by Garry Ryan
“Will you look at that?” Harper said.
“Sometimes, you just never know.” Lane looked at Harper who was smiling.
“Same year, colour, and make. You don’t think?”
Harper asked. He studied the champagne-coloured Chrysler parked in the Idaho Metals parking lot out front of the office.
“At the very least, it’s worth checking out.” Lane parked their Chevy directly behind the Chrysler.
They got out of the car and walked up the frostcoated steps to the office. The lights were on inside. Joan looked up when they opened the door. Her face immediately turned red.
Harper said, “Hello, Joan. We were just in the neighbourhood.”
Joan picked up her coffee cup.
Lane noticed that her hand was shaking.
She wrapped ten long fingers around the cup. Joan sipped without taking her eyes off them. She glanced at the photo of her sons.
“Is Mike around?” Harper asked.
“Should be here any minute,” Joan said. It sounded like she wished Mike would hurry up.
“Would you prefer we waited or could we talk with you now?” Lane asked.
“Up to you.” Joan tried to make herself sound nonchalant. It had the opposite effect on Harper.
“Been watching the news?” Harper asked.
“Hard not to,” Joan said.
Go easy, Lane thought, Joan’s got two kids. She’ll be worried about what will happen to them if we arrest her. Women can be tigers when it comes to protecting their kids.
“There’s a boy missing. You may be in a position to help us and help the kid at the same time,” Harper said.
“Really?” Joan said. “Missing people in Bobbie’s family have been turning up dead. Families can be dangerous.” “Sounds like you’ve had a bad experience,” Lane said.
“Had a husband who threatened to kill my boys if I left him. He put me in the hospital, just to prove his point. I left him after that. He’s in jail now, but he’ll be out someday,” Joan said.
“And we’ve got a kid we need to find,” Harper said.
“Don’t see what that has to do with me.” Again, Joan used both hands to lift the coffee cup. She hid her face as she took a sip.
“We need Bobbie’s car because it could help us determine if the fibres in the trunk match fibres found on the child’s body,” Lane said.
Before Joan could answer, Harper said, “We’re only interested in the car. If we find the car in question, we’ll need it for evidence. The person who has possession of the car will help us establish that it did, in fact, belong to Bobbie Reddie. We won’t be looking at charging the new owner.”
“Police couldn’t protect me before. What makes you think anything’s changed?” Joan asked.
Mike opened the door.
Both detectives turned.
Mike studied the faces in the room. He brushed at the front of his coveralls; buying time. He frowned, thought, and smiled. “Want a cup of coffee officers?”
“They know.” Joan’s shoulders sagged. She looked at Lane. “I never could put groceries in the trunk of that car. I kept thinking about why she wanted the car wrecked. I mean who in her right mind would want to get rid of a car like that? She must have had a reason.
I just never opened the trunk. Kept thinking about my twins and what their father threatened to do to them.”
Mike said, “Joan’s car was on its last legs. We didn’t charge Bobbie anything for wrecking her car, just substituted Joan’s old one. Bobbie never noticed. She thought she got rid of her car, and Joan got a new one.”
“You never opened the trunk?” Lane asked.
“I didn’t,” Mike said.
Joan said, “Not me. Never worked up the nerve.”
“Would you testify that you switched your car for hers but never opened the trunk of Bobbie’s?” Lane asked.
“Do we have a choice?” Mike asked.
Harper said, “It’s the only choice that I’d make.”
“It’s right around here.” Tony rode up front with Rosie. Jay and Cole sat in the back seat of her Honda.
“There’s a parking spot.” Rosie pulled up to the curb. “Anybody got any change for the meter?”
“How much you need?” Jay asked, reaching into his pocket.
“Couple of loonies should do it,” Rosie said.
“This is crazy. You realize this is nuts. I mean two Asians with a white kid? If we get caught, the news will say we’re Asian gang members involved in the white slave trade.” Tony smiled when he said it, but his voice was pitched too high.
“Slavery was abolished, at least in North America, at the time of the American Civil War,” Cole said.
