Gingerbread Man

by Maggie Shayne

  Holly gripped Vince's arm. "Go. Take care of Val, and then help with the search. I can handle this part."

  "Are you sure?"

  She held his gaze, clenched her jaw, nodded. "You don't want anyone to leave just yet, you need a headcount to make sure no one else is missing, you need to try to get an account from those who last saw Bethany, and you're probably going to want a list of who is here. It's not like I haven't been through the drill. I've got it. Go."

  The woman screamed again, and Vince went. He paused only once on the way, to pull Doc Graycloud from the group gathered there, then the two headed up the stairs after Val Stevens.

  Holly looked at the people who stood around her, drew a breath, and cleared her throat. "The state police are on their way. Rest assured they'll block off every road out of town, and begin a search immediately. I know the procedure by heart."

  "How?" someone asked.

  She tilted her head. "I've lived through it." She lowered her head briefly, to swallow down the lump that rose in her throat then raised it again. "And I work for the police department. In fact I was one of the people who helped Jim and the boys develop Dilmun's contingincy plan for missing children, and it is now in full effect. Now the thing is, we can't let anyone leave just yet. You all need to stay put until we get this organized. Anything different means we risk Bethany slipping through the cracks. You understand?"

  Several heads nodded. A few people sat down, resigned, it seemed.

  "Good." Holly glanced down at Amanda. She was rocking slightly back and forth in her chair. She didn't look good. If she was going to get a guest list, she'd have to get it from Reggie.

  "Everyone look around you, see if you can think of anyone who was here earlier who isn't here now. If you do, come up to me and tell me privately. Meanwhile, just make sure you still have sight of those you came with, sit here, and wait. Suzy Cooper, where are you hon?" Holly asked.

  The little girl who'd been wearing Bethany's hat raised her hand. Her face was tear-streaked and red. She clung closer to her mother, and held Bethany's hat in one hand.

  Holly moved closer, knelt down, and saw herself in the little girl's eyes. In her face. In her horror and guilt and fear. Gently, Holly brushed wet tendrils off the child's cheeks. "Suzy, you didn't do anything wrong, okay? You need to know that. No one's mad at you, and you didn't do one thing wrong. You understand?"

  Sniffling, the child nodded.

  "In fact, you might be able to help us find Bethany more than anyone else can. Do you want to try that?"

  Suzy nodded again.

  "You're such a good girl. And so brave. Now, can you remember when you ended up wearing Bethany's hat?"

  Suzy's lower lip trembled. "She g-gave it to me. Mine fell off and I couldn't find it, and I started to cry, so Bethany gave me her hat to wear."

  "That's good, very good. Now do you remember where you were when that happened?"

  Again, the jerky little nod. One black curl fell, and stuck to her cheek, glued there by tears. "We were outside. It was when Mr. D'Voe led us around the front yard."

  Amanda's head lifted slowly. "She never made it back inside," she whispered.

  Holly looked through the faces in the crowd, spotted her uncle, sighed in relief. "Uncle Marty, I need you to keep everyone here. Don't let anyone leave. I'll be right back."

  "You got it, hon." He came to the front of the room and took a spot beside Amanda, patting her shoulder gently as Holly raced up the stairs. She found Vince and Dr. Graycloud in the first bedroom at the top. Val Stevens lay in a large bed. Her eyes were closed, but moved rapidly beneath the thin lids. Her chest rose and fell in staccato breaths. An empty hypodermic needle lay on the bedside stand.

  "Vince, I think Bethany was taken during the parade around the lawn. It doesn't look like she ever made it back into the house."

  Lights flashed through the outer windows as the state police converged on the house. Behind Holly, Chief Mallory and Reggie entered the room.

  "We've searched the entire house, including the attic and the cellars. There's no sign of her," Reggie said. His voice shook, and he looked as if he'd aged ten years in the past few moments.

  “It looks as if she was snatched during the parade, outside," Vince said.

  The chief swore. Reginald lifted his head. "That's impossible. I was the only adult near the children during the parade. I alone, led them around the yard..." He let his voice trail off then, and his eyes met Vince's.

  Holly glanced from Vince to Reggie and back again, and a chill settled deeper into her bones.

  SEVENTEEN

  THE STATE POLICE sent teams out to search the area around the house. There were a lot of woods. A lot of woods. And there was the lake. Spotlights were set up, teams combed the woods, calling for Bethany. More went out on the lake in boats, shining lights on the water.

  Police officers interviewed the guests, gave them clearance to leave. A pair of cops searched each vehicle before its owners were allowed to take it off the premises.

  The chief had led Reggie outside. Amanda walked outside behind them like a zombie, and Vince tapped his partner, and pointed. Jerry looked, gave a nod, and went to help Amanda. Good. Less for Holly to do. She let Vince lead her to the Jeep, and rode in silence to the Dilmun Police Department.

  But when she was finally left alone, on one of the small sofas in the reception area, she felt herself sliding into the distant past…

  She was small, and shivering, and utterly alone, sitting on an oversized chair that all but swallowed her up, her feet dangling inches above the hard gray carpet. She didn't know if her mother was going to live through the night, because she'd never seen her mother look the way she had seen her look then. She felt sick to her stomach, and thought she might have to run for the rest room at any second. It was all her fault. It was all her fault. Her sister was gone and it was all her fault.

  But they would find her soon, and everything would be okay again. They would find her by morning. Surely by morning, and it would be okay.

  There was something dark and deep inside her, though, that told her that was a lie. It wouldn't be okay. It would never be okay again.

  A hand closed on Holly's arm. She looked up, into Vince's face. His eyes were shadowed with concern.

  "You were right about me from the start, you know," she told him.

  "No, I wasn't."

  She shook her head too fast, too jerky. "I need Dr. Graycloud. I need something." She glanced down at her hands, gripping the arms of the chair, white knuckled, shaking.

  "What, a tranquilizer? You threw them away, Holly. You're stronger now. You don't need them." He followed her gaze to her hands, put his over them. "Look, I'll have someone get you some tea, huh? Chamomile is supposed to be calming—"

  "Chamomile?" To her own ears her voice sounded brittle. But she couldn't help that. "Jesus Christ, Vince, my worst nightmare just rose up from the dead to smack me in the face. Chamomile isn't gonna cut it. I'm not sure fucking Thorazine would cut it, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

  His hands closed on her arms, and he hauled her to her feet so fast her head snapped backward. His hands on her arms were hard. His face, harder. "Don't you bail on me now, goddamn it."

  "Why the hell not? You knew I would. You wouldn't let yourself feel anything for me because you knew I would. Remember? You couldn't handle getting involved with a fucked-up female. A headcase like me who might need you too much. Remember, Vince? Turns out your instincts were right. You ought to be celebrating."

  “I would be. If I'd listened to them." He let her go.

  She sank onto the sofa, landing heavily. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  "You figure it out. You clear the cobwebs out of your head, stand up like you ought to, stop acting like a victim, and figure it out." He retrieved the empty cup he'd dropped on the sofa beside her, moved past her to the coffee pot and filled it. Then he turned and headed back through the reception area toward the cell in the back whe
re he'd left the chief with Reggie D'Voe. At the doorway, though, he stopped and looked back at her. "Stop focusing on yourself Holly. Think about Val Stevens. Think about Bethany, for Christ's sake. There are other people here in far worse shape than you are right now. Take a look around."

  She watched him go. Then she glanced at the waiting room around her. She had thought herself alone. She wasn't. Might as well have been, though. Amanda sat sideways in a chair in the corner, knees curled up, arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were vacant. As if she hadn't heard a damned thing.

  Beyond the doorway, Vince, Jerry, and the chief were questioning Reggie. Holly leaned forward a little, and she could see them at the far end of the hall in the cell there. The cell door was open. Inside it, on a hard chair, Reggie was pale and trembling.

