The door opened slowly and Elizabeth timidly stuck her head out into the hallway. “I’m done.”
Blundell smiled at her. As difficult as everything was, I liked Blundell. She was smart and doing her best to make Elizabeth feel comfortable.
“Were you able to reach the Corzines?” Blundell asked.
Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah. I talked to them.”
We all waited for more.
Elizabeth looked first at Lauren, then at me, maybe sizing us up, maybe trying to remember us. I wasn’t sure.
“I told them I needed to do something,” she said, looking at me. “With you guys.”
I let out a sigh and it felt as if I’d been holding my breath forever. I felt Lauren do the same next to me.
“Anything,” I said, my voice hoarse, my throat dry and tight. “We can do anything you want.”
“Can we go see…” Tears welled in her eyes. “Can we go see the house?”
FORTY-FOUR
Agent Blundell arranged a loaner Bureau vehicle for us.
Lauren drove, as my shoulder was stiffening up and I wasn’t sure I could turn the wheel. Elizabeth sat in the front seat next to her and I was in the back.
We headed down I-15, southward out of Kearney Mesa, then cut through Mission Valley on Interstate 8 before we joined up with the slow-going I-5 again. Traffic wasn’t as knotted as it might have been. We passed all of the San Diego landmarks—the Chargers stadium, Old Town, the airport, downtown—and I couldn’t help but wonder if Elizabeth remembered any of them.
Lauren moved over as we swung past downtown and took the exit for the bridge, taking us high over the bay. Elizabeth was looking out her window, at the water down below, back toward the downtown skyline. I tried to recall the first time I’d driven over the bridge with her as a kid, but couldn’t pull the memory.
“It’s an island,” Elizabeth said quietly and it wasn’t a question.
“It is,” Lauren answered. “We’ve always lived here.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything.
Lauren navigated the narrow streets of Coronado, turned the corner into the neighborhood and pulled slowly into the driveway. The last time I’d been there I’d nearly collapsed in the drive, overwhelmed by the memories after having been gone so long.
We all got out.
My shoulder ached as I stood there next to the car, squinting into the early evening sun. Lauren came around next to me. Elizabeth stayed close to the car, then stepped tentatively into the yard.
“I’m going to go inside,” Lauren said. “I’ve been gone for a few days. Just to open up the doors and windows.” She smiled faintly at Elizabeth. “So you can see your room again. Your home.”
Elizabeth looked at her, tried to smile, then nodded.
We both watched her walk toward the house and disappear inside.
Elizabeth stared at the house. I stood next to her, unsure of what to say, what to do. I shoved my hands in my pockets and felt something metal. The bracelet Bryce had given me. I fished it out and held it out to Elizabeth.
“Bryce asked me to give this to you,” I said.
She reached for it and our fingers touched. I wanted to grab her hand, pull her to me, wrap her in a hug and never let go. But I didn’t.
“Thanks,” she said, fingering the charms on the bracelet. She clenched it in her hand but didn’t put it on.
We were quiet for a few more minutes before she spoke. “Someone told me the house burned down. A woman, I think.”
“It didn’t,” I said. “It’s always been here.”
“She told me my parents died,” she said, still staring at the house. “I think she did, anyway. It’s all weird. In my head. Like, I haven’t thought about any of this in so long and now it’s showing up in my head.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “There are a lot of things to sort out. You don’t have to remember or force anything.”
Elizabeth took a few more steps into the yard, the grass fading from green to brown. Then she turned around.
“I was right about here,” she said to me.
Tears filled my eyes. I remembered it like it was yesterday. I nodded.
“You went inside, right?” she said. “We were doing Christmas decorations?”
I nodded again, my breath catching, my vision blurring.
“I didn’t want to go,” she said, her voice cracking.
I took a couple steps toward her.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get back,” she said, tears once again running down her cheeks.
I walked over to her, hesitated, then put my arms around her, pulled her close to me. Smelled her hair, felt it brush against my face. So much taller than when she’d been taken, but still so familiar.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get back,” she said, shaking against me. “I remembered wanting to be back with my Daddy. But she told me you were gone.”
That word. Daddy. That was the one that cut the tears loose in my eyes, the one that made my chest ache, made my heart flutter.
And told me we’d be okay.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay,” she whispered back.
It wasn’t. I still didn’t know if Elizabeth wanted to be with us, if she’d choose to stay in San Diego or if she’d want to return to the Corzines. I still resented the fact that we’d missed almost a decade together, years that we could never, ever get back. And, more than anything, I still needed to know what happened. Who had taken her from right where we were standing.
And I would make sure that whoever had taken her, whoever had broken my family, whoever had played a part, I would make sure that they would pay.
I would be coming for them and they would pay.
But at that moment, all I wanted was to hold my daughter.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice broken.
“Nothing to be sorry for,” I said. “Not one single thing. Nothing is your fault. Nothing.”
She nodded and her tears soaked my shirt, wet against my chest.
We stood there for a long time.
Finally, she said, “Can we go inside? I…I want to see everything.”
I gently pulled away from her, but kept my arms around her.
She looked up at me, her eyes red and tired.
I took my thumb and wiped it gently beneath her eye, pushing the tears out of the way.
She smiled at me.
My daughter smiled at me.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling at her through my tears. “Let’s go inside.”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As usual, there are lots and lots of people who helped make this book possible.
Thanks to ALL of the readers who have responded so enthusiastically to the Joe books and have taken the time to email me, message me and leave reviews. And, yes, there will be a fourth Joe book…
Thanks to my family and friends for all of their support and good humor and nagging to get the book done.
Thanks to Pam Applegate for cleaning this book up while she was on vacation.
Thanks to my daughter, Hannah, for always saying “Shouldn’t you be writing, Daddy?”
And thanks to Beth – I love you more than you know.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Other books
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS