Lisa Gardner - Gone

She threw down the bag, unzipped it, and stuck her GPS monitor into a stack of bills.

“You sure?” Shelly asked sharply, the hidden dangers implicit in her question. Such as the minute Kimberly stepped into the lighthouse, she was vulnerable to abduction herself. Such as without the GPS on her person, they would have no means of finding her. Such as they still had no idea what the kidnapper’s true agenda was, therefore hurting another law enforcement officer might be just his thing.

“I want to get him,” Kimberly said firmly.

“Then I got you covered,” Shelly said solemnly. The sheriff unsnapped her holster. Removed her gun.

Five minutes to one, Kimberly rounded the boulder. She looked left, looked right.

“Here goes nothing,” she murmured to no one in particular.

She entered the lighthouse.

Wednesday, 12:52 p.m. PST

“WE KNOW ABOUT THE MONEY, ” Quincy said.

Peggy Ann Boyd sat on the edge of the bed in her tiny studio apartment, looking at him with a frown on her face. Candi had taken up position next to the door, arms crossed over her chest to make her six-foot frame appear even more imposing.

“I don’t know about any money,” Peggy Ann said. “Do you have any word on Dougie?”

“When did you figure out that Stanley was Dougie’s biological father, that’s what I would like to know,” Quincy continued. “Did Dougie’s mother tell you? Woman confiding to woman? Or did Stanley tell you himself, once he heard that Gaby Jones was dead?”

Peggy Ann’s eyes went wide. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said primly. But the young social worker was a terrible liar. Already her gaze was locked upon the carpet, her fingers fidgeting on her lap.

Quincy knelt down until he was eye level with the woman. He regarded her for so long, she had no choice but to meet his stare.

“Once upon a time, you must have cared for Dougie. He was only four years old when his mother died. Such a young, defenseless boy. He needed someone to look out for him, someone to find him a home. He needed you, Peggy Ann. And Gaby needed you. Someone to save her boy.”

Very quietly, Peggy Ann started to cry.

“When did you figure out Stanley was Dougie’s father?” Quincy repeated firmly.

“I didn’t. Not at first. Gaby had implied it was someone at the high school. But I had always assumed a teenage boy. You know, the high school quarterback who knocks up the cheerleader but doesn’t want to make good. It wasn’t until Stanley attended the funeral, the way he looked at Dougie… as if he were a dying man and Dougie represented his last hope to live. I started to wonder. But Stanley never said anything, and I certainly had no evidence. Plus, then the Donaldsons came along and they were such great candidates it seemed best to give the boy to them. I was sure Dougie would have a good home.”

“Until he burned it down.”

“Until he burned it down. I approached Stanley then. I asked him point-blank if he knew anything about Dougie’s father. I even bluffed, said I knew for certain it was someone from the football team. He said he didn’t know, but that Gaby used to hang out at the practices so maybe it was true. He couldn’t help me though. He didn’t know anything more than that. Then he slammed the door in my face.

“So I found Dougie another home, what else could I do? And then I found a home after that. Except now I started visiting the high school, watching the practices. Trying to learn about past players, looking at pictures of boys on the team. Trying to see anybody who might look like Dougie, because it was becoming clear to me that I had to find the boy’s father.”

Quincy was frowning. This was not quite how he’d expected the story to go. “Then what happened?”

“One evening, I found Coach Carpenter-Stanley-in his office. I told him Dougie had gotten into trouble again. I told him the boy would most likely be sent to a detention home now. I told him Dougie didn’t have any hope left. And I begged him. I begged him for information about Dougie’s father and I told him how much Gaby loved that boy and how happy he’d once been… And I started to cry. Blubber like a lunatic. Because I wasn’t bluffing, Mr. Quincy.” Peggy Ann looked at him earnestly. “Dougie had a documented history of arson. In the world of child services, he was done. Washed up at the age of six. By the next week, he’d be shipped out to a boys’ home, where older, more experienced delinquents could teach him new tricks. In between the beatings, of course. And sexual abuse. I’ve been to those homes. I know what goes on there.”

“Stanley caved?”

“Stanley told me he was the boy’s father. Just like that. And then he said, very gravely, that he’d been a coward long enough. Dougie was his.”

“Say what?” Candi quizzed from the doorway. She’d unfolded her arms. She was looking back and forth between Peggy Ann and Quincy, as if waiting for one of them to say something that made sense. Quincy couldn’t blame her. He was waiting for it all to make sense as well.

“I didn’t believe Stanley at first,” Peggy Ann offered. “I thought he was just trying to do a nice thing. Or maybe get a hysterical female out of his office. I wrung some half-assed promise from him to take Dougie. By the next morning, however, I’d already figured that was it, he’d forget the whole thing. Instead, he showed up at my office bearing a family album. He presented an old grade-school photo, and by God, he was the spitting image of Dougie, no doubt about it. I… I never would have guessed.”

“So that’s when he offered you the money to keep quiet,” Quincy tried.

Peggy Ann frowned at him. “What money? He offered to take Dougie. That’s what I cared about. He and Laura gave the boy a home.”

Candi and Quincy exchanged glances again. “Stanley Carpenter got an underage girl pregnant, and you left it at that?” Quincy pressed.

Peggy Ann shrugged miserably. “Gaby was dead, so it’s not like she could press charges. And Stanley was trying to do right by his son. What else could I ask for?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” declared Candi. “Aren’t there procedures you have to follow? Tell me you don’t let statutory rapists get by with a shrug and a handshake.”

“Of course there are procedures. And normally, I would contact the police. But again, Gaby’s dead. And frankly, I’m not trying to save Gaby, I’m trying to save Dougie. I contact the police, and the father I’ve spent three years trying to find becomes immediately off-limits. Or I say nothing about Gaby’s age, and instead just declare that Stanley is Dougie’s biological father. In which case, he takes a paternity test, fills out about approximately ten million forms, and waits about another three years for everything to grind through the legal system. Or there’s option C. I say nothing at all, about anything, Stanley applies to become a foster father, and Dougie gets placed immediately. Which, frankly, does both Dougie and Stanley a lot more good.”

“Which I’m sure Stanley encouraged,” Quincy murmured, “as it let him off the hook for everything.”

“I wouldn’t say his wife let him off the hook,” Peggy Ann said drolly. “Laura’s a lot tougher than she looks. But sure, I don’t think Stanley wanted to air all of his dirty laundry for the community. Frankly, I didn’t care. Child services is a system, Mr. Quincy. It’s a human system and that’s what I tried to navigate.”

“Miss Boyd,” Quincy said, “Stanley has been paying out two thousand dollars a year since Dougie was born. If he wasn’t paying that money to you, then who was receiving the funds?”

“I have no idea.”

“He never offered you money in return for silence?”