  The sound of Ivy's screams had been echoing in Holly's ears more loudly than they ever had for over an hour. But now empathy for what Amanda and her uncle were going through crept into its place. The screams faded into the past where they belonged. Holly got to her feet and her knees gave. She caught herself on the arm of the sofa, pushed herself up again, snapped her knees straight. With one hand, she swiped the tears from her cheeks. It stung when she wiped her eyes. She'd cried so much they were raw. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay, I have to try." Her feet wanted to scuff the floor when she walked. They felt so heavy. She forced her legs to move, to propel her forward. Into the back, into the storage closet. She took out blankets, two of them. She carried one to the cell. The door was open. She shook the folds out of the blanket, and draped it over Reggie's shoulders the way she had seen his devoted niece do so often.

  He glanced up at her once. Gratitude flickered briefly from behind the mask of horror he wore. She didn't look at Vince. She didn't want to see him and be reminded how badly she had probably blown things with him by falling apart the way she had. Turning, she made her way back to the reception room. She tucked the second blanket around Amanda.

  "Can I get you anything?"

  Amanda kept rocking, but she did pull the blanket close around her, burrowing into it as if for protection. It occurred to Holly that she might be the one in need of some magic pills right now.

  "Amanda?" Holly shook her gently.

  Amanda's distracted gaze flickered, darted toward Holly. "We have to find that little girl," she said softly, urgently. "We have to. We have to."

  "I know, Amanda. We will." Holly lowered her gaze. "Dr. Graycloud will be coming by soon. He took Val Stevens to the hospital. But he'll be here once he gets her settled in."

  Amanda shook her head slowly. "He can't help."

  "No? Then, who can? I mean, if you want to talk through it..."

  She closed her eyes. Nodded hard. "Yes."

  Holly felt stronger when she looked at the woman in the chair, how fragile and on the edge she seemed. More so than Holly had been. Maybe Vince was right. Maybe she could at least pretend to be the strong one here— because there was no one else to do it. And someone had to. There were only the two of them out here, and Amanda clearly needed help. Lifting her hands, Holly gently took the black wig off Amanda's head, removed the clips that held her hair up, and stroked the light brown locks away from tear-stained cheeks. She felt eyes on her, and glanced through the doorway, down the hall. Vince's gaze met hers, probing, searching for something she couldn't hope to name. Then he focused on Reggie again.

  ***

  "PLEASE, I'VE TOLD you everything I can," Reginald said. It was amazing to Vince that the man kept calm, dignified, even when he must be going crazy inside. Guilty or not, this was traumatic. "Just tell me the other children all got home safely. I need to know."

  Sighing, the chief nodded. "The guests were questioned one by one, their names and addresses taken down. The cars of those few who came by car, were searched, plate numbers noted, and then each family was given a police escort back to their respective homes."

  Reggie protested, "I can't believe the police suspect anyone who was at my party may have been involved in something this—this—"

  "Someone at the party snatched a little girl," Vince interrupted. "There's just no way around that. It's happened. She's gone."

  Reggie closed his eyes.

  "A couple of cops went out onto the lawn with flashlights," the chief said. "They walked that path you led the kids around, during the parade."

  Reggie's head came up, eyes hopeful. "And... ?"

  "And they found Suzy Cooper's witch hat. It was near the farthest end of the parade path from the house, where all the parents were waiting. Bethany vanished between that spot and the house, on the return trip, after she'd given her own hat to Suzy."

  "No. No, that's impossible. The lawn is completely fenced in."

  "Not quite, Reg." Vince sighed, glanced at the chief, and the chief nodded at him to go on. "We found a break in the fence near that farthest point. A recent one. The bars had been sawed clean through, in an area hidden by some shrubbery. Someone planned this in advance. Someone who knew the route the kids would take."

  Reggie waved a dismissive hand. “The parade around my lawn has been the same ever since I started the party. It's never changed. Anyone who's ever been to one would know that."

  "Think, Reg," the chief said gently. "Anyone who was at one of the parties you used to throw would know. But you haven't thrown one in sixteen years."

  Vince met the chief's eyes. They both knew that narrowed it down. It was someone local, and someone who'd been local sixteen years ago, as well.

  "Are they searching for Bethany?" Reginald asked, looking Vince squarely in the eye in a way guilty parties didn't often do.

