“You mean search it? If Robin is in there with you,” I said.
Robin glanced at me, startled, but then he nodded. We’d been together long enough for him to understand that I’d chosen him for a reason.
“All right,” Trumble said, and Robin led the way to show her to Phillip’s room. Levon went along to help.
The minute they were out of earshot, I called Bryan Pascoe.
“Aurora,” he said, sounding a little startled. “I’m glad to hear from you, of course, but very curious.”
Of course he was. I’d met him when my sister-in-law Poppy had been murdered, and he’d been pretty frank about being interested in me personally.
“I guess you read my marriage announcement,” I said.
“I did, and of course I’m very happy for you,” he said smoothly. “To what do I owe the honor of this call?”
“Bryan, it’s about Phillip,” I said.
“Phillip. Oh, your brother. He answered the phone the last time I called.”
“My half brother,” I said. I filled him in very concisely on Phillip and the current situation.
“How can I be of service?” Bryan asked, which was really polite of him considering I was calling him at night and I was not a regular client of his.
“I hope you will agree to be Phillip’s attorney,” I said. “Because this isn’t looking good, right now. And even if we find him, and he’s okay…” And here I had to speak very fast to leap over the abyss. “It’s clear that the police are way more concerned about Liza, and the fact that Aubrey’s certainly told them about her infatuation with Phillip. Which I understand, okay? I get it. But Phillip is a good kid. No saint. But a good kid. And smart.”
“Do you have a power of attorney giving you the say in what happens to Phillip?”
“Yes, in case of emergency. My dad did give me power of attorney. Medical and legal.” Robin had thought of that when we’d agreed Phillip could live with us, God bless him.
“Then I’m hired,” Bryan said. “Call me when I’m needed.”
“You’ll be in town for the holidays?”
“At least for another week and a half,” he said. “And longer if I need to be.”
“Thank you so much,” I said. I couldn’t think of any other way to express my gratitude.
“Thank me after I’ve done something for you,” he said. “Good-bye.”
I felt better, as if I’d really accomplished something. That was hardly the case, but at least I’d been … proactive.
When Robin and Cathy Trumble came back into the living room, Cathy looked dissatisfied (yay!) and Robin looked relaxed (also yay). Levon Suit, trailing behind, shook his head at me. They hadn’t found anything incriminating in Phillip’s room.
Okay, that was one tiny step forward. Robin looked relieved.
I asked Cathy Trumble to please let me know the minute they heard something, and she assured me she would.
Robin walked her to the door. The second she was outside, I texted Phillip with Bryan Pascoe’s phone number. I told Phillip that this was his lawyer and he must call Bryan as soon as he could. I had no idea where my brother was or what had happened to him, but that was essential information.
I really didn’t have a good grasp on what I was doing or what I imagined might happen, by that time.
I sank down on the couch. I was comforted when Robin put his arm around me. This is my husband, I said to myself, and the idea still seemed a little odd.
“Let’s think,” Robin suggested.
“I wish I could quit thinking,” I said. “But I know we have to try to figure something out.”
“Okay, the first thing Trumble asked me when we were out of your earshot is if Phillip had been acting any different lately.”
“I don’t think so. But—maybe I don’t know Phillip well enough to be certain, especially since I’ve been caught up in the pregnancy excitement.”
“Me, too. But I’ll tell you, I had a thought. While we were gone on our honeymoon? We left Phillip with your mom and John.”
“Which he didn’t want to do, but the Finstermeyers were out of town.”
“And he also went to church with your mom and John.”
“So he did.”
“So we need to know if anything happened then that might have a bearing on this.”
We’d just been gone a week. But that was the only time something could have happened to Phillip that we didn’t know about. Of course, he could always have gotten a phone call, or a text … but I found it very hard to imagine that someone would pursue Phillip from California because he’d dissed a girlfriend or something like that. Something I would think was trivial.
