Suspicions (14 page)

Robby glanced away quickly then looked back
at his mother. “Nothing.”

Stacey suspected that wasn't true. She tried
to probe further. “Have you ever played at his house?”

“Well,” Robby began slowly, “you know that
day he said we could build the treehouse?”

Stacey nodded. She remembered Mr. Gowen had
insisted the boys get their parents' permission before he allowed
them to build their treehouse.

“Me and Kyle went into his barn. Does that
count?”

Stacey smiled at him, relieved. “No, I don't
think that counts.” She glanced over at Nikki who was playing with
another little girl on the slide. “Go get Nikki please. It's time
to go home.”

“Ahh. Do we have to?” Robby asked, as he went
to get his sister.

They arrived home a few minutes later. Robby
and Nikki immediately went to their rooms to play and Stacey went
into the kitchen to start dinner, hoping Jason would have already
started it. But the kitchen was as clean as she’d left it.

Deciding to see what Jason was up to, she
walked down the hall to their bedroom. It was empty. She checked
the rest of the house and couldn't find him. Looking in the garage,
she noticed his car was still parked there. That's strange, she
thought, as she went back into the kitchen to start browning the
meat.

Ten minutes later she was startled by the
sound of the sliding glass door opening. Jason's head was down as
he strolled in. When he lifted his head and saw Stacey his eyes
momentarily showed surprise. Recovering, he said he didn't know
they were back yet.

Stacey drew her brows together. “We've been
home for a little while. Where have you been?”

He gave her a grin. “I slipped out to take a
little walk.”

Suddenly they heard pounding on the front
door. Stacey's hand froze over the pan of meat and Jason didn't
seem quite so cheerful.

He swallowed hard before going to the front
door. Stacey followed him and saw two agents standing there when he
opened the door.

“Mr. Hunter, we'd like to have a word with
you.”

Without saying anything, Jason opened the
door wider and motioned for them to enter.

“Where were you twenty minutes ago?” One of
them asked.

Feeling her heart skip a beat at the
question, Stacey tried to keep her expression neutral.

Jason clenched his jaw. “Shouldn't I have a
lawyer present for this?”

The agent gave him a big smile. “You're not
under arrest, Mr. Hunter. You only need a lawyer if you think you
do.”

Jason seemed to relax a little. “I haven't
done anything wrong.”

“Where were you twenty minutes ago?” the
agent asked again.

Jason glanced at Stacey, then looked back at
the agent. “I was here. Reading.”

Stacey's stomach churned as the agent looked
at her. “Is that true, Mrs. Hunter?”

Jason gave her a pleading look, which the
agent did not seem to notice.

Stacey hesitated for a fraction of a second.
“Yes, of course.” He'd better be as innocent as he claims, she
thought. If not, I've just become an accessory. “Has something
happened?”

“I'm not at liberty to say, ma'am.” He turned
back to Jason and gave him a sarcastic smile. “We'll be nearby if
you need anything.”

After they left, Stacey sat down on the couch
and noticed her hands were trembling. Jason sat next to her and
pulled her into his arms.

“You're the best, babe,” he told her.

She pushed him away. “Don't ever make me lie
for you again.”

All signs of his gratitude vanished. “I
didn't make you do anything.”

Her mouth opened in disbelief. “Then what was
that look you gave me?”

He feigned innocence. “What look?”

“Where were you, really?”

Anger clouded his features. “Like I told you,
I was taking a walk. Is that against the law now?”

Not sure what to believe, she stood abruptly.
“I'm going over to Amanda's house. You can finish dinner for the
kids.” She stomped out the door and across the street to Amanda's
house.

The reporters surrounded her, smelling a
story.

“Why was the FBI at your house?”

She ignored them and knocked on the door.

As she waited for it to be answered, she
wondered what had happened twenty minutes earlier that had the
agents talking to her husband.

Mark opened the door.

