“Mary. Mary and Ronnie.”
Gary and Ray nodded.
“And Mary was...she was okay?”
“Yeah,” Gary said, trading another glance with Ray, who shrugged. “She looked okay to us. I mean...everything looked normal, you know? I mean...if you hadn’t known that Ronnie died last week you would have looked at the two of them coming home last night and thought nothing of it.”
“So it didn’t look like she was being forced against her will?” Don asked.
“Not at all.”
A squad car pulled up to the house and parked at the curb.
Gregg started, glancing at Don. “Will you stay right here?”
Don nodded. “Yeah.”
“You going in?” Gary asked, as Gregg climbed out of the backseat.
Gregg nodded and motioned for Gary to roll down his window. “Take Don back to his motel. He’ll give you the directions. I’ll meet you over there as soon as I can. He can explain everything there.”
Don glanced at Gregg, looking nervous, and Gregg nodded to him. “They might be able to tell you things I wasn’t able to tell you. Especially Ray. He was present when Cindy got some of Diana’s phone calls.”
“Yeah,” Ray said, nodding. “I was there all right. Bitch was out of her fucking skull.”
“We’ll be fine,” Gary said. He started the car and pulled away from the curb.
Gregg crossed the street and started heading towards Ronnie’s house.
The cops had already exited their vehicle when Gregg approached them. “Hi,” he said quickly. “My wife’s cousin Brenda Wandrei put in the call about the kidnapping.”
One of the officers looked to be about Gregg’s age, with thick dark hair. “Yeah,” he said, “You’re the girl’s guardian?”
“Brenda is,” Gregg said. “I’m her uncle.”
The second officer, younger, blonde, well-built, said, “Mr. Weaver?”
“That’s me,” Gregg admitted.
The first officer radioed in on his two-way that they were at the house. “You want to come with us to the front door or would you like us to do the search?”
“I’ll come up,” Gregg said, joining the officers as they made their way up the driveway to the front porch.
The older cop rapped on the door. Gregg felt light-headed with nervous tension as they waited. He glanced around at the front porch. The house looked in worse shape than he had ever seen it. When Ronnie and Diana moved in last June it had been brand new, bearing fresh paint and clean woodwork along the porch. The lawn had been freshly seeded and the driveway was smooth and the interior of the house scent the smell of new paint and carpet. Now the paint outside was fading, the driveway was riddled with asphalt chunks, and the windows were dirty. The grass was long and dead. It looked like nobody had been living in the house for quite some time.
It was as if the life had been sucked right out of it.
The officer knocked on the door again and Gregg sensed somebody’s presence before he heard footsteps. There was a pause and then the door was opened. Diana peered out, looking curious. She was wearing a long t-shirt that reached the top of her thighs, and she looked as if she had just woken up. Her features were flawless; she looked beautiful. Gregg found it hard to keep his eyes off her figure. “Can I help you?”
“Diana Marshfield?” The older cop asked, his tone brisk and business-like.
“Yes?”
Gregg resisted the urge to leap forward and yell at her, throttling her with his voice and grabbing her by the throat. The younger cop was standing close to him, probably to keep him back, so Gregg let the police handle things as the older cop said, “Your boyfriend’s daughter, Mary Baker, was reported missing this morning. Can we come in?”
“Sure.” At the mention of Mary being reported missing, Diana appeared to wake up. She saw Gregg and looked a little surprised, but tried to hide it as they came into the house. Diana closed the door as Gregg took a quick look around the living room. It was a mess. “What happened?” Diana asked. “When’d this happen?”
“Would you mind telling us where you were last night, Miss Marshfield?” the younger cop asked.
“I was home all night with my kids. Why?”
At first Gregg hadn’t noticed the kids, but now he saw that Lily was huddled on the sofa, morosely watching TV. He didn’t see Rick anywhere. “Where’s Rick?”
“Probably in his room,” Diana said. She turned toward the hallway that led to the two bedrooms. “Rick! Hey, Rick! Get out here!”
