by Midge Bubany
“Did he say where?”
“He wouldn’t tell me, but I have an idea she’s in Paris. Adam’s sister Joanne lives there.”
“Do you know her?”
“Never met her, but I talked to her on the phone once.”
“Why don’t you give her a call? And from now on, only call me on my department phone. Here’s the number. If I don’t answer, leave a message.” I rattled off the digits for her.
“Fine.” It was her favorite word when she was pissed.
Chapter 21
As I approached Maple Grove on west 94, Crosby called.
“I contacted the Wolfsons. Jonah works as a second-shift custodian at the high school, three to eleven, Monday through Friday. He’s willing to talk to you anytime. Laurel works at Save-Rite, days, six to two. She’d prefer to meet after work. I have both cell phone numbers.”
“I’m driving. Email them to me. What else did you find out?”
“Not much.”
“Okay, talk to you later.”
I pulled off on County Road 30 and searched my phone for a pharmacy. After wandering the aisles of Target in Maple Grove, I finally found the display of pregnancy test kits near the pharmacy. There were rows and rows of different brands. I picked two of the most expensive ones because I wanted the best money could buy, and a backup if we didn’t like the first reading. Then I found myself strangely drawn to the baby department.
Look at all the baby paraphernalia! This is going to be expensive.
We’d have to buy a crib, a car seat, diapers, and whatever the hell all this other stuff was. I’d have to paint the bedroom next to ours a baby color—pink or blue, maybe yellow. Shit. Listen to me. I checked my chest to see if I was growing tits.
The elderly woman clerk asked if I found everything I needed.
“Yes.”
After she swiped the boxes, I asked, “Are these tests reliable?”
“I wouldn’t know. They weren’t invented when I had my kids. They were all surprises.”
I nodded. “Mine too. I guess I have good swimmers.”
She smiled and told me I owed $54.59.
“I’m sure they’re both excellent tests. Good luck to you and your swimmers.”
“Thanks.”
When I got to the office, the first thing I did was run Jonah Wolfson’s criminal history: he’d served five months from January to May in 1997 for domestic violence. Nothing since.
Judging from his raspy voice on the phone when I set up the interview, and given his incarceration history, I expected Jonah to be either an oversized redneck or a tattooed skinhead. But his baby face and brown custodial uniform made him look like a boy scout. He smelled of aftershave and cigarette smoke.
“Thanks for coming in,” I said, shaking his hand.
“So, why me?”
“We’re asking some folks who knew Silver Rae to come in and answer some questions. Your wife was close to her.”
He nodded. “Well, I knew her but didn’t hang out with her.”
His whole body twitched as he spoke, so I tried to put him at ease, smiling when I asked him personal questions, which he answered without reservation. He was a custodian at Prairie Falls High School, had just earned his boiler license, and was waiting for an opening for a head custodian position. He and Laurel had three kids: a fifteen-year-old girl and two boys, ages twelve and ten. I wondered if he knew his wife had nearly gotten arrested on Adriana’s property.
Then I sat forward and looked serious. “I’m told you attended a party on Round Lake on the Fourth of July in ’96.”
He turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes. “What year did she die?”
“She disappeared in 1997.”
“So the year before? Oh, okay, because I was married in the fall of ’96 and didn’t do too much partying at Round Lake after that.”
“Do you remember seeing Silver Rae there?”
“Kinda.”
“You danced with her?”
“Maybe . . . yeah, I guess I did.”
“How was she acting?”
“Loose,” he said.
“Know of any reason for that?”
“It was a drinking party,” he said, raising his brows.
“Did you see anyone put anything into Silver’s drink?”
He shifted in his chair. “Okay, I don’t know why I remember this, but Silver Rae said she had a headache and a guy I know pulls out a baggie of white pills. Says they’re aspirin and gave her one. She said she needed two and he laughed and said, ‘This is extra-strength. It’ll be enough to get rid of a headache’. But who carries aspirin in a baggie? Right?”
“Right. Does this guy have a name?”
“Sawyer Gage.”
Okay, here we go. “Had you seen him dole out these white pills on other occasions?”
“Yeah, I saw him give one to a girl at a party near the U earlier that summer. She got so wasted she pretty much passed out.”
“So when he gave one to Silver you didn’t say anything?”
“Guess I was an asshole in those days.”
“Where did Sawyer get the drugs?”
He shook his head. “Some guy in the Cities who used to live in Prairie Falls.”
“Was it Rohypnol?”
“Huh?”
“A roofie?”
“Oh, yeah, probably.”
“So he gave Silver a roofie and you all danced with her?”
“Well, I danced with Laurel most of the time.”
“Anyone pair off with Silver?”
“Guess I wasn’t paying much attention.”
“Did Sawyer dance with her?”