So I called my mother. She answered on the second ring. “Hi, honey!” she said, the smile in her voice very evident. I hated to bring her down.
“Mom, the pregnancy is fine, and everything is all right with me,” I said. “But Phillip is missing.”
“You mean he’s late?” She must have known it was worse than that, but she was hoping.
“No, it’s more serious. The Finstermeyer twins are gone, too, and Liza Scott.”
“Father Aubrey’s daughter? Oh, Roe … that’s horrible.”
“Yes, it is. Of course, the police are asking all kinds of questions, and we’re trying to fill in all the blanks we can. Did anything happen while he was staying with you, anything out of the ordinary that you can recall?” My mother had never been completely comfortable around Phillip, since he was the product of my father’s unfaithfulness to her, as she saw it. But she was fair enough and well-balanced enough to see that wasn’t Phillip’s fault, and she’d offered to give him a berth while Robin and I were gone. John, her second husband, was the soul of hospitality, and he’d raised two boys of his own during his first marriage. He was really pleased to have Phillip in their house.
“Let me think about it and call you back,” my mother said. “I’ll ask John, too.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said.
So that was that. Another “wait and see.”
In thirty minutes Mother called back. “John and I have racked our brains,” she said. “Neither of us can come up with anything. I’m so sorry, Aurora. Please keep us posted.”
So that was that.
It was a miserable night.
Chapter Five
The next morning was cold and raining, as dreary as you could imagine.
No one had had any news about anything.
The Finstermeyers called us to commiserate, and I asked them if the police had searched the twins’ rooms. “Yes,” Beth said. “And they didn’t find anything that would indicate where the kids were.”
She wished they had, I could tell. “Did they look on the kids’ laptops, or whatever they have?” I asked. “Phillip’s is still here.”
“No, not yet,” she said. “But I’m sure they will.”
We really had nothing to talk about, and after a few more minutes, we gave up on the conversation to go be miserable by ourselves.
“We could try to check Phillip’s laptop ourselves,” Robin said.
It was a new one, since the one he’d had in his old backpack had been left in a truck on his hitchhiking trip across the U.S. to reach Georgia.
I agreed to invade Phillip’s privacy without a moment’s hesitation.
The laptop was password-protected, but I happened to know the origin of his password, because we’d talked about it. Phillip was a huge Walking Dead fan, and we’d been watching a recording of the show when he’d told me how cool he thought Carol was. “Carol’s what I think my mom would be like if she went through the zombie uprising,” he’d said, and I’d laughed. I’d only seen Phillip’s mom once or twice in the past few years, but the idea of Betty Jo as the originally downtrodden Carol, who’d turned into a ruthless survivor, was kind of funny.
I typed in “Carol,” and that didn’t work. So I tried “Carolscookies” and that didn’t work either. “CarolsCool” did not open the laptop. But “Carol
kills” did. I was in.
Robin was quicker with computers than I was, so I ceded the laptop to him. He opened the e-mail program. “He’s heard from friends in California,” Robin said. “He’s gotten a few e-mails from that girl who gave him a ride when he was hitchhiking from Memphis to here. I can tell you that ‘ride’ was not just in a car.” Robin scrolled down. “His father e-mailed him.”
“He did? Phillip didn’t say anything to me.” On the other hand, why wouldn’t my dad be e-mailing his son? “What about?” I asked, out of sheer curiosity.
“Mostly asking if Phillip’s heard from his mother. Phillip always says no. He tells Phil that he enjoys living here,” Robin summarized. “Phil says a few uncomplimentary things about Betty Jo. Way to go, Phil. Phil goes on to say that he’s not totally happy that Phillip’s with you, but he’s also glad that Phillip’s not with his mom.”
“Can’t have it both ways,” I muttered. “He needs to be with some adult related to him, and I’m the only one left after my dad’s escapade.”
