Suspicions (11 page)

Stacey turned it over, looking for some
indication of who sent it. The postmark showed it was local. She
ripped it open and pulled out the single page of newsprint.

It was a recent article from a national
paper. As she read the title she gasped.

“Neighbor Most Often to Blame in
Abduction-Murders of Kids

Abducted and murdered children are usually
attacked

by someone from their own neighborhood,
according

to a national study released Tuesday. One of
the major

findings: Police should carefully canvass
the area

surrounding an abduction.”

The article went on to cite statistics.
Stacey was astounded. Was someone trying to tell her something? Did
someone actually believe Jason was involved? And if someone did,
who was it and why were they sending her the news clipping?

No! Her mind shouted. It can't be true. Not
Jason.

The determination to find out who was really
responsible surged through her. Not only for Kyle's sake, but to
save Jason's good name.

Looking at her watch, she decided to get the
keys copied so she could take advantage if another opportunity to
inspect Mark's files presented itself. Stacey left the house and
drove to the locksmith, driving directly home when that was
finished. She knew she had to get Mark's keys back onto his dresser
before he missed them.

As she pulled into her driveway she looked
across the street and saw that Mark's car was no longer there.

He must have gone out again, she thought.
Good.

She immediately headed across the street to
the Stone's house. As she approached the door she noticed the
reporters becoming more insistent.

One of them almost knocked her over in his
haste to ask her a question. “What are you doing here?”

She looked at him with annoyance. “I'm
Amanda's friend,” she said, not missing the irony. Then she shoved
by him and knocked on the door.

Agent Morrison answered and let her in. “Mrs.
Stone is up in her bedroom.”

“Thank you.” Stacey walked up the stairs as
if Amanda had been expecting her. She knocked on the master bedroom
door and a voice told her to come in.

Amanda was sitting at her dressing table
putting on some make-up. “Hi, Stacey.”

“I left when Mark got here,” Stacey said.

“I guessed as much.” Amanda said, continuing
to apply her mascara.

“Did he have anything new to report?” Stacey
asked as she eyed the crystal bowl on the dresser.

“Actually, they did find a fingerprint on the
ransom note. But it turns out it belongs to Kyle.”

Stacey's eyebrows went up. “Really? How did
they know it was his?”

“Remember when the school had that stranger
danger program?” Amanda paused and watched in the mirror as Stacey
nodded. “Like the good parents we are, we had his fingerprints
taken.”

Stacey remembered the program and had made
sure her children were fingerprinted too. Who would have thought
those prints would have actually been needed?

Amanda set the mascara down and began
smoothing on her lipstick.

“Are you going out?” Stacey asked.

“Mark promised he would stay here for a while
so I could get some fresh air. He said he'd be back in an hour or
two.”

Checking the time, Stacey saw it was
twelve-thirty. Maybe she could get a look at some more of the files
before he got back. “Have you had lunch yet, Amanda?”

She looked at Stacey in the reflection of the
mirror. “No, but I'm not really hungry.”

Biting her lip, Stacey tried to think of a
way to get into the office without Amanda noticing. “You really
should eat something. You need to keep up your strength.”

Amanda put the lid back on the lipstick and
began brushing her long blond hair. “If I'm not hungry I can't
really force myself to eat without getting sick.”

“Oh.” Stacey thought for a minute. “What are
you going to do while you're waiting for Mark?”

Amanda's composure started to slip. “Oh, I
don't know. Maybe sit in Kyle's room and cry some more.”

Listening to this, Stacey felt reprehensible.
Here she was trying to manipulate her friend so she could sneak
into Mark's office and Amanda was barely holding herself together.
She had some compassion though. She went over to Amanda and knelt
next to her. “He'll come home soon, Amanda. You'll see.”

The tears were flowing freely now. “When?”
she cried. “When will I be able to hold my boy in my arms again?”
Hiccups punctuated her words. “I go into his room and bury my head
in his pillow just to smell his sweet scent. I miss him . . . so .
. . much.”

