“I’ll pretend you said that in a hypothetical way.”
Hester laid out the kidnapping-ransom situation. The suggestions Aaron made were pretty close to what Wilde had already set up. In short, they were doing everything right, considering the circumstances. Gerios also questioned the likelihood that this was a legitimate kidnapping.
“It sounds more like this kid is pranking his parents.”
“Could be.”
“Or some hot girl seduced him into doing this.”
“A man thinking with his dick first,” Hester said. “I didn’t know such a thing existed.”
“You’ve always been a naïve waif, Hester.”
“Yes. Yes, true. Thanks, Aaron.”
“No worries. But may I offer you one last piece of repetitive advice?”
“Sure.”
“Convince your hypothetical parents to contact the very real FBI. Even if it’s a big nothing, these situations tend to go sideways when we aren’t involved.”
Aaron hung up.
Hester was still walking the grounds of Maynard Manor. There was little doubt that the estate was grand in the old-school way in which it was intended to be, but some of the modern touches were jarring. Right now, Hester was walking past a “sculpture garden” with somewhat tacky bronze likenesses of the Maynard family from several years ago. The twin girls who were now fourteen — Hester couldn’t remember their names, something with K’s like Katie or Karen — looked to be about seven or eight in the bronze. One flew a bronze kite while the other kicked a bronze ball. Bronze Crash was probably around twelve or thirteen and carried a lacrosse stick on his shoulder like Huck Finn with a fishing pole. Bronze Delia and Bronze Dash watched their bronze children and laughed. The entire Bronze Maynard family were laughing, their faces frozen in that laugh, forever and ever, and that was kind of creepy.
Hester’s phone buzzed. The caller ID read OREN. Despite everything, her cheeks still flushed just seeing his name.
“Articulate,” Hester said.
“Why do you answer the phone that way?”
“Long story.”
“Can I hear it sometime in the very near future?”
She smiled. “How near?”
“I’m on backup duty tonight, so I have to stay in the area. What’s your schedule look like?”
“I’m in town.”
“Visiting Matthew and Laila?”
“Something else,” Hester said. “Business.”
“Oh. Are you free for dinner then? It won’t quite be last night, but I’m powerful enough to get us a table at Tony’s Pizza and Sub. I’ll even pay.”
“Thank you for that, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For letting me pay last night. For thanking me and not playing the macho card and insisting.”
“I was trying to be a modern, sensitive man. How did I do?”
“Very well.”
“I never understood that really.”
“What?”
“This will sound too politically correct.”
“Go on.”
“Let’s face it. You make a lot more money than I do. I’m not being all evolved here. Just the opposite. But I never get the guys who get all bent out of shape when the woman makes more money. The way I’ve always looked at it, if I’m lucky enough to be with a highly successful woman, that makes me look better. The more successful my girl is, the more I look good. Make sense?”
He said “my girl.” Swoon.
“So,” Hester said, “your being so evolved is really being self-involved?”
“Exactly.”
Hester realized again that she was smiling in a way she normally never smiled. “I like it.”
“That said, I got tonight’s check. Which will be less than the tip on last night’s dinner. Sevenish? Unless you’re heading back into the city tonight.”
Hester thought about it. She didn’t know what the status of this would be, but either way, she would need to stick around — and she would probably need to eat. They made the plans tentative and then they hung up.
Hester wandered back toward the house. The grounds were immense and held no appeal to Hester. The constant tranquillity grew unnerving.
Hester headed inside and found Delia on the phone in that library that was a little too Disneyesque. Delia spotted Hester and waved her in. She put a finger to her lips to signal silence and hit the button for the speakerphone, so Hester could listen too.
Delia said, “Thanks, Sutton, for getting back to me.”
“I would have called back sooner, Mrs. Maynard, but I was in class.” The girl sounded very much like a teenager. “Is Crash okay?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, he’s not in school today.”
“When did you last talk to him?”
“Crash? We texted last night.”
“What time, Sutton?” Delia asked.
There was a hesitation.
“He’s not in any trouble,” Delia said. “But he went out last night, and I haven’t heard from him today.”
“Can you hold on a second?” Sutton asked. “I can look up exactly on my phone.”
“Sure.”
There was a short delay and then Sutton said, “One forty-eight a.m.”
“What did he say?”
“He just said he had to go.”
“That’s it.”
“Yeah. ‘Gotta run.’ That was it.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“No, sorry. I’m sure it’s nothing. I can check with Trevor and Ryan and the guys.”
“That would be great, thanks.”
“The only thing is,” Sutton began.
“Yes?”
“I mean, I don’t want you to worry or anything. But he usually texts me. A lot. I mean, we all do. We have group chats and just regular texts and Snapchat and whatever else. I mean, I can’t remember the last time he didn’t text me in the morning.”
Delia put a hand to her neck. “Did you text him?”
“Just once. No reply. You want me to try again?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”
Delia looked over at Hester. Hester mouthed the word “Naomi” at her. Delia nodded.
“Is Crash friendly with Naomi Pine?”
Silence.
“Sutton?”
“Why would you ask about Naomi?”
Delia looked over at Hester. Hester shrugged.
“Well, Naomi is missing—”
“And you think Crash is with her?”
The disbelief in her voice was palpable.
“I don’t know. I’m just asking. Are they friends?”
“No, Mrs. Maynard. I don’t want to be mean, but Naomi and Crash travel in very different circles.”
“And yet he encouraged her to play that Challenge game, right?”
“I have to go to class. If I hear from Crash, I’ll let you know right away.”
Sutton hung up.
Hester said, “Is that Crash’s girlfriend?”
“On and off. Sutton is probably the most popular girl in the school.”
“And Crash is one of the most popular boys,” Hester said.
“Yes.”
“So maybe the popular boy suddenly has a thing for the ostracized girl.”
“Sounds like a bad teen rom-com,” Delia said with a shrug. “Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Maybe even his bullying her—”
“My son didn’t bully her.”
“—or whatever you want to call it. Maybe it was like that little boy in the playground who pulls the girl’s pigtails because he likes her.”
Delia didn’t like that. “That little boy usually grows up to be a sociopath.”
“What’s on those tapes, Delia?”
The change of subject caught Delia Maynard off guard. That was the purpose, of course. Hester was studying her face, looking for the tell. She thought she saw one. Not one hundred percent sure. Hester had been questioning people for a very long time. More than most, she could see a lie, but those who claimed to be “foolproof” were, to quote half of the word, usually the fools.
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