Our Sick Inheritance (editing)

Ch 107 (kyle)- The Devil is Sly

The brain has a way of taking control and Kyle's was often overactive that it didn't allow for much rest. Besides not having the routine comfort of his wife next to him, Kyle couldn't do more than wait until everyone was awake as he couldn't sleep while his daughter was missing. He had taken the opportunity to write out a report of his trip to keep his mind busy on the details of the case. The worry over Stacy was a constant film on his glasses as he glared at the screen while he pounded out his findings.

Finally, after the sun rose over the mountains, Kyle took a quick shower and packed up his belongings leaving little evidence that he had even used the room other than a few wet towels and a ten-dollar bill thrown on the table for the maid. He had a short conversation with Jake first thing in the morning allowing him to focus on his main priority which was to get home to his wife. He couldn't even enjoy looking down over the drawn outlines that separated the states from each other as he passed over them in the plane.

Upon landing they had a rough entrance into the airport. The recent storms that invaded their area was shocking and slammed the hope Kyle had that Stacy was safe into the wall with a sledgehammer. It had been two days and with the storms getting worse, the possibility that her car could be buried somewhere was real. He just hoped Stacy had found a safe refuge instead of being stuck in her little car without food, water, gas, or heat.

Kyle rushed into his house and saw his wife huddled in a thick blanket next to the house phone with her cell phone lying on the coffee table in front of her. He was surprised she hadn't lit a fire for the house was almost as cold inside as it was outside. Once Alicia heard him, she jumped up and rushed to him almost knocking him down as she wrapped her thin cold arms around his thick jacketed body. He held her for a few moments and kissed the top of her head to comfort away the terror of her thoughts. Kyle unzipped his jacket to bring her against his body to heat her blood. They wrapped around each other a few minutes more before Kyle led her back to the couch and into her blanket like a burrito. He started talking to her while he lit a fire. Feeling the flames already doing their job, Kyle then turned to her and saw the pink stripped box on the table next to her that he had missed when he first came home. Alicia looked at what caught his attention and a sad worried expression deepened on her face.

"So, that is the box you gave to Stacy for Anna's sweater?" Kyle asked not really wanting the answer but knew Alicia had many of them she used for her clients.

"Yep, I was thinking all night about the conversation I had with Tiffany. I was so distraught at the idea of Stacy missing that I hadn't gotten all the details organized until I laid in bed unable to sleep. I stood looking at the box wanting to be angry that I was doubting my trust in Stacy. There was just something about the box that made me stare at it because it didn't look right." Alicia said not glancing up at Kyle but kept her attention to the box instead.

Kyle stared at the box as well with it's perfect ribbon and bow tied around it, but didn't see anything wrong. It looked perfectly packaged up until he saw the open gap at the bottom of the box where the tape should have pressed the box flaps together. Stacy had cut the sealed tape carefully to slip the lid off. Kyle lifted the lid and saw what Alicia had also discovered.

The sweater that was supposed to be inside the box was gone.

Inside the box Stacy had thrown a shirt she owned into it to give it weight and movement if the box were to be shaken or handled. She took the chance of covering her tracks in case her parents didn't indeed trust her.

"Stacy took the sweater." Kyle said stating the obvious. Alicia just nodded.

"I called Tiffany early this morning and she said Stacy still hadn't showed up or returned their messages. I asked her what Stacy was wearing when they went shopping. She told me she had the sweater on.