‘Sure I’m sure,’ said Seth. ‘Why?’
‘Is it true that you bought him sodas, candy sometimes, and that you paid for comic books when he didn’t have enough money?’
Seth looked away. ‘Yeah. So what?’
‘So what? He’s a missing child and we were informed that you paid him a lot of attention...’
‘What?’ said Seth. ‘I was nice to the kid. That’s it. I’m not into little boys. Fuck that. I’d happily beat the shit out of someone who was into little boys. I’m into grown women.’
Something flashed in his eyes.
Ugh. ‘Was there something in particular about Caleb...?’
‘Nothing – I told you. Nothing. I was just nice to him. Big deal. Arrest me.’
‘What about John Veir?’ said Ren. ‘Did you know John?’
His eyes flicked over to Shannon and back again.
‘Seth, is there something you’re not telling me?’ said Ren. ‘Or something you feel you can’t say? I can promise you it will be treated in the strictest confidence. A little boy’s life could be at stake here. I know you can understand the devastation that losing a child can cause...’
‘There’s nothing,’ said Seth, ‘except I think John Veir is a good man, OK? In case you’re thinking he’s not.’
Ren nodded. ‘OK.’ She handed him her notebook. ‘I’m going to need you to write down where you were on Sunday night and yesterday.’
‘That’s easy,’ he said, twisting the notebook around to face him. ‘I was here Sunday night – Aunt Shannon and Clyde Brimmer can vouch for that.’
Cute that he still calls her Aunt.
‘From what time?’ said Ren.
‘Uh... ten thirty p.m.?’
‘And where were you before that?’
‘Uh... I was in town. In Tate. In Bucky’s, having a burger, watching television.’ He wrote all this down.
‘And yesterday?’
‘I was here, I slept late. Then I was helping Aunt Shannon behind the bar.’
‘OK,’ said Ren. She handed him a card and took the notebook back. ‘If you think of anything...’
‘Sure,’ said Seth. ‘I’ll call.’
Ren walked down the steps of The Crow Bar. She started to check her cell phone. In the light of the screen, she noticed something shining on the ground. She turned on her flashlight, crouched down, and ran the beam across the ground. There were several small shards of ceramics in different colors. She moved the light up to the plant pots on the porch outside the door of the bar. They looked new. There were price tags on some of them.
Maybe one of the storms blew them over.
All of them?
Ren glanced at the time on her phone. It was close to midnight.
I am wide awake.
Can’t bear that empty hotel room.
She went around the back of the bar, the thick mud pulling at her boots as she walked. She inhaled the fresh smell of the water, the grass, the soil. She jammed her hands into her pockets, stared out across the surface.
God, I love lakes.
She was drawn to the water’s edge, mesmerized by the rippling water. She walked closer.
I want to be down there.
I want to be swallowed up.
18
Jimmy Lyle sat in the corner of the Internet café. He was logged in to the site under Rapid01. Seeing the name Lynn96 blinking, ready to chat, accelerated his heart rate every time.
Rapid01: Hey...
Lynn96: Wr u bn?
Rapid01: Sorry. Family stuff
Lynn96: U stil cmng?
Rapid01: Y
Lynn96: $350
Rapid01: Y
Lynn96: Y – ready
Rapid01: Both?
Lynn96: Y. Saturday 2pm?
Rapid01: C u then
The images filled his head. His entire body felt filled. His dick was hard. He was thinking only of the kids, not of Lynn96. Lynn was not to be visualized. Lynn, he figured, was a crack whore, a meth head, a junkie, someone willing to sell four hours with her two kids for $350. He wondered how she came to her price.
The rules of the café were printed on an A4 sheet stuck to the walclass="underline" RESPECT OTHER CUSTOMERS, NO PORN. Jimmy looked around. There were only two other customers, in the furthest corners. He took off his jacket, put it across his lap. He slipped his hand underneath it, unzipped his fly. The guy from behind the counter came out with an antibacterial spray and a cloth. He eyeballed Jimmy as he sprayed down the surface three tables down.
Jimmy zipped up his jeans, put his hand back on the mouse, clicked a few times, looked interested. His mind was in Lynn’s back garden. The sun was glistening on the pool. The children were standing beside it. He was kneeling by the water, smiling at them.
The guy from the Internet café had taken out a Sharpie, was writing in a notebook. Jimmy was hit with the smell of the ink. The image of his father replaced the image of the kids and he felt a surge of rage. The surface of the water in his mind was broken not by them, but by his daddy’s powerful, muscular form. The pool was no longer a pretty garden pool in the Miami sun, but the middle school pool with its stench of chlorine and its freezing tiles.
Every morning at 7 a.m. his daddy did one hundred laps. Jimmy would watch him from the bench, alongside whatever boys or girls were there because they didn’t do as they were told in the previous day’s class.
When Jimmy’s father was finished, he would rise like a god from the water, walk to where he laid his perfectly folded towel, dry himself off. Sometimes, one of the lady teachers would find a reason to come in, to ask his father a question or to talk to one of the kids, but Jimmy knew they were there to catch sight of his daddy, free now, single again, available.
Jimmy remembered the pretty little Mexican girl from his class, how she would sit on the bench in her red swimsuit, wrapped in a pretty pink towel with a giant swan printed on the back. He remembered her and how she would shiver, even when she hadn’t been in the water, even when she was dry.
19
Ren arrived at Tate PD, gathered the CARD team, and Ruddock, and filled them in on the previous night at The Crow Bar. She avoided eye contact with Gary, but when she gave him a quick glance, she could see fire in his eyes.
Yes, I was up late... working. While you were up late... banging your side-piece.
Fight, fight, fight!
Ruddock was checking the door, checking the clock.
No sign of Wiley.
Ren turned to Ruddock. ‘Could there be something going on between Shannon Fuller and John Veir?’
‘Could be,’ said Ruddock, ‘but I haven’t heard anything.’
Wiley walked in, gave a nod, and sat down on the edge of a desk with his arms crossed. He stank of alcohol. His eyes were almost swollen shut, his face bright red. Ruddock struggled to bury his fury.
Everyone loving their staff today.
Ren turned to Wiley. ‘We’re talking about Shannon Fuller possibly having an affair with John Veir—’
‘Yeah, it’s a possibility,’ said Wiley. The words were scraping his throat as they came out. He coughed into his hand a few times. ‘Pardon me. What makes you think there’s an affair going on?’
This will not go down well. ‘Shannon’s eyes lit up when I mentioned his name.’
Wiley snorted.
Fuck you.
‘Her number wasn’t on his cell records,’ said Wiley.
‘Maybe they don’t communicate that way,’ said Ren. ‘Maybe they’ve other phones. Or maybe they did have a thing, but it’s over.’