“Hello?”
“Hi, mom, it's me. Didn't you say that you were here and would lock up when you left?”
“Yes and I did. Why?”
Katie tried to hide the worry in her voice.
“Well, I just got home and the door was unlocked. Are you sure you locked it?”
“I know I did, dear. Maybe Wade stopped by and left it unlocked.”
“Maybe...I'll ask him. Gotta run, mom. Bye.”
Katie hung up just as the boys came in with their ice creams. The picture was always the same: Jack with his ice cream sandwich and Jesse covered in fudgsicle.
Katie pushed her worries aside and laughed.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Jesse was herded towards the kitchen sink to be cleaned.
Chapter 9
Wade Duncan rifled through the file box in the bedroom. He knew the papers had to be in there. They kept all their important stuff in the fireproof box under the bed. Finally, he saw the folder marked ‘Adoption’ and pulled it out.
He was looking for the phone number of the lawyer’s office that had set up the adoption. He noticed that none of the adoption paperwork had a phone number, just the address of Johnson & Carr’s Legal Office. An odd fact that they probably should have noticed before. He found the card that Zebulin Johnson had given him that day at the cemetery.
He dialed the number.
“The number you have reached is no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again.”
Wade did.
“The number you have reached…” He hung up and stared at the phone.
The gnawing feeling was getting stronger.
“What ya doing?”
He jumped when Katie spoke.
“You scared me! Oh, nothing.”
“Is that the adoption folder?”
“Yea, I was looking for a picture of Jack taken when we first adopted him; I thought it might be in here.” He didn't like lying to Kate, but neither did he want to scare her. After all, he thought, I might be overreacting.
“You know all the photos are in the albums downstairs.”
“Oh, of course.”
Wade started putting everything back in the box. Katie gave him a weird look.
“Listen, I forgot to ask you, were you home earlier?”
“Not since I left for work. Why?”
“Well, mom came by and said the door was unlocked. She said she locked it when she left, but when I got home, it was unlocked again.”
He stopped what he was doing and looked at her.
“I'm sure I locked it this morning.”
“Well, mom swears she locked it when she left.”
Wade's stomach began to churn. The phone call and now this.
“I'll check the lock; maybe it's not closing all the way.”
Katie gave him a skeptical look.
“Okay, anyway, dinner's ready.”
“Great, be right down.”
He grabbed the business card from the lawyer’s office and stuck it in his wallet. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
*
Wade had a busy morning the next day and wasn't able to break free until almost one in the afternoon. He waved at Peggy.
“I'm going out to grab a bite, call me if anyone comes in.”
The receptionist was on the phone, but she gave him a nod and a smile.
Wade got in his car and headed downtown. The address on the card was in the older part of Springfield, and it took him fifteen minutes to get there. When he pulled up in front, he found a law office, but not the name he was looking for.
CRANE, STOOPS & COLLINS
Attorneys-At-Law
Wade pulled out the card and stared at it. The address matched, but not the name. He wondered if it was just a name change.
He entered through double glass doors into a darkly paneled waiting room, dimly lit and furnished with rich looking leather chairs. He crossed to the window as the glass slid open.
“Can I help you?” a smartly dressed receptionist asked. Her nameplate said ‘Beverly’. Blonde hair, thin build, brown eyes. She was probably forty-five, but Wade thought she could pass for thirty.
“Yes. I'm looking for an attorney.”
“Well, we have three very good ones here. What's the nature of your case?”
Wade gave her a sheepish smile.
“No…I'm sorry. What I mean is that I'm looking for a particular attorney. His name is Zebulin Johnson.”
Beverly obviously didn't recognize the name.
“Well, sir, I've been here for 13 years, and I don't think I've ever heard that name.”
“Has the firm been in this same location all that time?”
“Yes sir, in fact, they've been located here for nearly twenty years. What was that name again?”
He handed her the card.
“Zebulin Johnson, red hair and beard, maybe three hundred and fifty pounds.”
“I don't remember anyone like that. Let me ask Joyce.”
Beverly went and asked the filing clerk in the next room. Wade couldn't hear them, but saw the woman shake her head. Beverly returned and handed him the card.
“I'm sorry. She didn't recognize the name, either.”
“Really? Okay, well, thanks.”
“I'm sorry I couldn't be more help. Have a nice day.”
She flashed him a beautiful smile.
Wade didn't feel like smiling, but he nodded. He was too stunned. She had confirmed what he suspected before he had even come in. Something wasn't right with Jack’s adoption.
What exactly they were involved in, he didn't know. The question now was: what to do next? He couldn't tell Katie, he didn't know how she would react. Maybe he could tell Shirley. He needed advice, but it couldn't be just anybody.
He called the office and told Peggy he wouldn’t be in the rest of the day.
“Everything all right?”
“Yea...yea, fine. Just need to take care of something.”
