“He took his anger out on my car yesterday.”
“Oh, Christ. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. But I’m staying with a friend for awhile.”
“Good idea. You’ll be safer there.”
“The police finally seem to be showing some interest.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“Yeah, miracles never cease.”
A moment of silence fell into the gap between them and Walt kicked himself for not having called her right away. “I’m sorry I’ve had such a hard time tracking down the children, Sarah.”
“Any new leads?”
“I can tell you that until a couple of days ago, he and the kids were living down in the Bay Area, under the name of B.L. Richards. I didn’t miss him by much. My guess is he’s probably just passing through on his way to somewhere new, and he’s probably got the kids with him. Whatever he’s up to, we’ll have to start all over again from scratch.”
“What about Garrett and Christy? Are they all right?”
“I asked around and the neighborhood kids seemed to think they were doing just fine.”
“Thank God.”
“He’s making mistakes, Sarah. He’s getting arrogant and he’s making mistakes and eventually that’s what’s going to lead us to him.”
“I hope so.”
“Trust me.”
“I do.”
“Good.”
“Sorry about calling so late.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You want my friend’s number?”
“Sure. Let me grab a piece of paper.”
Sarah gave him the number where she could be reached, and said, “Okay. Well, I guess that’s all.”
“I’ll call you if anything comes up; I promise.”
For a while after the call, Walt tried to get back to sleep again. But every time he closed his eyes he kept thinking about how he should have called Sarah as soon as he had heard Boyle’s voice on the answering machine. When that thought wouldn’t let go of him, he finally pulled back the blanket, got up off the couch, his muscles stiff, and turned on the nearest lamp. The shadows that had owned the room quickly scurried back into the corners.
It was seventeen past two.
He wandered down the hall, used the bathroom, and splashed some water on his face. If he was going to be awake, he might as well be fully awake. On his way back, he stopped outside the bedroom door and wondered how Teri was doing on the other side. He had seen her angrier, especially in the early months after her son’s disappearance, when it had appeared that he had simply vanished and no one had a clue as to how or why. But Walt had never felt her anger before. Not like tonight. What had hurt most was that she had been right. They should have seen the pattern. If they had, they might have been able to save some children.
“I’m sorry, Teri,” he whispered into the door. “You’ve got to know I’m sorry.
[92]
The name of the store was After A Fashion. It was a small boutique in the Town and Country Village near the corner of West Lake and Lassiter. Teri only occasionally came by here, and most often that was to browse through the bookstore at the other end. She couldn’t recall having ever noticed the boutique before.
It was the kind of place she imagined she would want for herself if she were ever to go into business. Intimate and modest. A small, eclectic selection of styles (were the Sixties coming back?). And the atmosphere not so much that of a store as that of spending an afternoon over at a friend’s, rummaging through her closet. It had a nice feel to it.
A bell over the door rang as Teri stepped through. There was no one behind the counter. In fact, there was no else in the store, at least not up front. She sidled over to the casual wear and pulled out an adorable outfit with a smocked, high-waist skirt made with a two-tier flounce.
“I’ll be right out, if you need any help,” a voice called from in back.
“No hurry. I’m just looking,” Teri said. She checked the price. $65.00.
“I’m sorry. Things have just been crazy this morning.” The woman came bouncing out, her eyes bright, her smile wide, and Teri recognized her immediately. Judy had always been a fireball, full of energy and laughter, the kind of woman you enjoyed being around. Time had treated her well. She hadn’t aged a day since Teri had last seen her.
“Teri?”
“Hi, Judy.”
Her smile grew even wider. She opened her arms and gave Teri a hug that immediately closed the gap of time that had grown between them since they had last been together. There weren’t very many people you met in your life who could do that. It had been twelve, maybe fifteen years since Teri had seen her, and yet instantly it felt as if it had only been yesterday.
“My Lord. It’s so wonderful to see you again,” Judy said.
Teri didn’t want to let her out of the hug, but she did, reluctantly. “You, too.”
“How long has it been?”
“Too long,” Teri said. Yesterday she had visited with Cindy and thought how much the woman had changed, how much—no doubt—they had all changed. But that wasn’t as true today. Because somehow, Judy had managed to hold onto the essence of the old days. She hadn’t changed much at all. “We never should have let it get away from us like that.”
“Life does that, doesn’t it? Just keeps us on the run all the time. Always busy, never seeming to get anywhere.”
Teri smiled, thinking that was probably true for most of them, but she wasn’t sure it was true in Judy’s case. “I like your boutique.”
“Do you? Eddie—he’s my husband—he says there’s not much money in it. And he’s right. He’s always right. But I like this place. I really do like it.”
“I can see that.”
The bell over the door rang, and a young woman with a little girl in tow entered. The woman smiled courteously, and wandered off to the other side to browse through some hand-knitted sweaters.
“Just yell if you need any help,” Judy said.
“Thank you.”
Teri shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling like an imposition. “Well, I don’t want to take too much of your time.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I heard you had a little girl.”
“Yeah, she’s three. Her name’s Genevieve. You think that sounds stuck-up? Eddie’s mother says it sounds like some prissy European duchess.”
“No, I like it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Judy pulled a black jumper with a pink cotton T-shirt out from the nearest rack and studied it absently. “At least I didn’t name her Moon Shadow, huh?”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that when she gets older.”
“She better.”
Another customer came in. She looked to be someone who had shopped here before. She was wearing a stretch, twill jumper with mock belt buckle and an acrylic knit T-shirt with padded shoulders. It was a 90’s twist on the 60’s revival that had only recently come into style.
Judy put the outfit she had been studying back on the rack, and smiled at the woman. “Let me know if you need any help.”
The woman smiled in return, without saying anything.
“It’s getting busy.”
“We have our moments.”
“Well, I won’t keep you,” Teri said. “I just wanted to see you, and see how you’ve been doing. Find out if you’ve been in touch with any of the old crowd.”
“A few. Most everyone scattered, you know.”
“Did they?”
Judy nodded, browsing through the rack as if she were looking for something for herself or maybe something she could put aside for when Genevieve was older. “Oh, yeah. Jack moved out to Boston to run a restaurant with his brother. I haven’t talked to him in over a year. And Jeremy followed Michelle out to Chicago. They got married and had a little girl who must be twelve or thirteen now.”