The Vanishing Season (The Collector #4)(11)

Obviously runaway is still a possibility. What brought it up? Watts asks.

Suzie Gray said some mean things yesterday after Rebecca went home. Told Brooklyn it was her fault her parents and grandparents were fighting, and they’d all be happier if she just ran away.

It’s almost two full minutes before either of them responds. I’m willing to bet a number of obscenities were typed in and deleted.

The tech analysts are taking the first look at the grandparents. I’ll assign the Smiths to it, as well.

Ramirez doesn’t respond at all. I’m not surprised.

“What do you think?” Eddison asks too quietly to be heard by the sobbing girl.

“If Brooklyn was going to run away, she wouldn’t do it without Rebecca,” I reply, matching my tone to his. “I’m sure she was hurt by what Suzie said, but I don’t think she ran away. I think she would have wanted to run to Rebecca for comfort, if anything.”

He nods and pushes back from the table. I do the same and follow him over to the other guidance counselor. She watches Suzie with concern, her hands clutching her elbows through the sleeves of the chunky heather-green sweater. When we stand in front of her, she blinks and focuses on us.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs. “I’m Hermione Nance.”

“You know exactly when kids discover Harry Potter, don’t you?”

“Almost the moment,” she agrees with a tired smile.

“You’re Brooklyn’s guidance counselor, aren’t you?”

She nods, giving me a thoughtful look. “How did you know?”

“You came inside, leaving your colleague with Suzie. And now she’s the one comforting her.”

“Yes, I’m Brooklyn’s counselor. We decided it would be best that the girls have different counselors so we can be advocates as needed, without a risk of favoritism.”

“What can you tell us about Brooklyn?”

“She’s a sweet girl. Always willing to help other people. She doesn’t like conflict. If it’s happening to or around her, she tries to separate herself.”

“So if her parents and grandparents are arguing . . .”

Hermione nods. “She’s been in my office a lot during recess this school year. She’s worried.”

“Can you tell us the concern?”

“Normally no, but . . .” She shakes her head, strands of auburn hair escaping a loose, messy bun that tilts to one side. “Her paternal grandparents have never liked Alice. I’m not privy to why. If I were going to guess, I’d say no one was ever going to be good enough for Mrs. Mercer’s baby boy. I don’t think it’s Alice specifically, just the entire notion of another woman coming first in her son’s life. After the wedding, they didn’t speak for years until Brooklyn was born. Since then, Alice’s in-laws have criticized every single thing she’s done as a mother. It’s constant, and a definite strain on her.”

“On Brooklyn, too, it sounds like.”

“Oh yes. Sometimes, after her grandparents visit, Brooklyn will ask for an appointment with me just so she can sit quietly in my office. Since school started back up, however, her concerns have been a little more specific.”

Eddison straightens, tapping his pen against his notebook. “Specific?”

“Apparently her grandparents have threatened to take her parents to court to try to get custody.”

Chas v’sholem.

Well, this case just got simpler or more complicated, only time will tell, but it definitely just did something.

Eddison scratches above one ear with the pen. “I’m surprised you haven’t suggested that—”

“—that maybe her grandparents have kidnapped her?” she finishes for him.

“How likely do you think that is?” I ask.

She takes her time with the question, thumb and middle finger plucking at a stray thread in her sleeve. “I don’t know,” she says finally. “I’ve never actually met them. Brooklyn doesn’t want them at school events. She doesn’t want to give them a chance to embarrass her mother around other parents.”

“Jesus,” mutters Eddison. “Of all the things for a kid to have to worry about.”

“My instinct, such as it is, would say that kidnapping her when they’re trying to get custody would prove counterproductive. They’re not listed as additional guardians on any of her paperwork.”

“But?”

“People don’t always think things all the way through. Family is messy.”

That’s God’s own truth.

The picture we build through the afternoon, talking to Hermione Nance and to Brooklyn’s teachers, is of a friendly, helpful girl who always has a smile for anyone who isn’t Suzie Gray, and even with her, she’ll still often try. Introverted, but not shy. Both of her main teachers—one for homeroom, language arts, and social studies, the other for math and science—talk about letting Brooklyn quietly recharge after group work or presentations. Rebecca is the more outgoing of the two, but Brooklyn doesn’t back away from interacting with the other kids. She just takes some quiet time afterward. Her favorite subject is social studies, history specifically, but art is a close second. Her posters for history projects are always the best.

When the crossing guards arrive, they gather in the bus circle; officers pull their cars around to the parking lot to make room for the buses when they come. The crossing guards all interact with Brooklyn and Rebecca most days. The girls have to take two legs of the intersection in front of the school, and they like to switch it up so they can say hello to all of the guards.