“Sorry,” Duckworth said, as if being brought out of a trance. “There’s some things I have to check out. But anyway, this guy who had his back tattooed, he—”
“That’s totally sick,” Trevor said.
“Yeah, it sure is.” Duckworth went back to Gaffney’s head shot. “Are you sure he doesn’t look familiar?”
“Uh, why would you think we’d recognize him?” Trevor asked.
His father smiled sheepishly. “This is the awkward part. I went to Knight’s to have a look at their surveillance footage. I focused in on the time just before Mr. Gaffney arrived, and just after he left. I thought, you know, if he’d had a run-in with someone, a fight, that’d give me an idea who might have done this to him.”
Another exchange of looks between Trevor and Carol.
“What’d you see?” Trevor asked.
“Well, I didn’t see anything like that. But what I did notice was that the two of you were in the bar at the time.”
“Oh,” said Carol, her face flushing.
“Jesus, Dad,” Trevor said, shaking his head. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d be investigating your own kid.”
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s what it sounds like to me. Just ’cause I’ve moved back in doesn’t mean you get to stick your nose into my personal life.” He looked apologetically at Carol. “I’m really sorry about this.”
Carol placed a hand on Trevor’s arm. “I don’t think your father—”
Trevor shook her hand off. “No, this is really crossing the line.”
Keeping his voice very calm, Duckworth said, “I’m only here because I thought you might be able to help me. It’s not like the two of you are in any kind of trouble.”
“You actually looked at us sitting there, in the bar?”
“I did.”
Carol’s face flushed again. “You must... you must have a terrible impression of me.”
Duckworth smiled reassuringly. “Not at all. I was young myself once, or so I’m told. It’s hard to remember back that far.”
“So, basically, you watched us make out,” Trevor said accusingly.
“Trevor,” Duckworth said evenly, “you and Carol here are potential witnesses to a crime. You may have seen something without even realizing it. I observed the two of you in a booth, yes. Shortly after Mr. Gaffney left the bar, you left too. I’m hoping maybe one or both of you noticed something outside that might be helpful in the investigation. If you’re uncomfortable being interviewed by me, then I can turn this over to someone else and have them do it.”
Trevor was silent.
“Is that what you’d like?”
Trevor looked away. While he considered a response, Carol said, “I’m okay with talking to you. I mean, I didn’t see anything, but I don’t mind talking to you. Trevor, are you okay with me talking to your dad?”
“This is just weird, that’s all,” he said.
“I get that,” Duckworth said. “I mean, it’s not like I think you two tattooed this guy.”
Carol laughed nervously. “Well, that’s good to know!”
Trevor, however, did not look amused.
“Do you remember seeing Mr. Gaffney?”
Carol shook her head. “I don’t. But,” and she placed her hand gingerly over her mouth, as though she were about to tell a secret, “I wasn’t really paying attention to anyone else.”
“Trevor?”
“Don’t remember him.”
“What about when you left Knight’s? You had to have come out just a few seconds after Mr. Gaffney. This would have been right around the time he met the person or persons who abducted him. Did you notice anything odd? Maybe someone hanging around outside the bar, or at the entrance to the alley? Did you hear something that sounded like a fight or a scuffle?”
“No,” Trevor said quickly. “No to all of those things. We came out and went to my car and that’s that.” He looked at Carol. “Right?”
She studied Trevor’s face for a moment before replying. “That’s right. That’s certainly the way I remember it.”
“You didn’t talk to anyone, see anyone when you came out?” Duckworth persisted.
“Didn’t I just answer that?” Trevor asked before Carol could say anything.
Duckworth gave his son a slow appraisal. “Okay, then.” He smiled weakly at Carol. “I thought it was worth a shot, is all.” He put his phone back into his pocket and leaned back from the table.
“It’s such a pleasure to have met you,” he said to Carol.
“Nice to meet you too.”
“What do you do, Carol?”
“I work for the town.”
“That must be interesting, especially now that we have Randall Finley running things again.”
“Never a dull moment,” Carol said.
“And David Harwood’s still his assistant, right?”
“He is. They never charged him for shooting that escaped convict.”
“Lucky for Harwood. Listen, you must come by the house some time.”
She forced a smile. “That’d be nice.”
“I know Trevor’s mother would be delighted to see you. How did you two meet?”
“Jesus, Dad,” Trevor said. “This really is turning into an investigation. Does Carol have the right to call her lawyer?”
Carol forced a laugh. “Trevor, it’s okay.”
Duckworth raised his hands as though admitting defeat. “None of my business anyway.”
He got up from the chair and gave his son one last nod. “See you later.”
“Yeah, sure,” Trevor said. “Can’t wait.”
Duckworth walked back to his car, got behind the wheel, and drove out of the Starbucks lot.
“God, I’m sorry about that,” Trevor said. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve never been so humiliated. He watched us.”
“It’s okay,” Carol said quietly. “He seems like a nice guy.”
Trevor said nothing.
“Do you think he could tell?” Carol asked.
“Think he could tell what?”
“That we both lied to him?”
Trevor considered that. “I hope not.”
Fourteen
It was a long walk to Jessica Frommer’s house, but Brian Gaffney wasn’t troubled by that. Besides, it was closer than going back to his place and getting his car. He patted the front pocket of his jeans. At least he still had his keys. The bastard — or bastards — who’d done all this to him had stripped him of his wallet and his phone, but at least he’d be able to get into his apartment and start his car.
It sure was nice to get out of the hospital. Even though his family had come to see him, the visit had stressed him out. When his sister and mother started arguing, all he wanted was for them to leave. Once his mother left to find Monica and his dad, Brian decided he’d had enough. He wanted out of there before they returned to his room and started bickering all over again.
He felt badly for his father. It wasn’t his fault that Brian had decided to move out. He’d already been thinking about doing it. He’d landed this job at the detailing shop, and while it didn’t pay a fortune, it gave him enough money to rent a tiny apartment. It wasn’t like rents in Promise Falls were all that high. The town had lost so many jobs in the last few years — and a year ago, so many people — that a lot of rental units were going empty. On top of that, a lot of people had decided to leave, move away. The town had had such a run of bad luck that many feared it was never going to end. Best to get out before things got worse.
But even though Brian believed it had ultimately been his own decision to move out, his mother blamed his father for it. Albert had fully supported his son striking out on his own, learning to live independently. While Brian was no dummy, he was willing to concede he was no Steve Jobs or Mr. Spock or Sheldon Cooper — okay, those last two weren’t real, but still — and that sometimes people could get the better of him, confuse him.