“This may be a sensitive question, but is Claire yours?”
I smile at the thought of my daughter and reach into my back pocket to pull out my wallet. I take out the last picture I received from Penny, well Frannie, and its Claire’s second grade photo. Marley isn’t the first person to ask if Claire is mine, but all it takes is for the person asking to take a look at Claire and see she looks just like me. Placing the photo on Marley’s desk, I slide it toward her.
“Well that answers my question,” Marley says, nodding.
Taking the photo back I look at Claire and silently tell her that I’m coming for her.
“If you ‘died’ four months into your mission and you say that your daughter is nine, how’d you get that picture?” Marley asks.
“Well, this is where shit gets complicated, ma’am. Our team leader’s wife knew we were alive and kept sending us care packages so we wouldn’t know something was up.”
“That’s fucked up.” The statement must shock Marley as she quickly covers her mouth. Thing is, her response was so quiet that I almost didn’t hear her, but I like knowing she’s not afraid to drop the f-bomb when it’s warranted.
“Yes, ma’am, it is.”
“I feel really sorry for you, Tucker.”
I want to tell her thank you, but I don’t need pity. I want answers. I want my family back. “Please, just help me find my wife and daughter.”
Marley nods and wipes an errant tear that’s fallen down her cheek. I direct my gaze down at my lap because I don’t want her to know how she’s affecting me. I don’t want to see her heart break for me because I’m not worth it. The ache she’s feeling in her heart needs to be focused on finding Penny and Claire.
“Claire’s in second grade?”
I sit up, rubbing my hand up and down my leg. “Third, now.” The only reason I know this is because of the care packages and the reports cards I was receiving. “She’s just like me with having a birthday that is later than your classmates.”
“Okay. I’ll need that picture and one of Penny.”
I quickly hand the picture back to Marley and pull out the last one I received of Penny. If I had to guess it was probably seven or eight years old. Even when I deployed after Claire was born, Penny would only send pictures of our daughter. Rarely would she be in them. It didn’t matter because I always kept my favorite picture of Penny in my helmet. I take a long look at my wife, with her blonde hair in a messy bun and her sunglasses resting on the top of her head. We had just come back from the beach and she was outside hosing off Claire’s toys when I called her name and snapped the photo. Reluctantly, I hand the photo to Marley, who puts each one into her scanner. A few clicks later and they’re both back in my hand and tucked inside my wallet for safe keeping. That is until I pull them out later when I’m lying in bed, wondering if they’re safe.
“What’s your wife’s name?”
“Penelope Ann McCoy,” I say with a sigh. I finally feel like Marley has listened to my plight and she’s willing to help me.
While typing on her computer, Marley rattles off her next question without glancing at me. “Maiden name?”
“Kolowski.”
“And Claire’s name?”
“Claire Ann McCoy.”
Marley continues to ask pertinent questions with me giving her everything she needs to know and then some. With each click of the keyboard, I grow more anxious. Could Marley be the one to find my wife and daughter? I don’t want to get my hopes up, but maybe Carole is right and a woman private investigator will have a better chance than a man—especially one who focuses on searching for kidnapped children.
That thought makes me pause. I refuse to believe Penny kidnapped Claire. I can easily admit that Penny and I hadn’t known each other long when we married, but I was in love and in the middle of a war. War makes you lonely and Penny filled that void. When Claire came along, she filled a hole in my heart that I didn’t know I had.
When I left on the snatch and grab mission, everything was fine … or so I thought. No, I believed everything was fine and that my wife would be waiting for me to come home. I told her, just as I did with all my missions, that I’d be coming home to her. I have never lied to her and I never will.
“Okay, I’ve run Claire’s name through a system I use to check every student and registered homeschool student, and have come back with nothing.”
“I know. That’s the answer I’ve been given over and over again. Claire’s not registered in school, or she’s not registered under that name.”
“Why do you think she’d be under a different name?”
“It’s a hunch. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. Penny didn’t take my pension, which to me means she didn’t leave me. She also left in the middle of the night. Penny hated being out after dark, especially with Claire. The story I’ve been told doesn’t add up with the person I know Penny to be.”
Marley fingers moves along her keyboard, I assume adding notes to my file. When she’s done, she sighs and looks at me. “Mr. McCoy I think I have enough information to start, but I’m going to be honest. Penny has been gone for a long time and usually the longer they’re gone, the harder they are to find. Most people who leave their world behind are running from something, and the fact that none of your friends filed a missing persons report concerns me.”
I feel as if a ton of bricks are being pressed into my chest, while a light bulb explodes right in front of me. I never asked Ryley if a missing persons report was filed, nor did I look for one, or file one myself.