Here and Gone(59)

Now they hushed, and the noise of the street seemed to swell around them. Across the road, Audra saw Sheriff Whiteside staring at her from his place on a bench outside the diner. Death in his eyes. The idea of turning around and going back inside fluttered through her mind, but she chased it away. Say it, she thought. Say it for Sean and Louise.

‘I did not hurt my children,’ Audra said.

The clamor grew once more, and she raised her hands to quiet them.

‘Sean and Louise were with me, a little hot and tired, but they were safe with me when I was pulled over just outside of town two days ago.’

She pointed across the street. Whiteside’s lips thinned.

‘That man, Sheriff Whiteside, pulled me over. He told me my car was overloaded. Then he looked in the trunk and found a bag of marijuana. The bag wasn’t mine. He planted it there so he could arrest me. My children were in my car while he searched and handcuffed me. He radioed Deputy Collins to come get Sean and Louise. I asked him where she was taking them, and all he said was, “Somewhere safe”. Deputy Collins drove away with them in the back of her car. That was the last time I saw my children.’

The microphones jockeyed in front of her mouth. A chorus of questions. Audra ignored them all.

‘When Sheriff Whiteside brought me back to the jail, I asked for my kids. He said I had no children with me. He’s been lying ever since, him and Deputy Collins. I’ve told this to everybody, the state police, the FBI, everyone, and nobody believes me. They didn’t even tell you people, the press, what I said. But I’m telling you now. My children are out there somewhere, they’re alive, and that man knows where they are.’

She pointed at Whiteside once more, and he moved away from the front of the diner, along the sidewalk toward the station.

‘Go ask him,’ Audra said. ‘See what he’ll tell you.’

Some of the reporters split off, headed in Whiteside’s direction. He quickened his pace to a jog, looking nowhere but at the front entrance of the station.

‘That’s all I have to say.’

She turned to the door, her back to the hail of questions. Inside, she barred the door behind her. She watched through the glass as the rest of the reporters set off toward Whiteside. Then she walked into the dim shadows of the hallway.

Mrs Gerber waited in the doorway to the kitchen, almost hidden by the stairs, watching her.

‘You just bought yourself a whole load of trouble,’ she said.

Audra didn’t answer as she mounted the stairs and climbed.

‘You know what I think of Ronnie Whiteside,’ Mrs Gerber said, coming to the first step. ‘But Mary Collins. She’s a nice girl. Are you sure about her?’

Audra paused on the turn and said, ‘Yes, I’m sure.’

‘You think you know a person. Do you still want that coffee and cake?’

‘Yes, please,’ Audra said. ‘Can you make it for two? I have a guest.’

‘A guest? I don’t allow visitors in the rooms. Who’ve you got up there?’

Audra thought about it for a moment before saying, ‘I’m not sure.’

She made her way up to the second floor and back to her room. Danny waited there, still sitting where she’d left him.

‘Well?’ he asked.

‘Well, I told them,’ Audra said. ‘We’ll see if it shakes anything loose.’

Danny got to his feet, his hand delving into the thigh pocket of his cargo pants. ‘I’m guessing they kept your phone. Here.’

He tossed a cheap-looking cell onto the bed.

‘It’s prepaid,’ he said. ‘One number in the contacts list. Mine. You call me straight away if anything happens. I’ll keep my phone switched on. You do the same.’

Audra lifted the cell, flipped it open. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

‘All right. I should get out of here now.’

‘Wait,’ Audra said, surprised at her own eagerness for this stranger to stay. She realized she’d been alone since her children were taken, and she didn’t want to be alone again. Not yet, anyway. ‘The landlady, Mrs Gerber, she’s bringing up some coffee. And cake.’

Danny shrugged and sat down. ‘Well, if there’s cake …’





32


ALL EYES TURNED to Whiteside as he entered the station. The state cops, the FBI, all stared at him. Including Special Agent Mitchell, who marched toward him from the rear of the room.

‘Well, I guess everyone heard that,’ he said. ‘Doesn’t change anything. Woman’s crazy, is all.’

‘It changes a lot,’ Mitchell said.

‘You know she’s talking nonsense, right? Maybe she believes it herself, but it’s all bullshit. You can’t take it seriously.’

‘I’m taking everything seriously.’ Mitchell folded her arms across her chest. ‘I have since I got here. And I’m not ruling anything out right now.’

‘Come on, then,’ he said, stepping in close. ‘Arrest me. Interrogate me. Hook me up to a goddamn polygraph machine. I’ll take everything you got. Your people searched Collins’ car, right?’

‘That’s correct,’ Mitchell said.

‘And did they find a trace of those children ever being there? No? It was clean, wasn’t it?’