  "Teams of police officers and volunteer firemen were dispatched into the woods. Boat patrols are searching the lake. The FBI has been notified, and they'll be on the scene to take over by morning."

  "God, I hope they find her."

  "So do I," Vince said. He spoke quietly, glancing again toward the far end of the hall, where Holly hovered over Amanda D'Voe. Vince knew full well that Holly was teetering on the edge of what she could endure. And yet, she was hanging tough. Out in the reception area of the station, even now, she was running a wet cloth over Amanda's D'Voe's face, washing away the Halloween makeup, serving her tea, telling her not to worry. Even now, when he knew damned well she was reliving her own worst nightmares. It had been close, for a while. But she hadn't given in. She'd fought it, and she'd won. For now, at least. His admiration for her strength rose with every moment that ticked by.

  Vince drew his gaze back to Reginald. The former Hollywood star, the arrogant living legend was gone. All that remained was a frightened old man who was cold, pale, trembling. "Are you sure you're telling us everything? If there's anything you're holding back, Reg, now is the time to tell us. Trust us."

  “Trust you? There's nothing you can do to stop this, much less to help me. If there were, that little girl wouldn't be suffering God only knows what right now while you all wring your hands and question the innocent."

  "We're doing all we can do, Reggie," Chief Mallory said.

  "All you can? Well, it's not enough. Can't you see it's not enough? Look at them out there! You think it ends when you drop the case? Or when you solve it, or think you have? It doesn't, you know. Just look at that young woman in the next room. It's killing her—still. After all this time, it's still killing her. You don't know, you don't know. You think you have power, here, but you don't. He does. He has all the power."

  "Who does?" Vince asked.

  Reggie's shoulders slumped. "If I knew that I'd kill him myself. I swear to God I would."

  Jerry came in, carrying a fax that had just come through the machine in the chief's office. Mallory scanned it, paused for a long moment before handing it to Vince.

  Vince read it and, frowning, lifted his gaze. "Reggie, is it true you were an only child?"

  Reginald narrowed his eyes on Vince, but said nothing. Vince continued, "According to this, there's no physical way you could have a niece."
<
br />   Reggie only shrugged stiffly. " 'Uncle' is more an honorary title in this case. Amanda's parents died, and left her in my care."

  "Can you prove that?"

  Reg straightened his spine, glaring at them. "You can't take her from me. Not now."

  "She's an adult now, Reg. No one can make her do anything she doesn't want to," Mallory said. "But we're going to have to know where she came from. I mean, if she's not a blood relative, then her name must not have been D'Voe, unless you had it legally changed."

  "Maybe we should just ask Amanda," Vince suggested softly.

  Reg came out of the chair as if launched, and, in the blink of an eye, he grabbed Vince by the front of his shirt, and pressed him up against the cell wall. "Don't! You mustn't bring this up with her! You can't!"

  The chief swore and gripped Reggie by the shoulders. Jerry had started forward toward them, one hand on his sidearm. Vince held up a hand to still them, but before he could say anything the old man released him suddenly and staggered backward, clutching his chest as the color drained completely from his face. He hit the floor even as Vince lunged for him.

  "Jesus! Call an ambulance—and get hold of Graycloud!" Vince shouted.

  "He's already here. Just pulled up out front," Jerry said.

  "Uncle Reggie?" Amanda came running, and in a moment she was on the floor beside the old man, bent over him, crying her heart out.

  Holly tugged her gently away when Dr. Graycloud burst through the doors. She turned into Holly's arms, sobbing. "He's all I have," she moaned. "Oh, God, please don't let him die."

  ***

  BETHANY HUDDLED IN the darkness, hugging her arms as she shook. At first she'd thought it was just a game. Just a part of Mr. D'Voe's Halloween party tricks. The large arms had snapped around her from out of the darkness, and pulled her through the fence and into the woods. She screamed. But then, everyone was shrieking with every ghost or ghoul that popped up on the parade around the lawn. Who would notice one more scream? Something smelly and damp was pressed to her face. It burned. She thought there had been some kind of hole in the ground but then everything went dark. She knew it was the smelly stuff on the cloth at her face that made her go to sleep.