MARY CLARK - Piece of My Heart

“What did she do instead?” Laurie asked.

“To my complete dismay, she moved in with her brother of all people.”

“Why was that so surprising?” Laurie asked.

“They’ve never been particularly close—he’s older and is actually her half brother from my husband’s first marriage. They were more… different than any sort of conflict between them. Where I always expected Summer to finish school and be a success, my husband had to ride Toby just to get him through high school. And while Summer will give someone the coat off her back in a storm—let’s just say Toby’s not like that. When Summer packed her stuff and said she was going to Toby’s, I tried to get him to send her back to me, or at least make her get a job. But from what I can tell, he’s been supporting her this whole time, when I don’t even know how he supports himself.”

“You don’t know what your stepson does for a living?” Laurie asked.

“See, that’s the thing: Toby doesn’t really do anything. When my husband died, they each got a bit of money. Not a fortune, mind you, but a good financial head start for a young adult. Summer squandered it all on that wannabe actor, and Toby bought a small, modest house upstate. He works as a property caretaker for some of the vacation owners. Does seasonal work selling firewood, shoveling snow, that kind of thing. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how the math adds up. I know he had some kind of interaction with the court system a few years ago, but he told me it was nothing to worry about. Then he supposedly went camping for a few months.”

“You sound skeptical,” Laurie said.

“I thought it was possible he was sent to jail .” She whispered the word as if someone might overhear. “He laughed when I raised the theory, but it left me unsettled. It’s a horrible feeling to doubt the word of my husband’s only son. But now I wonder if Toby might have some connection to Darren Gunther, too—like the man is stealing my family from me. Does that sound crazy?”

Laurie thought about Gunther’s flair for charm. He wanted — no, needed— people to love him. Was it possible he had managed to win over not only Summer and her overly big heart, but her brother as well?

“No, it doesn’t sound crazy at all.”

“Good, because I know with a mother’s gut, with every fiber of my being, that my daughter is in big trouble. Somehow, some way, this man is going to get her to do something that could ruin her life forever. Please, Ms. Moran. Please try to stop that.”

If Laurie’s suspicions were right, it might be too late to save Summer Carver. The question was whether they even had time to save Johnny.

Grace looked glum as they climbed into the back of their Uber.

“You okay?” Laurie asked, waiting for her cell phone to power up again.

“I feel bad for her is all.”

“She’s definitely worried about her daughter.”

Something else seemed to tug at Grace. “If I had a mom who loved me that much, I’d tell her everything—the good, the bad, and the boring. Someday, Summer’s going to regret shutting her mother out.”

It dawned on Laurie that Grace often spoke about her sister and occasionally referred to a monthly dinner with her godmother, but rarely mentioned her parents. She was trying to figure out how to follow up on Grace’s comment when her phone finally came back to life. A text message from Jennifer Langland was waiting for her. Sounds like your phone is off. Please call me as soon as you get this.

Laurie hit a button to call Langland.

“I looked into Summer Carver and her known associates like you asked.”

Laurie braced herself for disappointing news. Langland was convinced that Gunther had nothing to do with Johnny’s abduction. “I had an interesting meeting with her mother, Julie, just now. She described Summer as extremely vulnerable to influence. She said her daughter was, quote, ‘obsessed’ with Gunther. Summer’s apparently living with her half brother, and it sounds like the mom thinks he may be a bit shady. She thought he might have some kind of agenda for helping his sister right now.”

Langland’s response was immediate. “Tobias Anderson Carver, six years older than his baby sister. Current address in Brewster, New York. He was accused of fraud about four years ago, for raising money for a nonexistent condo project. Served three months and got his record expunged after two years for keeping his nose clean.”

“He told Julie he was camping during those months. Is it possible Toby met Gunther while he was in jail?”

“No. The brother’s charges were federal. Two completely different systems. But if Toby’s involved with Gunther, too, maybe he has more of a financial incentive. If Gunther wins his wrongful conviction case, he could get millions as compensation. Summer may be helping out of love, while the brother sees a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Laurie was surprised to hear how open Detective Langland was to the possibility that the Carvers might be behind Johnny’s disappearance. “You found something,” Laurie said.

“I did. According to the E-ZPass electronic toll records, last Wednesday, at 1:02 P.M., a Toyota Camry registered to one Tobias Anderson Carver crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan, then onto the Throgs Neck Bridge at 1:37. At 7:52 P.M., it returned to the Throgs Neck again in the other direction, then back to the GWB.”

As Langland spoke, Laurie’s thoughts raced, calculating the timing and the route from Brewster, New York, to the Hamptons. The route meant only one thing: a one-day trip onto Long Island and back. “It lines up,” Laurie said.

“Like clockwork. And it’s the only time Toby Carver’s account shows any travel east of New York City in the past twelve months. It looks like your father may have been right, Laurie. Now we need to figure out how to bring Johnny home.”

Chapter 39

Sitting at her office conference table, Laurie took a deep breath before dialing Summer Carver’s cell phone number. She thought she heard her own blood pulse through her veins as she waited for an answer. With each ring, she pictured the rustic cottage that Toby Carver owned on four acres of land in Brewster. She imagined little Johnny, locked away in a basement or an attic or a tool shed.

In cooperation with Detective Langland, local police had sent an unmarked car to drive by the property, but they saw no obvious signs of foul play. The investigative team had decided against knocking on the door. Until they had a search warrant to authorize entry into the house, which a judge had declined without further evidence, they didn’t want to tip off Summer and her brother that they were suspects.

The voice that answered was perky and peppy. Laurie reminded herself that Summer’s own mother said that she had been acting like a different person under the influence of Darren Gunther.

Summer let out a high-pitched squeal at the mention of Under Suspicion . “Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much I love your show. I’ve seen every one of them. I read all the comments on the fan pages and message boards. I have to admit, I thought maybe you were on the wrong track with the runaway bride case, but I eventually came around once all the facts were revealed. Your show is better at crime solving than even the FBI.”

Laurie explained that she was calling because she had learned from the prison that Summer was a frequent visitor of Darren Gunther. “Mr. Gunther is the focus of our next program. We interviewed him yesterday, in fact. Perhaps he mentioned that to you.”

“That’s great news. I’ve followed his case for over a year and am convinced he’s innocent. He’s such a gentle soul, plus a brilliant writer. Every day he’s behind bars is a tragedy.”