The Target

Virginia Trolley pulled up with a young cop in her white Plymouth.

"Molly's gone," he said. "She's just gone."

Virginia Trolley saw the shock on his face, saw the little girl nearly hysterical in his arms. She said quietly, "Let's go inside and make some calls. It will be all right, Ramsey. Come along."

Virginia got on the phone. Ramsey started rocking Emma in his big desk chair. They heard a woman yell.

"Mama!"

Emma jerked out of Ramsey's arms and ran to the front door. It opened and Molly nearly fell inside, the young cop right behind her, his arm outstretched to grab her.

"Mama!"

Molly was on her knees in the foyer, Emma crying against her neck. The young cop said to Virginia, "I'm sorry, she wouldn't say who she was."

"It's okay. Now that Molly's here, you can go on over to Cliff House, Joe, and join the questioning."

Ramsey stood slowly. He waited until Emma had quieted a bit, waited until Molly finally raised her head.

"What happened to you?"

He sounded furious, at the end of his rope. Molly saw the policewoman standing by his desk. For a moment, she was so relieved she simply couldn't speak. She held Emma close.

"I got a phone call," she said, her voice strained and thin. "It came about ten minutes ago. I was sound asleep. It was a man. His voice was muffled, as though he was talking through a handkerchief. At first I was too asleep to realize what he was saying. But then he said everything again. He said something about the beach and he'd gotten her and I'd never see her again."

"Mama," Emma whispered. For a moment, Molly just held her daughter close. She rose finally, lifting Emma in her arms. She staggered. Ramsey walked to her and gathered them both close. He said against Molly's hair, "Thank God you're all right."

"Yes," Molly said. "What happened?"

Ramsey walked both of them to the sofa and sat down, holding each of them very close. He kissed Emma's forehead, then Molly's. "It's all right. We're all together. What happened is that a man did grab Emma, but I saw him running away with her and got her back. He ran away. Virginia's got police at the beach questioning people." He paused a moment, not releasing his hold on either of them. "But why did he call you? Just ten minutes ago? That means he called you after I got Emma back. Why'd he do that?"

Virginia said, "He did it to terrorize Molly. Now, who would like a glass of water?"

Ramsey started to say that Molly would, but he didn't. He realized that he was feeling very strange, as though his brain had slowed to a stumbling walk.

"I've been stupid," he said. "Even though I asked you about protection and you volunteered a patrol car, I still thought it was all over. I didn't really think there was any more danger. I never thought that man would come back."

"We've all been stupid," Molly said. "I didn't think there was any more danger either. The man's insane."

"That's probably very true," Virginia said. "Now, let's get down to it." Virginia asked him questions. She was infinitely patient, her voice pitched low. Ramsey realized, of course, that she'd played through scenes like this before, only most of them hadn't ended as well as this one had.

They sat close together, Emma on his lap, her face against her mother's shoulder, his arms around both of them.

Virginia said, "Mrs. Santera, please think back. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Virginia Trolley, of the SFPD. I've known Ramsey for a while."

Molly nodded at the woman who was dressed all in black with a bright red blazer. "Call me Molly."

"All right. Good. Now, the man called at about-" She looked at her watch, did some calculations. "He called about ten after three. He said what exactly?"

"He said he had Emma. He said that stupid judge had just left her on the beach, didn't care about her at all, that he was flirting with this girl and throwing a Frisbee for her dog. He said it was a piece of cake. He said he'd never let her escape him again. He said I'd never see her again. Then he laughed. He said he was going to drive close to the house so maybe I could see him and Emma. He said he'd let Emma wave good-bye to me. Then he hung up. I was staring at the phone. I couldn't think of anything to say. Then I thought if I went outside maybe I could catch him. I ran outside. I've been running all through Sea Cliff. I'm surprised neighbors haven't called the cops to report a crazy woman."

"He called her after I got Emma back," Ramsey said slowly. "Just to frighten her?"