He hung up and sat in his car. Summer was turning to fall, and the sky was gray, a light drizzle coming down. The weather matched his mood. He stayed there for a long time, just trying to figure out what to do next.
Nothing seemed to be the only choice, but nothing wouldn't give him any answers.
He started the car and called Shirley.
*
“Mom, can we have our dollar?” Jack asked.
“Yea, mom, the truck is coming,” Jesse chimed in.
“Okay.” Katie left the pot she was stirring on the stove and retrieved her purse. She rummaged around until she found four quarters.
“Here, boys. Be careful.”
“Okay, mom,” they said in unison.
Katie smiled as she watched them scamper out the door. The weather would soon be too cold for ice cream, and the truck will stop coming around. She'd have to come up with a new treat for after school, maybe hot chocolate. She returned to her stirring.
*
The boys reached the truck just as the driver was preparing to leave. Jack waved and Tommy reopened the window.
“What'll it be, boys, the usual?”
Jack was just about to say ‘yes’ when he heard a voice behind him.
“What's the usual?”
Jack, Jesse, and Tommy all turned and looked at the stranger. Jack recognized him as the man named Michael who had shook their hand at the grocery store.
“Ice cream sandwich for Jack and a fudgcicle for me,” Jesse answered.
“Really? Why don't we have something new today?”
“We only have a dollar,” Jack explained.
“My treat. Anything you want.”
Jesse's eyes got huge.
“I've never had an Explosion Cone! Can I have one of those?”
Jack knew they weren't supposed to talk to strangers, but they had met him before. Besides, he'd always wanted an Explosion Cone himself.
“I'd like one, too.”
Michael lo
oked at Tommy with a big grin.
“Make it three…what was it?”
“Explosion Cone!” Jack and Jesse shouted together.
“Right, make it three, to go!”
Tommy doled out the three giant cones, Michael paid, and they walked off. Jesse was in heaven, attacking his ice cream in a frenzy. Jack paused his eating long enough to thank Michael.
“That was real nice, mister. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, and it was my pleasure. You boys get ice cream a lot?”
“Every day after school. If we've been good.”
“That's awful nice of your mom. You boys need a lift home?”
“No, thank you.”
Jack knew not to accept a ride, even if he had met Michael before.
“It's just a short walk. Bye, thanks again.”
“Bye, Jesse. Bye, Jack.”
Michael got in his car and watched the boys walk towards home. Jesse and Jack had just helped plan his next step.
*
Katie didn't see the boys come in, Jesse leading the way.
“Mom, look. We got Explosion Cones!”
Katie turned to look at them.
“Really, that's great. Wasn't that nice of Tommy?”
“Not Tommy…”
Jack cut in.
“The nice man from the grocery store bought them.”
Katie's face immediately turned dark, her voice rising.
“What man? You let a stranger buy you ice cream?”
“You remember. We shook his hand. His name is Michael.”
It took Katie a minute, but she did remember. She was still unhappy.
“You boys know not to talk to strangers, especially you, Jack.”
“We knew who he was.”
“He's still a stranger. Grandma Shirley is someone you know. Your soccer coach is someone you know. That man is still a stranger.”
Her voice held both anger and fear.
“Sorry, mom. I won't do it again.”
She could tell Jack was near tears.
“We promise.”
Katie took a deep breath and pulled him to her. She gave him a hug, holding on for a long time. She would have done the same with Jesse, but, as usual, he was wearing most of his ice cream. Katie and Jack both looked at him and started laughing at the same time.
Katie's anger disappeared, but the uneasy feeling was still there.
*
Shirley heard the phone ringing. Her hair was wet and she was wrapped in a towel. By the time she got to it, they had hung up. She looked at the number. Wade. She toweled off and got dressed. She was running a brush through her hair when it rang again. This time, she got there in time.
“Hello?”
“Shirley?”
“Yes. Hi, Wade. Everything all right?”
“Sure, Katie and the kids are fine. I'm calling about something else.”
Shirley put the brush down and sat on the end of the bed.
“Okay. What's up?”
“You remember the phone call I got at the soccer field the other day?”
She did.
“Yea...”
“Well, it wasn't about a deal.”
“I suspected as much.”
“It was some guy telling me that I had his son and he wanted him back.”
There was a long pause while Shirley let it sink in.
“Did you tell him he was mistaken?”
“Yea...but he wouldn't listen. Finally, I just hung up.”
“Did you tell Katie?”
“No. I didn't want to scare her.”
“I'm sure it's nothing.”
Shirley was trying to reassure both herself and Wade.
“There's more.”
Shirley caught her breath.
“To try and make sure I was just overreacting, I decided to call the attorney who set up Jack's adoption. The number was disconnected.”
Shirley didn't say anything; her mind was scrambling. She didn't like where this conversation was heading.
“So I went to the address on the lawyer's card. It was downtown, and there was a law office, but the name of the law office there didn't match.”
“Maybe they changed the name.”
“I thought the same thing, so I went inside. They've been there nearly twenty years and no one had heard of Zebulin Johnson.”