Caught off guard to see Mark face to face,
Stacey stood there, momentarily speechless. Recovering her
composure, she asked if she could talk to Amanda. Mark didn't say
anything but he looked upset as he let her enter.

Amanda sat on the couch, the curtains drawn
against the prying eyes of the media. “Oh, Stacey,” she cried.

“What happened, Amanda?”

She began weeping as she told Stacey how she
had received a phone call twenty minutes earlier. It had been Kyle.
Stacey was shocked at the news. “What did he say?”

Tears streaked down Amanda's cheeks. “He
said, 'Mom, it's me. Why can't I come home?'”

Tears pricked the back of Stacey's eyes. “Oh,
Amanda.” Despair and sadness settled over her. “How did he
sound?”

Amanda blew her nose and wiped her swollen
eyes. “He sounded so little and so scared.”

“Could they trace it?”

“They got a phone number, but it looks like
it was one of those disposable cell phones so they don't know who
it was registered to.” Her tears slowed.

Stacey thought about Mark's expression when
he answered the door. “How's Mark taking it?”

Amanda pursed her lips. “He's mostly upset
because he wasn't here when the call came.” She turned and looked
behind her, making sure Mark wasn't within earshot. “I told him if
he had been sticking around more he wouldn't have missed the call.
You can guess how happy he was to hear me say that.”

“Where was he?”

Amanda pursed her lips. “He says he was just
driving around.” She looked behind her again before continuing.
“But I don't know when to believe him anymore.”

“Where do you think he was?”

“I don't know and to tell you the truth I
don't really care right now.”

They sat in silence for several minutes.

“Do you want me to stay?” Stacey asked.

“No, I'm okay,” she said, a brave smile on
her lips. “But thanks anyway.”

Stacey rubbed Amanda's back before standing.
“Call me if you need anything.”

“Jason, I'm going to the library for a
while.”

The kids had finally gone to sleep and now
Jason was watching a television program and Stacey had been in the
office going over the notes she had made.

Wanting to do some background checking on
Deanna, she knew the best place to begin was on the Internet. And
since she didn’t want Jason to know what she was up to, she knew
the library was the place to go.

He looked at his watch. “Isn't it a little
late to be going to the library?”

“The main branch is open until nine and I
have some things I need to look up.”

When he didn't answer, Stacey went out the
door to her car.

The reporters left her alone.

When she looked across the street, she could
see Mark's car was still in the driveway.

I guess he was more upset than I thought. I
wonder where he was when that call came in.

As she backed out of the driveway she thought
about the time frame. It was four-fifteen when Mark left the park
and I got home about four forty-five The FBI agents showed up at
about five-ten That means Amanda received the call about
four-fifty.

Stacey didn't know what to make of it.
Neither Jason nor Mark could account for his whereabouts at the
time the call came in. Of course, she was the only one who knew
Jason didn't have an alibi. And Mark didn't seem too concerned that
his time was unaccounted for.

Shaking her head to try to clear it, she
decided to press ahead with her investigation into Deanna Everett.
If she couldn't find anything interesting about her, she didn't
know what she would do next.

As she drove to the library she thought about
what she hoped to find. Deanna Everett had that wedding ring on her
right hand. Does that mean she's a widow? If so, how did her
husband die?

When Stacey arrived at the library she went
straight to the computer area. Not having much experience with
searching the Internet, she asked the librarian for suggestions on
how to look up someone's death, then she sat down in front of the
computer and searched for over an hour without finding
anything.

Robby lay in his bed, not feeling the least
bit sleepy. He couldn't stop thinking about Kyle. Where was he?
Were they being nice to him? He felt sick inside when he thought
about them being mean to his friend. He tried to think about happy
things, like his mother had taught him to do when he felt scared or
upset.

He thought about going to the park that
afternoon and how much fun he'd had on the swings. Then he thought
about the conversation he'd had with his mother about that day he
and Kyle had gone inside Mr. Gowen's barn.