Stacey stroked her hair. “I know. I know,”
she murmured.

Amanda's tears of sadness changed to tears of
anger. “How could you possibly know? Your son is safe. You know
exactly where he is. I have no idea where my son is. And to top it
all off, a car your husband once owned might be involved.” She was
breathing heavily.

Stacey suddenly felt dizzy to hear the words
she had only thought about, spoken out loud. Yet she knew if she
wanted to clear her husband's name she would have to stay in
Amanda's good graces long enough to find out more about Mark. She
didn't respond to Amanda's accusations. Instead she got up and sat
on the bed, putting her face in her hands, a real feeling of sorrow
overcoming her.

Amanda was contrite. “I'm sorry, Stacey. I
didn't mean that. I'm sure Jason has nothing to do with Kyle's
abduction.”

Stacey lifted her head and smiled sadly. “I
know you didn't mean it that way. I just can't bear the thought of
Jason doing this. I know he's not responsible. He can't be.”

“You know, Stacey, the FBI people told me I
probably shouldn't talk to you about this until they know more. But
I don't really have anyone else and I have to talk to
somebody.”

“What about Mark?”

Amanda walked over to her dressing table and
stared at the things arranged there. “He just doesn't understand. I
don't know what's wrong with him.”

As Stacey listened to Amanda's words, she
almost felt like her comments were a confirmation of her own
questions regarding Mark's innocence. The sooner she discovered who
took Kyle, the sooner this nightmare would be over for all of
them.

She walked over to Amanda and took her by the
hand. “Come on. I’ll fix you something to eat.”

When they entered the kitchen they found
Agent Morrison still at his post. Someone had apparently brought
him lunch: He was eating a taco and sipping a large cup of soda.
When they came in he took his food into the dining room to finish
it.

Sitting Amanda down at the table, Stacey
prepared a sandwich for her. Amanda dutifully ate it, then said she
wanted to lie down for a while.

Stacey followed Amanda as she trudged up the
stairs and into her bedroom, then when Amanda bent over to take off
her socks and shoes Stacey quickly set the keys in the crystal
bowl, careful not to let them clink as they landed on the
bottom.

After Amanda was firmly tucked in bed Stacey
went back downstairs toward the office for the third time that day.
She glanced at her watch. It was now one o'clock. That meant she
had a little while before Mark got home. She hoped.

As she entered the office Stacey headed
directly to the file cabinet. Unlocking the drawer, she started her
search again. Pulling out the file marked Credit Cards, she looked
at the latest statement and saw the balance owed was just over
twelve thousand dollars. There were five charges made to a lingerie
store and there were also charges made to several different
restaurants.

She looked at the bills for the last year and
saw the charges to this particular lingerie store dated back six
months. She also noticed the balance kept getting higher. Six
months ago it was fifteen hundred dollars. The charges for the
intervening months were for plane tickets and hotel rooms in places
such as Hawaii and Cancun.

Stacey tried to remember if the Stone's had
done much traveling lately and didn't recall any trips Amanda had
taken. However, she did recall Amanda telling her Mark had had to
fly back East to visit his mother because she had been ill.

Putting the file back in the drawer, she
checked the time and saw it was now one-fifteen. She decided to
give herself another ten minutes before she got out of there. She
didn't know how long Amanda would stay asleep or when Mark would be
back.

Not finding anything of interest in the rest
of that drawer, she went on to the next one. The file marked Loan
Papers caught her eye and she quickly pulled it out. It was the
loan information for Mark’s SUV. He’d bought it last year. Stacey
did some quick calculations and guessed he still owed about twenty
thousand dollars.

Then she noticed another envelope in the
file. She opened it and discovered loan papers for a car that had
been purchased only six months earlier. A car she had never seen in
the Stone's driveway. He owed about fifteen thousand dollars on
that one.

