Of course, Father Horrigan assumed that, as the parish office manager, Cynthia knew none of this.
“It must have been seven years since I saw Sandra last,” Cynthia said. “It’s a shame that she suddenly stopped coming.”
“Is it possible we still have her contact information?” he asked. “I’d like to give her a call.”
Maybe he could put Marcy’s mind at ease without breaking his promise to Michelle.
* * *
A few minutes later, he was back inside his house, dialing Sandra Carpenter’s number. After three rings, a woman answered.
“Hello?”
The voice at the other end of the line sounded weaker and much older than the one he remembered. “This is Father Mike Horrigan from Blessed Sacrament Church. I was looking for Sandra Carpenter.” It had been seven years since he’d spoken to her. She had probably changed her number since then.
“Well, you found me, Father Mike. How nice to hear from you.”
Her voice brightened slightly, but still seemed frail. They spent a couple of minutes chatting about her retirement from her secretarial position with the federal government and a new priest at St. John’s who was creating quite a stir incorporating what she called his “stand-up comedy routine” into his services.
“Well, I’m happy to hear you found a home there. We were sorry to lose you at Blessed Sacrament. I hope you don’t mind, but I was wondering how things worked out for Michelle. Where is she these days? Is she here in D.C.?”
He had decided that there was no need to upset Sandra or Michelle by telling them that Johnny was missing. He hoped that he could get confirmation from Sandra that Michelle was nowhere near Long Island, New York, without causing unnecessary anxiety.
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. “Sandra? Are you there?”
“I guess you didn’t hear the news.”
He could tell from the tone of her voice that the news wasn’t good. “I’m sorry. No, I didn’t.”
“I lost her.”
“Oh, Sandra. I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“I’d say I lost her the first time not long after the baby was born. She became a completely different person. Distracted. Depressed. Defeated. She withdrew from everyone she knew, including me. She lost any desire for happiness. Any thoughts of returning to college were out the window. She moved to Denver for a while, then to Philadelphia. She’d call me on birthdays and Christmas, but otherwise, she was practically a stranger.”
He told her again he was sorry. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No. My daughter died six months ago.”
“Oh, Sandra. No.”
“It was a drug overdose. The police found my number in her cell phone, so at least someone told me. I still can’t believe she’s gone. At least she knew her son has a good life. Despite everything she went through afterward, she told me that she never regretted having him or giving him a chance at a happy life. How is little Johnny, by the way?”
Chapter 13
The humming sound beneath Johnny Buckley suddenly changed. The car was slowing down. His body rocked in the trunk as they drove over a series of bumps. He believed they were pulling off the highway, maybe onto a dirt road.
The car came to a halt. The engine stopped, too. He heard one of the car doors open. Maybe it was two. He couldn’t tell. And then there was silence. Complete and total silence.
He began to take slow breaths—in and out—the way his mom had said they did in her yoga class. She told him doing that would make him calm. It had worked when she took him to the dentist. It was helping, but he was still so afraid.
Please, please don’t leave me here, all alone.
“Hello?” he cried out. “Is anyone there?”
More silence. What if no one ever came for him? What if he was never seen again and died out here by himself?
“Can anyone hear me?” His voice was louder this time, but, still, no one answered.
He pounded his palms against the top of the car trunk. “Help! Help! Someone please help me!” He yelled as loud as he could.
The trunk popped open, and he screamed from fright. A three-inch crack of light appeared between the hood and the trunk. Someone was standing behind the car. A gray T-shirt, untucked except for the spot where it hitched up over the top of a gun tucked inside the man’s waistband. That’s all Johnny could make out other than the treetops and sky around them.
“See, that’s why we needed to pull over in the middle of nowhere.” The man’s voice was deep. He sounded casual, like there was nothing weird about making Johnny ride in the trunk or the weapon only inches away from Johnny’s head. “Had to see whether you were going to act up or not.”
“Please, mister. Don’t hurt me.”
“That’s the last thing I want to do, but I will if I have to. You understand? And I can go back to that hotel and find the rest of that family, too, if you don’t do what I say. I can’t have you yelling and screaming, do you understand?”
Johnny said nothing.
“That’s better. Now… are you hungry?”
He shook his head, but then realized the man couldn’t see him any better than he could see the man. “No, my stomach hurts.”
“That’s probably nausea from the chloroform. I was afraid of that. You didn’t throw up in there, did you?”
Johnny couldn’t tell whether the man was actually worried about him or was angry about the possibility of a mess in his car. “Uh-uh.”
“Don’t say ‘uh-uh.’ It’s not polite. You’re old enough to say yes or no, properly, like a young man.”
“I’m sorry. No, I didn’t get sick.”
“That’s better. Here, you’re probably thirsty, and this will help your stomach.” The man reached in and handed Johnny a can of ginger ale.
“I can’t drink it lying down,” Johnny said.
“Tell you what. I’ll pop the trunk all the way open so you can sit up and get some fresh air for a bit. But you got to promise not to try to run away or yell or any of that nonsense, okay? There’s no one around to hear you, and remember what I said I would do if you act up. Deal?”
“I’ll be good, mister. I promise.”
“Just like I knew you would be. Such a good kid.”
Chapter 14
In the honeymoon suite at the South Shore Resort, Leo had asked the babysitter Kara to recount every single moment of her day on the beach in minute detail. In Leo’s police experience, the exercise might lead to the discovery of an important detail that may otherwise have been overlooked.
Kara was recalling the Buckley kids continuing to practice for Laurie and Alex’s wedding ceremony after Timmy and Ramon had left the hotel to shop for a birthday present for Alex. It broke Laurie’s heart picturing Johnny standing in for Timmy as her best man. As she listened, it was obvious that the boy looked up to his older future cousin.
The chirp of a cell phone interrupted Kara’s narration of the day. Marcy glanced at the screen with a perplexed expression and excused herself from the room.