Wherever She Goes(78)

“Gayle’s okay, too,” I say, whispering so Orbec doesn’t overhear.

He makes a face, like he’s about to say he doesn’t care before he stops himself.

“I know what she did,” I say, “with the video.”

He leans in to whisper back. “I should have told you when I thought I recognized her car. I just couldn’t believe it. I had to confront her.” He shakes his head and continues, his voice still low. “Gayle wasn’t . . . I’m not even sure what she was. She pursued me, and I gave in, and I hope part of it wasn’t me trying to make you jealous, but I honestly don’t know.”

“I think, to be jealous, I’d have to feel like I could compete. She seemed perfect for you. After what I did to you, I wanted to make amends, and if that meant forcing myself to be happy that you were with someone who made you happy . . .”

“She didn’t.”

His hand tightens again, holding mine tighter now. Am I hoping for more? A declaration? Of course I am. But what I have is this—that he’s coming with me, staying at my side, holding my hand. That’s enough for now.



We take a convoluted route to our destination. I’m watching the position of the sun, and I can tell the car loops back on its route a few times. I try not to worry about that—it makes sense that Orbec wouldn’t follow a straight path.

We leave the city and eventually arrive at a farmhouse not unlike the one where Kim had been living. It’s a ramshackle two-story home surrounded by forest and field. Paul nods to me, confirming this is where he’d been before. Orbec takes us inside without preamble. He steps in and calls, “Lynn?”

A young woman opens a door and peeks out warily.

“Bring the boy,” he says.

She retreats and returns with Brandon. He looks wan, with dark circles under his eyes, but he’s obviously been cared for, his clothing new, his hair and face clean. When he sees Paul, he smiles and runs over. Then he spots me and skids to a stop. He blinks.

“You’re . . . you’re the mom from the park,” he says. “You did cartwheels.”

I nod. “I am.”

The smile fades as he eyes me.

“This is my wife, Aubrey,” Paul says. “She’s here to get you back to your aunt Ellie.”

Brandon perks up. “Aunt Ellie’s here?”

“She’s in the city,” I say. “First, though . . . Before you saw me in the park, had you ever met me before, Brandon?”

His face scrunches in confusion. “No . . .”

I shoot a glare at Orbec, who only shrugs. Then Orbec says, “Go back with Lynn, Brandon. The grown-ups need to talk, and then Paul and Aubrey can take you home.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Paul says. “I believe we have a game of Chutes and Ladders to finish.”

Brandon lights up and takes Paul’s hand, leading him to the other room. The young woman follows and starts to close the door behind them.

“Leave it open,” I say.

She looks at Orbec, who nods. Once she’s gone, I say, “Okay, get me a computer. I’ll open the drive and confirm its integrity.”

“Integrity?”

“Make sure the drive and the files aren’t corrupted.”

I can tell he still has no idea what I’m talking about, but he nods as if he does. Which tells me that if I do find problems, I don’t need to let him know.

He brings out a laptop. I plug in the USB and confirm there are files on the drive. I run a quick disk scan. Everything comes up clean, and I show him the results.

“The drive is undamaged,” I say. “Now open a few files to be sure it’s the right one. I’ll turn around. I don’t even want to see what’s on those.”

I turn. After a few clicks, he says, “Yeah, it’s the data.”

“Good, so I get Brandon and you can deliver the drive to your boss.”

He snorts. “My boss is the guy who made this damned drive. Denis. The idiot. Six years ago, I tried to tell him it was a stupid idea, but did he listen to me? Hell, no.”

“I mean you can give it to your real boss. Denis’s father.”

“My boss is Denis Zima, Ms. Finch. I work for him, not his old man.”

I look over sharply. “So Denis was behind this? He wants this drive?”

“He might, but it’s going to his parents. Denis is my friend, and I look after my friends.”

“I can see that. Was killing Kim and kidnapping Brandon for his own good, too? With friends like you, Denis Zima sure as hell doesn’t need enemies.”

Orbec glares at me. “You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? I’m the thug here. I’m the bad guy. The one who murders innocent girls and kidnaps their babies. You look at me, and you think you know all about me.”

He steps toward me. “I don’t work for Denis’s parents. I didn’t kill Kimmy. I didn’t want to take her little boy. You tell me you got caught up in this, stuck in the middle of someone else’s problem? Well, maybe you aren’t the only one.”

He eases back. “Papa Zima found out Kimmy was living near Chicago. I still have friends in his organization, and they warned me. I tried to warn her. I offered to help, but no, she had her own plans. She didn’t trust me. I knew whatever plans Kimmy had, they weren’t good enough. So I used her phone records to track down Beth Kenner. When I couldn’t make her see reason either, I intercepted their plans for Brandon. Beth was supposed to pick him up at the park, but I beat her to it. Beth started listening to me then . . . or she did after those bastards got to Kimmy.”