Chương 14
“Or making it appear that he did.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Park pulled out her phone but did not unlock it.
“We found a draft message in Dennis’s cloud account.”
“To whom?”
“Marissa.”
“What did it say?”
“That Sophie had run away.”
My mouth went dry.
“When was it written?”
“Tuesday morning.”
Before Dennis and Trisha left for Hawaii.
Before Rosa entered the house.
Before Sophie was found.
“He planned to claim she disappeared.”
“That’s how it reads.”
“And then what?”
“We don’t know.”
“You have the itinerary.”
“We have a piece of paper.”
“You have the boat.”
“We have possible transportation.”
“You have the trust.”
“We have Marissa’s account of a trust we have not yet verified.”
I paced to the sink.
“What if Rosa hadn’t heard her?”
Park did not answer.
She did not need to.
A child hidden in an attic.
A false message claiming she ran away.
A transport plan involving a marina.
A handwritten instruction to transfer her to someone named Cole.
None of it required imagination to become terrible.
My phone buzzed.
A text from Sam.
Saw police.
Everything okay?
I typed yes and deleted it.
Then I typed no and deleted that too.
Finally I wrote:
Stay home tonight.
He answered immediately.
Already was.
“What about Michael Cole?” I asked.
Park looked at her watch.
“Detectives in Salem are trying to locate him.”
“Do they know whether he’s related to Marissa?”
“Not yet.”
“Can’t you look that up?”
“We are.”
My old impatience rose again.
Park saw it.
“Government databases are not magic.”
“I know.”
“Professionally?”
I gave her a look.
She almost smiled.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
“Park.”
Her expression changed within seconds.
“Where?”
She listened.
“Alive?”
Another pause.
“Okay.”
Then she looked at me.
“Send me the address.”
She ended the call.
“What happened?”
“Michael Cole has been found.”
“Where?”
“At a motel near Jantzen Beach.”
“Is he Marissa’s father?”
“No.”
I stared at her.
“Then who is he?”
Park looked toward the living room.
“He’s Marissa’s former stepfather.”
“Why would Dennis trust him with Sophie?”
“He may not have.”
“What does that mean?”
“Michael Cole says he was supposed to pick Sophie up from Dennis’s house Tuesday night.”
I felt the floor shift under me.
“After Dennis left for Hawaii.”
“Yes.”
“What was he supposed to do with her?”
Park’s face had gone hard.
“He says Dennis paid him to drive her to Washington.”
“And then?”
“He claims he was supposed to leave her at a marina office with an envelope.”
“That makes no sense.”
“He agrees.”
“Did he know she was locked in the attic?”
“He says no.”
“Then why didn’t he pick her up?”
“He came to the house Monday night because he wanted the rest of the money first.”
“The pickup.”
“Yes.”
“Nunes wasn’t the driver.”
“No.”
“Why did Nunes say Dennis owed him six thousand?”
“Different debt.”
I laughed once because the alternative was something worse.
“How many people did my son owe money to?”
“We’re finding out.”
“What did Michael do when Dennis refused?”
“He left.”
“And Tuesday?”
“He says Dennis texted him not to come.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t know.”
I looked toward Sophie.
“Then why was he outside here tonight?”
Park’s eyes stayed on mine.
“He says he saw the news reports about a child being found and panicked.”
“There were no news reports.”
“No.”
“He changed his story when detectives pointed that out.”
“To what?”
Park slipped the phone into her pocket.
“He says Trisha called him after landing in Seattle.”
My pulse quickened.
“What did she tell him?”
“To find Sophie before Dennis talked.”
I stared.
“Find her for what?”
“That’s the part he won’t answer.”
Park moved toward the doorway.
“I need to go.”
“Where?”
“To speak with him.”
I followed her into the hall.
“Park.”
She turned.
“If Trisha sent him here, she knows Sophie is with me.”
“Yes.”
“And she’s not detained.”
“Not yet.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“You stay inside.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Tonight it is.”
I hated it.
She could see that.
“There will be a patrol car nearby.”
“That will terrify Sophie.”
“They’ll park out of sight.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“We deal with tomorrow when we have more than theories.”
She reached the front door.
Then Sophie’s voice came from the couch.
“The shiny lady knows Grandma.”
Park stopped.
So did I.
Sophie was awake.
Her eyes were open but heavy with sleep.
I crouched beside her.
“What did you say?”
Park gave me a warning look.
I lifted both hands.
Sophie rubbed her face.
“The shiny lady said Grandma ruined everything.”
My skin prickled.
“When did she say that?”
Park asked.
Sophie looked at her.
“At Daddy’s house.”
“Do you remember when?”
“When I was in the little room.”
“The attic?”
Sophie nodded.
“Was Trisha talking to you?”
“No.”
“Who was she talking to?”
Sophie’s fingers curled into Bunny’s fur.
“Daddy.”
Park kept her voice soft.
“What did she say about Grandma?”
Sophie frowned as though assembling words from somewhere dark.
“She said if Grandma had minded her own business, Daddy wouldn’t be stuck with me.”
I stopped breathing.
Sophie looked at me.
Then she said, “Daddy told her Grandma was dead, so the papers didn’t matter anymore.”
Park’s face changed so slightly that Sophie probably did not notice.
I did.
“What papers?” Park asked.
Sophie rubbed Bunny’s loose ear against her cheek.
“The papers Grandma hid.”
My mouth went dry.
“She said Grandma?”
Sophie nodded.
“Daddy said Grandma hid papers because she hated him.”
Park glanced at me.
“Did he say where?”
Sophie’s eyebrows pulled together.
“In the cold place.”
I nearly asked what that meant.
Park raised one finger before I could.
“Thank you, Sophie.”
She stopped there.
That restraint mattered.
Sophie yawned.
Rosa carried her back toward the bedroom while I stood in my living room listening to the words cold place move around inside my head.
May you like
My garage had a refrigerator.
The old Portland house had a basement freezer.