He hesitated, then said, “I don’t remember.”
“Did he or anyone disappear with her at any point?”
“I couldn’t say.”
“Couldn’t or won’t?”
“No, I don’t remember what anyone did or didn’t do other than I saw Sawyer give her the pill.”
“Did he ever talk about Silver?”
“We talked about a lot of girls. Why so many questions about that party?”
“Just gathering information about any events prior to her disappearance.”
He shrugged. “Oh.”
“Where were you the night Silver Rae disappeared?”
“With my wife and baby.”
“You married young,” I observed.
“Just graduated from high school. I’d been seeing Laurel only a month when she got pregnant, so instead of going to college, I got married and got a job with the school district. Hannah was born at the end of March.”
“But you weren’t home then.”
“No, I was incarcerated. But you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I vowed I’d never screw up like that again, and I haven’t.”
“How did you find out about Silver?”
“Somebody called Laurel Sunday morning. She got so hysterical I could hardly understand her. She finally calmed down enough to tell me Silver disappeared while she was babysitting on some farm.”
“Did you help search for her?”
“No, I stayed home with Hannah so Laurel could go.”
“Was Silver ever at your place?” I asked.
“Sure, a couple of times.”
“Did you approve of your wife’s friendship with her?”
He screwed up his face. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Do you have any information about what happened to Silver Rae?”
“No, I sure don’t.”
“Were you hanging around your old friends Sawyer or Kyle at that time?”
“No, things changed. They were college boys a
nd I wasn’t.”
I asked him a few more questions he didn’t have answers for and then walked him out.
Seemed like every interview gave me another piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The big one today was that rat bastard, Sawyer Gage, gave Silver a suspicious pill. Next up—find out what Laurel knew.
Laura Wolfson no longer had the round, soft appearance of her yearbook photo. She had sunken cheeks and her Save-Rite uniform hung on her. The dark lipstick, two-toned magenta-and-black hair, and the earrings up the side of her earlobes did little to distract from the tiny facial wrinkles prematurely forming around her eyes. I wondered if she was ill, anorexic, or living hard that made her look ten years older.
“I’m Deputy Investigator Cal Sheehan.”
We shook hands.
“Hi. I recognize you from the store.”
“Have a seat,” I said.
I turned on the iPad as a backup and stated the case number, et cetera.
“You visited the site where they found Silver Rae’s remains?” I began.
“I just wanted to see where they found my friend.”
“Must be hard on you.”
“Yes, it is.” She burst into tears. “Sorry,” she said, trying to control her tears.
“No worries.” I let her cry for a while then said, “She must have been a good friend of yours.”
She nodded.
“She helped you through some hard times?”
She looked up at me as if she wondered how I knew. “She was my best friend in the whole wide world.”
“Tell me why.”
“Well, when I was pregnant she was supportive—real supportive. She didn’t dump me like other kids did.”
“How else did she help you?”
She made a face like she didn’t understand what I was asking.
“I think there’s more to it,” I said.
She shook her head and said, “No,” but her eyes betrayed her. I’d come back to it later. Her story about the Fourth of July party offered nothing new other than she did know Silver thought she got pregnant at the party.
“She ended up having a miscarriage but least she dint have to get no abortion. She woulda though, cuz she said her parents would kill her, especially if she dint know who the daddy was. I guess that’s why she liked to hold Hannah so much when she was a baby. I think she felt sad about losing hers.”
“Did she tell you who she thought the father was?”
“No, she dint even remember doin’ it.”
“What could have caused her to lose her memory like that?”
“Probably a roofie. Jonah said he seen girls on it and they were giving guys blowjobs and stuff and dint remember any of it the next day. I thought those drugs made ’em pass out, but Jonah says mostly it makes ’em real loose and they don’t remember anything after. So that musta been it.”
“Did you see her do anything sexual at the party?”
“No, no. Just dancing a little sexy with some boys.”
“Who were they?”
“Jonah for one. I kinda pushed her away so I could dance with him.”
“When you were first married, you and your husband had some problems?”
“Yes.”
“Did Silver ever witness any physical abuse?”
Laurel’s neck reddened. “No. It only happened the once.”
“Did she help you that one time?”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Can I have a smoke?” she asked.
“Sorry, not allowed in the building.”
She twirled her hair nervously. I waited her out.
“What was the question?” she finally asked.
“Did Silver help you when you and Jonah had problems?” I repeated.
“She listened to me, is all.”
“How about when Jonah was incarcerated?”
“Yeah, ’bout the only one ’sides my ma I could talk to. She knew I was lonely.”
“Did she tell you about her problems as well?”
“Well, Parker’s parents hated her—Aubrey was being a jealous bitch, too. It broke Silver’s heart.”
