“If you don’t know anything, then what point is there in talking to Craig? He upsets very easily.”
Duckworth hesitated. “There’s been another incident.”
“Oh dear me.”
He raised a palm. “Not as serious as what happened to Craig. And it may not be related. But I’d like to speak with your son just the same. Maybe, since the last time we spoke, he’s remembered something else.”
Ruth Pierce nodded resignedly. “All right, then. If you have to do it, you have to do it.”
“I want to thank you for the scone. I really shouldn’t have had it, but it was irresistible. The coffee, too.”
“It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”
“Do you get out?” he asked her.
“Oh, yes. I mean, Craig can be left home alone. And sometimes I take him for drives. He likes to go for drives. If we’re out in the daytime, he’ll wear something on his head, so people can’t see him. He’s even been going out some on his own, but only late at night, when no one can see him and he doesn’t have to cover himself up. But I worry when he does that. If he has an accident or something, what will people think when they see him? When he’s with me, I can sort of run interference. You know what I mean?”
“Sure,” said Duckworth.
Given that Pierce was known to be a sex offender — although not an actual convicted one — Duckworth pondered the wisdom of him going out at night on his own. Although he didn’t quite pose the threat he might once have.
“The best news is, he’s feeling a little more confident,” Ruth said. “He’s getting interested in things again, like hobbies. He’s been ordering little gadgets off the Internet.”
Duckworth stood and waited for Ruth to get to her feet.
“I’ll try not to be too long,” he said as he started to leave the kitchen.
The woman reached out and gently took his arm.
“There’s something you need to know before you see him.”
“What’s that?”
“First of all, he’s gotten a little... I don’t want to say crazy. But considering everything, he sometimes becomes quite... irreverent.”
“And what else?”
She let out a long breath.
“The last of the bandages have come off.”
Eighteen
The Gaffneys were frantic.
All evidence pointed to the fact that Brian had walked right out of the hospital. A nurse was pretty sure she had seen him pass her station in his clothes, but Albert wanted them to be sure his son had not been transferred to some other part of the building or possibly sent to a lab or something for further tests.
Hospital security guards were called, and a search of Promise Falls General was initiated.
Albert was not only hoping they’d find Brian quickly, but that they would find him before Constance came back.
Things did not work out the way he’d hoped.
When Constance returned to the ER with Monica trailing after her, she spotted her husband standing in a hallway and said, “How is he? How’s Brian?”
“I don’t... I don’t know where he is right now,” he admitted.
“What’s going on? Have they moved him to a proper room?”
Albert shook his head.
“I don’t think so. Now, I don’t want you having a fit about what I’m about to say, but—”
“Good God, what’s happened?” Constance asked.
“They don’t know where he is.”
Constance, wide-eyed, said, “They’ve lost Brian?”
“No, it’s not that. It looks like he left.”
Monica said, “Oh, shit.”
Constance said, “You let him walk out of here?”
“I didn’t let him walk out. When I came back, he was gone.”
“We only left him for a minute,” Constance said. “He must have walked right past you.” She looked at the ceiling. “This is unbelievable. While you’re here, you should have your eyes checked.”
“Maybe,” Monica said, “he went outside for some fresh air. Maybe he took a walk around the block.”
“I’ve looked,” Albert said. “I’ve looked all over. I think he just walked out.”
“You’re hopeless,” Constance said.
“He can’t have gotten far,” Albert said, trying to put the best face on things. “He doesn’t have a car, he’s got no money. Unless he managed to call a friend to come and get him, he must have left on foot.”
“We should split up,” Monica said. “Let’s go home first. We’ll each take a car and see if we can find him. And who knows, maybe that’s where he is.”
“At least someone is thinking,” Constance said.
They got in the car and went back to the house. Constance ran inside, hoping her son would be there, but he was not.
Monica said she would get in her Beetle and search the streets around the hospital. Constance would check Brian’s apartment and Knight’s. That left the car detailing shop to be checked by Albert.
Ten minutes later, he was there. He parked and ran inside. They knew him here. This was, not surprisingly, where he brought his pickup to have it washed. Whenever Brian was on duty, he’d hit the hot wax button without charging his dad for it.
When he entered the office, a heavyset man behind the cash looked up and said, “Hey! Where the hell’s Brian been? I’ve been calling him for two days!”
“Hi, Len,” said Albert. “Brian’s in the hospital. Well, he’s supposed to be in the hospital, but—”
“Oh, shit, no, what happened?”
Albert shook his head, a “don’t have time” gesture. “Have you seen him? I mean, in the last hour?”
“Nope. I’d just about given up on him. Figured he didn’t want the job. I didn’t know he’d got hurt or anything.”
“If he comes in, will you call me?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Len handed Albert a used envelope so he could scribble his cell number on the back. Once he’d done that, he turned around and went back to his truck.
He debated calling his wife and daughter to see if they’d had any better luck than he’d had. But he knew Monica would call him if she found Brian. And if Constance found him, she’d probably tell Monica, who’d pass the news on to her father.
Two blocks from the detailing place, Albert spotted him.
Brian was walking slowly along the sidewalk, his back to Albert. But he knew his son, even from behind. The boy had always had a bit of a slouch. He slowed the car as he came up alongside, powered down the window, and shouted, “Brian!”
Brian stopped, turned his head slowly, as if in a daze, then bent over slightly so he could see in through the window.
“Oh, hi, Dad,” he said.
He threw the car into park, got out, and ran over to his son. When he went to hug him, Brian raised a cautious hand.
“I’m kinda hurt,” he said. “My rib’s really sore.”
“What happened? Where did you go? You scared us all half to death.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Why’d you leave the hospital? What were you thinking? Why is there grass all over you?”
“I fell down.” He reconsidered. “I got beat up.”
“Christ, what’s happened to you?”
Brian carefully pulled up his shirt to show the bruising around his ribcage. “I sort of got kicked.”
“What? Who kicked you?”
“She’s married,” he said.
“Who’s married? Brian, start at the beginning.”
“She never told me she was married. I didn’t have any idea.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jessica.”
“Who’s Jessica?”
“Can I sit down? I’m really tired.”
“Come, get in the car.”
Albert led him to the passenger door, opened it, got him settled. He came around the other side and got back in behind the wheel.