I stared hard at the young woman’s face. “Will you keep looking for William? Or did you ever really look?”
“We did the best we could. I’m fairly sure William… what we believe to be William… will be found in Dr. Richards’s basement. It will be difficult to identify, but even badly burned… it will be enough to convict. What’s important is that your family can move on, once and for all. Do this for them, Mrs. Roseworth. Close this sad chapter.”
We sat in silence for the rest of the drive. As the police escort pulled onto our street, and I could see the girls’ cars in the driveway alongside several others with government plates. The house beamed as if every light and lamp were turned on.
Deanna put the car in park. “Let me come around and help, it might have turned icy—”
“I’m fine,” I said, opening the door and walking briskly through the cold.
Tom was waiting at the back door, and he embraced me with such fierceness it took the wind out of me for a moment. “You should have told me, Lynnie. You shouldn’t have put yourself in any danger.”
“I was never in any danger—”
“Mom.” Stella pulled back Tom to hug me. “Jesus, Mom, what made you think this was a good idea?”
“Going off on your own, Mom?” Kate said, her hands raised. “We were worried sick—”
“Let’s give your mom some breathing room,” Deanna said, closing the door. She met my husband’s disapproving gaze. “I’m sorry, Senator. I wish I could have been more upfront from the beginning.”
“I have a lot to discuss with your boss. But for now, I want to know everything. And these fellas haven’t told us much.” He motioned to the men in suits standing uncomfortably, near the pie safe. He leaned in to me. “Is it true, Lynn? That this is all because of that professor? Steven Richards?”
“Mama?” Anne slowly crossed the room, her eyes bloodshot and her voice breaking. “What did this man do with William?”
“Where is my son,” Chris demanded, his hands behind his head. “Who is Steven Richards?”
“Everyone, please, I know you have lots of questions,” Deanna said. “Let me fill in the holes my partners here couldn’t. Mrs. Roseworth, please have a seat.”
“I don’t need to sit,” I said, but Stella sat me down at the kitchen table, squeezing my hand.
My ears starting to ring as Kate poured another cup of coffee. I watched her fumble with the coffee maker while vaguely hearing the words “obsessed with your mother,” and “domestic terrorism.”
I don’t need to pay attention. I’ve already been given the presentation.
“Your mother led us right to him,” Deanna said.
“Where is my boy?” Anne shrieked.
I started to stand, but Stella held me back. “Mom,” she whispered, “She needs to hear this.”
“We’re combing Dr. Richards’s house in Champaign right now,” Deanna said, and then exhaled. “Mrs. Chance, I’m sorry, but we’ve already found his pajama shirt.”
The family eruption sounded hollow to me. I stared numbly at the wooden table, reaching out to run my finger over a carving, done either by a child, or a nick from a fork or knife.
“I’m going there right now,” Chris said.
Deanna raised one hand. “Mr. Chance—”
“I don’t care if you are with the FBI, lady, we’re going there now,” Chris said, striding from the room. Sobbing, Anne stood and stumbled after him, with Kate helping her to the door.
“Mama!” Anne stopped, looking back wildly.
“Go, Sis,” Stella said. “We’ll take care of the boys.”
“Lynn.” Tom knelt beside me. “I’m going too. I’ll call you from the car. Are you OK? I’ll stay here if you need me—”
“Just go,” I said softly.
“Why would he do this, Lynn?” he asked.
I shook my head and closed my eyes. I could feel him looking at me, but when he heard the sounds of the cars engines turning on, he hurried out.
Deanna walked across the room to stand on the other side of the table. “I hope we’re wrong about William, that he’s still alive. Whatever happens, know your mother is pretty remarkable. It’s amazing what she did for this family.”
“Thank you, Agent,” Stella said.
“We’ll leave a team outside if you have any other questions, and we’ll brief you on any new developments,” she said. “Take care of your family, Mrs. Roseworth.”
I did not look at her as she and the other agents walked out.
“Mom, don’t worry about Brian and Greg. The neighbors are watching them, and I’ll head over there later,” Stella said.
Kate was already on her cell. “Trevor? I know it’s late, but things are moving faster since our last briefing. Here’s the deaclass="underline" Deanna Ruck is no longer working press for us, that’s got to be you for a bit. It will be very clear quite soon…. I know you don’t know what’s going on, but have a bag ready, you might be going to Champaign, Illinois. I’ll explain in a minute. I’m calling both the Nashville office and the Washington office with strict instructions: All network calls go to me, all local press calls go to you. But here’s what you need to know: No one, I repeat, no member of the media is to approach my mother or my family. Repeat that in your head….”
“Mama.” Stella pulled up a chair, taking my hand. “You heard the agent. They could be wrong. William could still be alive—”
“It’s a lie,” I whispered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I pushed away from the table and walked to the sink. My hands were shaking so badly that I dropped the cup into the sink, where it clanged jarringly.
“Mom?” Kate asked, and briefly turned back to the phone. “Marcus, I’ll need to call you back.”
“What is a lie, Mom?” Stella asked, slowly standing.
“Everything!” I cried out, startling both my daughters. “Everything is a lie.”
“I knew there was more,” Stella said, pointing her finger towards me. “I could tell it the minute you came in here. Did that bastard do something to you? Did he, Mom?”
“He didn’t do anything. He didn’t do anything to me or to William.”
“What is it, Mom?” Kate asked.
“Tell us, Mom. That’s how you raised us. No lies. Not ever, even if it’s ugly,” Stella said. “What happened—?”
The back door came flying open and a red-faced Roxy strode in, her gray-streaked hair wet from the snow. “Why in the hell wasn’t I called? Some FBI agent called about twenty minutes ago and told me to hightail it over here, something about you leading them to Steven Richards.”
“You know about him too?” Kate asked.
“Um, not really, that’s just what the agent said,” Roxy replied.
“You’re a terrible liar, Roxy.” Stella flicked a hair from her forehead.
“Well, somebody tell me what’s going on,” Roxy said.
“The FBI said this Steven Richards, who Mom worked for back when Dad was in law school, is obsessed and kidnapped William. Has some kind of vendetta against Dad. Some woman contacted Mom and led her to a Murfreesboro motel where he was waiting. That’s when the FBI nabbed him,” Kate explained. “They think they’ve found William’s pajama shirt at his house.”
Roxy stormed across the room. “This was tonight? Lynn, why didn’t you tell me? I would have gone with you! Does the FBI really think he kidnapped William? Do they know—?”
I raised my hand ever so slightly, and Roxy bit her lip. Stella saw it all. “I don’t know what you two aren’t telling, but you better spill it. Mom says this Richards character didn’t hurt her or William. Mom, for the last time, what is going on?”
“Tell her, Lynnie,” Roxy said.
“You don’t know what they’ll do, Roxy. I do. They made it very clear that we all have to play along. They’ll come after you too.”