“Did she talk to you about Wesley Stillman?”
“She thought he was sweet.”
“Was she at all worried about his behavior?”
“Not at all.”
“Do you know of anything happening that might have something to do with her disappearance?”
“No. I hadn’t seen her for like a month before she disappeared.”
“One more question. Did you tie silver ribbons on the trees by where Silver was found?”
Her face flushed. “Yes, I did, just like before in ’97—in Silver’s memory. Is it a crime?”
“I appreciate your honesty, and yes, it’s trespassing. You can’t just go on someone’s property like that.”
“Are you going to arrest me?”
“No. I think the homeowner will understand. Did you do anything else in Silver’s memory?”
“No, sir. I heard in the news someone set a fire out at the place. That was totally stupid. I’d never do anything like that.”
I finished up the interview, which provided nothing new, added to my notes, then made my way home.
I was tired and hungry when I drove into the garage at six o’clock. I made a beeline for Shannon, who was sitting at the round patio table on the deck by herself. Bullet, who had been lying by her side, ran up to me with a tennis ball in his mouth. I loved him up, and then threw the ball for him. I kissed Shannon and put the bag of pregnancy kits in front of her.
She peeked in and quickly closed the bag. “You bought two?”
“Yep. Want to try one out?”
“Not now.”
Colby came out to give me a hug.
“Where’s your brother?” I asked.
“On the computer.”
I grabbed Colby and held him up by his feet. He began to giggle.
“What did you do today?” I asked as I bounced him up and down.
“I got a haircut,” Colby said, in between giggles.
“I see that. Looking good, little man.”
I set him down and he held on to my leg as I tried to walk.
Shannon said, “Colby wanted his cut and styled just like yours.”
I smiled down at him. “Really? I’m going up to take a shower. Maybe we can play a little family ball after supper—get the boys off the electronics.”
She gave me a look that meant either good luck with that or butt out.
Colby went back inside and I grabbed the bag and said, “I’ll take these upstairs.”
I put them in the cabinet under the vanity in our bathroom, took a quick shower and went back downstairs. I stopped to look in on Luke, who was so engrossed in his game he didn’t respond to my hello until I’d said it three times. I wanted to grab the laptop and throw it out the window. Instead, I grabbed a beer and joined Shannon on the deck.
She said, “Your family is coming for dinner tomorrow night so you can meet Angelica.”
I cringed. “Shit. I forgot to warn you about that.”
Shannon’s eyebrows furrowed. “Warn me? You don’t want to meet your sister?”
“You know I’m in the middle of this case. What if I have to work late?”
“Well, then the women in your life will have a long time to chat about you.”
I sighed. “I’ll try to make it.”
“Damn straight. They’ll be here around five o’clock. My folks are joining us. Mom is making ribs.”
“At least we’ll eat well. The tests are in the vanity, by the way. Don’t you have to pee now?”
“Later, I said.” She sounded annoyed. “Come help me make dinner.”
>
Shannon pulled salad makings out of the refrigerator and handed me the hamburger package. I always make the patties with chopped onion and cubed cheese.
“So why are you being so weird about your sister?”
“How am I being weird? I just found out about her six months ago. What do you expect?”
“I expect to see enthusiasm instead of negativity. Your mom says we’ll love her.”
“It’s the timing and the fact I already told my mother I was too busy to do dinner this week. So she goes to you.”
“It won’t kill you.”
“If I end up having to work, it’s your deal.”
“Fine.”
I will admit I did have negative feelings about Angelica. I knew it was illogical to blame a sibling just because she was the child my biological parents raised—and I was the one they gave up.
The evening hours seemed to drag . . . it was too long to wait to find out if my wife had my bun in her oven. Finally, after I read the boys several chapters in a Wimpy Kid book, they were calm and ready to sleep. I stopped by our bathroom and took out a kit. I read the directions then brought the bag downstairs.
Handing Shannon a full glass of water, I ordered her to drink. I waited fifteen minutes then said, “Don’t you have to pee yet? Think waterfall.”
“Good God, Sheehan, relax. I’ll do it tomorrow morning. It works better then.”
“Directions said it works anytime. Go pee,” I said, pointing to the downstairs bathroom.
She stuck out her tongue at me but got up. I followed her right in.
“Get out. I’ll be sure and show you the results.”
I crossed my arms determined to watch, but she pushed me out the door, closed it, and clicked the lock.
Really?
“Did you know each box has three tests inside,” she said through the door.
“We can do them all to be sure.”
I sat on the couch and waited for what seemed like an hour before she finally opened the door. I looked for signs, but I couldn’t read her mood. No smile, no frown. No joyful yippee, or curse words. She held the two sticks in her hand and lifted them for me to see.
“Does that mean what I think it means?”
