MARY CLARK - Piece of My Heart

“I’m the one who’s sorry for being late. I kept waiting for Summer Carver to call me back, but for all I know, that moment will never come. I guess that’s why cell phones were invented.” She reached into the pocket of her blazer to make sure she hadn’t missed a call in the elevator.

As she set her purse on the round table in the foyer, she took in the view across the East River. Instead of feeling excited about their move into a new home, she thought how much she would miss this view. She also missed the time when all her thoughts weren’t so negative. Each day that Johnny hadn’t been found pulled all of them further into the darkness.

“You spoke to Marcy and Andrew?” she asked.

“Yes, right after they got an update from Detective Langland. They’re scared, but they’re hanging in there. They wanted me to thank you for everything you’re doing.”

“Kara called me again today, wanting to know if she could help.” Timmy’s babysitter had contacted Laurie almost every day since Johnny disappeared. “On top of everything else, I’m worried about the long-term toll this guilt might take on her and Ashley.”

He stroked her hair, tucked a loose strand behind her ear, and tilted her chin up to look her directly in the eyes. “Well, you feeling guilty about her guilt isn’t going to help anyone. One day at a time. Once Johnny’s back, we’ll call Kara and Ashley and make sure they have some adults to talk to about their anxieties.”

She nodded, wanting to believe that day would come.

Alex led the way to his kitchen, where two place settings were already waiting on the kitchen island.

“It smells so good in here,” she said. “Much better than the takeout I’ve been feeding poor Timmy all week.”

Seeing that the oven was on warm, she peeked inside to find a seared and fileted trout waiting in a pan, with separate casserole dishes of sautéed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes.

“Leave it to Ramon to make a fish smell like pure butter,” she said.

“Can I pour you some wine? Or a martini?”

She declined. “I want to have a clear head if Summer calls. She made it sound like she was going to call me right back. I got the impression from her mom that she might be a little spacey, but now I’m worried that she’s up to something. She could have a way of calling Gunther directly behind bars.” The easy availability of burner phones inside prisons was well known. “Or maybe she’s getting advice from Tracy Mahoney.”

“Ryan really thinks that Tracy would be involved in a kidnapping?” Alex asked. Laurie had talked to Alex about Ryan’s concerns regarding Gunther’s attorney. “I can’t picture it.”

“Not that she’d aid and abet expressly. But he thinks she stretches the boundaries of ethics in the interests of her clients. She could be turning a blind eye to their plan, or giving them advice with a nod and a wink.”

She jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing in her hand. Laurie pulled the compact recorder from her other pocket and quickly connected it. New York was a “one-party consent” state, meaning that it was lawful to record a conversation as long as one party to the conversation consented.

“This is Laurie,” she said.

“It’s Summer Carver. I was thinking more about our conversation earlier. Do you believe in karma?”

“The idea that fate has a way of balancing the scales?” Laurie asked. For five years, the man who’d killed Greg walked free, plotting to kill her and Timmy when the time was right. He had eventually paid a price, but only after she had lived in fear for much of her son’s childhood. But for now, she needed to say what Summer wanted to hear. “Sure, I believe in karma.”

“It means that someone’s actions, words, and deeds influence the person’s future. Your father lied about Darren’s so-called confession, and now something terrible has happened to your family.”

“And you think that’s karma?”

“I think that maybe if he did the right thing—if he admitted that he was wrong about Darren—the universe might find a way to restore justice in other forms, as well. And that might be a good thing for little Johnny.”

Laurie felt like she was getting close, but Summer was never going to admit that she and her brother had Johnny. At best, they would release him after they actually got what they wanted—a confession of wrongdoing from Leo. But Leo had already gamed out the entire scenario with both the NYPD and Detective Langland: Leo couldn’t pretend to exonerate Gunther without a guarantee that Johnny would be returned safely. If he did, Gunther would leak any such admission to the media as soon as Leo made it. Gunther would have what he wanted, and they would still be missing Johnny.

In short, they were at a stalemate.

Laurie realized, though, that they still had one advantage over Gunther and the Carvers. Summer had no idea that Laurie knew she was living with her half brother, Toby, in Upstate New York.

“You know what, Summer? We really should meet in person. Just me, you, and my dad. Off the record. We can clear the air. My father can tell you directly what happened in that interrogation room with Darren. I always find that people are more open when they can speak freely.” She could almost picture Summer getting reeled in like a fish on a line. “I think we’ll be able to give you what you need if we’re face-to-face. Wouldn’t you like to hear it straight from Leo Farley’s mouth?”

Laurie suggested meeting the next day at 10 A.M. Knowing the perfect spot, she suggested a quiet coffee shop in Greenwich Village. With traffic, downtown Manhattan was nearly a two-hour drive from Toby’s house in Brewster.

When Laurie hung up, Alex was looking at her expectantly. She broke out into a smile, hopeful that her plan would work. “Now I just have to deal with Toby.”

Wednesday, July 22

Day Eight

Chapter 42

The next morning, Laurie and Leo passed a flower delivery van as they walked into a coffee shop called Mocha Mike’s at precisely 10:00. Summer Carver was already waiting for them at the tiny table in the back corner, past the barista’s pickup station, making a face after taking a sip from a lidded paper coffee cup.

Laurie had chosen this place for a reason, and it wasn’t the quality of its beverages. She had popped in here once with Jerry and Grace after a witness interview. The coffee was so bad, and the seating so inhospitable, that Jerry quipped that it must be a cover for a criminal enterprise. More like Money-Laundering Mike’s , he had joked.

But the dive had suited Laurie’s needs this morning to a T because Summer’s table was the sole table in the joint. The only other seating options were the barstools lining the countertop along the front window.

In person, Summer appeared younger and more attractive than in the photographs Laurie had seen online, with clear, pale skin, long, black hair, and large blue eyes peering out beneath thick, natural lashes. The result was almost doll-like.

Summer shook Laurie’s hand during introductions, but declined Leo’s offer of his. “Understood,” Leo said, pulling out a chair for Laurie to sit across from Summer, and then taking the seat next to Laurie’s.

“I hope you weren’t waiting long,” Laurie said.

“I was a little early because my ride needed to be somewhere at ten, too,” she said. “Do you guys want to order your coffee or something? I got the mocha, given the name, but I wouldn’t suggest it.”

“We can wait a bit,” Laurie said.

Laurie already knew that Summer’s ride was her half brother, Toby, who was currently meeting his stepmother at a different coffee shop not far from here, around the corner from the headquarters of God’s Love We Deliver. Julie Carver had texted Laurie moments earlier, confirming Toby’s arrival at the meeting she had hastily scheduled with him the previous night. Convinced that her daughter was in over her head with Darren Gunther, she had agreed to help Laurie in exchange for Laurie’s promise that she would do what she could to help both Summer and Toby if they ended up doing the right thing.