“There’s some talk back and forth between Phillip and his teachers in California,” Robin said. “Okay, none of that is pertinent. I’m going to check his browsing history.” After a minute, I could tell he was trying not to be amused. “Okay, about what I would expect from a kid his age. I’m not surprised that Detective What’s Her Name didn’t find any porn in his room.”
“Oh, it’s all there on the Internet?”
“Yep,” he said. “And if the sites he visited are any indication, I was right about Phillip admiring adult women.”
“I assumed that was the case,” I said. “But I realize that I really don’t know everything about Phillip.”
“I didn’t find any suspect activity,” Robin said. “I checked his e-mails and his history. I checked his Facebook page. In a minute, I’ll check his Word files.”
“I don’t think Phillip is a bad kid at all,” I said. “Oh, I’m sure he takes a drink now and then if it’s available. I’m sure he’d be glad to have sex with a girl who was willing, in fact I know he would. Maybe he’d take a joint if one was going around at a party. But I don’t think he goes out looking for trouble. And I am sure that Phillip is brave. And I know he has a lot of charm; he got that from my dad. And he’s practical; he got that from his mother.” I thought hard. “I don’t think he’s ever lied to me, either when he was a kid or since he’s come here. And I don’t think there’s anything—sick, or tainted—in my brother.”
“Then why is he missing?” Robin, his hands still resting on the keyboard, was giving me his full attention.
“Phillip’s new here, really new,” I said. “I think Cathy Trumble, if she’s an accurate representative of the police position, is looking at this as something Phillip made happen. He’s the unknown kid. Maybe they think because he’s a newcomer from wicked, evil, California, he’s brought a taint with him. What they don’t get is that he lived in a suburb a lot like the ones here. It’s just that there were palm trees.”
“Good point,” Robin said. He scanned the Word files. “Nothing even remotely suspect,” he told me. “What else? I can tell you’re not finished.”
“The way I see it, they can’t be missing because of Phillip. It has to be one of the other three, who’ve lived here—well, forever, in the case of Joss and Josh, and for years, in Liza’s case.”
“That makes sense,” Robin said. Robin has a quirky face, with his bony nose and crinkled mouth and bright blue eyes. But right now you could see the intelligence written large on it. “If I were putting this in a book, my story line would be that someone followed Phillip from California because Phillip had witnessed some criminal action. The other kids tried to save him but were swept up in the same net.”
“But,” I said.
“But that’s ridiculous. What do you know about the Finstermeyer kids?”
“I don’t know Joss as well as I know Josh. She’s a jock, I understand, and very talented. She plays basketball and soccer for LHS. She makes good grades. Josh is more of a reader. He’s in and out of the library at least once a week. He’s a good student, he’s always on the honor roll. He’s pretty popular. He runs track. Phillip was thinking about trying out for the track team. He didn’t make the cut at his old school.”
“Have you heard any rumors about either of them?”
“Not a one. Phillip was mildly interested in Joss as a girl, but when he didn’t say anything about trying to move the relationship along, I asked him about her. He said she was gay.”
Robin looked startled. “He didn’t feel angry about that?”
“He was totally nonchalant about it, not like a spurned suitor or a bigot. Just, ‘Oh, I don’t think it’ll work. I’m pretty sure she’s gay.’”
“Liza,” Robin said. “Any rumors about her?”
“You know, it’s strange,” I said slowly, “but when Aubrey was in the library a couple of days ago, he said that Liza had had a hard year.”
“In what way?”
“He didn’t elaborate, but I got the impression that it was more a social situation than making bad grades, or not being able to grasp geography.”
“But he reinforced that she had a crush on Phillip.”
I shrugged. “Robin, she’s just so young. Eleven is still a little girl, especially to Phillip and Josh. I can’t help feeling that there’s something more to know. And now, while I think about that, or try not to, I have to call my dad.” I’d been dreading this.
