Mary Catherine said, “Has he always been so clueless with women?”
“If you mean not having any idea what they’re thinking, yes. He never knew when women were flirting with him or what kind of effect he had on them.”
Mary Catherine started to laugh again. “He’s that way with a lot of things. Sometimes the kids and I just point Michael in the right direction and tell him what to do. He really can be quite helpful when he sets his mind to it.”
Sandy said, “His manners hide his shortcomings quite well. I think Seamus had a lot to do with shaping his personality.”
When we were done and back downstairs, Sandy stopped in front of Juliana, who was almost as tall as Sandy.
Sandy gave her a spontaneous hug and said, “Oh, my God, I remember when you were bouncing around the apartment in New York. Your mom thought about tying your feet together. Look at you now. Such a beauty.”
Chrissy scampered up, looking for some attention. Sandy immediately went down on one knee and brushed some light hair out of Chrissy’s face. “You have some great role models to follow in this family,” she said. “Juliana and Jane are crushing high school and headed to good colleges somewhere. And you couldn’t have a better role model than Mary Catherine. You’re one lucky little girl.”
Sandy looked up at me. I didn’t have to say anything. I knew I was one lucky man. And for some reason it was important to me that the whole family like Sandy. Especially Mary Catherine. And they clearly did.
No matter what happened the rest of this vacation, I knew it would be worth it.
Chapter 57
Thanks to the efforts of Seamus and Mary Catherine, somehow a giant pot of Irish stew ended up on the stove. This dish was one of the kids’ favorites and a sly way for Mary Catherine to slip some vegetables into their diet. Thank God no one was an avowed vegetarian in the family. I couldn’t remember a meal in which meat wasn’t the main focus.
Sandy fit right in at our double-size table, and it didn’t take long for someone to ask her about the house we were living in.
The pretty, engaging woman had all the kids yearning for her attention. She immediately picked up on Eddie’s brains and Juliana’s calm demeanor. It was like she had been in touch with the family every day for the past eight years.
She told a few stories about our early days on the NYPD. Nothing too graphic, but I always ended up being the dumbass in the story. I didn’t mind, as long as the kids were happy and laughing.
Bridget said, “Tell us more about Linewiler. Have you ever been in this house before?”
Sandy lowered her voice and said, “I know you guys call this Mildew Manor, but before that, it was known in town as…” She paused for dramatic effect and spat out, “The Ghost House.”
I was surprised to see the teenagers a little more spooked by the term than Chrissy and Shawna were. They were both listening intently.
Jane asked, “Was anyone murdered here?”
“No.”
Trent asked, “Did somebody die here?”
“Not that I know of.”
Eddie said, “Then why is it called the Ghost House?”
“Because no real-estate agent could sell it, and it remained empty for several summers.”
That brought laughter from Mary Catherine, Seamus, and me, but the kids looked disappointed that there wasn’t any sinister meaning to it. Then Sandy said, “I don’t actually know where the name came from. It started as a rumor, and the name just sort of stuck. I know some homeless people stayed here sometimes, and that probably scared the local kids. But you don’t have anything to worry about with your dad, Mary Catherine, and Gramps around.”
Chrissy, who was sitting right next to Sandy, said, “Why don’t you have any kids?”
Sandy gave her a smile and said, “You’ve got to find the right guy, and I’m telling you that’s not easy to do. I hope to have a child one day. I guess I can’t wait very long. But until then, I hope your dad shares you guys with me just a little bit.”
I had to laugh and say, “Share them with you? Why don’t I leave them with you? They can go to school up here in Maine, and I’ll come visit sometime around Christmas.”
I was prepared to field questions and comments from the crowd when someone knocked on the front door.
Seamus said, “A little late for a visitor.”
I saw the look of concern on Sandy’s face as we both stood at the same time to go to the front door. I motioned for Mary Catherine and the kids to stay where they were. Maybe my little scuffle with Dell Streeter had gotten under my skin more than I realized.
Sandy stood to the side of the door, ready to take action if necessary, when I opened it.
I was surprised by our guest.
It was Sadie, the homeless girl I’d seen at the clambake and around town.
She didn’t look as frail as I remembered. She focused those dark eyes on me and said, “Are you still looking for Tom-Tom Bacon and Tricia?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then I have something important to show you. Can you drive me?”
Sandy stepped from behind the door and said, “We both can.”
Sadie nodded her head and said, “Good, because there’s some people who’ll be mad I’m telling secrets.”
Chapter 58
I sat in the backseat with Sadie, where I could face her, and turned Sandy into our chauffeur. She knew exactly what I was doing. We’d used the technique effectively back in New York. People were much more willing to talk to you if there wasn’t the barrier of a seat between you.
I studied the girl carefully as we headed to the woods on the other side of town, not far from where Dell Streeter lived.
I said, “Can I ask you a question, Sadie?”
“You want to know why I’m like this?” She jiggled her right leg and right hand. “It’s from a stroke. That’s why I slur my words a little bit, too.”
