Back Before Dark

by Tim Shoemaker

  Officer Sykes took the bench opposite them. “Nicely done, Mr. Lunquist. But you never heard me say that.”

  “It was a horrible thing to say, Lunk,” Hiro said. “But I loved it.”

  Lunk grinned.

  “But,” Hiro shook a finger at him, “I can handle myself.”

  Lunk raised both hands in mock surrender. “Don’t I know it.” He angled a slice of pizza into his mouth. “Tell me something, Hiro. Why don’t those girls like you?”

  Hiro gave him a sideways glance. “You used to be just as rude—up until six months ago or so. Why didn’t you like me?”

  “Oh …” He shifted the pizza to one side of his mouth. “Don’t get me started.”

  Officer Sykes rested his forearms on the table and studied the pages pieced together to make an aerial map of the crime scene area.

  Coop walked up and stepped over the bench seat on the other side of Hiro. He looked paler than in class. “Hi, Officer Sykes,” Coop said.

  Sykes nodded. “I thought I’d join you for a few minutes.” He focused on the aerial views. “You mind?”

  Coop pulled a peanut butter sandwich out of the brown paper bag in his backpack. “No problemo.”

  Hiro didn’t have the patience for small talk. “What happened with Miss Ferrand?”

  Cooper pulled the slip of paper out of his pocket. “Wants me to see a shrink after lunch.”

  Lunk snorted a hearty laugh.

  “Ridiculous,” Hiro said. “Are you going?”

  Cooper took a bite of his sandwich. “No choice.”

  Lunk leaned in close. “How do you feel about that, Cooper?” He spoke in a slow, smooth voice.

  Cooper stopped chewing. “What?”

  Laughing, Lunk opened a milk carton and took a long swig. “Just trying to get you ready for your first therapy session.”

  “First and last.” Cooper pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked for text messages.

  Hiro followed his lead and scrolled through her phone.

  “Anything?”

  Cooper shook his head. “Forty hours and no word. No clue. No van. Nothing.” His head dropped. “God, where is he?” He said it quietly.

  Hiro swallowed the lump in her throat.

  Officer Sykes cleared his. “Tell me about the green highlighted section.” He tapped the aerial views with his pen. “Why does it end here on School Drive, right in the middle of the block?”

  Cooper shrugged. “It’s the last place I saw the van, which could have given him a quick escape if he took the most direct route to 53.” He traced the route north on School Drive, and zigzagged onto Cambell, then over to Rowhling. “But we can’t be sure where he went after he hit Campbell Street. We don’t want to make assumptions that could lead us in the wrong direction.”

  Officer Sykes nodded. “Good procedure.” He looked at Hiro like he knew she was the one who had initiated it. “And this?” Officer Sykes pointed at a red heart Hiro had drawn in the alleyway behind the Jewel food store.

  Hiro kissed the tip of her finger and touched the heart. “The last place I saw Gordy.”

  Officer Sykes clenched and unclenched his jaw like he was trying to swallow a lump in his throat too.

  Hiro tried to think of something to say to get her mind off the red heart. “We mapped out the area and the routes the van could have taken. We posted flyers along each of the routes and plan to go door-to-door to see if anyone living there might have seen the van.”

  Officer Sykes’ nodded. “After school, I’m going to do some house-to-house checking.” He obviously cared for the students enough at Plum Grove to keep looking even when he was off the clock.

  She felt a flicker of hope. Maybe Officer Sykes could talk Coop into helping him somehow—keep him from pursuing the sex offender’s angle. “If we could find someone who saw the van after Coop lost sight of it—”

  “We may find out if he headed to 53 or stayed local.” The policeman finished her thought.

  Officer Sykes drummed his fingers on the pages. “What about the houses with the big X through them?”

  “Empty,” Coop said. “For sale or foreclosed by the bank, but nobody is living there anymore. We put a flyer on the front doors because they’re on one of the routes the van could have taken. But we figured there’d be no sense ringing their doorbells looking for witnesses.”

  Officer Sykes nodded. He scanned the map again. “I’m impressed. I really am. What do you say we combine our efforts this afternoon? You guys can help me canvass the neighborhood. We’ll stay together but work both sides of the street.”

