What She Found (Tracy Crosswhite #9)(77)

“Not a lot and not very far,” Childs said. “But people encouraged me to study to get my license, so I did, then I had to learn to drive.”

Fifteen minutes on I-5 and Tracy pointed through the windshield at downtown Seattle. “There it is,” she said.

Childs just stared. “I used to live here?”

“You did,” Tracy said.

Childs gave a nervous laugh and shook her head. Tracy took the exit and drove through downtown, pointing out the different areas of the city, then turned and proceeded along the waterfront. “There used to be a freeway running overhead that blocked much of the view of the buildings along the waterfront.”

“It’s beautiful,” Childs said. “So open.”

“The owners of those buildings made a killing,” Tracy said.

“What is that?” Childs pointed.

“That’s the Space Needle. It was built for the 1962 World’s Fair.”

Tracy watched Childs for a reaction but got none.

“It’s futuristic,” Childs said, sounding subdued.

Tracy drove along Western Avenue and slowed when the Post-Intelligencer globe came into view. She looked to Childs, but the woman showed no reaction, not even a question.

“You used to work in that building.”

“Which building?” Childs said.

“The one with the globe.”

“That’s where I was a reporter?”

“That’s where,” Tracy said.

“It’s hard to imagine. I can hardly write a grocery list.”

“You were a good reporter.”

Childs smiled, but otherwise didn’t respond.

Tracy backtracked through Seattle to the Industrial District. She watched Childs closely as they neared what had been a plastics company when Slocum had been killed. The concrete warehouse was now empty. Tracy drove around the corner of the building. Grass peeked up through cracks in the asphalt pavement, and the weeds and grass between the Duwamish Waterway and the parking area were waist high.

Childs’s demeanor seemed to change. It was subtle, but she seemed less interested and more concerned. “Why have we stopped?” she asked.

“Do you recognize this place, Melissa?”

Childs gazed out the windshield, then turned to Tracy. “Should I?”

“I believe this is the last place you went—the night you disappeared.”

For a solid minute Childs didn’t move. Tracy waited. Childs surprised her and removed her seat belt. She pushed open the passenger door and stepped out, walking toward the small patch of grass between the building and the waterway. Tracy followed, but not too closely. Childs looked to the empty loading bays.

“I do know this place,” she said.

Tracy’s heart pounded. “What do you recall?”

“It’s like the little girl in my dreams. I can feel it.”

“Take your time.”

“It was dark. Night.”

“Do you know why you were here?”

A breeze rippled the water and blew the weeds and tall grass.

Childs looked to the grass, then to the pavement. She then looked at Tracy. “No.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“Light,” she said. “I remember a bright light.” She turned and looked across the waterway at the anchored ships with the colorful boxes. “From over there.”



Tracy gave her more time, but Childs didn’t add anything. She walked back toward the car.

“Are you ready to meet your family?” Tracy asked.

Childs looked over her shoulder, back to the paved area between the loading bays and the grass. Then she looked at Tracy.

“What? I’m sorry.”

“Are you ready to meet your family? It’s time.”

“I don’t know,” Childs said. “I guess I’ll find out.”

Tracy’s cell phone rang. Anita Childress. Probably wondering where her mother was and if she’d had a change of heart.

Tracy answered. “We’re on our way.”

“There’s a problem,” Childress said. “And I’m not sure how my mother is going to react, given what you’ve said about her.”

Back in the car, Childs again became quiet.

“There’s a problem,” Tracy said.

Childs’s forehead furrowed. “A problem?”

“That was . . .” Tracy almost said your daughter. “Anita.

Somehow your arrival leaked to the media. There are news vans and reporters just down the block from your mother’s home.”

Childs looked terrified. “I thought this was going to be a private meeting.”

“So did I,” Tracy said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what happened. What do you want to do?” Tracy had the feeling Childs was going to tell her to take her back to the airport. “I can call Anita and arrange a different meeting place.”

Childs took a deep breath. After several long seconds she said, “No. They’d likely find us. My mother and daughter have waited long enough. Let’s get through it.”

“Let me make a call,” Tracy said. “I can at least get police out there to push the reporters back.”