Aric Davis - The Fort

There was nothing too exciting about being outside under the stars and the explosions, but it had been such an odd week that to have something happening that felt so normal was almost a treat. He and Becca had had a brief interval of privacy when their parents were both outside looking at the hole where the patio was to be laid, but she hadn’t mentioned the phone call from earlier again. In fact, she’d acted as though he wasn’t in the room with her. Tim had the feeling that Becca really just wanted the whole thing to go away, that maybe for her Molly’s being gone was just how things were now. He didn’t like thinking that of his sister. Her coldness had always felt to him like more of a symptom of being a teenager than like an actual part of her personality, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Becca should have wanted to know what else they’d discovered. She should have wondered about how he and his friends were still talking while under house arrest. She didn’t appear to care, though, and Tim was pretty sure that all she really gave a crap about was her life being normal again, as if that were even possible. Everything was spiraling further and further out of control, or at least that was how it felt to Tim, and as much as he wanted to just have everything go back to normal, he knew that looking for a green Dodge Dart was far more important. He couldn’t wait for the fireworks to stop so that they could all go to bed and he could see his friends again.

Finally, the explosions from the professional barrages reached a crescendo, first at the ball field, and then at the school. Smaller, private fireworks were still being launched, of course, but Tim knew what the big ones’ being done really meant. Sure enough, his dad said, “All right, gang, let’s head on in. Show’s over.” Tim hid the smile on his face. He couldn’t wait to be free again, a ghost with only one purpose, loose in the night.

Tim went through the motions of brushing his teeth and washing his face, then walked to his bedroom. When he walked in, he was startled to see his dad waiting on him. “Is everything OK?” Tim asked, utterly sure that his dad had somehow discovered his nocturnal missions.

“Everything’s fine,” said Stan, waving a hand to Tim’s bed. Tim sat where he’d been directed, and his dad did too. “I need to ask you something,” said Stan. “I’d like to think I can expect you to tell me the truth, but if you don’t, it’s going to be on you, OK?”

“All right,” said Tim. “I’m not going to lie to you.”

Stan sighed and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “Were you telling that cop the truth?”

“Yes,” said Tim. “We told him the truth about everything. But we’ve been over this. Why are you asking me again? Am I just going to get in trouble for it all over?”

“I’m asking because I’ve been feeling like a real asshole. And despite how you might feel about our little situation, I don’t actually enjoy coming off like that to you.”

Stan took a breath, then said, “I know you never met my dad, but you didn’t miss out on much. He drank too much, hit my mom, hit me, spent his whole life not trusting anyone and not liking anything. The whole reason I wanted kids in the first place was to prove to myself that I didn’t need to be like him, that I could break that ugly pattern. I always felt like I was doing an OK job of that until this week. Between the crap your sister pulled and what happened with you at the police station…It’s all been a little much.

“But what I keep going back to was you looking so shocked when that detective didn’t believe you. The look on your face, as well as the way I reacted. At the time, I thought that you looked shocked that you got caught, but now I’m not so sure. I think maybe you were shocked that they said they’d found the body, and that you were telling the truth, or at least what you thought was the truth, the whole time. I’m going to talk to your mom about it tonight, and depending on what she says, maybe we can figure out a reduced sentence.”

Tim nodded. “Dad, here’s the thing. You know me. Why would I make up a lie like that? It wouldn’t do me any good, and I’d get caught for sure. Plus, it would mess up the cops when they were trying to do their jobs. It’s not like I have some crazy history of making up ridiculous lies.”

“I’ve thought about all of that, Tim. Over and over again. Like I said, I’ll talk to Mom, and we’ll see what she has to say now that she’s had the chance to cool off for a few days, all right?”

“Dad, listen. Unless you guys decide that you believe me, I don’t even want to not be grounded anymore. I’d rather just do the punishment and know, for sure, that you guys don’t trust me anymore.”

Stan stood, shook his head like he was trying to clear water from it, and walked to the doorway. “We’ll see you in the morning,” he said. “Hopefully your mom will come around.”

“Sure,” said Tim, but all he could think was that if he got caught sneaking out, being believed wasn’t going to matter one bit. Still, it could be worse. He felt sure that it was for Molly.

46

Van Endel and Dr. Martinez had talked to three more prostitutes, all with varying degrees of success. None had helped as much as Bambi, but they had helped fill in the gaps of her story. They told the same tale. Van Endel felt sick after hearing the words over and over again. We missed it, we missed all of it. He saved himself one indignity: he didn’t puke as they left the city to head north, back to the station. Finally, Dr. Martinez broke the silence.

“You can beat yourself up all you want,” she said. “But you have to wait until later. You need a plan. What are you going to tell Chief Jefferson?”

“I’m going to tell him the truth,” said Van Endel. “We need to get those kids on the horn right now and see what they have to say. First the boys they saw Molly, and then later, the teenagers. The sooner it happens, the better, for everyone. Christ, even for us. I can’t believe we didn’t make those boys go over the story again. We should have talked to all three, tried to wring out any small details that were there to be found. If only—”

“You need to stop,” said Dr. Martinez. “You’ve been busting your ass on this, and for that matter so have I. My practice could use a little more attention than I’ve been giving it, believe me, but all I’ve wanted to do is bang my head against this with you, and that’s exactly what we’ve both been doing.

“And besides: even if you’d wanted to keep after those kids, there’s no way Jefferson would have wanted to hear it, not after finding that body. Everything pointed to those boys’ lying. There’s no one who thought otherwise.” She shrugged. “Now we have the chance to do something about it.”

“So you think this is right?” Van Endel asked, his hands tight and sweaty on the steering wheel. “You think this is for real?”

“I do,” said Dr. Martinez. “I think we have most of the puzzle put together. All that’s left is to find Molly and whoever took her, and of course pray that she’s still alive. Can you imagine the state she must be in if she’s still alive and was taken by Riverside?”

“No,” said Van Endel with a grimace. “I really can’t.”

Once they were back in the station, which was running on a skeleton crew, thanks to the holiday, Van Endel headed for his desk and his long-abused chair. Dr. Martinez borrowed a neighboring chair from one of the other desks and sat next to him as he dialed Jefferson’s pager number. A few short moments later, Van Endel’s phone began ringing.

“Van Endel.”

“What do you need, Dick?” Chief Jefferson sounded as out of sorts as Van Endel had guessed he would. “Lanie and I got a room downtown to watch the fireworks out the window, and we’re expected in the lounge soon.”