NaNoWriMo Day 23: 27,989 of 50,000
Theo finds himself back in the hospital… but for a different reason this time!
To read the previous chapters head HERE!
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was a futile call in the end because as soon as Theo explained who he was and why he was calling her dad, who answered the phone, quickly asked for privacy and hung up. What Theo needed was to regroup now realizing that he had come to a dead end, but having learned about detectives who investigated past murders and kidnappings they didn’t stop. They kept on pursuing information even when it seemed there was a brick wall in front of them.
“So, what was with the urgency. I was in the middle of a day-long binge of Stranger Things,” Alice said as she walked into Theo’s place.
Theo laughed thankful already that he had asked Alice to come over. “I just need someone to bounce some ideas off of. I tried to talk to Tiffany, but her parents stopped me.”
“Her parents? Wait, Theo why do you want to talk to Tiffany?” she asked as they walked up to Theo’s room.
“I want to see if she can recognize Stanley. I’m telling you something needs to trigger her memory and why not let it be the man who could have potentially kidnapped her?” Theo rattled off.
“Ok slow down a second Theo,” she said petting an excited Bella. “This one looks like she could use a walk,” Alice turned toward Theo, “actually you both look like you could use some fresh air. Come on let’s go to Golden Gardens. I’ll drive us there.”
Theo couldn’t completely disagree. The sun was shining today and it felt like spring for the first time. When they arrived plenty of other Seattleites had the same idea as the beach was packed with people, dogs, and food. Bella excitedly ran around in the sand, digging holes, and barking at the seagulls.
“So, who gave you Tiffany’s number?” Alice asked as they watched Bella dig holes in the sand.
“Mallory. I was able to speak with her when I was on patrol the other night.”
Alice laughed. “Patrol. I’m sorry but what is this whole neighborhood watch squad even doing? They haven’t brought a police officer over here so what’s the point? We’re completely defenseless.”
Theo laughed with Alice and accidentally brushed her hand as he was moving sand around him. She looked at him now with a soft smile on her face. The golden glow of the sunset made her face look different, not in a good or bad way, but just different. Theo shook his head and looked back at the calm waters of the Puget Sound.
Over the next few days Theo kept calling and calling the family. One day he even got Tiffany on the phone, but she wasn’t able to respond because her mom grabbed the phone and all but screamed at Theo to live them alone.
“Wait, I might know who took Tiffany!” Theo screamed back.
The line didn’t go dead, but there was no response from the other line. He even pulled the phone away from his ear and saw that the call hadn’t ended either. “Hello?”
“How?” the woman, Helen, finally said.
“I’m sorry?”
“How do you potentially know who did this?” she added.
Theo sighed. “Look I would rather come over and explain this in person. I need to see how Tiffany reacts to all of this.”
Again the line was silent as Theo presumed Helen was thinking. “You have 20 minutes to explain. Come now.”
The line went dead, but a text message arrived from the number with the address. Theo was a little put off by the abruptness of it, but he wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass so he pulled on his coat and hopped over to Alice’s front door with Bella in tow.
“Hey Theo what’s going on?” she answered eating a piece of pizza that was in her hand.
“It’s Helen,” Theo said almost out of breath.
“Who is Helen?” Alice asked leaning against the doorframe.
“Tiffany’s mother. She said we can meet. Come on!” Theo was rushing and barely explaining himself, but he didn’t feel like there was time.
“Wait! Theo!” Alice screamed because Theo had turned around and was walking in the direction of Tiffany’s house. Alice didn’t have a choice but to put on the shoes by the door and rush after him. “Theo what are we doing?”
“We need to talk to Tiffany. I want to see if she recognizes Stanley or even can tell us something.”
“Theo, she won’t because of what they said in the news. She can’t remember anything,” Alice responded all but running trying to keep up with him.
The two of them arrived and were greeted by a tired looking older woman whose face had become familiar after the endless reports of her daughter’s disappearance and reappearance.
“She is tired so please do not overwhelm her,” she said as they walked into the living room.
Young Tiffany was curled up under a big blanket on the living room couch. An episode of “The Office” was playing on the TV, but for the teenager it didn’t matter because she was staring at the unlit fireplace directly in front of her.
“Tiffany, sweetheart. You have some guests,” her mom said softly as they came in the room.
Tiffany wasn’t startled as her eyes shifted from the fireplace to Theo then down to Bella. Her face softened as she looked at the puppy who was wagging her tail. Theo looked down at Bella who was doing all she could not to lunge toward Tiffany.
“This is Bella, she’s my puppy,” Theo shared as Tiffany now looked up at him, “can she come to you for a pet? She loves meeting new people.”
Tiffany looked back at Bella before nodding slowly. Theo guided Bella toward Tiffany continuously telling his dog not to jump on her and to sit and be a good girl. Bella did her best but by the time she got to Tiffany she couldn’t help but jump onto Tiffany’s lap and licked her face. The young girl laughed which seemed to defrost her mother as she settled into an armchair.
“So, now that you’ve met my Bella I am Theo and this,” he said turning toward Alice, “is my friend Alice.”
“Hi,” Tiffany said as Bella settled on her lap enjoying the pets to her head.