He and Kyle had been playing in Mr. Gowen's
walnut orchard, climbing the trees and using fallen branches as
makeshift swords when Mr. Gowen had unexpectedly appeared. Certain
they were in big trouble, Robby and Kyle had been terrified when
Mr. Gowen ordered them to follow him to his cavernous barn.

The door had creaked open as they’d followed
Gowen inside. They had looked around the unfamiliar building, not
able to see much in the relative darkness.

“See those boards over there?” Gowen had
asked, pointing to a stack of plywood.

They had strained to see what he was pointing
to. They had been too frightened to venture in any further. As
Robby’s eyes began to adjust to the dim light, he’d noticed another
door. He had jerked his head around when he felt the tap on his
shoulder.

“Not over there, over here,” Gowen had said,
directing Robby's line of vision.

Then he had seen the sheets of plywood piled
in the corner. Mr. Gowen had told them they could use the boards
for their treehouse.

Robby thought about that day the previous
summer and the door he had seen in the barn. What was behind that
door? And why did Mr. Gowen have Kyle's lucky stone?

Robby wondered if he was brave enough to go
back to Mr. Gowen's barn by himself and open that door. He decided
he would give it a try.

Day 5 – Friday

It was two in the morning when Stacey finally
fell asleep. Her thoughts had churned for hours after she’d gone to
bed. Discouraged over not finding anything about Deanna Everett,
nor Mark Stone, Stacey's thoughts had turned to the possibility
that her own husband might have something to do with Kyle's
abduction.

As that prospect entered her mind she thought
about Jason. I know my husband too well to doubt his innocence.
Than an image of him sitting in their home with Patricia Summers,
not once, but twice, burst into her head.

I thought I knew my husband.

It was four-thirty on that same morning when
she woke with a start, remembering the key she had found in Mark's
desk. Tossing and turning until six, she finally gave up on getting
any more sleep and climbed out of bed.

After Jason left for work Stacey put on her
sweats and grabbed one of Jason's old gym bags. She loaded the
children into the car and drove them to school, then headed to
Valley Health Club.

Truly desperate to prove Jason's innocence
before all her faith in him fled, she clung to the idea that Mark
was the one responsible for Kyle's kidnapping.

She didn't know what time Mark usually went
to the gym, although she expected him to stay home after the call
from Kyle the previous evening. When she’d left her house, Mark's
car had still been in the driveway, although Amanda's had not. As
she drove toward the gym, Stacey wondered where Amanda had
gone.

Apparently this was a good time to work out
if you didn't like crowds. There were only half a dozen cars in the
parking lot. As Stacey walked into the front door she didn't see
the late model red car parked around the back.

Reaching into her purse, she pulled out the
complimentary pass Amanda had given her several months before. She
never thought she would end up using it; working out really wasn't
her thing. And she certainly never thought she would use it to
sneak into the men's locker room.

After signing in at the front counter, she
strolled to the ladies locker room and put her gym bag into a
locker, having no intention of working out. Then she walked out to
the exercise area to see who was around and how things were laid
out.

“Hey, Stacey!”

Turning to see who was speaking, Stacey was
surprised to see Patricia sitting astride a stationary bicycle. She
was wearing a tiny pair of shorts with a tank top, the kind that
showed every curve. Stacey glanced in the mirror self-consciously
but decided she didn't look half bad for a woman who had twice
given birth.

Her confidence was further boosted by the
knowledge that the woman so shamelessly showing off her toned body
was trying to attract her husband, and he was not interested. Then
a little twinge of doubt pricked her as she remembered thinking her
husband was not telling her everything about Patricia's
advances.

No! Her inner voice shouted. I won't let you
do that to yourself. Jason loves only you and he would never do
anything to hurt you.

Stacey knew she would be unable to avoid
Patricia and went over to where she peddled the bike. “Hi,
Patricia. I didn't know you belonged to this health club.”

Sweat trickled down her neck and disappeared
down the front of her shirt. “What are you doing here?”

“We're thinking about joining and I'm here to
see what this place has to offer.”