A chill raced down her spine. “What do you mean?”
“He told Jonathan there was something he needed to do first, so Jonathan came home by himself. I…I feel really bad about this.”
“Where is he?” Holly asked, struggling not to panic.
“That’s just it. I don’t know.”
There was a huge knot in Holly’s chest, and she found it difficult to breathe. How could she tell her brother that Gabe had gone missing?
Panicked thoughts surged through her mind. He’d been abducted, kidnapped, held for ransom. Or even worse, simply taken, never to be seen or heard from again.
“I’ll call you if I hear anything,” Caroline told her. “I’d go look myself but I can’t leave the children. If he’s not here in an hour, we’ll reassess, call the police. In the meantime, I’ll phone some of the other kids’ parents.”
“Yes… Thank you.” Holly disconnected the line, her cell phone clenched in her fist.
“Holly?” Lindy Lee asked, staring at her. “What’s wrong?”
Holly didn’t realize she’d bolted to her feet. She felt herself swaying and wondered if she was going to faint. “My-my nephew’s missing.”
“Missing,” Lindy Lee repeated. “What do you mean, missing?”
“He didn’t show up at the sitter’s house after school.”
Lindy Lee looked at her watch. “It’s a bit early for him to be out of school, isn’t it?”
“No, not today,” she said, panic making her sound curt. She was torn by indecision. Her first inclination was to contact the police immediately, not to wait another hour as Caroline had suggested. They should start a neighborhood search. Ask questions.
She wondered crazily if she should get his picture to the authorities so they could place it on milk cartons all across America.
Her cell phone chirped again and she nearly dropped it in her rush to answer.
“Yes?” she blurted out.
“Holly, it’s Jake.”
“I don’t have time to talk now. Gabe’s missing and we’ve got to contact the police and get a search organized and-”
“Gabe’s with me,” Jake interrupted.
She sank into her chair, weak with relief. “He’s with you?”
“Yes. He came into the city.”
“On his own?” This was unbelievable!
“Yup.”
“You mean to say he walked from school to the subway station, took the train and then walked to Finley’s by himself?” It seemed almost impossible to comprehend. She held her head in one hand and leaned back in her chair, eyes closed. She remembered what he’d said that morning, about wanting to see the robot, but she’d had no idea he’d actually try to do it.
“Would you like to talk to him?” Jake was asking.
“Please.”
“Aunt Holly?” Gabe’s voice was small and meek.
“So,” she said, releasing a long sigh. Although the urge to lambaste him was nearly overwhelming, she resisted. “You didn’t walk home with Jonathan the way you were supposed to?”
“No.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Because…”
“Because what?”
“I wanted to see Intellytron again and you said we couldn’t and I thought, well, I know you have to work and everything, but I could come by myself, so I did. I remembered to take the green line and then I walked from the subway station.” Despite the fact that he was obviously in trouble, there was a hint of pride in his voice.
Gabe had traveled into the city on his own just to see his favorite toy. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to her. Holly suppressed the urge to break into sobs.
“I’m coming to get you right this minute,” she declared. “Stay with Jake and Mrs. Miracle, and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Now put Jake back on the phone.”
His voice, strong and clear, came through a moment later. “Holly, it’s Jake.”
“I’m on my way.”
“He’ll be fine until you get here,” he said.
“Thank you, thank you so much.” This time, the urge to weep nearly overcame her.
“Everything’s fine. Relax.”
“I’m trying.” She closed her cell, then looked up to see her boss standing in front of her desk.
“I take it you’ve located the little scoundrel?”
Holly nodded. “He came into the city on his own. Would it be okay if I brought him to the office for the rest of the day?” Taking him back to Brooklyn would be time-consuming and Lindy Lee would no doubt dock her pay. Holly needed every penny of her next paycheck. “I promise he won’t make a sound.”
Lindy Lee considered the request, then slowly nodded. “I enjoyed meeting Gabe that Saturday… I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.”
Lindy Lee wanted to see Gabe again? This was an interesting development, as well as an unexpected one. Her employer wasn’t the motherly type-to put it mildly. Lindy Lee was all about Lindy Lee.
Grabbing her coat and purse, Holly rushed over to Finley’s, calling Caroline Krantz en route. The store was crowded, and by the time she reached the third floor Holly felt as though she’d run a marathon. She saw Mrs. Miracle first, and the woman’s eyes brightened the instant she noticed Holly.
“You don’t have a thing to worry about, my dear. Gabe is perfectly safe with Jake.”
“Aunt Holly!” Gabe raced to her side and Jake followed.
“You’re in a lot of trouble, young man,” she said sternly, hands on her hips.
Gabe hung his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice so low she could hardly hear it.
Customers thronged the toy department, several of them carrying the boxes that held the SuperRobot. A line had already formed at the customer service desk, and she noted that a couple of extra sales associates were out on the floor today. Everyone was busy.
“You’ll have to come back to the office with me,” Holly told Gabe. “I’m warning you it won’t be nearly as much fun as it would’ve been with Jonathan and his mother.”
“I know,” he muttered. “Am I grounded?”
“We’ll discuss that once we’re home.”
“Okay, but nothing happened…”
“You mean nothing other than the fact that you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Jake murmured a quick goodbye and started to leave to help a customer but Mrs. Miracle stopped him. “I’ll take care of them,” she said. “Besides, I believe there was something you wanted to ask Holly?”
“There was?” He looked surprised, wrinkling his brow as if he couldn’t recall any such question.
“The Christmas party,” Mrs. Miracle said under her breath. “You mentioned asking Holly to go with you.”