Rick came bounding in a moment later, his face vacant and expressionless as his muddy eyes went from his mother to the cops. “What’s up?”
“Mind if we have a look around?” The older cop asked, already strolling around the living room toward the dining room.
“What for?” Diana’s voice was rising in a tone that resembled panic and anger. “I was home all night. What the hell is going on?”
“Nothing’s going on, ma’am,” the younger cop said, inserting himself in front of Diana. “We just want to check things out. The Department of Social Services has it on record you were considered a threat to Mary Baker and might try to abduct her, so we’re just following up.”
“What?” Diana looked angry. It was the most genuine emotion Gregg had ever seen on her. “You’ve got to be kidding?”
“It’s not a big deal,” the older cop said, poking around the kitchen. “If you were home last night, you were home. As long as you can prove it, you’re fine. We just have to do this as a sort of process of elimination.”
Diana turned to Gregg, her eyes blazing. “You think I kidnapped Mary?”
Gregg couldn’t help it; his emotions got the better of him and he fought to hold back his fear. “Where is she, Diana?”
“I don’t have her!”
“Then you won’t object if we look around the house?” The young cop said.
“You have a search warrant?”
“No, but I can be back later this morning with one if you want.”
“Fine!” Diana huffed, heading to the dining room. She picked up a pack of cigarettes on the computer desk and lit up. “Look around. Knock your socks off. She ain’t fucking here.”
The older cop nodded at his partner and they split ups. Gregg joined the older cop, heading toward the master bedroom while the younger cop went into the two kids’ bedrooms. Gregg’s heart raced, his mind a constant whirling paranoia. He dashed into the master bathroom and looked in the bathtub and shower stall, checking the cabinets under the sink. He heard the cop opening drawers and closet doors. Finding nothing in the bathroom, Gregg entered the master bedroom. “Did you try under the bed?”
The cop shook his head. “Not yet.”
Gregg threw back the covers of the bed and looked underneath the king-sized waterbed. Aside from a few boxes, it was empty.
It took them twenty minutes to search the house and through it all Diana fumed and smoked cigarettes, standing at the computer desk, her face glowering with rage. Lily and Rick sat on the sofa unmoving, looking unfazed by it all, as if they couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Gregg’s eyes lit on them briefly and thought back to what Don had said about them. They’re extensions of her and she controls them like puppets.
His skin broke out in gooseflesh at the thought.
Between the three of them they covered every room in the house, checked every closet, looked under the beds, in cabinets and under tables. While the younger cop looked in the garage, Gregg led the way to the basement but there was nothing down there except a few toys and the wire mesh of Himmler’s pen.
The dog wasn’t in the basement.
“Wonder where the dog is?” Gregg asked, mostly to himself as he tried to calm the fear that was rising. They weren’t finding Mary anywhere and he was starting to panic.
“They have a dog?” The cop asked.
“Yeah, a rottweiler.”
“Maybe he’s outside. He have a doghouse?”
“I don’t k
now.”
“Let’s check.”
They trumped up the stairs and when the cop asked Diana where the dog was, she huffed. “I had him put up for adoption a few days ago.”
The cop nodded, seeming to accept this. Gregg felt the skin along his arms erupt in gooseflesh at the implications. She had already reigned in that third extension. She had no use for it anymore. He was about to respond to that when the second officer appeared from his search in the bedrooms and motioned them over.
They reconvened in the living room. Diana regarded them with scorn. “So, did you find her?”
Gregg ignored the sarcastic remark; part of him wanted to believe everything Don had told him wasn’t true, that Diana was really innocent of kidnapping Mary and could never do such a thing, that she was not the creature he’d made her out to be. But another part of him knew Don was not only telling the truth, but Diana had taken her while assuming Ronnie’s physical shape. She had Mary hidden somewhere. Gregg could feel Mary was very close to them, and the frustration of not being able to do anything without having the two cops place him under arrest was threatening to crumple him. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and headed toward the door, feeling the tears well in his eyes. Behind him the older cop told Diana, “Thank you, ma’am. We appreciate the cooperation.”
