What Child is This?

By TesubCalle

PROLOGUE: The Hunted

A fingernail-sliver of a crescent moon hung in the cloudless night sky. The pale light did little to illuminate a rural road in upstate New York, where four armed figures dressed in dark clothing stood surrounding a disabled dark green Ford Taurus.

The vehicle's interior light, however, was bright enough to show the abject fear on the faces of the young couple occupying the front seats.

Moments earlier, the car had inexplicably lost power and rolled to a stop, much to the bewilderment of the couple. They had been about to pop the hood when a large, black van with tinted windows pulled up behind them. Out of this van came the four figures, armed with handguns and flashlights, who took up positions around the car.

"Who are they, Cal? What do they want?" the woman on the passenger-side whispered tremulously to her male companion. She tried to avoid glancing at the person standing just outside her door, his flashlight blinding; the deadly-looking weapon extended and pointing directly at her head.

"I don't know, Sandy," the man in the driver's space responded worriedly in a low voice. "Whatever it is they want…if we just cooperate…maybe they'll let us go." The crack in his voice betrayed his true feelings.

"Step out of the car, please, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter," the figure at the driver's side door stated menacingly, and tapped the barrel of his silenced gun on the window.

The suddenness of his command coupled with the tapping noise startled the pair, who were known to family and friends as Calvin and Sandra Hunter.

"Look, we don't have anything of value," Calvin found his voice, directing his comment to the apparent 'leader' of the foursome. "If it's our car you want…"

"Shut up!" the harshly intoned retort stunned Cal into silence. "I said step out of the car!"

A soft, almost inaudible yawn drifted from the backseat. Cal and Sandra immediately cast anxious looks behind them. With a tiny, serene stretch, their infant son, nestled securely in his baby carrier, fluttered his eyes, and then made no further sound as he drifted back to sleep.

"The baby, Cal," Sandra said to her husband in a terrified whimper, her heart hammering in her chest. "We can't leave the baby…"

"Step out of the car now!" another more forceful command issued forth from the 'leader'. Calvin made a slow movement to release the locks on the doors.

"Don't!" Sandra begged in a desperate, hushed tone, clutching at his right arm. "Please stay in the car! We don't know who they are…they'll just kill us and the baby if we get out; I just know it!"

"And they'll kill us if we stay…Look, Sandy, if I can get the jump on them," Cal said as quietly as he could so Sandra could still hear, "I want you to run as far away as possible. Don't stop running until you find someone who can help us."

"But how will y-you - ? W-what about - ?" she stammered in confusion.

"On the count of three, I'm going to unlock the doors," Cal broke in gently, but firmly. "Open your door as quickly and forcefully as you can. I'm going to do the same. Once you're out of the car - run and don't look back. Understand?"

Sandra set her jaw and nodded in comprehension.

"That's my girl," Calvin said with a sad smile. He gave her left hand a small, reassuring pat. "Ready?"

Sandra gave a brave nod.

"Okay - one, two, three!"

Calvin and Sandra abruptly shoved open their respective doors, hoping to catch the interlopers by surprise.

It was a move they would not live to regret.

Five minutes later, the four men were hastily digging two graves in a wooded area a short distance away from the rural road.

"Dig them deep," the 'leader' instructed. "Make them too shallow, and scavengers might unearth the bodies, and we can't have that."

When it was determined the pits in the dirt were a satisfactory depth, the lifeless bodies of Calvin and Sandra Hunter were dragged and unceremoniously dumped into the holes. Two men began the task of shovelling the dirt back to cover the bodies. The other two swept the area for the spent shell casings ejected by the weapons used to terminate the Hunters.

In another fifteen minutes, the dead couple's car was back in working order and one man was readying to drive it to a destination where it would be disposed of. But before that happened, the still-slumbering infant Hunter was gently removed from the back seat and transferred to the waiting black van, which had a covert destination of its own.

>

Frank Hardy looked up from his casework as he sat at his desk in the building that housed the private investigative business he operated with his younger brother, Joe. Standing before him was a familiar, pretty blonde-haired young woman. He felt a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth, and he rose to greet his visitor.

"Hello, Callie. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Frank moved from behind his desk and gave her a quick, friendly embrace. Callie Hunter, nee Shaw, had been Frank's steady girlfriend for several years, but the pair had eventually broken up. It was an amicable and mutual parting, and Callie was now married to a man named Daniel Hunter.

"Long time, no see, Frank," Callie said warmly, mirroring the smile on Frank's face. Her expression, however, changed with her next words: "I just wish I was coming here under more pleasant circumstances."

Frank's own smile turned to a frown of worry. "What's the matter? Is everything okay? Your parents -"

Callie waved him to silence. "Mom and Dad are fine; thanks for asking," she said dismissively. "Danny's fine, too."

"That's good," Frank said with relief. "Why don't you have a seat and tell me exactly why you are here, then?"

The young woman took a seat opposite Frank as he returned to his place behind his desk.

"I don't know if you saw an item in the news last month about a missing family," Callie started tentatively.

"You'd have to be more specific," Frank responded, leaning back in his chair.

"A husband and wife, plus their infant son," Callie said haltingly, a troubled look clouding her face.

"Go on," urged Frank.

Callie fell silent; her gaze cast down at her tightly folded hands that she had rested in her lap.

Sensing her distress, Frank said softly, "Callie, what is it?"

She looked up and took a deep breath before continuing, her words finally tumbling from her mouth in a torrent. "That missing family…they're my in-laws. Calvin and Sandra Hunter - Danny's brother, sister-in-law, and their baby son, Andy. They've simply vanished. The local police up there are completely baffled."

Frank remained silent while Callie continued.

"They were out on a weekend trip to the family cabin. But there's simply been no trace of them or their car. Nothing. I know it sounds clichéd, but it looks like they really have just disappeared into thin air. The whole family's just devastated by this. Cal and Sandy just aren't the kind of people to run off unexpectedly. They're responsible adults. Andy's practically a newborn, and even if they took off on some crazy extended vacation without telling anyone, there's no way they'd go this long without contacting us. Frank, we desperately need you and Joe to find out what's happened to them. Please say you'll help us."