The Perfect Solution-A Suspense of Choices (28 page)

"That's okay." Austin laughed."I love knowing where I stand."

"Ms. Teddi, come over here. We want to get this reunion on camera."

Turning in the direction of Detective Serge's voice, Catrine allowed Austin's guiding arm to lead them to the circle of cameras where she was immediately bombarded with a multitude of questions. A man wearing metal-rimmed glasses and standing head and shoulders above the other news people pushed his microphone towards her face.

"Ms. Teddi I know this has been a harrowing experience for you so we won't keep you too long. What a blessing to have found him so soon. “

“I know. I’m so happy I can’t even think.”

“I understand that you frequent this restaurant every Saturday. Have you ever seen the lady that kidnapped your son? I've heard that she frequents this restaurant, also."

"I have never seen the woman and hope that I never do." Catrine answered.

"Is it true that she lives somewhere near here?"

"Yes Brhin, my smart little boy." She kissed his cheek. "Called home and left a message on my answering machine and said that he was across the street from McDonald's in a yellow house.”

"How did you know that it was this McDonald's restaurant?"

"'Cause we always come here on cartoon day and I play out there while my momma sits at the table and eats breakfast." He pointed to the playground and sitting area outside of the window. "Hi."

Brhin called out a greeting to someone across the room. Pointing to a smiling teenager in a McDonald's uniform, he turned back to his mother.

"That's my friend, Momma. You can tell him 'hi', no wait." He put his small hand over her mouth. "You can't talk to him he's a stranger. I don't know his name."

Everyone in the room laughed and a `few of the patrons made comments on how smart Brhin was.

"Well, we can fix that." The lady in green signaled for the teenager to come forward.

"Hi, I'm Roosevelt Jones." The teenager offered his hand to Brhin.

"My name is Brhin-Kristoffer Teddi." He shook hands and turned back to hug Catrine's neck possessively. "This is my momma."

“I am so glad to meet you, Roosevelt Jones. This is Brhin's father, Dr. Sanchez."

She indicated Austin at her side. Roosevelt shook Austin's outstretched hand and turned back to Catrine. She used her free arm to hug the teenager and to place a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you so much." She smiled at Roosevelt. "You have given me my life back. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I could never see Brhin's smiling face again."

"I'm just glad that I was here. He is really a cute kid."

"Thank you.”

"Ms. Teddi." A man stepped forward and Catrine recognized him to be from the Channel Six news team that had been at The P. S. Center earlier. "Would you like to tell us how the woman got your son?"

"It seems as if the woman had been keeping an eye on Brhin for some time. She knew that we ate breakfast here on Saturdays and she just walked into his child care center and took him."

"How did she know what center to go to?"

"I don't know. Maybe she saw him one day when he had on The P. S. Center's T-shirt or figured it out after she had listened in on our conversations. I just don't know."

"Did she use any type of force on Brhin or his teachers?" asked the newscaster in green.

"My teacher made me go." Brhin raised his head from his mother's shoulder. "I told her I din't wanna go, but she made me go." He turned to face his mother and placed the palm of his hands on each side of her cheeks and looked her straight in the face. "I don't wanna go to school anymore, Momma and I don't wanna go to that lady's house, even if she does have a room for me. It has a bed and a puppy like JoJo, but it’s not JoJo is it? I just wanna go home." He put his head back on her shoulder.

"No, Honey it's not JoJo. JoJo is at home just like you will be."

"One more question before you leave, could you tell our television audience how you are feeling at this moment?" Someone from the crowd shouted out.

"Yes, I can." Raking the fingers of her free hand through her hair, Catrine swallowed before answering."Right now I am extremely happy and relieved. I prayed and prayed that I would find Brhin safe. I thank God that it was this soon. My first reaction on hearing that my baby was missing was unleashed, uncontrollable fear. When I found out an adult entrusted with his care had given him to a complete stranger.... my God. I felt like hurting someone. You know, I have lived every day since Brhin's birth worrying about the terrors of sick child molesters when I should have been worried about the incompetent people that I pay to protect him.

For weeks I had been analyzing the security at Brhin's daycare. The P.S. Center has a lot of potential, but it is just so easy to get in there. Being in the business of company security, I had been worried about the ease at which anyone could walk into a daycare center and had been making notes on how my company could help Brhin's center. I had no idea it would be needed so soon. Wrote them down and would like to share them."

She dug through the pockets of her jacket before remembering the folded piece of paper was in her jean pocket."Maybe some of my suggestions will be able to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Bear with me. I tend to get on a soap box when it comes to security, especially when there are children involved." She began reading from the piece of paper."I think a soft buzzer should sound or a bell should ring when someone opens the door of any child care center and that mirrors should be placed in strategic areas and hallways so that they can be viewed from the office and rooms. I chose the childcare center I placed Brhin in because of the very first impression I received. Don't get me wrong. Beauty was not the only thing I saw. The center offers a great curriculum, computers, an enormous amount of play area and equipment, but when you walk in the door, the reception area is the biggest pull. The widest wall in the area has television monitors set in the walls so 'parents' could view all rooms and the playground at one time.

Notice that I said 'parents'. The office staff could not see those monitors so they did not notice when the woman entered and turned them off. What real good are they doing? No one knew who took my son. The woman basically just walked right in, said I want that one and walked right out. When it comes to someone picking up your child, I think it would be great if each center distributed two security cards to each family. Each card's number should match the number that is on the application."

Catrine switched Brhin to her other arm and looked around the crowded restaurant and continued talking.

