Brenden’s hard-won control was about to fucking break. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose praying he didn’t slap the woman in the face.
“What now,” Jaxson said. He must have noticed Brenden’s shift in posture.
“They were not working. Once the fire alarm goes off, it stops recording until it stops.”
“Are you trying to tell me we have no fucking clue what the woman looks like?”
“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Waters apologized. “This has never happened to us before.”
Brenden couldn’t listen to any more excuses, the more he stood there talking to a woman who didn’t have answers the further away he was from finding his son. He knew where Nicholas’ classroom was and didn’t wait for Jaxson and the two detectives to follow. He got there and took a deep breath. Brenden didn’t want to scare anyone else, he knew the detectives were right and he should step away from the case and let them handle it but he couldn’t. It was too important to leave in someone else’s hands.
“Ready?”
He looked to his left side, and Jaxson was standing beside him. He nodded. “Hey,” he said before they opened the door to the classroom. “Thanks.”
“We’re going to find him, we have everyone working on this,” Jaxson told him.
His phone rang, and he didn’t need to look at it to see who it was. He ignored the call and walked into the classroom.
“Mr. Smith.” Ms. Clark got up and met him at the door when he walked in. There was a couple and a child in the room with her. “I’m sorry for what happened, I… I…”
She stumbled over her words, Brenden knew the professional thing to do was say something like “it’s okay,” but he wasn’t in the mood to say anything to ease her guilt. He’d left his child in her care, and she fucked that up. He looked at the couple standing with the kid, wanting to talk to him.
“Brenden Smith,” he said extending his hand.
“Colin,” the man introduced himself and shook Brenden’s hand. “And my wife, JoAnna. I’m sorry to hear about your son. I hope Allen can help you.”
“Thank you for allowing him to talk to me,” Brenden told them.
The little boy got up and walked over to Brenden. “Are you Nick’s dad?” he asked.
Brenden went to one knee and was face to face with the child.
“Yes, I am,” he answered with a smile he didn’t feel.
“I’m Nick’s best friend,” the kid said to him.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Brenden asked Allen.
“He didn’t want to go with her, she told him that she was his mommy and Nick told her no she wasn’t. I was trying to hold on to Nick, and we were gonna scream for the teacher, but she said something in his ear and Nick stopped and nodded then he was walking off with her,” Allen told him then he looked at the teacher. “I tried to get Ms. Clark’s attention, but she was busy with Turner because he was trying to run away again.”
Brenden looked at Ms. Clark who looked as if he raised his tone higher than a scream she would break in half. “Did anyone else see what happened?”
“Cindy did, but she went home,” Allen told him. “Are you gonna find Nick? He said you’re strong and work for the FBI.”
Brenden smiled, even if it was forced, and nodded his head. “Do you remember what the lady looked like?”
“Mhm,” Allen answered.
“Can you tell me what she looks like?” Jaxson asked kneeling beside Brenden.
“She was tall with bright red hair,” Allen told them.
“Can you tell me anything else, buddy?” Jaxson probed.
“She had spots over her face like me. My mom calls them feckles,” Allen explained.
“You mean freckles,” Jaxson corrected.