“As long as we’re not arrested for pimping. I’d never live that one down,” Rosie said.
“Aren’t pimps usually male?” Cole asked.
“Damn, you’re just too smart aren’t you, Cole?”
Tony said.
“What’s your new name, Cole?” Rosie asked.
“Chuck,” Cole said.
“You guys are crazy,” Tony said.
“Everybody’s looking for a blond-haired boy in church clothes. Once we get him a ball cap, some baggy pants, and a T-shirt with somethin’ obscene on it, nobody’ll give him a second look.” Rosie checked for traffic and got out.
The boys all stepped onto the sidewalk. Jay felt completely vulnerable.
“Sell it.” Rosie took Cole’s hand. “Me and Chuck are going shoppin’.” Cole looked back over his shoulder to make sure Jay was following.
People on the sidewalk passed without noticing. Cars drove by without stopping.
Rosie, Cole, Jay, and Tony crossed the street. They stepped into the skateboard/snowboard shop. Cole stared at the girl who sat behind the till. She had studs in her eyebrow and lip. When she opened her mouth, there was one in her tongue. Her hair, eyebrows, and clothes were black.
“Got some stuff to fit him?” Rosie asked.
“Right there,” the clerk pointed to a corner at the back of the store.
“This looks good,” Jay grabbed a red hat.
“How about this?” Tony pulled out a blue T-shirt.
Cole looked at Rosie, who held up a pair of khaki trousers with more pockets than a pool table. The child stood in the middle of the store, overwhelmed. His eyes filled with tears.
Jay got on one knee so he could look Cole in the eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I never picked out my own clothes before,” Cole said.
“It can be fun,” Rosie said.
“Fun?” Cole asked.
“You know, you try on some stuff and try on some more and have, you know, fun,” Tony said.
Cole looked bewildered.
“What if you pick one person to bring you clothes?” the clerk asked.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Okay,” Cole said.
“How about Rosie?” Jay asked.
“Okay.” Cole sounded relieved.
Cole ended up with a red hat with the brim pointed forward, a blue T-shirt with a white stripe across the chest, and a pair of green cotton pants with more pockets than the one Rosie had first shown him.
Tony, Jay, and Cole picked up the old clothes in the changing room while Rosie pulled out her card and handed it to the clerk.
The clerk swiped the card and said, “The kid’s still recognizable.”
Rosie thought she might vomit. “What do you mean?”
“The kid’s face is everywhere. It’s only a matter of time before somebody goes for the reward.” The clerk handed Rosie the receipt.
“What about you?” Rosie signed the receipt.
“You think Bobbie and her fans wanna make the world a better place for people like me? Look at me. I’m just sayin’ it’s only a matter of time before somebody spots you. The kid looks like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. People are actually asking him what he thinks. What he wants. He’s not acting like a kid should
. He looks like he’s been abused. Believe me, I know that look. Take care of that kid. His sister and his dad just died,” the clerk said.
“Thanks.” Rosie stuffed her copy of the receipt in her purse and waited outside until the boys caught up.
When they were back in the car she asked, “What’s the plan, Jay?”
“Plan?” Jay asked.
“We need a plan or we’re finished,” Rosie said.
Jay looked at Cole, who looked out the window.
“Cole?” Jay asked.
Cole turned to face his uncle.
“What happened to Kaylie and your Dad?” Jay asked.
“Mommy said if I told anyone, there’d be a fire,”
Cole said.
“What’s that mean?” Tony asked.
“That my sister’ll make somebody pay if Cole tells the truth about Charles and Kaylie,” Jay said.
“Uncle Tran was right,” Rosie said.
“What are you talkin’ about?” Tony asked.
“He called me last night and said the landlady saw you take Cole into the apartment. Then Uncle Tran told me what to do. I called him again while you were asleep. He thought you probably hadn’t planned very far ahead. He thinks this won’t end until you end it,”
Rosie said.
“What’s that mean?” Jay asked.
“It means the police, Tommy Pham, and Uncle Tran want to see you this afternoon. I’ll take care of Cole while you meet them, Jay,” Rosie said.
