The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection by Patricia Kiyono Page B

Thanksgiving, but for
her own room, Angie would rather have your help. She says your
taste is more like hers. If you can’t, I understand. I know you’ve
got the pageant and everything…”
    Is this just an excuse to get me
there? Maybe he can’t tell me what’s really wrong because he
doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Angie. “I’d love to help. Does she want to have her room
done before Thanksgiving?”
    “ Well, only if you’ve got time. I
told her you’ve got work and writing to do.”
    “ I don’t have to work at the rink
until this evening. And I can do the writing any time. Is Angie
available today? I can come over and make some plans with her and
maybe we can get some shopping done this afternoon.”
    “ Aw, Sophie, you’re a lifesaver.
When will you be here?”
    “ I’ve got to put
groceries away and then I’ll be right over.” Yep, something is up. He sounds way too relieved about me
coming.
    They disconnected and Sophie
returned to taking care of the food. For some reason the huge
turkey didn’t seem as heavy as it had a few minutes earlier. She
made quick work of putting away the groceries. Mitch and Angie
needed her, and she had no intention of letting them
down.
     
    ~~~~
     
    Mitch met Sophie at the door. He pulled her into the mudroom and
leaned toward her. Sophie’s heart began to race, but then she noted
his bloodshot eyes and the disheveled state of his hair and
clothes. He spoke in a low voice, and she listened
intently.
    “ Listen, Sophie, I want you to
know something before you talk to Angie. I got a call from the
school secretary yesterday. Some strange man came and tried to take
Angie out of school.”
    Sophie’s hand went to her mouth and
she stifled her gasp. “Oh, no. Who would do something like
that?”
    “ Some lowlife who’s working for
someone else. Fortunately the school has a policy that they won’t
release a child to anyone unless the parents have signed permission
for that person to take them. The secretary didn’t recognize the
man so she asked him for his name and said she’d have to check
Angie’s permission forms. When she went to look them up, he left.
But she saw his car pulling out of the parking lot and reported his
license number to the police. Then she called me.”
    Sophie’s mind spun. If anything
happened to Angie, she didn’t think she could bear it. “Kathy
Sikkema is a sharp lady. She’s Pastor Sikkema’s wife. Thank
goodness she prevented him from taking her! Have they found the man
yet?”
    “ They have, since Kathy got a good
look at the car and got the license number. But he hasn’t said
anything yet about why he tried to take her or who he’s working
for. Whoever paid him might try again. I’m going to keep a close
eye on her until we find out. I’d like to keep her home from
school, but that would only scare her. The principal has assigned
an extra teacher’s aide to her classroom and she and the teacher
will keep a close eye on her at all times.”
    “ Maybe it would be better if I
don’t take her shopping,” Sophie suggested.
    “ I’d feel better if you both
stayed here, but she’s getting pretty antsy. I haven’t let her out
of my sight since yesterday. I even had a campout with her in my
office last night just so I’d have an excuse to keep her with me
all night.” He sighed. “I don’t want Angie to know what’s going on,
but I think she’s starting to suspect something’s wrong. If you go
anywhere, could you stick to the local shops instead of going to
the mall?”
    Not for the first time, Sophie’s
heart warmed at Mitch’s obvious love for his daughter. “Of course.
And I can text you every once in awhile to let you know where we
are and that everything’s okay.”
    “ Thanks. And maybe—”
    “ Miss Sophie! I’m so glad you can
help me. Daddy said you might be too busy, but I knew you’d come.
Look what I found.” Angie stood at the entrance of the mudroom.
Sophie and Mitch glanced at each