  Perfect. Hiro looked at Coop.

  Cooper picked at his food. “We’ve got to go where the police can’t. Or won’t.”

  She couldn’t believe he just said that. Which proved her point. Coop was absolutely getting reckless. And that was dangerous.

  Officer Sykes gave Coop a sideways glance. “You can speak your mind around me.”

  Coop’s lips formed a thin, tight line, like he wasn’t about to say more.

  “Tell him, Coop,” Hiro said.

  Coop shot her a questioning look. Like she was betraying a confidence. Which, of course, she was. Maybe Officer Sykes would talk him out of it if he knew where Coop wanted to start looking.

  Coop seemed to be weighing his options. Like he wasn’t sure he could trust the policeman. Afraid Officer Sykes would stop him.

  “There are some houses we’re going to check extra carefully,” Lunk said. He pointed to the houses Coop had circled and drawn a skull and crossbones next to.

  Sykes looked from Lunk to Coop, like he was waiting for an explanation.

  Hiro leaned forward. “Registered sex offender homes. Coop intends to check them out.” She half expected Coop to glare at her, but he didn’t.

  Officer Sykes turned his whole body to face Coop. “Tell me I didn’t hear that right.”

  Coop shrugged. “There are seven registered sex offenders living in Rolling Meadows. Somebody has to check them.”

  “The police checked them out first thing. Every one of them.”

  “Did they search their houses?”

  Officer Sykes gave Coop a long look. “If they had any reason to believe one of these men had a hand in Gordon’s disappearance, they would get a warrant.”

  “I take it that means no.”

  “Look,” the policeman said. “I don’t know what you have in mind—and I don’t think I want to know. But don’t try to shortcut the system.”

  Tell him Officer Sykes. Hiro looked at the policeman, silently willing him to keep talking, to convince Coop somehow.

  Coop shook his head. “By the time they get around to searching their homes it may be too late.”

  “You’re shortcutting,” Officer Sykes said. “Shortcuts generally lead to trouble in the long run. Like not being able to convict the criminal because evidence gets thrown out.”

  Cooper hesitated for a moment. “I get it. That makes sense. But if I wait …” His voice trailed off.

  “Okay,” Officer Sykes said. “You’re upset. Have every reason to be. But the police have protocol in place for everybody’s protection. Yours included. Start playing the Lone Ranger and somebody’s going to get hurt.”

  Lunk raised his hand. “He won’t be alone.”

  Hiro jerked a thumb toward Lunk. “Of course. Tonto here will make sure the Lone Ranger stays safe.”

  Lunk’s cheeks reddened. “Exactly.”

  “All right,” Officer Sykes formed a “time out” symbol with his hands. “Every one of us wants the same thing. If you start checking places you shouldn’t be going, you’ll slow down the investigation. You don’t want that to happen.”

  Hiro watched Coop’s face.

  “Good advice,” Coop said. “Thanks.”

  Officer Sykes smiled and stood to leave. He gave Coop’s shoulder a little squeeze before he left, like he truly thought Coop had changed his mind.

  But Hiro knew Coop too well for that. She lea
ned closer. “He’s right, you know.”

  Coop shrugged. “Technically, yes. But if I wait until everything is legal and proper, it may be too late. And you know I’m right. Which is more important, keeping evidence admissible by waiting for a warrant or saving Gordy?”

  Of course he had a point there. But she wasn’t about to tell him. He didn’t need any more fuel to keep him going in this direction. Besides, it wasn’t the legality of things that really had her concerned. It was the danger Coop would be in.

  “If Gordy is in one of those houses”—Cooper poked one of the homes on the aerial map with the skull and crossbones—“what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t check?”

  She hated it when he asked questions like this. Because deep down, Coop was exactly the kind of friend she’d want if she’d been the one taken. The kind of friend who wouldn’t quit. The kind of friend who cared more about her than what others said was right or wrong. But how could she tell him that? It was dangerous. Really dangerous. “If you find a legal way to do this, I’m in too.” It was the best she could do.

