What She Found (Tracy Crosswhite #9)(89)

“A what?”

“A through line, that thing that holds a story together and makes it easily understood.”

“Such as?”

“The Wizard of Oz. What’s the thing that holds that story together? Dorothy trying to get home. She thinks Aunt Em is dying because Professor Marvel told her Em collapsed when she learned Dorothy had run away. So Dorothy will move mountains and cross oceans to get back home and save Em. Simple. Easy for a jury to follow and to understand.”

“But Em isn’t dying.”

“It doesn’t matter whether she is or not. What matters is what Dorothy believes. Or in my case, what the jury believes.”

And suddenly it was clear. A through line. What Tracy needed was a good story, one that people would believe was true. And she knew exactly where to get it.

“You have that look,” Dan said. “That look Faz says you get when you get struck by lightning.”

“Dan O’Leary, have I told you that you’re brilliant?”

“Not nearly often enough,” Dan said.

“Then let me show you.” She stepped forward and kissed him.

“Now we’re talking,” Dan said. “Wish I knew what I said that made me—”

“Dan,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Stop being brilliant.”





C H A P T E R 3 5

Del called Tracy the following morning; he’d been summoned into Captain Johnny Nolasco’s office. Nolasco, the snake, wouldn’t reveal who had told him, but he knew Del and Tracy had driven out to Lake Sammamish to talk to Moss. He also knew Chief Weber had specifically told Tracy to back off her investigation, Tracy had refused, and Weber had suspended her, pending a hearing.

“He wanted to know what you’re doing,” Del said. “I told him to ask you. When he persisted, I told him to pound sand. He told me I could speak to him or speak to a sergeant during an investigation. I opted for the sergeant.”

“Shit, Del, I told you not to do that.”

“Too late,” Del said. “So I got some free time on my hands.”

Tracy shook her head. Faz and Del were like her Rex and Sherlock. Two big galoots who were loyal to a fault. “Can you meet at the Seattle Times?”

“Yeah, what you got cooking?”

“I’m working on a through line.”

“A what?”

“I’m going to give you the chance to do what you wanted to do twenty-five years ago.”

“Which was what?”

“Tell an investigative reporter what happened; get the story out into the public domain and provide both of us with a little insulation.”

“You’re a little late.”

“Just meet me there.”

An hour later, Tracy and Del entered the conference room on the third floor where Bill Jorgensen, Anita Childress, and Melissa Childs awaited them. After introductions, they sat at the conference room table. Jorgensen smiled, like he held a big secret no one else knew.

“Thanks for coming,” Tracy said.

“We didn’t get the chance to thank you,” Anita said, looking to her mother. “For making this happen.”

“I’m sorry about the media at your grandmother’s house. I wasn’t the source of the information leak.”

“My father told us,” Anita said. “I wasn’t happy about what he did or how he handled it, but I guess I can understand, given what he went through.”

“How are you doing?” Tracy asked Melissa, who had remained quiet.

“I’m okay,” she said, looking troubled. She smiled but it waned.

“It’s a bit overwhelming, you know, to wake up one day and find out you’ve had this whole other life.” She reached over and grabbed her daughter’s hand. “But we’re working our way through it.”

“It’s a hell of a story,” Jorgensen said, looking eager.

“It is,” Tracy said. “But there’s a lot more to the story than you know. A much bigger story that I think you all need to hear.”

“Bigger than this?” Jorgensen said. “I’m all ears.”

“I was going to tell you, but I think it’s best that Del tell you. He lived it. He’s been living it for the past twenty-five years.”

Anita’s eyes narrowed with curiosity.

“I’m afraid what happened to you might be partially my fault,”

Del said to Childs, sounding like a penitent.

“Your fault?” Childs said.

Del told her about his investigation of the two drowned men, and about the raid on the Diamond Marina, how Moss had covered it up, how Del had uncovered it but had been threatened with a falsified police report if he pursued it. “You were the only reporter digging deeper than the headlines, and I thought maybe you could, with some help, piece together what I had pieced together.”

“Did I?”

Tracy told Childs what she believed happened that February night, the call from the gas station to her home phone, how Larry Childress had placed a can of bear spray in her bag before she left to meet the confidential source, how she had stopped to take out money and at a gas station convenience store to purchase a liter of Coke before she met Slocum in the Industrial District. She watched Childs for any sign of recognition. Childs looked intrigued but also concerned. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Are you all right?” Tracy asked.