“Are you getting any kind of treatment?”
“Some. I see a social worker who makes me go to the doctor. She’s nice, but she has no idea what life is like on the streets.”
“When did you have the stroke?”
“Around two years ago, when I was fifteen. Before my mom died.”
I mumbled, “I’m sorry to hear your mom died.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t have anything to do with it. She overdosed. But we did use to live in your house.”
“The one we’re renting on the lake?”
“The same one. The Ghost House.”
From the front seat Sandy said, “So you’ve heard it called that, too?”
Sadie giggled. “I’m the one who started the name. First I came up with a rumor that it was haunted to keep people away, then I made sure everyone called it the Ghost House in town and at school.”
I smiled and said, “You used to live there?”
“My mom and I squatted there when it was abandoned. By making up the name and rumors, I kept people from bothering us. It was pretty nice for a while. Just my mom and me. She was hooked on heroin by then, and I picked up the habit, too. That’s what caused my stroke. I just got too high one night, and it happened. Turned out I was the lucky one. My mom OD’d down in Brunswick. No one even held a funeral for her.”
“What are you going to show us tonight?”
“Some of the things I saw when I was high. When no one thinks you’re paying attention. When people look right past you like you’re just a piece of furniture.”
“Does it have anything to do with Dell Streeter?”
“Anything about drugs has something to do with Dell Streeter. My mom used to call him the devil on earth.”
Chapter 59
As we pulled off the highway onto one of the side streets, Sadie sat up and gave directions to Sandy. She had us turn onto an unpaved road and then into a clearing in the woods.
There was something about this odd young woman. Almost a feral quality that made me interested in what she had to say. The thought crossed my mind t
hat she was leading us into some kind of trap. But only for a moment. I’d made my career out of reading people. This girl had nothing left to hide.
It didn’t really matter at this point, because I was willing to do just about anything to find the missing teenagers. The fact that I went into the woods and looked over cliffs should’ve been enough to convince anyone that I was serious about this.
We stood by the car for a moment and got acclimated to the dark. There was almost no moon in the sky. There were no towns to produce any serious ambient light. It gave me the chance to look up at the stars and see them in a new way. They were bright and bold and not washed out by city lights.
I turned to Sadie. “You watched us last night when we were looking for Tom-Tom and Tricia, didn’t you?”
She smiled. “I see everything that goes on around here. No one sees me.” She pointed toward the woods and said, “This is something I’ve never told anyone.”
I still had the Kel-Lite Sandy had given me so I could search the woods for Tom-Tom and Tricia. Sandy had a handheld spotlight that illuminated the woods for a hundred yards. It was like daylight had come at ten thirty at night.
The bright light only made the rest of the woods seem darker and spookier. My Kel-Lite barely poked a hole in the darkness.
I turned to Sandy and said, “How far are we from Dell Streeter’s junkyard?”
“Maybe a mile as the crow flies. Just under two miles if we had to take the roads. Why?”
“I wouldn’t want to run into any of his lackeys by mistake.”
“Why not?” I could see her smile even in the darkness.
“We didn’t do so well this afternoon when we knew we were running into them. Don’t worry: I haven’t forgotten what happened. I just don’t want it to happen again.”
We stood in a clearing and scanned the dark woods with our lights one more time. I didn’t like the gloom beyond the edge of my flashlight. It felt like the forest was alive with creepy growls and screeches.
Sadie wasn’t discouraged or scared in any way. She limped away from the clearing into the woods. I was surprised by how fast she moved. Sandy and I both hustled to keep up as she slipped through the darkness, barely touching the tree limbs.
Sandy whispered to me, “Is this crazy that we’re just following her?”
“My instinct says to do it. She seems to have an inside track on everything.”
“I hope you brought your gun.”
I said, “I hope I did, too.”
Sadie heard us and said, “You won’t need a gun. Nothing but ghosts up here.”
“Just like there were ghosts at my house when you lived there?”
“No. There really are ghosts up here. This is no rumor.” She kept moving and disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 60
After a few minutes of marching through the woods with Sadie, we came to a stop in a clearing. It was around the size of a basketball court. Just an odd shape in the middle of the forest. Two boulders forced the trees to grow at odd angles on the edge of the clearing.
Sandy and I both swept the area with our flashlights quickly. If anything was going to happen, it would happen right now. I don’t know why I was jumpy, but things were getting weird and I was stuck in the middle of the woods. If that isn’t a reason to be jumpy, I don’t know what is.
Sadie walked directly over to the larger of the two boulders, turned, and sat on top of it. It appeared as if it was a regular resting spot for her. She just looked at us, not saying a word.
I stepped over to her and said, “Is this what you wanted us to see?”
She nodded and gave me a sly smile.
“Am I missing something? I don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.”
“I think that’s why they like this spot. That’s why they use it.”
“Who likes it? What do they use it for?” I was starting to feel like this girl was playing games with us. But I still had the feeling that she was onto something. She just didn’t have that many opportunities to play games like this. I had to be patient. The same as if she were one of my own kids. Hell, she could’ve been one of my own kids.
