Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(34)

Barbara shook the look away and scowled. “Good ol’ Bob didn’t want to take the time to run Billy up to the school, so he told Ginny to do it. She took Billy up to the playground and let him climb all over the jungle gym. There was a bunch of kids there that day, and Billy was runnin’ all over the place. At some point . . .” She paused, and that faraway look came rushing back. “She lost track of him. And then . . . poof. He was gone.”

Raegan’s gaze strayed to Alec, and she wondered what he was thinking, what he was remembering. His eyes were fixed on Barbara Willig, but not a single muscle in his features moved. His face was as stone-cold unreadable as she’d ever seen it.

“What happened then?” Raegan asked softly.

“Then?” Barbara’s voice hardened. “Then I got a call at work sayin’ Billy was missing. I rushed right home. Bob was in a state, screaming at Ginny, but it wasn’t her fault. She was only six years old. He never should’a sent her up to that playground alone with Billy. I called the police. They came out and looked around, but they didn’t do much. Once they found out I used to dance, they figured it might have been a customer or stalker or something. But then they found out about Bob’s old girlfriend who used to cause trouble for us. Used to vandalize the house and mess with our cars and stuff. They decided she must have taken my Billy as revenge or somethin’, but no one was ever able to prove that.”

“What did Bob think?” Alec asked.

“Oh, Bob thought she did it too. Went nuts all over her, trying to get her to admit it. She never did, though.”

A yapping sounded from the other room, then seconds later a tiny Chihuahua mix with a blinged-out pink collar streaked into the room, barked at Raegan and Alec like a loon, and jumped up on Barbara Willig’s lap, waggling her tail with an excited whine.

Barbara Willig frowned but immediately started petting the attention-demanding dog. “This is Ginny’s dog. Ginny!” she yelled.

A door somewhere in the house opened. “What?” the girl called.

“Come get Daisy.”

Ginny rushed into the room and scooped the dog from her mother’s lap. “Did those mean people scare you?” she cooed, showing emotion for the first time. “Your Ginny’s here now, baby.” The dog lapped at the girl’s nose and lips. Ginny laughed and held her like a doll.

Barbara sighed as the girl walked away with the dog, watching the two disappear down the hall. “That dog’s the only thing she really cares about. Ever since her brother went missing . . .” Her voice hitched, and she coughed to try to cover it. “Well, she’s not been the same since.”

Raegan could only imagine how something like that would scar a child. “It’s good she has the dog.”

“Yeah, sometimes.” Barbara took another sip of her soda. “And other times I worry she’s too attached to that dog. She uses it like a shield, focusing all her emotion on that dog while she blocks out everyone else. If something were to happen to Daisy, I don’ know what Ginny would do.”

Raegan glanced at Alec, who hadn’t spoken in the last few minutes. He was watching Barbara Willig, but something in the way he sat expressionless told Raegan he was lost in his own thoughts and memories.

Thinking about the alcohol he’d used as a shield? About how he’d blocked her out when all she’d wanted to do was help him? Raegan didn’t know, and wondering hurt too much, so she glanced down at her notes and refocused. “So you mentioned that you’re divorced now, Ms. Willig. Do you know where we could find Mr. Willig to ask him some questions about what he saw that day?”

“Sure do. He’s at CRCI.”

“Columbia River Correctional Institution?” Alec said, finally joining the conversation.

Barbara nodded. “He lost it after Billy went missing. He always had a bit of a temper, but he went off the deep end when we couldn’t find Billy. We fought all the time. Then he got arrested for roughing up that ex-girlfriend. I couldn’t look at him after that. It was his fault Billy disappeared. His fault Ginny changed. His fault because he didn’t watch the kids like he was supposed to do when I had to work. When he got sent to jail, I divorced him, and I’m not sorry.”

Alec’s shoulders tensed. Raegan saw it from the corner of her vision. Her gaze drifted down his arms toward his hands clasped tightly together in front of him, his knuckles turning white.

Her back tingled because she knew what he was thinking. Barbara Willig’s story had hit way too close to home for him.

“We’re very sorry for your loss, Ms. Willig.” Raegan pushed to her feet. “I know you’re busy, so we don’t want to take up any more of your time.”

Barbara rose as well, surprise pulling her brows together. “That’s it?”

“Yes,” Raegan answered, watching Alec carefully as he stood. His jaw was as hard as she’d ever seen it, and something dark lurked in his gaze. “I think that’s all we need.”

“Do you see any similarities between my son and those other cases you’re looking into?” Barbara asked with wide eyes.

Raegan didn’t want to get the woman’s hopes up. The only thing that stood out to her was that this family had been poor and uneducated, and she suspected the person who’d taken Billy had known that and used it to his advantage. “I’m not sure.”