The attic - Chapter 8

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The inspector put the phone down in her ear and she stared blankly at the phone.  

"What does he mean Vincent has been dead for four years. Perhaps he thought of someone else? Well, it's no use phoning again now, he seemed annoyed as it is, perhaps if I contact the police tomorrow morning, they would be able to assist." She thought to herself. 

She checked her phone again for a message from Billy but there was still nothing.  

"Oh Billy where are you?" she said and then dialed his number. It rang for about a minute before going over to voicemail.  

He must have left his damn phone in his truck again. She poured herself a glass of milk and then went to her room.  She opened the door of the spare room to check on Vincent and found him laying on the floor all curled up. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully so she did not want to wake him to get him back inside the bed. She found it strange that someone would sleep on the floor but if that made him comfortable so be it. 

She locked her bedroom door, just in case, and got into bed.  It was a warm night, and she struggled to fall asleep. She rolled around for a few hours, and then totally gave up on going to sleep.  Her mind was stuck on Vincent.  She fetched her laptop from the kitchen and logged on again.  

She typed in his name again. 

It felt like hours before she found something worthwhile, and was surprised when she finally found a short newspaper article  that gave her all the information that she needed. She read it out loud to herself.

Law enforcement officers and volunteers have flooded the area around a Massachusetts home in the search for a  6-year-old boy whose father says he vanished after he took his eyes off him for a minute. He was playing in the back yard and his father left him for a minute to go inside. Sunday morning on 9 October 2009 Vincent Ray Lambert was reported missing around 6:45am. His father reported that he was wearing a blue short with a red t-shirt at the time of his abduction. An Amber Alert was issued early Monday and the FBI has now joined the search, ABC reports. All areas in the vicinity have been searched and all neighbors have been alerted. They were asked to thoroughly check their sheds or any other places that a small boy could hide. Vincent is described as a small white boy, 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 50 pounds.  He has blondish hair and blue eyes.  No one has reported anything at the time of this report. 

This article was published in 2009 which would make Vincent roughly twelve years old now. 

"Poor child. Does this mean that his abductee held him captive for six years?  No wonder the boy is so afraid!"

Sleeping was far from her agenda now and she searched even further.

She found a different article that confirmed what the detective said:

The body of a 8- year-old boy who disappeared in 2009 had been found. The boy had been decapitated and found in a forest near his home in Massachusetts. The exact cause of death has not yet been reported but the stepfather was taken into custody police said on Monday. The boy went missing on 9 October 2009 and was only found two years later when he allegedly escaped from being held captive. A memorial service will be held in memory of the deceased on 11 October at the St. Leonard's Church at 10h00 in the morning. Detective Santos expressed his deepest condolences to the boy's parents.    

"Oh my word, they buried the wrong child! " Moira couldn't believe what she read. 

She couldn't find any details of either parents and her only hope was phoning the detective again in the morning.  Perhaps she could talk some sense into him.

She was totally awake now, and she couldn't wait for the morning to come so that she could phone the police. She wanted Vincent to get a good night's sleep before she handed him over to the police, and she wanted to make sure that he was given to the right people.  He had been through enough.    

She felt so sorry for the frail child sleeping on the floor and could not imagine what he endured during all this time.  One thing that triggered her was how far away from home he was. They were nearly 600 miles from Massachusetts and if he was kept around here, nobody would have ever found him. 

At 5h30 she was still sitting on the porch and was delighted when the sun finally came up. She stood up to make some breakfast for her and Vincent and was just about to open the door when she heard the familiar sound of Billy's old truck.  

"Hey cupcake I only got your message now. I forgot my phone in the truck and I thought I'd stop by. Do you need me to lift some boxes or to move some furniture for you?" Billy said jokingly. 

She stared at him and he could see the panic expression on her face.  

"Goodness girl, what happened, it looks like you've seen a ghost. What happened?" 

Moira pushed him up the stairs and out in the hallway.  "Just wait here. I want to show you something."

She walked over to the bedroom where Vincent was sleeping. She opened the door slowly.  

He was gone. The blanket was folded neatly on the bed, and the window was left open a bit.  

"He's gone..." was all she shouted. She rushed over to the window to check, but he was long gone.  She just hoped that he would come back later, but she had to phone the detective first.  

Billy looked at her as if she was crazy and she fetched her laptop to show him what she had found. She told him the whole story of what happened and he looked at her with amazement.  She started crying and all that Billy could do was hold her in his arms and he kept repeating the same words.  

"Don't worry...he'll be back."

-To be continued-

Chapter 1 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-1

Chapter 2 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-2

Chapter 3 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-3

Chapter 4 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-4

Chapter 5- https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-5

Chapter 6- https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-6

Chapter 7- https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-7