Lane followed the tow truck down the freeway. On the deck behind the truck’s cab, Bobbie’s Chrysler bobbed each time the truck hit a ripple in the pavement.
“Dr. Fibre’ll meet us there so he can get started on the forensics.” Harper flipped his phone closed.
Lane nodded. He thought about their next move.
“Even if the fibres and hairs are a match, it probably won’t be enough. We’ve got to get someone to testify.
With Bobbie, we’ll need more rather than less evidence.” “So, we need a witness. And, so far, we’ve only got two likely candidates,” Harper said.
“And both have disappeared. A bit too much of a coincidence,” Lane said.
“Talking with Tommy Pham is the next step, then,”
Harper said.
They got the call thirty minutes later.
Lane and Harper sat side by side at the conference table. The clock on the wall showed 5:00 PM. Tommy Pham’s office was occupied by a group of lawyers in a renovated house north of the river. The house looked down onto Chinatown. The sun shone in the window, and they squinted at the Lion’s Bridge.
“How old is Tommy?” Lane asked.
“Maybe thirty,” Harper said.
“So, he’s a recent grad,” Lane said.
“Where are you goin’ with this?” Harper asked.
“It’s just that he’s doing very well for a lawyer who graduated in the last couple of years,” Lane said.
“So?” Harper looked sideways at Lane.
“Uncle Tran runs a restaurant, offers financial aid to the community, and it looks like he set Tommy up in this place.” They looked at the oak finish on the walls, solid-oak table, and oak armchairs. “Uncle Tran must sell a tonne of satay.”
Tommy opened the door. He was followed by Jay
Krocker and Uncle Tran. The three sat across the table from Lane and Harper.
“Please close the blinds,” Harper said.
Tommy pressed a button under the table. A motor whirred. The blinds closed. They made very little difference. Lane and Harper were forced to squint into slightly-shaded sunlight.
Lane smiled and waited. In times like this, he thought, the only thing to do is wait. We’re being put at a disadvantage, so we wait. Let them make the next move.
Harper looked at Lane, then across the table at Tommy who wore a grey suit and red tie.
The silence of the first minute stretched into five.
“I’ve got an appointment at 5:30,” Tommy said.
Lane nodded. He thought, Pissing contests can be so tedious.
Uncle Tran smiled. “We have limited time, gentlemen. A child is in danger.”
Lane forced himself to sit still and wait some more.
Harper inhaled and leaned forward.
“We would like to know if you are interested in the whereabouts of Cole Reddie?” Tommy asked.
“Of course.” Lane watched Jay shift in his chair.
“What will happen to the child if he’s released into your custody?” Tommy asked.
“That depends,” Lane said.
Harper leaned closer to Lane and said, “Protective custody?” “We have reason to believe the child will be in
danger if returned to his mother,” Tommy said.
“It’s very important you be specific with your reasons,” Lane said.
Jay looked at Tommy who nodded back.
Jay said, “He talks in his sleep. Cole says, ‘Mommy, don’t put Kaylie in the trunk. Please Mommy, why won’t she wake up?’ He says it over and over again.” Jay’s eyes were all at once pleading and resigned as he looked at the officers. “When I was fifteen, Bobbie burned our house down and killed my parents. I kept quiet because she threatened me and Cole.”
“Did she ever confess to you?” Lane asked.
“She told me she was afraid Cole would die in his sleep. I told you this before. It’s the way my sister makes threats. She was telling me that Cole would die, if I told anyone that she’d started the fire in my parents’ house,” Jay said.
“There is another matter. Jay is voluntarily surrendering the child. He has no interest, whatsoever, in the reward offered for the safe return of Cole Reddie. Jay’s only interest is in the safety of his nephew. Our interest,” Tommy nodded at Uncle Tran, “is in the safety of Cole and Jay.”
“Speaking of interests, we’re interested in Uncle Tran. So far as I can tell, he doesn’t exist,” Harper said.
There was a prolonged silence around the table.
Uncle Tran smiled.
