Other People's Houses(88)

“Children can be cruel to each other, sadly. Is it possible one of them is bullying the other? Or anything else?” The whisper of sexual abuse entered the room, and every adult felt suddenly guilty, whether they’d done anything or not.

The four parents in front of him shook their heads. “They argue over stuff like which Star Wars character would win in a fight with Superman, but neither of them are particularly aggressive.” Charlie felt defensive. He added, “Theo’s mad at me right now, but I don’t think he’d pick a fight with anyone else.” Suddenly he remembered the kid at school, and felt less sure of himself.

The detective looked at him curiously. “He’s mad with you, but not with his mother?”

Charlie nodded his head, then put it in his hands and started to sob. Anne put her arm around him, pulling him closer.

Frances got up suddenly and went into the other room, returning to hand the detective a photo in a frame. In it the two boys were dressed for Halloween, one of them Iron Man, the other Thor. They had their arms around each other, laughing hard because she’d told them to act tough and in tensing for the photo one of them had farted. It was one of Frances’s favorite photos, and suddenly she felt it was really important for the detective to see it.



* * *



? ? ?

Twenty minutes later the all-cars bulletin had gone out, photos of the two boys shared with every police station, squad car, helicopter, and individual officer instantaneously. When they’d last been seen, what they’d been wearing, the places they liked to go. Michael, Charlie, Sara, Iris, Ava, and Bill had set off, wandering the neighborhood calling and hunting. Extra police officers were on the way to assist.

Frances and Anne stayed at Frances’s house, both clutching their cell phones, watching over Lally, Kate, Wyatt, and Lucas. The kids were on beanbags, watching TV and blessedly distracted. Kate knew what was going on, and had been very upset. Mostly she seemed upset her brother had left her behind, but now Mickey Mouse was taking care of it.

The two mothers sat at the kitchen table and drank tea, neither one of them saying anything because Frances wanted to scream at Anne that this was her fault, and Anne knew it. Outside it was dark. In another half hour it would be time to make dinner. Had to keep the children they still had alive.





Thirty-eight.


Milo was feeling particularly proud of himself. He knew the Hollywood sign was north, he knew his street was in the east of the city and that the soccer place was west of them, and he had successfully navigated himself and Theo all the way to the Palazzo without going wrong once. Beverly Boulevard was too trafficky, so they’d taken backstreets and it had been challenging, but he’d made it. It had turned out to be a whole lot longer on foot than it had been in the car, but still. No wonder he’d gotten his Boy Scout navigation patch.

Of course, he was starting to worry that his parents were going to be upset with him, but he thought he could explain himself to his mom. He couldn’t let Theo go on his own, right? Theo was upset and angry and not at all good at navigation. He wasn’t even a Scout. When they played Minecraft Milo was forever having to teleport Theo back to where he was, even though there was a compass right there on the screen the entire time. He couldn’t have let him go on his own, that was all there was to it. He should have told his mom, though, but he’d thought it would be quicker than it had been, and that Theo’s mom would call her once they arrived.

Theo was sniffling a bit. They had reached the point of the park nearest the entrance to the Palazzo, but now he was balking. Milo was trying to remain patient, and they’d zigged a bit and gone to a 7-Eleven to get candy. Now they were sitting on the wall opposite the entrance and waiting. Milo had noticed a grown-up man sitting a little way along the wall, and he was keeping his eye on him, just in case. The man looked over at them every so often, and once Milo caught him frowning. Milo knew not to talk to strangers; he wasn’t worried.

“Why don’t we just ask the guy at the gate?” he asked Theo.

“What if she’s mad at me?”

Milo rolled his eyes. “You should have thought of that before. We’re here now and it’s taken a long time so we should go ask.”

Theo looked at him. “Will you do it?”

“Yes,” his friend replied, slightly exasperated. It was all very well when you started a plan, he thought, everyone’s all brave then. But when it comes down to it . . . “Let’s cross at the light, though.”

The gate guard lowered his phone and looked impassively at the two ten-year-olds in front of him. “Yes?”

“We’re looking for Anne Porter.”

“Does she live here?” The guard had a list, but as it changed weekly he’d long ago realized there was little point trying to memorize it.

The boys nodded, and the guard reached for the list, licking his finger to turn over the pages. He found the name, and looked at the boys again.

“Shall I call the apartment?”

They nodded. He did so. He let it ring, but nobody answered.

“No answer,” he said.

Milo and Theo looked at him. This was not an outcome they’d anticipated. Theo looked at Milo, who shrugged. “We’ll go wait for her,” Milo suggested.

The guard was about to raise his phone again when a thought occurred to him. “You two are a little young to be out alone, aren’t you?”