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21

THEY TOLD ME she'd been brainwashed by a cult," Sunny Randall said, "when they hired me."

She sat beside Jesse in the front seat of Jesse's car as they drove southbound on Route 128.

"And that they wanted me to find her and talk to her and, if possible, bring her home."

"So you went to visit," Jesse said.

"I did," Sunny said.

"And you found something less than Charles Manson and friends," Jesse said.

"You've talked with the Patriarch person?" Sunny said.

"Yes."

"The whole operation seems to me about as sinister as a Brownie troop," Sunny said.

"Less," Jesse said.

"You're right," Sunny said. "I never liked all that scouting crap, either."

"And the kid didn't want to leave," Jesse said.

"No."

"So I said maybe I could bring Mom and Dad," Sunny said. "And the kid laughed."

"But you tried," Jesse said.

"I did. I told them it seemed very unsinister, and maybe if they saw it…"

"What did they say?"

"They weren't interested. Their name isn't DeMarco, by the way. They changed it to Markham."

"Sounded more Concordian?" Jesse said.

"Yes. Elsa said DeMarco was too North End."

"But the kid is keeping her birth name," Jesse said.

"Guess so," Sunny said. "They'll never let me in, or you, either, if I'm with you. You don't have much official standing here."

"I've arranged for a Concord police detective to go with us, sort of disarm the matter of jurisdiction," Jesse said.

"No wonder you made chief," Sunny said.

"I made chief because the selectmen at the time wanted a drunk they could control," Jesse said.

"They erred," Sunny said.

"They got the drunk part right," Jesse said. "I guess they were a little off on the control part… so far."

"Well, aren't we down on ourselves today," Sunny said. "Want to share?"

Jesse didn't answer for a time. They reached Route 2 and turned west toward Concord.

"The night Knocko Moynihan got shot they couldn't find me. I was passed out dead drunk at home."

Sunny nodded.

"You know what set you off?" she said.

"Maybe I'm just a drunk," Jesse said.

"Whatever you are, Jesse," Sunny said, "you are not just a drunk."

Jesse shrugged.

"What's Dix say?"

"You think I told him?"

"Of course you told him," Sunny said. "What's he for?" Jesse nodded slowly.

"We're working on that question," Jesse said.

" 'What he's for?' "

"No," Jesse said. "We're working on what set me off."

"Is it okay now," Sunny said. "I mean, in town?"

"Yes," Jesse said. "Molly and Suit covered for me. Said I was out of town at the time, an issue with my ex-wife."

"And the selectmen bought it?"

"They did," Jesse said. "They're not the smartest three guys in town."

"If they were," Sunny said, "they probably wouldn't be spending time as selectmen."

"Good point," Jesse said.

They paused behind several other cars at a stoplight at the juncture with Route 2A's bypass, where Route 2 took a sharp turn southwest.

"But you must feel lousy about it," Sunny said.

"Yes."

"Ashamed," Sunny said.

"Yes."

"Had a drink since?" Sunny said.

"No."

"Miss it?"

Jesse nodded.

"Yes," he said.

"I don't think you're an alcoholic, Jesse," Sunny said. "I think you like to drink. I think when you're unhappy it helps you feel better. But I don't think you have to stop. I think you could drink in moderation if you get your, for lack of a better description, psyche settled."

The light changed. Jesse drove across the intersection and into Concord.

"I'll work on it," he said.

"I know you will," Sunny said.

They were quiet until they reached the Concord police station. Jesse pulled in and parked. Then he turned and put his hand on Sunny's thigh.

"Thank you," he said.

Sunny put her hand over his and smiled.

"You're welcome," she said.

22

THEY PICKED UP a Concord detective named Sherman Kennedy and drove in a Concord police car to the Markham home.

"It's ugly," Jesse said, as they got out of the cruiser. "But pretentious."

"True," Sunny said. "But it's much worse inside."

Kennedy laughed.

"Summers," he said, "I used to work construction while I was going to college. And I worked on this place. They built a whole bunch of them out here when mortgage money was easy."

He was a sturdy young guy with a crew cut and some modest lettering that said Sherm tattooed on his left wrist.

"Some foreclosures around here?"

"Like a damned going-out-of-business sale. People got balloon notes all of a sudden coming due. People who had no business buying one of these fucking monsters… 'Scuse me, Ms. Randall."

"My father was a cop," Sunny said. "I was a cop. I been hanging out with a bad element all my life."

Kennedy grinned.

"So you don't give a fuck," he said.

"I do not," Sunny said.

"Anyway," Kennedy said. "Lotta people bought places they couldn't afford with mortgages they shouldn't have gotten, or got places they couldn't afford but thought they could flip when the price went up, and the prices didn't go up and they couldn't carry the payments… You know."

"I do," Sunny said.

They went to the front door. Kennedy put his badge folder in his breast pocket so that the badge showed. Elsa Markham answered the door.

"Hi," Kennedy said. "Detective Kennedy. I called earlier." Elsa nodded. She looked at Sunny.

"Ms. Randall," she said.

"Mrs. Markham," Sunny said. "This is Jesse Stone. He's the chief of police in Paradise."

"Could you tell me what this is about?" Elsa said.

"May we come in?" Kennedy said.

"I am not required to let you in," she said, "unless you have some sort of document, I believe."

"True," Kennedy said. "But it would probably go easier if we came in."

"I'll decide that," Elsa said, "when I know what this is about."

"Your daughter is missing," Jesse said.

"I know that," Elsa said.

"She's missing from the Bond of the Renewal group home," Jesse said. "Where she lived, in Paradise."

Elsa was silent for a moment. Her face had a hard, sort of sick look, Jesse thought. As if she didn't feel well. Then she spoke.

"You could have informed me of that by a phone call," she said.

"We could," Jesse said.

"But you chose to come here," Elsa said.

"We did," Jesse said.

"Phone call's kind of cold," Kennedy said.

"They could have sent just you," she said to Kennedy. Then, turning back to Jesse: "Why did you and this woman come all the way out here?"

"Thought you might be helpful," Jesse said.

"I'm no longer responsible for her. She wants to shack up with some Jesus freak, I have no control over that."

"You think she's shacking up?" Jesse said.

"That would be her style," Elsa said.

"Any idea which Jesus freak?" Sunny said.

"None."

"Has she done this before?" Jesse said.

"What the hell do you think she's been doing in your stupid town for the last several months?" Elsa said.

"Any other instances," Jesse said, "besides her adventures in Paradise?"

"Drive through town," Elsa said. "Any long-haired, tattooed drug addict you see."

"Many of those in town?" Jesse asked Kennedy.

Kennedy grinned and covered up his Sherm tattoo with his right hand.