Van Endel shook his head. “We haven’t found Shelly, no. Or at least she better hope we haven’t.”
“One last question,” said Dr. Martinez to Bambi. “Sorry if it seems like an odd one. Do you know if Shelly keeps condoms on her, or does she go bareback?”
“No one sane goes bareback,” said Bambi flatly. She spared a look to the man on the ground. It wasn’t kind, but he didn’t see it. “You have to be careful. It’s not the 1970s, now that AIDS is around everywhere. Shelly keeps rubbers in a little black wallet in her back pocket, like, all the time. She gets the big ones, with foil. Johns like that. I’ve got mine right here in my purse, the same kind.” She smiled sadly. “These are gold-foil wrapped, supposed to be for big dicks. Far as I can tell, they fit little dicks the same way.”
45
Tim sat in the driveway, watching the fireworks with his mom, dad, and Becca. They could see the ones from the high school and the ball field well enough, and the alternating blasts of the two were a nice reminder that even with everything else going on, some things could still be normal. Despite his raging issues with them, Tim was happy to see his parents sitting together closely and with clasped hands. After all, it was far better than the alternative.
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.