  “Maybe we can meet at The Getaway after school,” Coop said.

  “Make a plan.”

  Lunk angled another pizza slice into his mouth. “Legal or not, I’ve got your back.”

  The way he said it raised goose bumps on Hiro’s arms.

  Hiro glared at Lunk. “We’re not going to help Gordy by doing something illegal.”

  He shifted the pizza to the side of his mouth. “Fight fire with fire.”

  She gave an exasperated sigh. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Lunk shrugged. “Somebody crossed over the boundary of ‘legal’ when they took Gordy. Way over. And if we want to get him back, we have to be willing to cross that boundary too.”

  Exactly what Coop didn’t need to hear. All his talk about checking the homes of sex offenders left Hiro feeling totally helpless somehow.

  Coop checked the clock on the cafeteria wall. “I gotta go see the shrink. We’ll talk this all out later.” He crammed the rest of his peanut butter sandwich into his mouth.

  She looked at his face and her throat got tight. What was there to talk about? He’d already made his decision. And she made hers. She would just have to stop him.

  CHAPTER 29

  Cooper read the note once more before opening the door to the nurse’s office. He’d never talked to a shrink before. Although Hiro was pretty good about getting into his head. And sometimes—under his skin.

  Dr. Dale McElhinney. Cooper already had an image of him in his mind. Oily, slicked-back hair. Oily smile. Weak handshake, like he had never shoveled snow or swung a baseball bat. A guy who walked slow, talked slow, and treated everybody else like they were slow. Someone who intended to unzip the top of Cooper’s head and tinker around inside. What fun.

  The key was to go into this with his guard up. Watch what he said, and be careful not to give anything away with his body language. Not to raise any red flags that would make a second appointment necessary or cause anyone to watch him more closely.

  Be polite. Assure him you’re fine. Get out of there. Cooper took a deep breath, blew it out, and opened the door.

  A man paced the length of the nurse’s office, talking on the phone. He smiled at Cooper and motioned for him to sit down in a barrel-shaped chair covered with orange vinyl. The guy definitely had energy. Brownish, curly hair. Really curly. And a goatee and mustache. Dockers. Dress shirt with sleeves rolled up. Gym shoes. Okay, not exactly the image Cooper had expected.

  The man pocketed the phone and extended his hand. “Hey, I’m Dale McElhinney. And you must be Cooper.”

  Cooper shook his hand. Firm grip. Calloused. Obviously, the guy did more than dig around in people’s heads.

  “Miss Ferrand told me to expect you.” The doctor took a seat in the nurse’s swivel chair. “Bet this isn’t how you like to spend your afternoons.”

  Cooper eyed him. “Not exactly.”

  “What is it you really want to be doing instead of talking to me?”

  Okay, that was an interesting question. “Looking for Gordy.”

  McElhinney nodded. “I’d feel the same way. What about the police?”

  Cooper shrugged. “I think they can use all the help they can get.”

  “Probably true. You have a plan?”

  “Yeah,” Cooper said. “Plan A, Plan B. It’s always changing. I keep working out different ideas at night.” “Not sleeping well, I bet.”

  Here we go. Had he just raised a red flag? Cooper looked at Dr. McElhinney. Wondering where he was going with this.

  “And who could sleep,” the doctor said. “After seeing what you saw.”

  Cooper didn’t really want to go there. Didn’t want to remember. He shifted in the vinyl seat, making a flarpy noise.

  “Oh, yeah.” McElhinney smiled. “That’s why I have cloth seats in my office. Otherwise my clients would think I had hot dogs and beans for lunch.”

  Cooper smiled slightly. Okay, so this guy is nothing like I figured.

  Dr. McElhinney took a deep breath and blew it out. “Alright, let me get serious for a few minutes. The administration realizes some students may be traumatized by what happened to Gordy. He is your cousin, right?”

  Cooper nodded. “And best friend.”

  “I’m here to make sure students are coping with things in a healthy way.” He checked his notes. “You and a couple friends actually witnessed the kidnapping?”

  “Hiro and Lunk. We were all together.”

  “That must have been pretty traumatic.”