Gregg felt Diana’s eyes burn into his back as he left with the two policemen and he risked a glance back at her. Her blurry form was barely recognizable behind his tear-filled eyes, and as he looked back at her he couldn’t help feeling afraid and scared. He looked away quickly, mentally chastising himself for letting her see how vulnerable he was. He tried to ignore her watchful glare as he walked with the cops to their patrol car. The older cop opened the driver’s side door and turned to him. “I think it’s very doubtful that Miss Marshfield took your niece, Mr. Weaver.”
“I know it seems that way to you—” Gregg began, feeling his throat hitch.
“It does seem that way to us,” the older cop said, putting on his sunglasses. The early December sky was clear and the sun was shining. A brisk wind blew cold air from the north, ruffling Gregg’s hair and jacket. “That doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep a watch on her. I’ll get in contact with the Social Services Department and report on our search and have them come out. They’ll want to take a more thorough look at the situation.”
Gregg felt his hope rise. “Really?”
“Yeah.” The cops got into the squad car and started it up. The younger cop rolled down the window and Gregg leaned forward so they could continue their conversation. “I can try to have somebody come down this afternoon. They’ll probably request to have us conduct another search. We have to follow up on any leads we get resulting from our investigation at the Wandrei house.”
“Great!” Already Gregg felt a little better, but he wouldn’t feel safe until Mary was found.
“In the meantime we’ll put out an Amber Alert, get the State Police involved. Don’t worry, we’ll find her.”
“Thanks.”
The cops waved and the car pulled away from the curb. Not wanting to risk another glance back at the dead façade of Ronnie Baker’s house, Gregg Weaver headed back to his own car, once again feeling vulnerable and sick and feeling he was racing against the clock to save Mary Baker’s life.
TWENTY-FIVE
GREGG WEAVER DIDN’T go straight home; instead, he headed toward the Sunset Motel where he had told Gary and Ray to take Don Grant.
On the drive over he called his house from his cell phone. His father answered, sounding worried, and Gregg quickly told him Mary Baker was missing and he had slipped out of the house this morning to comfort the Wandrei's and provide information to the police. “I didn’t want to wake anybody,” he said. “And I had to get out of the house quickly.”
“What’s going on?” His father asked. “Do they have any clues?”
“Not yet,” Gregg replied, knowing he’d have to wrap the conversation up quickly or his father would keep him on the phone forever by asking him a thousand questions he couldn’t possibly answer. “But they’re working on it. Can you keep Eric at the house with you today?”
“Sure. What are you going to do?”
“I’m helping out here and I’m heading out to breakfast right now,” Gregg said quickly. “Listen, I have to go. I’ll have my cell on if you need to reach me, okay?”
“Okay,” his father said, and Gregg felt briefly relieved when they hung up. Knowing he had most of the day to brainstorm the situation with Don, Gary, and Ray, Gregg headed to the Sunset Motel.
Gary’s hatchback was parked in the slot in front of Gary’s room, and Gregg got out of the car and knocked on the door. Ray answered, his eyes bloodshot but alert. Gregg came in and the other guys were up, asking in excited jabbers what happened. Don looked worried and concerned. A hush of silence fell across the room as Gregg told them about the search, how Diana had been seething with anger, how he had been freaked out by the kids’ demeanors. Don Grant beat him to the punch line. “You didn’t find her.”
“No,” Gregg said, the finality of the situation weighing heavily on him. “But she was there. When we were searching that place, I swear I could sense she was somewhere in that house.”
“Where else could Diana have hidden her?” Ray asked.
“Lot’s of places,” Don said. He picked up a Styrofoam cup of coffee from a Turkey Hill market and took a swig. “I take it you didn’t search the attic?”