Theo looked at Helen and then Alice wondering what to say next. Theo decided it was best to just dive in. “I don’t have all of the information, but I have an idea of who could’ve possibly done this to you. Have you remembered anything since you’ve returned?” Tiffany just shook her head and didn’t say a word more. “Nothing? Not even how you got dropped off in front of your house?” Theo had noticed he crossed a line because Tiffany became visibly uncomfortable and pulled the blanket tighter around her making Bella get off the couch.
“Ok, Theo I’m sorry but I think that’s enough for now. She really doesn’t remember much of anything,” Helen said standing up indicating it was time for him and Alice to leave.
Theo nodded. “I understand, but Tiffany,” he began pulling something out of his back pocket, “if you do happen to start remembering please let me know if this man,” he handed her the photo of Stanley, “is familiar to you. Ok?”
Tiffany took it and looked it over not reacting in either a positive or negative way. “Ok.”
Theo and Alice said a soft goodbye to Helen and made their way back to their home. Alice sighed as they approached their street corner.
“I think she really doesn’t know anything Theo,” Alice said saying goodnight to Theo and then Bella. As Theo crawled into bed that night he couldn’t help but agree with Alice; Tiffany really didn’t know or remember anything.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next few weeks were quiet as the summer was approaching and the tourists came out in full force around Ballard. As Alice was taking a break from her coursework she joined Theo at the coffee shop for his work time. Theo had begun to enjoy all the time he was spending with Alice whether it was playing crime fighters or just hanging out with each other. Theo knew what was developing between him, but like all other aspects of his life he had to put it on pause until this mystery was solved.
“Hey can I get a tall black coffee to go please?” a familiar voice made Theo turn around to the voice.
“Tyler?” Theo was surprised to see his friend at the coffee shop looking somewhat put together since he last saw him.
Tyler turned around and smiled at Theo. “Hey man how is it going?” Tyler walked toward them and sat down in an empty chair.
“Are you back in Seattle?” he asked as Tyler awkwardly acknowledged Alice.
“Oh no just visiting,” Tyler got up to momentarily grab the coffee that was now ready.
“I’m not going to lie Tyler, but you look a lot better than when we saw you a few weeks ago,” Theo shared.
Tyler smirked. “I’ll take that as a compliment. It’s been difficult with Ophelia running off and then Natalie ending things. I just have been taking some time to get it together you know?”
Theo nodded sort of understanding where he was coming from, but finding it bizarre that his behavior was swinging so wildly back and forth. They talked for a bit longer mostly about Ophelia before Tyler had to head out.
“Well that was a bit odd,” Alice said after a few minutes of silence.
Theo nodded. “Dude has been like a pendulum with his behavior lately.”
Later that night Theo’s phone went off waking him and Bella up from a nap that had turned into a complete snooze as ESPN blared on the TV in front of him. He noticed the phone call was coming from Helen which woke him up.
“Hello?” Theo answered groggily.
“Theo! It’s Tiffany. She had a complete break last night and almost ran away. We brought her to the hospital and she keeps on mumbling something about a knife. I- I- know she would want you here. Can you get here?” her mother was mumbling quickly on the phone.
“Yes, yes I can. I’ll be there soon!” Theo said jumping out of his bed. He gave Bella bone filled with her favorite peanut butter and rushed out the door heading to the hospital Tiffany’s mother told him in a text message.
When Theo arrived he rushed to her room and noticed her parents sitting on either side of her bed as she slept in the middle. Helen pulled him out of the room and a ways down from the door so their voices wouldn’t wake her up. “She had to be given a sedative when she came in. Tiff was just,” Helen began to cry, “screaming about some guy holding a knife at her over and over. The doctor said he thinks she’s remembering now and I don’t know if I should be scared or relieved. I’m sorry for calling I-”
Theo stopped her. “Hey it’s ok Mrs. Lee. Really. I am glad you called me,” he said completely focused on holding Mrs. Lee in a hug and trying not to explode from rage or frustration, Theo wasn’t so sure these days how to label his emotions, at the mention of Stanley. “Is Tiffany going to be up soon? I really do want to ask her some more questions.”
Helen let go of Theo and took a deep breath. “Um Theo I know you want to get answers for our Tiffany, but we need to take this slow. The doctor said a lot of memories are about to flood her brain. It could be a lot for her so I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
Theo nodded in understanding and followed her back into the room. Tiffany slept for only twenty more minutes before waking up and groggily looking around. When her eyes landed on Theo she wildly pointed at the end of her bed. “The photo mom! The photo!” Helen hurriedly pushed the bed’s table, one Theo became familiar with when he was in the hospital, toward her daughter. A few magazines lay on the table, but there also was a familiar photo. Tiffany picked it up and pointed at it over and over. “I recognize him, but I don’t know how. I recognize him Theo! Did he do this to me?” At this point Tiffany began to cry her mom pulling her in.
Theo took the photo of Stanley from her and rubbed her arm. “Tiffany I really don’t know. I have my suspicions about him, but I really don’t know. But Tiffany,” he said softly trying to get her to look at him and eventually she did, “with your recognition of this man it speaks volumes and the police will listen more to me than they did before.” Tiffany nodded and began to wipe her tears. “I will go to the police first thing in the morning. Ok?”
Tiffany nodded. “Ok. This is so frustrating. I just want to remember!”
Helen smoothed her daughter’s hair down as she spoke. “Honey you will. We know you will.” At this her dad, Dave, joined the family hug and Theo quietly stepped out. He knew what was next, but knowing his luck he wasn’t sure how it was going to go.
Follow along with me this month at Jenna Pratt!
