Chapter 11

• Brent thanked Ricky as he walked out the door, and then turned to look at Felicity. She’d been sitting there holding the sketch of the boy for a few minutes now. He didn’t have to ask if Ricky had captured him the way she’d seen him, the anguished look in her eyes told him the sketch was the boy in her visions. He walked over quietly when he realized both Jac and Reid were also watching her silently. Sitting in the small chair across from her, he clasped his hands on the table. “Would you like to come down to the station with us while we run these?” When the pained blue eyes looked at him suddenly over the sketch, he felt his heart stutter.
• “Please,” she said quietly. Taking the two sketches she quickly tucked them into the folder with her own. She wasn’t sure she could stand just yet. Not once had she thought of how she’d feel to watch the little boy’s face appear on the paper. The child that for some reason, she would never know or ever be able to explain was reaching out to her.
• “We’ll meet you down there,” Reid said it quietly as Jac pulled him back towards the door. “Just lock the door on your way out, Brent.”
• Brent nodded without looking away from the trembling woman he sat across from. He waited until he heard the door close. “Are you all right?”
• Felicity looked up from her hands pressing the folder closed. “Yes.” Her voice vibrated with emotion. She cleared her throat. “It’s just— I’ve never actually seen this child outside of my own head, I’m …” She couldn’t even describe the feelings she was having.
• Brent reached over and placed his hand over hers. He felt the tremors going through her. He watched her look down at his hand. He wasn’t sure what the expression was that crossed her face. “Let’s go see if we can find out who this little guy is.” She nodded abruptly.
• Brent glanced up from the list he’d been reading. He checked to see if the women were still wandering back and forth in front of the computer. Looking at the pages in his hand he got up nonchalantly and walked over to Reid’s desk. Waiting until his partner looked up at him, he held out the list. Reid looked at it then back up at him. Holding a finger over his lips Brent handed him the papers.
• Reid frowned but took them.
• Turning. Brent went over and stood by the computer. “It’s going to take time ladies.” He glanced back towards Reid. Obviously, by the irritated look on his partner’s face, he’d read the list. “I’m going up to see if we can borrow a few minutes of Alec’s time.” Reid nodded. They both knew Alec McGowan had a passion when it came to missing children’s cases. No one knew why exactly, but the fellow detective would go out of her way to get assigned any related cases.
• Brent sighed as he walked slowly up the stairs. Personally, he wasn’t fond of cases like this, the statistics for finding missing children were not favorable and he admitted— to himself only— that his heart couldn’t take the ache that went with it.
• Felicity sat and watched the faces flying by on the screen. So many young faces went across it. Were there really that many children out there with such uncertain futures? Glancing over at the tall detective, she noticed he still hadn’t spoken a word in the whole time she’d been here. The only time he deviated from whatever it was he was working on was so he could follow Jacinda around the room with his eyes. Small pains of jealously stabbed at her a few times when she thought of how different Jacinda was from the norm and that she was able to find someone. Her mind was dying to know how that worked, with Jacinda picking up emotions when she touched someone, but common sense told her some things were better not being asked in front of a male. Shoes echoing on the stairs had her turn back towards the door to see Brent come meandering through the door in his easy way. She was surprised when a tall blonde followed him. Her jeans were faded, and her t-shirt tucked in to reveal a badge clipped to her belt.
• Brent stopped just inside the door. “Felicity, this is detective McGowan. I’ve borrowed her for a bit to help us out.”
• Felicity stood up and tried not to notice how the other woman towered over her. She had to be at least six feet tall. She offered her hand. “Felicity Dante.” The woman shook her hand briefly.
• “Alec.” She turned and nodded to Jac. “Hey.”
• Jacinda smiled and stood up. “Hi Alec, thanks for coming down.”
• Alec shrugged indifferently. “No problem, I was falling asleep over paperwork.” Her eyes went to the monitor for a moment then to the sketch sitting on the desk. Flipping the long ponytail behind her she bent down and studied it. “You’ve seen him?”
• Felicity walked over nodding. “Yes.” She chanced a glance at Brent, not sure if she should explain. He just shook his head so she didn’t say anything else.
• Alec looked up at the screen as she spoke. “Good eye. It’s shocking how many people don’t realize what they see, or care to do anything about it.”
• Reid walked over and handed Alec the list he’d been studying. She took and glanced at it briefly before tossing it onto the desk. “You don’t need to show me that Reid, I’m more than aware of that pathetic list.”
• Felicity stood there, not sure if she wanted to know what the list was. She looked over at Brent hoping for some insight then Alec sighed.
• “Sorry, I get a little worked up when it comes to the missing kids.” She blew out a long breath. “There isn’t much that can be done until a match comes up though. Hopefully, a match comes up.”
• Felicity frowned. “What do you mean?”
• Alec stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Some people don’t care. They should be shot, but regardless, they don’t care enough to report it. Poverty-stricken families…”
• Brent cleared his throat to get her attention. “I thought you could explain the statistics for Felicity, Alec. You know them by heart.”
• Alec nodded slowly. “Yeah, unfortunately.” She looked back at the sketch on the desk before looking back at the others. “The sad reality is usually after forty-eight hours there isn’t much we can do unless someone sees a particular child … and cares.” She leaned back against the desk and crossed her arms in front of her. “In Canada and the US, there are over eight hundred thousand kids that go missing each year.” She watched the shocked expressions cross over Jacinda and Felicity’s faces. “I could break it down to how many kidnappings, parental abductions and go down the list, but I won’t.” She looked at the monitor again. “How long has this been running?”
• Brent looked over at the clock. “A few hours.”
• She pursed her lips for a second before speaking. “You still have a bit of a wait then, it goes through the database from the longest to most recent.”
• Felicity sighed. “And there’s no other way?”
• Alec shook her head. “Not unless the parents come walking through that door to file a report.” She pushed away from the desk and gave Brent a nod. “Let me know if you need any help once it comes up.”
• Brent nodded slowly. “Thanks, Alec.”
• Felicity watched her walk out of the office before turning back to Brent. “We just wait?”
• Jac paced across the floor a few feet. “Do you have those journals and drawings with you?” Felicity nodded. “Can I see them? Maybe there’s something that will give us an idea.”
• Reid put his arm around Jac’s shoulder. “If anyone is going to pull something out of there, it will be you.” He was rewarded with a stunning smile and a kiss on the cheek.
• Brent chuckled and walked back over to his desk. “I’ll make a few calls to the neighboring towns and see if anyone has reported anything while you ladies go through the journals.” Jac was already looking through Felicity’s notes before he even got to sit down.