Дэвид Балдаччи - Daylight

“Joe’s pickup truck. It was found abandoned about ten miles from here. We checked it for prints. There were two sets in there: Joe’s and Desiree’s. Which was to be expected. Nobody else’s.”

“Were there any signs of a third person living with them?”

“So you’re really thinking this Becky person might have been living with Joe and Desiree?”

“I think it’s possible. She was in that photo with the Atkinses a few years before Joe died.”

“So you think they had, what, adopted her or something?”

“It could be.”

“But there’d be paperwork on that. I mean, there’s a legal process to go through,” pointed out Roberts.

“Not if you do it illegally,” countered Pine.

Roberts stiffened. “What are you we talking about here? That they were just dodging the law some, or are you saying that this girl was maybe, what, held against her will?”

“I’ll be candid with you, Mr. Roberts, because you’ve told us a lot we didn’t know.”

She proceeded to tell him about Ito Vincenzo and Len Atkins being soldiers together. The checks that she had seen payable to the Atkinses and the correspondence. And about a girl being abducted by Ito and possibly taken to the Atkinses. She didn’t tell him that the girl was her twin sister.

He said slowly, “So let me just get this all straight. You thought this Ito character kidnapped this girl to give her to Atkins because Atkins saved his life in Nam. Only the child didn’t end up going to Len, but to his son and Desiree?”

“That’s right. Vincenzo might not have known that. All the info I found had the checks being made out to Len Atkins. Now, he might have given the money to his son, if Joe actually had the girl and was caring for her.”

“And the FBI is involved because kidnapping is a federal crime?”

“Right,” said Pine, with a quick glance at Blum.

“But this case is really old,” pointed out Roberts.

“I’m working it as a cold case. The Bureau does that from time to time.”

“Well, I wish I could be of more help.”

“No, you’ve been a big help. One more question. Can I see where Joe and Desiree lived?”

“I suppose so. There’s a family living there now, but I know them. I can go over there with you if you want.”

“That would be great, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“I don’t have anything else to do. Retirement sounds great till you realize there’s not enough stuff to fill up your days. And it rankled me not being able to solve Joe’s murder. It cut his parents up hard.”

“Right. And they left town, but you don’t know where they moved to?”

“No, we lost touch over the years.”

“Well, if we need to, we should be able to track them down. Shall we go?”

Roberts swiped an Atlanta Falcons ball cap off the side table and stood. Peering down at Rosie, he said, “Okay, girl, no belly rubs from strangers. And hold the fort down.”

On the drive over in Pine’s rental, Roberts had phoned the couple who now lived in the house and explained what he wanted. They had readily agreed to the visit.

“They’re Pat and Hazel Simmons,” he explained. “They bought the place out of foreclosure. Got it for a song, I heard. This was obviously after Joe Atkins died and Desiree disappeared. Pat’s a long-haul trucker. They’ve got two kids, both in high school.”

“So you’re friends with them?” asked Blum.

He nodded. “We go to the same gun range and church. And we both like to hunt and fish. And there just ain’t that many people who live here. So most folks know each other. He’s a good guy.”

Later, they pulled up in front of a small house in the woods. Parked next to it was an enormous Kenworth sleeper cab tractor painted bright blue. Next to the truck was a small, red KIA crossover, and next to that a Dodge pickup with a dented front fender.

“The big one’s Pat’s ride. Nice. Like a little apartment inside. He’s on the road a lot, but he’s obviously home now.”

“Must be pretty hard for his wife with two teens,” noted Blum.

“Oh, Hazel keeps them in line. But they’re both boys, so you’re right, she has her hands full.”

Pat Simmons answered the door and had them come into the small living room. It was neat and sparsely furnished. A seventy-inch Sony TV hung on the wall, and Pine saw a glass-fronted gun cabinet with different models of rifles and shotguns and two handguns inside.

Pat was short and chubby with longish brown hair, and he wore a Kenworth ballcap. His beard was scruffy and his eyes were a dull brown. Hazel Simmons came into the room wiping her hands on a towel. She had on black leggings with a long white T-shirt. She wore no shoes.

She asked them if they wanted something to drink, but they all declined.

Roberts introduced Pine and Blum and they sat down.

“So you’re interested in the folks that used to live here,” said Pat.

Pine nodded. “Joe and Desiree Atkins.”

Pat looked at Roberts. “Yeah, I remember that. Guy got murdered, not in the house but out in the woods.”

“Probably why we got the house so cheap,” added Hazel. “And it’s really not close to anything, grocery stores or hospitals. Both our boys were born in the bedroom. They came too quick to get to the hospital.”

“That must have been tough,” said Blum.

“I did it twice. Never do it again,” said Hazel, laughing.

Pine said, “After you moved in, did you find anything the Atkinses might have left behind?”

Pat shook his head. “Place was pretty well cleared out. Bank took the furniture and sold it, I guess. Along with the personal effects. There were some pots and pans in the kitchen. Some old clothes that they probably overlooked.”

“Do you still have the clothes?”

“No, they long since got donated or thrown in the trash.”

“Did you ever see anything to indicate that three people might have lived here, including a child?”

The couple looked at each other. Pat shook his head. “I didn’t. But I wasn’t around much after we moved in. As you can tell from that big-ass truck outside, I drive for a living.”

Pine looked at Hazel. “How about you?”

Hazel pursed her lips and rubbed her fingers together. “I can’t think of anything that stuck out. And it was a long time ago. The place needed a lot of TLC. It’s only got two bedrooms, so the boys have to double up. But the previous owners didn’t do a lot to keep the place up, I can tell you that.” She suddenly looked up at Pine. “You know, I do remember something. When we first moved in, there were these drawings on a wall in what’s now the boys’ bedroom.”

Pine tensed. “What sort of drawings?”

“They were like you would see a kid do, you know, stick figures. I had forgotten all about them. I painted over them.”

“Do you remember anything else about them?”

Hazel mulled over this. “Well, I do remember there were different scenes, I guess you’d call them. You know, the stick figures playing or sitting at a table.” She smiled. “In one drawing they looked like they were drinking out of cups. And there were always two of them, stick figures, I mean. And they had, well, they had long hair, so I guess they were girls. I remember that because back then we didn’t have kids and I always wanted a girl. Didn’t turn out that way.”

“Maybe they were having a tea party,” said Pine quietly.

Hazel smiled again. “That could be, sure. I used to have tea parties with my sisters and friends when I was little.”

“So maybe the little girl stayed in that bedroom?”

“It could be. By the time we got here, like Pat said, the furniture was gone. I guess you could check with the bank, but I suppose most of those folks are probably no longer there.”