave a small shrug of her shoulders and replied in a voice that was even smaller, "I can’t. I’m sorry."

Another sigh. He knew that Monica hadn’t kidnapped the girl, but if she was hiding her now, that was something that he needed and wanted to know… for his own peace of mind if nothing else. "If that’s the case, I’m afraid you’ll have to come with me down to the station. It would definitely benefit you to cooperate and save us all some trouble."

He was met with silence once more and he gave a little shake of his head, "My car is just outside."

Inside, she was trembling and a nauseated feeling had crept into the pit of her stomach. She allowed him to escort her outside, being careful to not look back at the cottage for any sign that Faith had come out of hiding.

*****

"We’re home, baby," Tess called out as she came through the front door, closely followed by Andrew, both angels laden down with bags of groceries. Faith had a hearty appetite and the older angel now felt more prepared to feed it.

Andrew frowned, finding the house to be quiet…too quiet. He had expected to find Monica and Faith drawing at the table or maybe curled up on the couch reading a story, but he wasn’t seeing any of that, "Monica?"

"Andrew!" Faith burst through the kitchen door and the blonde angel had to drop the bags he was carrying quickly in order to catch the fearful child up in his arms.

"He took Monica!" She cried out and he felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Who? Your daddy?" He tried to keep his voice calm for her sake, but his eyes showed Tess the intensity he was feeling.

"No, the Sheriff! He took her away!"

Tess exchanged a more than slightly concerned look with Andrew, "Why didn’t he take you, baby?"

"He couldn’t see me, but he took Monica! Andrew, you have to help her! Tess, please!"

As she burst into tears, Andrew hugged her tightly to himself, his mind racing with the implications of what had happened. Faith must have hidden when the Sheriff arrived and his eyes focused on the assortment of children’s toys that dotted the living room, having a feeling he knew exactly what had happened.

*****

The car rattled over the narrow road that led back to town, every dip and pothole rattling the metal grate that separated Monica from the Sheriff. Her arms were wrapped around her chest, and she was concentrating on what she could possibly say to answer his questions without giving away the fact that Faith was at the cottage. She had watched as the red Caddy passed them and had breathed a short prayer of thanks. Andrew and Tess would make sure that Faith was kept safe. She looked forward and saw the sheriff’s eyes in the rear view mirror. He was looking at her and she could tell that this wasn’t what he wanted to be doing either.

Surprise was her first reaction when he abruptly pulled the car onto the shoulder and got out without even taking the key from the ignition. He quickly opened her door and bent down.

"Y’know, I really don’t think its necessary to have you ride back here. D’you?"

She shook her head and got out, then followed him to the passenger side where he opened her door for her, exactly as if he had just picked her up to take her to the prom. It was an odd dichotomy and Monica was waiting for her thoughts to catch up to his actions.

"Legally speaking, you don’t have to say a word. You didn’t even have to come with me without a warrant, but you know, I think we’re both on the same side," he said as he started the car up and pulled back onto the road. "We both want to help."

Monica said nothing, thinking instead that their ideas of helping were completely different. He had hinted at something bad going on in the Tate house, and now he was trying to get her to tell him where Faith was so that he could send her right back to it. She bit her lower lip, as she remembered what Andrew had told her about following God’s plan no matter if they didn’t understand it. The muscle in her jaw tightened. She didn’t want to go against God, but how could she believe that this was right?

"I know you didn’t take her."

His words made her stare at him, surprised and a little confused.

"You weren’t even here when she disappeared, and besides," he glanced in her direction with a slight grin, "you don’t strike me as a hardened criminal."

"No," she agreed softly.

"Now I’m just talking here, this is all hypothetical, but if that child happened to somehow fall into your possession…"

She felt herself tighten and turned to stare straight ahead again.

"You know that some people would just want to know that she was safe and sound," he continued, "and some people would do what they could to make sure that she stayed that way."

Again, surprise shot through her. She looked over at Jake, her eyes taking in the rugged planes of his face, and the startling blue of his eyes. He was focused on the road but she could see concern and slight regret in those eyes. Was he the man Faith had seen in the woods? She had said she didn’t know him, but maybe she had just been afraid to tell them.

"You tried to help her," she said softly.

"Yeah… once," he said, but the way he said it made her wonder if now he was the one hiding the truth.

If word got out that he had been helping a child stay lost… well the chances of him keeping his job were slim. Monica’s thoughts were racing as she tried to piece things together and decipher God’s will at the same time. She wasn’t sure of much, but she was still sure that she didn’t want to reveal what she knew about Faith. Even if Sheriff Benson wanted to help, there was absolutely no guarantee that he would be able to keep Faith safely away from her father. No, that was her job, and she wasn’t ready to give it up yet. She fell back into silence and stared out the window praying that God would give her guidance when they arrived back in town and the real questioning began.

*****

Andrew was finally able to get Faith to calm down, and he gently set her back down on the floor.

"He asked if she had a kid," Faith said tearfully. "He saw my doll and my bear." She looked up at Tess and Andrew her tiny face filled with guilt. "If you hadn’t given them to me he wouldn’t have known! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!" she cried and then she ran up the stairs and both angels heard Monica’s door swing shut.

"That poor little child. She must have been scared to death with that man in here looking for her," Tess said, shaking her head.

"And now she thinks it’s all her fault." The look on Andrew’s face hardened. "Well she’s not going to think that for long."

He quickly made his way upstairs and into Monica’s room where he looked around, confused. Faith was no where in sight. Then he heard them. The choked little sobs coming from the closet. He slowly opened the door and watched, stricken, as she curled herself into a tighter ball and wedged herself into the corner.

"Faith, I’m not going to hurt you," needing to say those words caused an ache in his heart, and when she raised her eyes and he saw the trust being overshadowed by fear it made him want to find Greg Tate and make him feel that same fear. "I promise you, Faith. What happened wasn’t your fault and no one blames you and no one is going to hurt you."

He reached out to her and finally let out the breath he had been holding as she slipped her small hand into his. He pulled her into a hug and then moved to sit on the bed with her in his lap.

"You won’t let anyone hurt Monica either, will you?" she asked plaintively.

He shook his head. "No I won’t. Don’t worry, Faith. I’ll bring her back. Everything’s going to be fine," he assured her.

"No, not this time," Tess’ voice was stern and Andrew and Faith both looked up to see her standing in the doorway.

"Tess, what are you talking about? I’m not going to just sit here… not this time."

Her expression softened as she remembered his earlier guilt. "I’m afraid you’re going to have to. This job calls for someone with a slightly louder voice… namely, me."

Andrew seemed relieved that Tess wasn’t talking about just leaving Monica with the Sheriff, but he still wasn’t convinced. "Don’t you think…"

"Uh-uh." She glanced upward pointedly. "I’ve got my job to do," she insisted, "and yours is to stay here with Faith."

"You’ll bring her back, won’t you?" the small voice was punctuated with sniffles.

Tess settled her hands on Faith’s shoulders. "I’ll bring her back, child," she said, and then glanced up to meet Andrew’s eyes. "Don’t you worry about that."