Wade had stopped. She knew he was waiting for her run through all the logical possibilities until none could be found except for the one they were both afraid to say.
“What about the name, did it show up in the phone book?”
“I did a search on my laptop and couldn't find a Zebulin Johnson anywhere in the country, as a lawyer or otherwise.”
Shirley was quiet for a long time.
“Maybe you should call the police.”
Wade had apparently already considered it and ruled it out.
“What would I tell them? I couldn't think of an explanation that would make sense. And then they'd likely have a bunch of questions I don't have answers for.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don't know yet, but until I do, not a word to Katie. I don't want her knowing about this until I can figure out how to handle it.”
“I promise. Let me know if I can help.”
“I will. I just needed someone to talk to. Thanks.”
He hung up.
Shirley laid the phone down and sat for what felt like hours, just running through the possible scenarios over and over in her head. She couldn't get any of them to come to a positive end. She hoped her son-in-law could think of something she hadn't.
Chapter 10
Detective Jason Strong had spent the last several days trying to find connections between the victims. He wasn't having any luck. He assumed that Michael had lost touch with reality. It also seemed likely that he somehow held all of these people responsible for what had happened to his son. Never mind that there was nothing to suggest that they even knew each other.
Sam Garner came into the conference room that Jason was using as a makeshift office. He was waving a stack of papers at Jason.
“Got something!”
“Really, what?”
“Phone records from Stan Turnbull's cell.”
Jason took them as Sam continued.
“They show several calls were made recently to a number in Texas.”
“Did you get an ID on the number?”
“Yea. It belonged to a Benny Carter in Hondo, Texas.”
Jason sat back in his chair and whistled. Sam stared at him.
“You know the name?”
“Yes. He was the torture-murder victim that led me to check out Michael Barton in the first place.”
It was Sam's turn to whistle.
“No kidding? And Stan Turnbull was trying to reach him.”
“Yes. That makes the connection between Texas and Missouri, but it doesn’t tell us why they were in contact.”
Sam was nodding.
“It seems to settle the question of whether or not we're on the right track.”
Jason tossed the phone records onto the table.
“I think so, but it still doesn't give us a next step. What did these people have to do with Michael Barton?”
Sam took off his hat and wiped his brow.
“Maybe he thinks they stole his son. You know, some type of conspiracy.”
Jason realized that if Sam was right, he could be on the path to solving the biggest case of his life. The Barton kidnapping still haunted him. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have the answers after ten years. He also realized that Michael may just be a madman, blaming someone for his pain, and these people had nothing to do with it.
“It's possible. He may think that, but that doesn't make it true. At least, not to us. However, to Michael, it may seem undeniable. If that's the case, it makes him very dangerous.”
*
It was a few days before Katie allowed them to go to the ice cream truck,
partly as punishment, and partly because of her own worries.
Jesse came up behind her.
“Mom, can we have our dollar today?”
“All right. First, tell me what the rule on strangers is.”
“Don't talk to anyone who has never been to our house,” Jack intoned.
It was the new rule. The revision had come from their dad when he found out what had happened. Dad had seemed even more upset than mom.
Jack and Jesse got on their bikes and headed down the road. The ice cream truck was there, and they could see Tommy waiting for them. They rode up and got off, laying their bikes in the grass.
“Hi, guys. Haven't seen you two in days.”
“We got in trouble,” Jack explained.
“I figured it was something like that. The usual?”
“Nope. I want an ice cream sandwich, like Jack.”
Jack turned and looked at his brother, then back at Tommy.
“Okay. Make it two sandwiches, please.”
Jack paid and the boys said goodbye. Tommy helped some other kids while the brothers settled in the grass to eat.
Jack was done first, and got on his bike.
“Come on, Jesse. Let's go.”
Jesse seemed to be trying to decide whether to eat the remaining ice cream or wear it. Wearing it finally won out when Jesse scrambled to catch up to his big brother.
Jack looked over his shoulder and saw Jesse gaining on him. He also saw a truck coming up from behind Jesse, and it was going fast. Before Jack could react, the truck had overtaken Jesse and clipped his back tire.
Jesse catapulted into the air, his bike spinning out from under him. The truck sped away, barely missing Jack, as Jesse landed awkwardly on the sidewalk.
Jack screamed, dropped his bike and ran back to his brother. Jesse's arm lay at a strange angle. Blood was coming from his knee and the back of his head. He wasn't moving.
“Jesse! Jesse!”
His brother didn't answer. Jack started to cry. He looked up and saw Tommy running towards him with his cell phone at his ear.
“Jack, go get your mother!”
Jack didn't move.
“Jack! Jack!” Tommy waited until Jack focused on him. “Go get your mother, now!”
Instantly, Jack was running. He was running faster than he ever had. He raced to get to his mother. She can fix it, he thought, she has to. He nearly tripped coming through the door.
Where's My Son? Page 9
