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Moira felt quite upset when the sheriff left.  She felt so helpless and useless as if her hands were chopped off.  She had no idea how to solve this situation but she knew that she had to try everything in her power to get this right. She was still sitting outside smoking on the porch when she heard a message come through on her phone.  She checked her phone and saw that it was from Alex.  

"Hey baby, I miss you.  When are you coming home?"

She looked at her phone, and threw it on the chair. 

"How naive can one person be be?  She has been gone for more than a week and this is the first time he has even bothered to pick up a phone."

Moira went inside to make herself a cup of coffee and went back outside to smoke another cigarette. She always smoked a lot when she was stressed. 

How much her life has changed in just a few days. She came here totally heartbroken, and then she found Billy again. Then came Vincent. Vincent was one of the sweetest children she had ever met and she couldn't get past the awful things that happened to him. All she wanted to do was to protect him, and at this stage she would do anything to prevent him from being hurt again. She even thought of running away with him, but then she would be nothing more than a kidnapper herself. 

Moira's phone rang behind her and she felt like ignoring the call, but realized that it might be important. She got up to answer.  It was detective Santos.  

"Morning mam, I just wanted to inform you about the new developments on this case. I assume that sheriff Jones spoke to you about everything?  I will come by a bit later to come and pick up the boy."

Moira sat staring at the phone after he put the phone down.  She felt as if she could cry and never stop crying again.  "What was she going to tell Vincent?"

She promised him that he would be safe, and now he had to go into the system until they resolved this terrible mess. Moira felt dispirited. 

She had to let him go, and there was nothing on earth she could do to stop them from taking Vincent away.  He was not hers to keep. 

She smoked her last cigarette in the packet and made a mental note to buy more. After she finished, she made more coffee and made Vincent some tea.  She took it to him where he was watching television. 

She stood in the doorway watching him and he looked so peaceful and content with no care in the world. 

"What are you watching little man?" She asked and he seemed happy to see her.  

She took a seat on the couch and asked him to come sit next to her.  She handed him the tea and he smiled at her.  

"I added a little more sugar, just because you are so sweet." Vincent blushed. 

"Listen little man, do you remember detective Santos?"  Vincent nodded before taking another sip of tea.

"Well, detective Santos is coming a bit later ....to come and fetch you to answer more questions. Would that be okay with you?"

Vincent nodded.  He liked detective Santos.  He was a friendly man.

"Could you make us hamburgers tonight Moira?" Vincent asked and Moira felt the tears well up in her eyes.  

"Sure little man, anything for you."  She didn't have the heart to tell him that he would not be there that night and she quickly stood up so that he could not see her crying.

Moira stood in the bathroom and cried her heart out.  She opened the shower so that Vincent could not hear her sobbing.  She felt so terrible for him, and everything that happened to him and she felt even worse because she could not keep him here.  

Once she stopped crying she put on enough make up to cover up her red eyes, and when Vincent saw her he did not notice anything.  

"Are you going to help me bake a cake today?"

Vincent smiled and said.  "I have never baked a cake before."

Moira took out all the ingredients and gave him the recipe.  

"Come on, there is always a first time for everything.  All you have to do is to read the recipe and follow the instructions."

What Vincent said next, shocked her to the core. 

"I don't know how to read..." 

She quickly worked out the math in her head and realized that he was just about to go to school, when he was kidnapped. "

She felt terrible but rescued the situation by saying: " Okay, never mind, then we will teach you. I'm going to read to you and you can just do as I say okay?" 

Vincent looked embarrassed, but she quickly hugged him and whispered in his ear that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. Vincent followed her instructions and he enjoyed doing everything himself. He felt very proud when the mixture finally went into the oven. He anxiously took a seat in front of the oven and watched for a few minutes while the cake baked. She laughed and explained to him that it would take a while for them to take out the cake from the oven and that he could go and watch television while they waited.  

Vincent just left the room, when she heard a car in the driveway and saw that it was sheriff Jones, and detective Santos.  

She invited them in and made some coffee.  They all sat down and detective Santos explained to her what was happening. She just nodded and accepted it for what it was.  After they finished talking, she asked to be excused to go and pack Vincent's clothes. She called Vincent and explained that he had to go with the detective now and he followed her into the kitchen. He seemed much more relaxed with the situation than she was and he waved to her when they drove off.  

She started crying again, and her mascara smeared all over her face. A few minutes later Billy showed up with lunch and he found her in a terrible state.  

"He's gone..." was all he could get out of her as he tried to make sense of what was going on.  He was totally uninformed about what happened the previous night and that morning.  Billy just held her tightly and stroked her hair and told her that everything was going to be okay.  

-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

Chapter 8 -  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-8

Chapter 9 -  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-9

Chapter 10 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-10

Chapter 11 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-11

Chapter 12 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-12

Chapter 13 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-13