Not One of Us(65)

The shock of the message, piled on top of the intense stress of the last few hours, left me exhausted as adrenaline suddenly bottomed out of my system.

“Will you be all right for a minute?” she asked.

I nodded, and she left me alone, promising she’d return in a minute. “Leave the paper where it is and don’t touch it,” she warned.

I had no intention of touching it again.

Voices carried from the den for several minutes until Tegan entered the bathroom pulling on rubber gloves and carrying a manila envelope. “We’ll see if we can get fingerprints from this note,” she said, tucking the evidence into the envelope.

I watched listlessly, my hope as drained as my energy. Whoever had taken Zach was too smart to have left fingerprints behind.

“Your grandmother’s made coffee. How about we go in the kitchen. Can you get up?”

Tegan leaned over me and grasped my elbow, helping me to my feet. The room whirled once, twice, and then my vision cleared.

I peeked into Zach’s room as we walked down the hallway. Zach briefly glanced up, then went back to his own world. You’d never guess he’d spent the past couple of hours at the mercy of a killer.

“I hope Zach’s not traumatized from all this. I know he appears calm, but who knows what he’s really thinking?”

Tegan cocked her head to the side. “Maybe you can ask his day program director if she thinks he could benefit from speaking to a counselor?”

“I suppose,” I answered, not believing any good would come of pursuing that. But I could at least try.

At the end of the hallway I pulled up short. “I’m worried with everyone gone. What if the kidnapper returns?”

“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “Your house will be under round-the-clock police protection for at least the next forty-eight hours.”

The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the absence of dozens of eyes on me—which I imagined as critical and accusatory—revived my spirits. Stirrings of anger also fortified me. Whoever had taken Zach needed to be arrested. He needed to pay for what he’d put us all through this harrowing afternoon.

Mimi was already seated at the table sipping coffee. Her hands were steady and her eyes clear, fully awake and alert. “I’m sorry, Jori,” she said.

“For what?”

“Falling asleep. I can’t believe he disappeared right under my nose like that. If only I’d woken up.”

Her memory had returned. “And if only I hadn’t been so busy. I should have come out and checked on Zach. Thank God you weren’t hurt. If you’d woken up and seen someone with him—”

“Then I’d have killed the son of a bitch,” Mimi said, slamming her cup on the table so hard I was surprised it didn’t shatter to pieces.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Tegan said wryly.

For the first time since Zach disappeared, a smile flirted at the edges of my mouth. That was the Mimi I knew and loved. A no-bullshit, don’t-mess-with-me woman.

I’d need to channel that kind of strength if our little family was to survive the invisible menace pressing in on us.





Chapter 26


TEGAN


It was good to see the color return to Jori’s face and the suggestion of a smile play across her features. When she’d sunk to the bathroom floor minutes ago, I’d feared she wouldn’t have the strength to take care of herself and the family dependent on her.

For now, anger was a healthy emotion, a fuel for action. A first step in moving past a victim mentality and fighting against an unknown enemy.

I took a deep breath. It was time for the hard questions. Oliver left this to me since I’d forged a relationship with one of Zach’s caretakers and might have the best success.

“I have to be honest with both of you,” I began. “In these situations, it’s almost always someone close to the victim. It seems obvious that whoever took Zach knew him well. By your own admission, Zach is agitated around strangers. Yet he returned calm, unharmed, and not hungry or thirsty.”

They both regarded me blankly. Either they were good liars, still in shock, or clueless where Zach might have been during the missing hours.

“Think hard,” I told them. “Let’s start with family and then friends. Who knows Zach well?”

“If you have to interrogate anyone, look at the day program staff,” Mimi said, eyes shooting daggers at me.

“Absolutely. We’ll continue questioning them. The afternoon driver has agreed to submit to a polygraph test. He’s at the station now. I want you both to come to our office at eight o’clock tomorrow morning for a polygraph test as well.”

Jori flinched as though she’d been struck.

“I’m sorry. The quicker we can rule you out as suspects, the quicker we can explore other leads. You can bring Zach along with you.”

“He’ll love that.” Jori rolled her eyes. “All those strangers, all that noise . . .”

“Is there someone who can stay with him here at the house?”

“No,” Jori said immediately. “I don’t trust anyone.”

“What about Dana?” Mimi asked.

“No,” Jori insisted.

“Who’s Dana?” I asked, pulling out my phone to make notes.