“There’s a boy missing. You may be in a position to help us and help the kid at the same time,” Harper said.
“Really?” Joan said. “Missing people in Bobbie’s family have been turning up dead. Families can be dangerous.” “Sounds like you’ve had a bad experience,” Lane said.
“Had a husband who threatened to kill my boys if I left him. He put me in the hospital, just to prove his point. I left him after that. He’s in jail now, but he’ll be out someday,” Joan said.
“And we’ve got a kid we need to find,” Harper said.
“Don’t see what that has to do with me.” Again, Joan used both hands to lift the coffee cup. She hid her face as she took a sip.
“We need Bobbie’s car because it could help us determine if the fibres in the trunk match fibres found on the child’s body,” Lane said.
Before Joan could answer, Harper said, “We’re only interested in the car. If we find the car in question, we’ll need it for evidence. The person who has possession of the car will help us establish that it did, in fact, belong to Bobbie Reddie. We won’t be looking at charging the new owner.”
“Police couldn’t protect me before. What makes you think anything’s changed?” Joan asked.
Mike opened the door.
Both detectives turned.
Mike studied the faces in the room. He brushed at the front of his coveralls; buying time. He frowned, thought, and smiled. “Want a cup of coffee officers?”
“They know.” Joan’s shoulders sagged. She looked at Lane. “I never could put groceries in the trunk of that car. I kept thinking about why she wanted the car wrecked. I mean who in her right mind would want to get rid of a car like that? She must have had a reason.
I just never opened the trunk. Kept thinking about my twins and what their father threatened to do to them.”
Mike said, “Joan’s car was on its last legs. We didn’t charge Bobbie anything for wrecking her car, just substituted Joan’s old one. Bobbie never noticed. She thought she got rid of her car, and Joan got a new one.”
“You never opened the trunk?” Lane asked.
“I didn’t,” Mike said.
Joan said, “Not me. Never worked up the nerve.”
“Would you testify that you switched your car for hers but never opened the trunk of Bobbie’s?” Lane asked.
“Do we have a choice?” Mike asked.
Harper said, “It’s the only choice that I’d make.”
“It’s right around here.” Tony rode up front with Rosie. Jay and Cole sat in the back seat of her Honda.
“There’s a parking spot.” Rosie pulled up to the curb. “Anybody got any change for the meter?”
“How much you need?” Jay asked, reaching into his pocket.
“Couple of loonies should do it,” Rosie said.
“This is crazy. You realize this is nuts. I mean two Asians with a white kid? If we get caught, the news will say we’re Asian gang members involved in the white slave trade.” Tony smiled when he said it, but his voice was pitched too high.
“Slavery was abolished, at least in North America, at the time of the American Civil War,” Cole said.
“As long as we’re not arrested for pimping. I’d never live that one down,” Rosie said.
“Aren’t pimps usually male?” Cole asked.
“Damn, you’re just too smart aren’t you, Cole?”
Tony said.
“What’s your new name, Cole?” Rosie asked.
“Chuck,” Cole said.
“You guys are crazy,” Tony said.
“Everybody’s looking for a blond-haired boy in church clothes. Once we get him a ball cap, some baggy pants, and a T-shirt with somethin’ obscene on it, nobody’ll give him a second look.” Rosie checked for traffic and got out.
The boys all stepped onto the sidewalk. Jay felt completely vulnerable.
“Sell it.” Rosie took Cole’s hand. “Me and Chuck are going shoppin’.” Cole looked back over his shoulder to make sure Jay was following.
People on the sidewalk passed without noticing. Cars drove by without stopping.
Rosie, Cole, Jay, and Tony crossed the street. They stepped into the skateboard/snowboard shop. Cole stared at the girl who sat behind the till. She had studs in her eyebrow and lip. When she opened her mouth, there was one in her tongue. Her hair, eyebrows, and clothes were black.
“Got some stuff to fit him?” Rosie asked.
“Right there,” the clerk pointed to a corner at the back of the store.
“This looks good,” Jay grabbed a red hat.
“How about this?” Tony pulled out a blue T-shirt.
Cole looked at Rosie, who held up a pair of khaki trousers with more pockets than a pool table. The child stood in the middle of the store, overwhelmed. His eyes filled with tears.
Jay got on one knee so he could look Cole in the eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I never picked out my own clothes before,” Cole said.
“It can be fun,” Rosie said.
“Fun?” Cole asked.
“You know, you try on some stuff and try on some more and have, you know, fun,” Tony said.
Cole looked bewildered.
“What if you pick one person to bring you clothes?” the clerk asked.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Okay,” Cole said.
“How about Rosie?” Jay asked.
“Okay.” Cole sounded relieved.
Cole ended up with a red hat with the brim pointed forward, a blue T-shirt with a white stripe across the chest, and a pair of green cotton pants with more pockets than the one Rosie had first shown him.
Tony, Jay, and Cole picked up the old clothes in the changing room while Rosie pulled out her card and handed it to the clerk.
The clerk swiped the card and said, “The kid’s still recognizable.”
Rosie thought she might vomit. “What do you mean?”
“The kid’s face is everywhere. It’s only a matter of time before somebody goes for the reward.” The clerk handed Rosie the receipt.
“What about you?” Rosie signed the receipt.
“You think Bobbie and her fans wanna make the world a better place for people like me? Look at me. I’m just sayin’ it’s only a matter of time before somebody spots you. The kid looks like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. People are actually asking him what he thinks. What he wants. He’s not acting like a kid should. He looks like he’s been abused. Believe me, I know that look. Take care of that kid. His sister and his dad just died,” the clerk said.
“Thanks.” Rosie stuffed her copy of the receipt in her purse and waited outside until the boys caught up.
When they were back in the car she asked, “What’s the plan, Jay?”
“Plan?” Jay asked.
“We need a plan or we’re finished,” Rosie said.
Jay looked at Cole, who looked out the window.
“Cole?” Jay asked.
Cole turned to face his uncle.
“What happened to Kaylie and your Dad?” Jay asked.
“Mommy said if I told anyone, there’d be a fire,”
Cole said.
“What’s that mean?” Tony asked.
“That my sister’ll make somebody pay if Cole tells the truth about Charles and Kaylie,” Jay said.
“Uncle Tran was right,” Rosie said.
“What are you talkin’ about?” Tony asked.
“He called me last night and said the landlady saw you take Cole into the apartment. Then Uncle Tran told me what to do. I called him again while you were asleep. He thought you probably hadn’t planned very far ahead. He thinks this won’t end until you end it,”
Rosie said.
“What’s that mean?” Jay asked.
“It means the police, Tommy Pham, and Uncle Tran want to see you this afternoon. I’ll take care of Cole while you meet them, Jay,” Rosie said.
Lane followed the tow truck down the freeway. On the deck behind the truck’s cab, Bobbie’s Chrysler bobbed each time the truck hit a ripple in the pavement.