Tommy looked at Harper as if the cop had just crapped in the punch bowl at the mayor’s year-end bash.
Lane thought, Don’t let this fall apart before the child is safe! “Right now, our major concern is the safety of Cole and Jay. Both will be placed in custody.”
“You are guarantying that both Cole and Jay will be placed in protective custody?” Tommy asked Lane as if Harper had disappeared from the room.
“Jay may be charged with abduction. Whether we like it or not, there are some things beyond our control,” Lane said.
Tommy looked at Uncle Tran. Tran shook his head from side to side.
“We need your assurance that Jay will not be charged. His only thought was to protect the child from a deadly situation,” Tommy said.
Uncle Tran is one tough negotiator, Lane thought.
“I’ll need to make some phone calls.” Lane got up and motioned for Harper to follow. They stepped outside and closed the door. In the hallway, Lane pulled out his phone and said to Harper, “What the hell did you ask that question for?”
“I can’t find any record of Uncle Tran. He doesn’t exist,” Harper said.
“Next time we’re in a situation like this one, leave out questions like that.” Lane speed-dialed.
“I don’t think we’ll be in a situation like this again,”
Harper said.
They returned five minutes later. Tommy and Uncle Tran were speaking Vietnamese. Jay looked like he had aged a year.
“Both Jay and Cole will be placed in protective custody,” Lane said.
Jay took a deep breath.
“Will they be together?” Uncle Tran asked.
“What?” Harper asked.
“While you were outside, we received a call. The child is becoming very agitated without his uncle. Will the child be kept with Jay?” Uncle Tran asked.
“Man you got a pair on you,” Harper said.
“What did you say?” Tommy asked.
&nbs
p; Uncle Tran smiled.
Lane said, “I’ll see to it. Now, where is the child?”
“Will Jay be charged?” Uncle Tran asked.
Lane said, “No. Now, where is Cole?”
“Very close,” Tommy said.
Lane drove down Centre Street and over the Lion’s Bridge. Harper sat in the back with Jay on one side, and Cole in the middle.
The red hair is a nice touch, Lane thought. He noticed the haunted look of the child’s eyes.
“I know you,” Cole said, looking at Lane.
“Yes, we’ve met before,” Lane said.
“Are you feeling better?” Cole asked.
“Pardon?” Lane asked.
“You got sick outside of my house,” Cole said.
“I’m better now.” Lane thought, Jay’s right about this kid.
“Good,” Cole said.
They turned east. When they arrived at the station, the cameras and reporters were waiting.
“How’d they know?” Jay asked.
Harper said, “You tell me. Scanner, probably. They listen in on our communications. It’s like a game, and they’re always up to new tricks. Might as well make the best of it.”
“Smile everybody.” Lane put the turning signal on and slowed to a crawl.
The car was surrounded by reporters, cameras, and microphones. Lane concentrated on looking ahead and moving forward without running anyone over. The camera flashes were mostly to his right and left, so he wasn’t blinded.
Harper, Jay, and Cole weren’t as lucky. Cole sat bewildered by the entire experience. One photograph caught Jay attempting to shield his eyes from the lights and camera flashes. It froze his hand over his eyes where it appeared he was attempting to mask his identity. It was not the image which made the evening news, but it did make the morning papers across the country. Then the story went international.
BOBBIE: Good afternoon. It’s Bobbie on the ride home. My nightmare continues. My son is in police custody. My lawyer is working on his release. My brother, the product of a very disturbed childhood, is under police protection. If the police can do this to me, they can do it to you! My rights as a mother and a woman have been violated!
“Remember Lisa’s partner, Loraine? She is recommending a meet with Cole and Jay tomorrow. She wants the two of them to relax a bit. She says Cole needs to be near Jay now. If Cole actually saw what we believe he saw, then he needs Jay around.” Lane smiled at the ruse they had used to sneak the pair out of downtown and into a condo on the west side of the city. They used a convoy of four identical vans in the middle of rush hour traffic, then drove Cole and Jay away in an unmarked police car when the media chased the vans.