The phone call went just as badly as I’d anticipated. My father accused me of ignoring Phillip, of neglecting him, of not protecting him. I had known he’d be upset and angry—and I’d figured he might aim that anger at me—but it was like he’d forgotten that I was his child, too. There was no way I was going to tell him he’d be a grandfather while he was this upset with me. I had tears streaming down my face when I hung up in response to Robin’s furious hand signals.
“You don’t have to listen to that,” Robin said, wrapping his long arms around me. “You don’t have to take that abuse.”
“I knew he was going to go off the deep end,” I said. “Who wouldn’t? But I took the best care of Phillip I knew how to do!”
“At least you weren’t having sex with me on the couch when he walked in the door,” Robin said. That was the incident that had pushed Phillip to leave his parents. My dad had been doing the nasty with a young woman on the living room couch when Phillip had returned home from school one day. Phillip had felt he had to tell his mother, and he’d developed a wild plan to hitchhike to my place because he couldn’t stand the arguments and recriminations that ensued. After Phillip left, Betty Jo had packed her bags and vanished.
“Yes, at least that,” I said, trying to smile. I calmed down and dried up. “I’m lucky to have one good parent,” I said. “What was your dad like?”
“We’ll talk about him some other time,” Robin said. “Let’s keep on track here.”
I nodded. I went to the bathroom to wash my face with cold water. I know how I look when I cry, and it’s not pretty.
Just as I returned to the family room, there was a tap on the front door. If a tap could sound surreptitious, this one did. I went to the door, casting a What the hell? look at Robin while I did so. He stood, as if he was going to stop me, but before I could even process that, I’d opened the door and looked up.
She was tall, almost as tall as Phillip, about five foot eight. She was wearing blue jeans and a dark green T-shirt and a bright blue puffy coat. She had black hair and caramel skin and enormous amber eyes, and I had never seen her before.
“I’m Sarah Washington,” she said. “Are you Phillip’s sister?”
“Yes, please come in,” I said. I could tell the intensity of my stare was freaking her out, but I couldn’t help it. This girl had information.
“This is my husband,” I told Sarah. “Robin, this is Sarah Washington. You’re a friend of Phillip’s, Sarah?”
“A new friend,” she said, with a
small smile. “We met when he and Josh picked Joss up after basketball practice a couple of weeks ago. I’m on the basketball team with Joss.”
I nodded. And?
“Well, Phillip and me started talking,” she said.
I knew enough teens to know that when two people started “talking” it was a prelude to actually going out on a date.
I cast an eye on Robin, who nodded very slightly. He knew this, too.
“In the course of our talk, he told me that Liza Scott was following him around, as much as she could, since she can’t even drive yet.”
“We had heard that Liza had a crush on Phillip,” Robin said, his voice neutral.
“Well, it was really cute,” Sarah said, as though she were in her forties. “But it kind of embarrassed Phillip. I mean, Liza’s a cute kid, really, but she’s a little kid.” Sarah looked at me as if to be sure I understood how hopeless that was. I nodded, with what I hoped was an understanding smile, and that turned out to be the right expression.
Sarah’s face turned very serious. “I think Phillip was careful to be kind to her because of—you know, right, about Liza’s situation at school?”
“I’ve heard a little.” I was absolutely startled, but I didn’t want to seem like a half-wit. This girl’s calm assurance was kind of daunting. “Apparently, I don’t know enough. Please tell me.” I’d discovered from a stranger that my brother was kind … and that he’d had a “situation” of his own.
Sarah nodded, as if she’d confirmed a suspicion. “Bullying. Liza’s mom and dad have been to the school several times. They’ve talked to all the parents. But these little bitches, excuse me, just won’t leave Liza alone.”
We’d been standing, but now I saw we were going to have a conversation, and I gestured to the couch and the chairs. Sarah sank into one of the armchairs, so Robin and I took the couch. Robin’s big hand folded around mine. I was so relieved he was there.
“How old are these girls? What are they doing to Liza?”
“They’re twelve or thirteen. And they’re saying awful shit about her to her face. And on Facebook. And on every other place they can find to say nasty stuff.”