Sadie finally said, “This is where they do it. Here and in the woods around the edge.” She spread her arms to show us she was talking about the place where the forest ended. “No reason for anyone to come up here. Nothing really to see. No hiking trails. Tourists don’t care about just another patch of woods. This is where they like to bury the bodies.”
Sandy’s head snapped up, and she said, “Who likes to bury the bodies? How do you know that?”
“Because this is where they buried me. At least they tried to.” She pointed to a shallow dip in the grass and said, “Right over there.”
I stepped over and inspected the ground. Grass had grown over the spot. The fact that there was a ridge around the hole, and the size of it, made it look like a grave. But that didn’t make sense. I turned to Sadie and asked, “Why would someone bury you?”
“They thought I was dead. I probably looked dead. I was over at Dell Streeter’s house and got so high I guess I just passed out. They didn’t want to answer any questions, so Dell and one of his boys brought me up here, dug a grave, and planted me.”
“Why would they just dump you?”
“They told me it was bad for business to have dead customers. This was just after my mom died. They said it was a good thing she died in Brunswick because no one would care where she got the stuff.”
Listening to Sadie tell her story, I realized just how smart she really was. She understood exactly what had happened and why. She wasn’t feeling sorry for herself. I sensed that she was mad. Maybe it just took her a while to stand up for herself.
Sandy said, “How’d you escape?”
“Before they were done throwing dirt on me, I woke up. I think I scared the shit out of them. I started coughing up dirt. I remember sitting right there and starting to cry. I thought I really was dead and they were doing the right thing.”
I took a minute and walked to the edge of the trees, using my light to check the ground carefully. Not far from where Sadie said her grave had been, I saw two uneven ripples on the ground. They had been there awhile. Grass was growing over them. Maybe it was the power of suggestion, but they looked like graves to me.
Sandy stepped up close to me and said, “We’re going to have to go over this place carefully in the morning. I need to call in some crime-scene people.”
I sat down on the boulder next to Sadie and put my arm around her shoulder. She didn’t seem too upset. I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. Her body felt slight next to mine. I wanted to hug her and give her a good meal. It was the kind of thing any parent would have done.
We sat in silence for a few moments until I said, “Once they realized you were alive, what happened?”
“They let me go. But they told me if I ever talked to anyone about this, I’d be one dead bitch.”
Sadie turned and looked me in the face.
She said, “Guess I’m a dead bitch.”
Chapter 61
Sandy and I made some quick plans as we headed back to my house. We couldn’t leave Sadie alone, and we couldn’t search the field at night. The solution was simple. Who would notice one more kid at my house?
It was late by the time we slipped in the house. My sleeping angel, Mary Catherine, sprawled on the foldout couch with Shawna and Chrissy snuggled up on either side of her. The TV was still on.
I led Sadie quietly up the stairs. Now I found out where her disability caused her problems. The stairs were difficult for her to navigate. She was fast when she was moving forward and from side to side, but going up and down was a challenge.
We finally made it to the second floor, and Jane stepped out of her bedroom to meet us.
I whispered, “Jane, this is Sadie. You think you could help her find some clothes and a bed to sleep in?”
Jane didn’t question anything about the odd situation. She smiled and sai
d, “Since both Eddie and Ricky are asleep in your bed, I know their beds are open.” She took Sadie by the hand and said, “We’ll have you fixed up in no time.”
I ended up sleeping on a cot in my own bedroom. Ricky’s persistent sinus problems made him snore. He sounded like someone trying to start a chain saw. I slept in fits all night. Two separate times I got off the cot and made a run through the house to make sure everyone was safely in bed.
Jane had taken the second bed in the room with Sadie. I couldn’t believe how compassionate and caring my children had become. And I couldn’t have been more proud.
When I finally fell asleep soundly, I managed to miss the boys waking up and the crowd gathering for breakfast in the kitchen. I was almost the last one to the party. Most of the older kids sat around the table, chatting with Sadie.
Sadie was wearing one of Jane’s sundresses and appeared to be right at home.
Mary Catherine was hustling around the stove, flipping pancakes and trying to be part of the conversation. As I stood at the door listening, I heard her say, “I have an aunt named Sadie. She’s not as pretty as you, but she’s one of my favorite aunts.”
That made our guest smile.
Mary Catherine caught sight of me and lifted her eyebrows. I knew the look. She was asking me what the hell was going on without saying a word. If she was upset in the least, she didn’t show it.
Chrissy was at the end of the table, nibbling on one of the first pancakes that had come off the stove. When there was a break in the conversation, she asked Sadie, “How did you hurt your leg?”
Sadie looked at the little girl and said, “It’s really my brain that’s hurt.”
“Then why do you walk funny?”
Everyone at the table was horrified for a moment until Sadie broke into a big smile and started to laugh. Then she said, “That’s a really good question, Chrissy. And as smart as I think I am, I’ve never asked anyone to explain it to me completely.”
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