  Cooper hesitated. If he admitted it was, the doctor might think he was “traumatized” and unstable in some way. He’d tip off his parents, giving Cooper less freedom to search for Gordy. But last October he’d learned the price of dishonesty the hard way. His lies and deception broke trust and nearly cost him the friendships he valued most. Nothing good would come from lying. “Yeah, it was.”

  “Tell me something. When you’re lying in bed, unable to sleep, do you ever rerun the tape in your mind? Ever play back the abduction, trying to figure out what you could have done differently to keep him from being taken?”

  Maybe the doctor was just trying to get Cooper to open up. To talk to him about his feelings. The truth was, the whole abduction scene was like a movie trailer that looped over and over in his head. His eyelids worked as the switch. He closed his eyes—and the movie played. Not exactly the type of thing he wanted to tell a shrink. But he wasn’t about to lie about it either. “Definitely.”

  The doctor crossed his ankle over his other leg. “What did you come up with?”

  Cooper looked away. “Things I could have done different? Everything.”

  “What’s the first thing you would have changed?”

  “I should have gone with Gordy. The kidnapper wouldn’t have even tried if there had been two of us.” Cooper closed his eyes and pictured the man. Definitely strong, the way he tossed Gordy inside the van. But would he have messed with two of them? Doubtful.

  “Did you have any idea it was a trap?”

  “No. Not at first, until Hiro had that funny feeling. But that’s the thing. I should have seen it coming. A van cruising along a park? I mean, c’mon. How stupid could I be? I grew up being warned about Mr. Stranger Danger.”

  If the doctor felt Cooper had been a total idiot, he did an excellent job of masking it. “Anything else? Any other way you could have stopped it?”

  Cooper stared at his shoes. “Hiro wanted me to go with Gordy. She gets these feelings sometimes. Intuitions. I should have gone faster the second I realized she sensed something was wrong. When Gordy got to the van, then I got a funny feeling too. Like something weird was going on.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Pedaled harder. Shouted to Gordy to wait for me.”

  The doctor nodded. “Did he wait?”

  Cooper shook his head. “He grinned and waved, which is just like him. We had a little bet going.�
��

  “So you think you could have stopped this kidnapping?”

  That was the question, wasn’t it? Cooper looked at him. The shrink’s face didn’t hold any judgment. But he wasn’t detached like Cooper thought he’d be. It honestly seemed like he cared. “I should have.” He thought for a moment. “I couldn’t even get the plate numbers right. If I had, the police might have picked him up. I messed up. Start to finish.” The reality hit him like a punch to the gut.

  Dr. McElhinney leaned forward. “You ever meet somebody for the first time, and they tell you their name, and two seconds later you can’t remember it?”

  Cooper shrugged. “Sure.”

  “Exactly. A nervous reaction. Happens to me all the time. Your mind is saying, ‘Don’t forget that name; don’t forget that name,’ and that’s precisely what happens.”

  “Yeah, but it shouldn’t have happened.” Cooper leaned forward. “He’s my best friend. I wasn’t thinking.” He clenched and unclenched his fists—then stopped, fearing the doctor would notice.

  If he did notice, he didn’t let on. “You didn’t mess up on the plate number because you didn’t care.”

  Cooper looked at him.

  “You mixed up the number because you cared so much. And caring that much about someone frequently creates anxiety. And anxiety keeps your brain from functioning the way it should, so you couldn’t remember the license plate numbers correctly.”

  “I forgot because I care so much?” Lot of good it did Gordy. “Gee, I guess Gordy is really lucky to have a friend like me,” Cooper said, mumbling.

  Dr. McElhinney paused. He uncrossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. “So let me play this back to you. Gordy chased after the van. You had no idea it was a trap.” The doctor raised his eyebrows, obviously asking if Cooper agreed.

  Cooper nodded.

  “And when Hiro urged you to go after him you did. Correct?” Cooper nodded again.

  “And you sensed trouble before Gordy did, and you shouted for him to wait, but he didn’t listen to you?” He didn’t wait for a response. “And so you pedaled hard, really hard, but couldn’t get there in time to help him. Right?”