"This may seem extreme, but after having a sick person stalking a preschooler, I feel that a small system like could be installed near the office and require the number plus a personal pen number that was punched in would show on a computer system in the office along with the name of the child and pictures of the people allowed to pick up the child. If the wrong number is punched in, the person should be thoroughly investigated. This may sound very expensive but a child's life is worth more than a few dollars."

She looked down at her list and then raised her head with a sheepish grin.

"You all will probably think that I am a little bit paranoid in saying this, but I believe that no child's name should be labeled on tables or the backs of chairs. I know that this is a great way to teach the children their names, but it also does the same thing for anyone that walks into the room. That is another thing that bothers me. Why is it so easy for someone to walk into a classroom? If every classroom had observation windows as Brhin's center has then strangers would not have to walk into the class. But, as you know this didn't make the room safe. I believe that automatic locking doors that have code numbers like some car doors should be installed. These doors should be easily opened from the inside or from the outside with the code or a key that the teacher carries with her, centers would have a great advantage over potential abductors.

If parents have a problem with the locked doors they can always view the rooms through the monitors set up in the entrance area or through the observation windows of the rooms. Parents shouldn't have the worry that the children will be locked in the room alone, because they are not supposed to be left alone. Observation is the key. It is the duty of the parent and people in charge of the children to pay attention.

I hope that some of my suggestions will be taken into account so that no other parent will have to go through the nightmare that I have been through. This was my first time dealing with daycare centers and more than likely my last."

"Ms. Teddi, would you tell us the name of center your son attended?"

"It is…"

"I go to The Perfect Solution Daycare Center," interrupted Brhin. "Momma," he pressed the palms of his hands on either side of her face. "I don't ever want to go there again."

"Don't worry, Honey. You will not be going back there."

"Dr. Sanchez, as the father, do you have anything to add?" The reporter extended the microphone towards Austin.

"Not much, we would like to get this little fellow home and erase some of his horrible memories and I hope the police are successful in finding the woman who did this."

"I know where she lives." Brhin raised his head again. "She lives right over there. Across the street in a yellow house that has a four and a zero on the wall. I don't wanna go there." He reiterated.

"You don't have to, Sweetie." Catrine kissed his cheek and turned back to the crowd.

"Thank you all. We're going to leave, now."

Detective Serge stepped to the couple's side. "It’s our procedure to take a kidnap victim to the hospital for a routine examination. I think we should go there now."

"Brhin looks fine." Catrine baulked at the idea of letting Brhin out of her sight for even a moment and clutched him closer.

"You can accompany him of course. Its procedure we don't vary from and it's a good thing."

"Okay." Catrine agreed. "Let's get this over with so we can get him to bed."

"And you go home and have a good night's sleep little Brhin," put in Detective Williams. "The rest of the police officers and I will find the lady and she will not be bothering you again. Do you by any chance know her name?"

"She said for me to call her 'Momma' or ‘Mona’. That's all I know," shrugged Brhin.

"Oh, that's what the 'M' stands for." Catrine exclaimed in enlightened tones. "Brhin called home from the woman's house and her name came up on the identification box, her last name is Boots."

"Thanks a lot. You were a big help, Brhin."

Austin put his arm around Catrine's waist and directed her towards the restaurant doors.

"I'm so glad this is over," Catrine whispered into Austin's ear.

"No more than I. This has been a hell of a day."

Looking over his mother's shoulders, Brhin smiled and waved at the crowd as he and his parents walked to the nearest exit... Everyone smiled and waved back, all except one person.

Tightening the grip on his mother's neck, Brhin stared at the face of the lone figure sitting in the black hooded coat. She had squeezed herself into the corner of a cubicle and was slowly chewing on a French fry. When she noticed that Brhin had spotted her, she placed her finger to her lips. As his mother's steps moved him past the cubicle, the finger on her lips was shifted and repositioned to form a gun, pointed at him. The woman moved her fingers in the action of pulling a trigger and Brhin screamed in terror. Hiding his face in the side of his mother's neck, he screamed again and again. Burrowing deeper in her arms as if he thought he could hide inside her skin. Catrine stopped walking as the crowd rushed up and around her.

"What's the matter? What frightened you? Detective Williams asked. She stood on the side of Catrine, touching Brhin on the back.

"Brhin, what's wrong?" Catrine tried to hold Brhin at arm’s length, but he refused to loosen the grip he had on her neck. "Baby, come on. I can't breathe. Tell me what the problem is.”

"Momma, she's over there." Loosening his grip, Brhin raised his head and pointed towards the cubicle that was now hidden by the crowd of people. "I can't see her, anymore."

"Who's over there?" Detective Williams turned around and looked in the direction Brhin was pointing.

"I can't see her anymore." Brhin repeated louder, and looked down at the detective and pointed his finger at her. "You said you were going to catch her and now she's gone. She did this to me," he mimicked the woman's threatening finger movements. "And now she's gone."

"Did you see what she had on? Did she still have on her jacket? Did you see which way she went?"

"She had on a black coat with a big hood on it. I could only see a little of her hair. It hung in her face like this." He opened his hand and rubbed his fingers diagonally across his left eye and face.

"Hey." A woman's voice yelled from the crowd. "A lady ran out of the back door. She looked just like that. She just drove off."

"I hear her. That's the lady, Momma."

"That's what they say, Brhin." Catrine agreed.

"But Momma she was the one...."

"Don't let it worry you, Sweetie," Catrine interrupted, she rubbed his head in consolation. Just try and forget about it."