When Time Is a River by Susan Clayton-Goldner

Author:Susan Clayton-Goldner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, suspense, child abuse, kidnapping, arizona, stalking, ashland creek
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Chapter Sixteen

Brandy pulled her old corkboard from the back of her closet and set it on her desk. She counted out fifteen three-by-five index cards and numbered them—one for each of the fifteen minutes between the time she’d started toward the restroom and the time she’d run into Stone at 3:30 and then called 911.

She’d do exactly what Radhauser suggested. She’d keep replaying that time, minute by minute, over and over, until she remembered something new. She used pushpins to tack the cards onto the corkboard. One by one, she took them down, closed her eyes and tried to recreate the scenes. She wrote out the details.

On the first card, she remembered the look on Emily’s face when Brandy told her not to unhook her safety belt. A look that said it was exactly what the toddler would do. She put a red star beside it—a reminder to tell Radhauser.

By card three, she remembered how she’d bent to tie Em’s shoelaces, but then Emily had distracted Brandy by pushing her little Pooh bear into her face and telling her he needed a nap. Brandy had forgotten to tie Emily’s shoes. This could be important. The rainbow sneakers were untied. Someone tied them in double knots and tossed them into the creek? Why? Another red star. She made more notes to tell Radhauser.

On card five, she wrote about the way she’d sat on the commode and took off her boots and jeans. How Emily had squealed, “Bumblebee no sting big Pooh. He no nap.” Holy shit, Brandy thought. Emily had sounded excited. Maybe she hadn’t been talking about her own Pooh. Maybe she meant the one in the toyshop window. The one Emily called big Pooh. Did that mean someone brought the big stuffed animal to the restroom? It must have been sold on Thursday or Friday, because she and Emily had seen it Wednesday afternoon. Had someone bought that bear to entice Emily? Or was it a coincidence? Maybe what Kent saw wasn’t entirely make-believe. Maybe he really did see a big Pooh wearing a yellow T-shirt, and imagined it carrying Emily. Another red star. Another note for Radhauser.

There’d been a little girl in the restroom, not Emily, asking for a balloon. “I want a balloon, too,” she’d said. “Please. A red one.” Who was she asking? Emily didn’t have any balloons. Was there an adult in the bathroom handing out balloons? Another child? Had that person given a yellow one to Emily? Something else to mention to Radhauser.

For two hours, she studied the cards as if her brain had no off switch. She closed her eyes and tried to recreate every second of those fifteen minutes. Tried to remember what she’d seen when she stepped out of the restroom.

Over and over, she asked herself the same questions, trying to find a way to connect the dots. Think. Think. A birthday party going on. Balloons tied to the corners of a long table. Children laughing and standing in line. Had

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