Stacey was noticing a definite pattern. Six
months ago something had changed for Mark and it was rather obvious
another woman was in the picture. But what did this have to do with
Kyle's abduction? She knew she would have to keep looking, maybe
talk to Mark's colleagues.

Glancing at her watch, she saw it was now
almost one-thirty. She had been in the office for thirty minutes.
Quickly gathering up the paperwork, she put it back the way she had
found it.

She was about to close the drawer when
another file caught her eye. Personal Papers was written across the
top. She pulled the file out and spread it on the floor.

Only one thing looked interesting enough to
investigate further. It was a large envelope with the words pre-nup
written across it. Yanking the papers out, she rapidly scanned the
writing. Most of the legal terms were beyond her understanding but
one concept seemed to jump out: If Mark Stone divorced Amanda, he
would have no claim on her inheritance money.

If that’s not a motive I don’t know what is,
she thought, a relieved smile turning up the corners of her lips.
And if Kyle is with Mark, I know he’ll be okay.

Putting everything back where it had been,
she locked the drawer and stood up, then looked around to make sure
nothing was out of place.

As her glance fell on the desk, she
remembered seeing a small box in one of the drawers. She hadn't
paid much attention to it when she was looking for the key, but she
decided to take a peek now.

Then she heard Mark's voice. It sounded like
he was coming down the hall. Her heart pounded against her ribs as
she frantically looked for a place to hide. The closet. She ran
over to it, slid open the door and saw stacks of boxes.

No time! He was drawing closer. She climbed
on top of the sturdy boxes and crouched down, her head almost
touching the ceiling.

Just as she slid the closet door shut, the
door to the office opened, then closed and she heard the sound of
Mark's heavy footsteps. She held her breath, terrified he would
need something out of the closet. She heard the jangle of keys and
then the sound of him opening the file cabinet

Thank goodness I was able to return those
keys before he wanted them, she thought. Then she heard knocking on
the office door and the file cabinet slammed closed.

“Mark, would you come here a minute?” It was
Amanda's voice.

He sounded impatient. “Yeah, I'll be right
there.”

She could hear him leaving the room and she
allowed herself to breathe again. The musty smell made her cough
and she slapped her hand over her mouth.

Counting off the seconds until a full minute
had passed, she cautiously peeked out the closet door. No one was
in the room and the door leading to the hallway had been shut.

She climbed down from the boxes, hesitating
before she left. She could picture that small box in the desk and
just knew she had to see what it was.

Remembering exactly where it had been, she
opened the correct drawer and grabbed the box. She thought there
might be a pair of earrings in it or some other type of jewelry,
but instead she found a small silver key with a tag attached to it
that read 29C. Putting it in her pocket, she closed the drawer.

Cracking the office door open, she looked
both ways. Then, seeing no one in sight, she tiptoed to the front
door and pulled it open. She let out a heavy sigh as the reporters
converged on her, her nerves feeling raw. She yelled, “No comment.”
Then ran across the street to the safety of her own home.

Back at her desk, Stacey pulled out the paper
and pen and wrote down what she had discovered. Then she wrote:
another woman? Who is this woman? Where did he meet her? Does
Amanda have any idea she exists?

While Stacey was contemplating her next move
she heard the front door slam. Quickly shoving her notes in a
drawer under some papers, she pushed back from the desk. “Jason? Is
that you?”

With a scowl on his face and his fists
clenched, he walked into the office. “Those stupid cops,” he
murmured as he began rummaging through the desk.

She could feel the blood drain from her face.
“Oh Jason. What happened? Did they arrest you?”

He stopped and looked at her, his eyebrows
drawn together. “What?”

“I tried to warn you, but you hung up on
me.”

He straightened and faced her. “How could you
know?”

“Well, the FBI asked where you worked and I
told them.” She noted the look of surprise on his face as she went
on. “I tried to call you and tell you they were coming, but you
hung up on me.”

He seemed to absorb this information. “Did
they tell you why they wanted to talk to me?”