Shane picked up a stone in the gutter and flicked it across the road. It hit the opposite curb before bouncing into the grass.
“You think Warren killed Simon?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Warren went into the woods not far from where Simon’s body was found,” Ashley explained. “Maybe he knows they found the body, so he’s hiding out.”
“The boy you described in the woods doesn’t sound like Warren. Warren is big. He can’t exactly creep around unnoticed,” Shane countered.
“He might be disguising himself,” Ashley insisted. “I didn’t get a good look at him. It was dark and-”
Shane shook his head again.
“Warren’s mom came over a few nights ago. I heard her talking with my mom. Warren said something odd a few weeks ago to his mom. He told her he thought an animal had been stalking him in the woods when he’d walked home that night. He kept hearing it and thinking something had been watching him. He’d been scared.”
Ashley frowned. “But we heard Travis talking, and he said Warren went missing on purpose.”
“Travis is a jack-ass,” Shane said.
“Here-here,” Sid cheered in agreement.
“So, if it’s not Warren, who is it?”
Shane shrugged. “Beats me, but I’d say if there really is something after kids in the woods, it got Warren too.”
“But Warren’s big,” Sid said, unable to hide the tremor of fear in his voice.
“Which makes him an easier target, right? Shane asked. “He’s not exactly quiet, and he’s damn easy to see if he’s walking in the woods.”
Sid looked visibly ill. “We can’t go to The Crawford House without weapons, Ash,” he said.
“What’s at The Crawford House?” Shane asked, looking back and forth between them.
“We think it’s hiding there, living there maybe.”
MAX PARKED his motorcycle in Jake’s driveway and waved at his brother sitting on the front porch.
“Mom asked me to bring you a block of cheese. Don’t ask me why, just take it.”
Jake laughed and took the white cheese, setting it on the glass topped table beside him.
“After all the food Mom crammed in the refrigerator, I can’t imagine where she expects us to put it,” Jake grumbled.
“Feed it to the neighbor’s dog,” Max suggested, sitting next to his brother. “Listen, while I’m here, I wanted to ask you a few questions about one of the missing kids, Vern Ripley.”
“Moonlighting as a sleuth?” Jake asked. “Oh, I forgot, you’re on easy street until September. If you’ve got all this time, maybe you could come pick up the midnight to three a.m. shift at our house. Apparently, that’s Matthew’s most hated time of day. He cries nonstop whether he’s nursing, just got changed, or you run laps around the house and bounce him like a basketball.”
“Well, no wonder he’s crying if you’re bouncing him like a basketball,” Max told him dryly.
“Ha-ha,” Jake retorted rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “Good grief, I want to go back to work. Is that terrible? Eleanor’s like the walking dead, and I’m not far behind her. If Mom weren’t coming over to help, I think we would have given the baby up for adoption.”
Max laughed and patted Jake on the back.
“You heard what Mom said. The first few weeks are the worst. In a month, you’ll be on easy street.”
Jake offered him a bleary-eyed look of astonishment. “I hope you have twins someday, Max.”
“Me too, pretty ones with big boobs.”
Jake sputtered a laugh and slapped his thigh. When he leaned his head back on his chair, he closed his eyes.
“I could sleep for ten solid hours right now.”
“You do that. But answer my question first. What’s the deal with the Ripley family? Kids at school implied the kid’s stepdad is a brute. I talked to Goldie, and she seemed pretty defensive about him.”
Jake opened his eyes and gave Max a weary glance.
“Darwin Ripley. He’s a little rough around the edges, but brute seems like a strong word. He’s a mechanic over at Joe’s Auto Body. He’s insured his truck with us for the last five years, and usually comes in with Goldie, though I haven’t seen her in months.”
“Because her kid is missing.”
“Yeah, you said that. And it is a mite strange that Darwin never mentioned anything, but we don’t exactly sit around and have tea when he comes in. Goldie’s real sweet, a little hardened. I don’t think she’s had the easiest life. She bakes us cookies every Christmas. I can’t tell you much more than that, Max.”
“Ever see the kid, Vern?”
Jake shook his head, rubbing his neck.
“Ouch! oh, man, got a kink right there.” He shoved a thumb into the base of his skull and rubbed. “I’ve aged ten years in three days. No. The boy never came in with them. Sometimes Goldie brought their daughter in, a tiny little thing like her mama, not a day over five, I’d guess.”
“Did you ever notice bruises? Anything like that on the mom or daughter?”
Jake huffed and cast Max a frustrated glance.
“You better not ask anybody else that question. I don’t know Darwin well, but if he got wind of the implications, he might stop by your house with a steel pipe.”
“I’m not asking anyone but you and maybe Dad. I’m just trying to rule out the possibility that he had a hand in his stepson’s disappearance.”
“You’re trying to rule it out? Now you sound like a cop.” Jake sat up and looked squarely at his brother. “Max, I’d leave this to the real cops. You’re getting in over your head.”
“Yeah, well, kids are missing and nobody’s doing shit about it. How would you feel, Jake? Now that you’re a dad. If your kid went missing? Wouldn’t you hope people were looking? Asking questions?”
Jake’s face fell.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I guess I would.”
When Max pushed through his front door, the first thing he noticed was the book laying on the carpet in his living room.
He paused, the door left ajar, and gazed at the book.
Finally, he walked in, picked it up, not needing to glance at the cover to know it was Heart of Darkness, before he tucked it snuggly back into the shelf.
Then he went to his garage and retrieved his power drill and eight screws. He screwed the bookcase into the wall.
23
They returned to Ashley’s house.
Shane opened cardboard boxes in the garage, pulling out a flathead screwdriver and a pair of gardening shears.
Ashley went inside to retrieve her metal baseball bat. “Sid grab that tennis racket,” she said when she returned to the garage.
He picked it and frowned. “Half the netting is missing,” he complained.
“It’s fine,” she said. “You just need something you can swing if we get attacked.”
The day grew muggier as they hurried back to the woods. Sid dragged the tennis racket on the ground, and it thumped and scraped over the pavement until Ashley finally snapped at him to lift the damn thing up. He slouched as if he were a flower wilting beneath a boiling sun, and Ashley shot him impatient, hurry up glances that he ignored.
She knew he was tired, but she also knew most of his slothful behavior could be attributed to Shane. Sid didn’t like him and wanted to make sure Ashley knew it.
The ceiling of branches and dense leaves broke the heat and all three sighed as they moved through the sun streaked forest. They stopped often, listening for the sounds of movement, breath, or something foreign against the backdrop of birdsong.
When they reached the house, Shane didn’t pause, but instead barreled up the steps, shoving through the front door with a splintered crash.