Alex Barclay - The Drowning Child

‘Jesus Christ,’ said Ren. ‘Wouldn’t the teacher have persevered? And why wasn’t the mom answering her phone?’

‘She wasn’t home the previous night and no one could reach her the following day.’

‘Why not?’ said Ren.

‘I don’t have all the details,’ said Gary.

‘So, Caleb was alone with his father the night before he disappeared?’ said Ren. ‘What’s the father’s deal?’

‘John Veir, fifty-seven years old, ex-military, CO at BRCI for the past five years.’

Military man, corrections officer, son about to hit his teens... hmm.

There was a short silence.

‘Sylvie Ross is flying in too,’ said Gary. Sylvie Ross was an agent and child forensic interviewer. ‘I’m still seeing her.’

Loving the defiant tone. ‘That’s your business,’ said Ren.

‘I just wanted you to know,’ he said.

Why – so I’ll know to exercise the muscles of my blind eye again?

‘Thanks,’ said Ren. Honored to be part of your cheating ways.

He turned to Ren. ‘Paul Louderback’s coming too.’ There was weight to his gaze.

Tou-fucking-ché.

Paul Louderback was Ren’s former PT instructor at Quantico. He was ten years her senior, married throughout their emotional affair, then briefly separated from his wife when he and Ren slept together. He was her kill-your-curiosity fuck, the eliminate-years-of-buildup fuck. After they slept together, Ren had officially gotten together with Ben, and Paul got back with his wife. Contact had dropped since then, until he called her when he heard about the shooting.

What will my heart do when I see you again, Paul Louderback? Because I’ve no control over that.

Your heart will betray Ben and you’ll feel like shit.

The plane landed in Portland in torrential rain. Ren drove to Tate without music, listening, instead, to the sound of the rain pounding the car. It was soothing at first, but as it fell harder, faster, louder, she turned on the radio to drown it out. She focused on Gary’s car, up ahead, copied every move he made.

I am on autopilot.

What the fuck was I doing, driving last night?

Jesus. Christ.

Cliff. God bless him.

I am a shitshow.

She shook her head.

Paul Louderback... his mouth... his hands... his... one night... sexy and just a little dirty... not dirty enough... like he was unleashed but didn’t know what to do with it... an old-school gentleman trying to be filthy... he just didn’t have that thing...

That Ben and I had. That fuck-me-always-any-way-you-want-to thing.

Ben.

Stop.

As Ren drove past the Welcome to Tate sign, she saw black ribbons tied around some of the trees.

Not very hopeful.

As she approached the gates to Tate PD, she felt her stomach clench: it was chaos – news vans, reporters, law enforcement, volunteers, a K-9 Unit.

Gary slowed to a crawl in front of her, and a young Tate PD officer parted the crowd and guided them both through and into two reserved parking spaces. The building was single-story, red-brick, with a parking lot on three sides and a strip of grass planted with trees along the other.

Inside, the lobby was small, clean, and pine-scented, with fresh plants and a wall covered with community photographs that spanned decades of sporting events, picnics, barbecues, charity drives, swim meets – beaming police officers, teachers, schoolchildren, and senior citizens.

Ren and Gary checked in at the desk and took a seat.

Within minutes, a short man with a tight, round stomach came out to meet them. He looked to be in his late fifties, with sad dark brown eyes and a puffy face, pockmarked on the left side. Ren and Gary stood up.

‘Pete Ruddock,’ he said. ‘Thank you for coming.’ As he shook Ren’s hand, he gave her a smile that was all about the warmth that radiated from those sad eyes.

I like you already, Pete Ruddock. Whoa. Is that pity in your eyes? Oh, God – have you read about me? You have to know what happened at Safe Streets. How could you not know?

Because he wouldn’t have been told which CARD team members were coming to Tate. Jesus.

‘Nice to meet you,’ said Ren. ‘I’m Ren Bryce.’

‘Good to meet you, Ren.’

‘Gary Dettling,’ said Gary, shaking Ruddock’s hand.

Ruddock picked up immediately on Gary’s get-to-the-point ways.

‘Something’s a little hinky with the parents,’ he said.

Ruddock guided Ren and Gary to his office. It was neat and tidy, with family photos lined across the lower shelf of a walnut cabinet. The biggest one, framed in gold, was a nineties-looking shot of Ruddock, with his arm around a short, smiling woman and two boys and a girl who looked to be in their early teens.

‘What’s your major concern?’ said Gary.

‘There are a few things,’ said Ruddock. ‘The delay in reporting Caleb missing is one.’

Ren nodded. ‘Yes, we thought that – did they explain why? Caleb should have arrived home from school at around four thirty, right?’

‘Yes,’ said Ruddock. ‘But Teddy Veir, Caleb’s mom – didn’t come home until six thirty yesterday evening. She’d been staying with a friend in Salem, Sunday night, and she was at a trade show there yesterday – she works part time in Gemstones, a kind of New-Agey shop here in Tate – sells crystals and incense and angel healing things. Her cell phone battery had died overnight and she had left her charger at home.’

‘Surely someone at the venue could have charged her phone for her,’ said Ren.

‘She said she didn’t think to ask,’ said Ruddock. ‘When she got home, she figured Caleb was at a friend’s house and that he’d be back for supper by seven. She charged her phone, called Caleb’s, left him voicemails. His phone, we now know, was upstairs in his bedroom, powered off. Teddy also tried her husband’s phone, which was diverted. She left voicemails for him, then called BRCI and they said they’d get him to call. When she checked her own messages, she heard one from Caleb’s teacher, Nicole Barton, made at eight thirty a.m., wondering if Caleb was OK, that he hadn’t shown up for school. At this point, about seven thirty p.m., with still no sign of Caleb, Teddy called neighbors and friends, but no one had seen him, and the kids from his class confirmed that he hadn’t been to school that day. Now, Teddy was panicking. At seven forty-five, she called BRCI again and insisted she would wait on the line to speak with John. He came home right away when she told him Caleb was missing.’

‘So, John Veir was working what shift?’ said Ren.

‘Well, here’s the other strange thing,’ said Ruddock. ‘He was rostered in to work at seven a.m., but he didn’t show up until the three p.m. shift.’

‘Nobody called from work to check where he was that morning?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Ruddock. ‘They were taken up with the escaped inmate from the day before.’

‘Wouldn’t that have made them even more suspicious if Veir didn’t show?’ said Ren.

‘I guess they trust him,’ said Ruddock.

‘I’m not buying that Veir screwed up his start time,’ said Ren. ‘An ex-military man who works a standard shift arrangement gets it wrong the same morning his son disappears?’

‘The only thing is,’ said Ruddock, ‘Veir was filling in for someone yesterday. It was supposed to be his day off. So it wasn’t part of his usual routine.’

‘Still,’ said Ren. ‘And when the school called, he didn’t pick up?’

‘He said he was home, but he didn’t realize the ringer was turned off.’