“No,” Gregg sighed. “Maybe when Social Services stops by we can perform a more thorough search.”
“We might not have time for that,” Gary said.
The knowledge in Gary’s tone of voice piqued Gregg’s interest and he turned to Don. “You tell them everything?”
Don nodded. “Yeah.”
Gregg turned to Gary and Ray. “You believe him?”
“Fucking A,” Ray said. Gary nodded. Both men, though obviously tired, their eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and dope smoking, looked like they had been reanimated, probably with caffeine, judging from the large Styrofoam cups of coffee around the room.
Gregg’s stomach rumbled. “I’m hungry and I need some coffee. Can we head out and get a bite to eat?”
“I could use some food too,” Gary said, standing up. "I got the munchies.”
“Anyplace we could go where we could eat and have privacy?” Don asked.
Gregg glanced at Gary and Ray. “Does the Silk City Diner sound okay to you guys?”
They nodded and headed outside, piling into Gregg’s SUV for the short trip down the road to the diner.
Fifteen minutes later as they munched out on farm fresh eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and sausage, hotcakes, orange juice and mugs of coffee, Don brought Gregg up to speed. He had given Gary and Ray a simplified version of what he’d told him over Thanksgiving weekend and last night and was surprised to see the two men had not only filled in the blanks themselves, but they accepted his story very readily. The beginnings of a grin cracked its way across Gary’s features. “I may not be the smartest man in Lancaster County, but I believe what I see,” he said. “And Ray and I saw some weird fucked up shit last night. We were up all night talking about it, trying to come up with plausible explanations and we couldn’t come up with any. Ray had come to me shortly after Cindy was killed and voiced his suspicions to me, so he’d had plenty of time to dwell on this.”
“And what was that?” Gregg asked between mouthfuls of food.
“Right after Cindy died I tracked Gary down and told him about all the phone calls we got at the apartment,” Ray explained. “The ones from Diana.”
“I just assumed Diana was egging Cindy on for a fight,” Gary said, stabbing a piece of sausage with his fork. “It was pretty easy to goad Cindy into a fight.”
“The thing was,” Ray resumed. “Nearly every time we called the cops on Diana, they would trace the calls with the phone company and the report would say Diana never made any calls to our apartment.”
“Sure,” Ray said, taking a sip of coffee. “But the phone company went through all that shit. The more we pressed the issue, the more either the phone company denied Diana was making those calls, or the cops would bring up Cindy’s criminal record. I knew then that Diana was trying to set Cindy up.”
“What about the threats Diana allegedly made to Cindy about hurting Mary?” Gregg asked.
“She told me about those,” Ray said. “She’d get upset every time that happened. Not that I don’t blame her, but I saw the pattern. I tried to talk some sense into her, make her see Diana was just talking bullshit but it wasn’t doing any good.”
“So you went to Gary after Cindy was killed,” Gregg said, working on his eggs. “When you heard Cindy was dead, what did you think?”
“When I heard what happened I knew it wasn’t an accident,” Ray said. “I knew Diana had killed her.”
“Even though the police were saying she had a heart attack in Ronnie’s house and Diana had tried to revive her?”
Ray nodded. He was picking at his food listlessly. “I didn’t believe that shit for one second.”
They were silent for a moment. Gregg thought about this as he dug into his food.
“Ray came to my work place a few days after Cindy’s memorial service and told me everything,” Gary said quietly. “I was still stunned by what had happened. I...I believed what the police had told me.” He glanced at Don. “It’s like I said, if you had known Cindy it would have been easy to believe she had been whacked out on dope and broken into Ronnie’s house.”
“So you believed the official version?” Gregg asked, finishing his eggs and wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“Oh yeah,” Gary said. He had hoovered down an entire stack of pancakes in under a minute and was leaning back in the booth. “I mean...you knew Cindy, Gregg. You saw how fast she was going downhill.”
Gregg nodded, digging back into his food. “Yeah, I know. I thought the same thing myself.”
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