Chain Reaction (29 page)

After a long, dramatic sigh, Brittany said, ‘Jimmy Van Dyke. Please be gentle with him. Deep inside, he’s such a sensitive boy.’

‘You seem to be quite close to this young man,’ Lucinda said.

‘He’s bared his soul to me – and, believe me, it is a place of torment. I have every faith that once he climbs the great mountain of adolescence and reaches the summit, he will be ready to tackle all that the world has to offer.’

Lucinda thought she’d be sick all over the table. Does her lawyer know what a pile of crap her client is? ‘And was this all pillow talk?’

Brittany furrowed her brow. ‘Excuse me.’

‘Post-coital pillow talk?’

‘I do not like what you are implying, Lieutenant Pierce,’ Rita snapped.

‘All she has to do is deny it,’ Lucinda said.

Rita turned to her client. ‘Do not say a word.’ The attorney pivoted back to Lucinda. ‘This is so typical of women of your ilk. You always assume the worst of other women. You parade your superiority by turning every other woman’s success into a sexual conquest.’

‘Not another word about your client’s relationship with Jimmy Van Dyke, then. I do have a few other questions if that is acceptable,’ Lucinda said.

‘You may proceed,’ Rita said. ‘But from now on, please direct your questions to me, Lieutenant.’

‘Did your client teach a student named David Baynes?’

Brittany turned pale. ‘Yes, I did. That poor, poor boy.’

‘Nothing more, Brittany. Lieutenant Pierce, I believe you are fishing,’ Rita said. ‘That is the young man who died in the explosion at the high school and I do not appreciate your obvious efforts to upset my client. And besides, if I recall correctly, my client has already admitted to that. Asked and answered, Lieutenant.’

‘I was not trying to cause distress to your client, Ms Younger. I simply wanted to know if her link to David Baynes was a typical teacher–student relationship or if it was something more.’

‘That’s it, Lieutenant. We’re leaving now,’ Rita said, rising to her feet. ‘I can’t believe that you are not expressing gratitude toward my client but have chosen instead to make baseless accusations. If I hear a whisper of this matter in the press, you will regret it – instantly and eternally. Let’s go, Brittany.’

Lucinda now knew for a fact that Jimmy had possession of Brittany’s truck at the time of the explosion. She thought it close to a certainty that the tire track comparison would prove that vehicle was at the school on that morning. She knew that Jimmy had access to the school – but did he have access to explosive materials? She hoped the lab would find some trace in or on the truck. She had to find Jimmy Van Dyke.

J
ake and Lucinda sat out on their balcony overlooking the James River as they sipped on glasses of Pinot Grigio and tried to de-stress. They both said they wanted to talk about anything but work but soon slipped from the mundane to brainstorming ideas for finding Amber Culvert and Jimmy Van Dyke.

Jake asked, ‘Are you sure that Charley will let you know if Amber contacts her?’

‘A couple of days ago, I would have said that I am absolutely positive that Charley would call me right away. But earlier today she called me a hypocrite – and her dad, too – because we tell her to do the right thing and, when she does, we chastise her for taking so many risks.’

Jake laughed. ‘That doesn’t surprise me. She’s learned well from you.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘How many times have you said that it’s easier to ask forgiveness after taking action than to get permission beforehand?’

‘But I never said that to Lucy.’

‘Sure, you didn’t say it. But actions speak louder than words. You’re going to have to find a way to make risk assessment an intellectual exercise for Charley – challenge her reasoning power. You might make more headway with that tactic than pointing out the dangers she seems to run toward with glee.’

‘Might work. But she may out-think me on that one. She’s a scary-smart kid.’

‘How about Charlotte Van Dyke? And do you think she will call if she hears from Jimmy or he shows up at her home?’

‘I forgot to tell you. I got a message from her earlier today. She said she’d changed her mind about calling a lawyer. She said if Jimmy did something wrong, he needs to answer for it, and if he didn’t, he needed to show up and clear his name. But I don’t know, Jake. She seems to realize that, while he’s on the run, he’s taking a big risk and, because of that, she’d call me right away. But I worry that if she thinks her son is about to be charged with a serious crime, she might help him get far, far away to keep him out of prison.’

‘It’s a difficult position for any mother, I guess. But it might be tempered by wanting to set a good example for Tamara.’

‘I wonder if Tamara told her mother that she talked to me. And does Jimmy know she did?’

‘Maybe we ought to go see Charlotte this weekend,’ Jake said.

‘Be best to do that tomorrow. Sunday is Mother’s Day – not likely to be very productive to talk to her about turning in her son on that particular holiday. Besides, I promised to take Charley and Ruby to a mother–daughter tea that afternoon. I was going to ask Charley to invite Amber to come along with us, but now … Damn, I am worried about that girl. Too many predators and users out there waiting to take advantage of a twelve-year-old’s innocence.’

‘Unfortunately, she’s not as innocent as she should be. But perhaps her experience will make her more cautious.’

‘It could also make her run from someone who actually wants to help her,’ Lucinda added.

They both sighed and stared out over the river, lost in thought, making them startle enough to splash wine when Lucinda’s cell burst into song. ‘Pierce,’ she said.

‘Marguerite Spellman, Lieutenant. I thought you’d want to know right away that traces of the same material used to construct the bomb were found on the floorboard of the passenger’s side of Brittany Schaffer’s pick-up truck. We also found an excellent palm print on the driver’s door as well as some good prints around that seat and picked up prints for both Todd Matthews and David Baynes and a host of others all over the truck – a lot of them smeared beyond recognition. I imagine that some of them belong to the owner, but until you bring me known prints, I can’t do much else on that score.’

‘Thanks, Spellman. I hope you’re going home now and enjoying your weekend.’

‘I’m going to try but one of you guys will probably find a body somewhere before it’s over.’

‘I’ll put out a memo: “No dead bodies till Monday.” Will that help?’ Lucinda teased.

‘Yeah, right. If they listen, they’ll be sure to call me between midnight and one, Monday morning.’

Lucinda hung up and told Jake about the call. ‘I just wish I knew what was going on with those three boys. What puts them all together at the same time in that truck?’

‘We don’t even know if they were there at the same moment, Lucy. We just know that they have all been in that vehicle. No date stamps on prints.’

‘Damn. I need another glass of wine,’ Lucinda said, going inside to retrieve the bottle from the refrigerator. When she returned, Jake was on the phone and he looked excited. As soon as he disconnected, Lucinda asked, ‘Who was that? What was that?’

‘That was the tire impression guru – and we have a match. Absolutely no doubt at all. A perfect match down to every little tiny defect.’

‘But really we knew it would,’ Lucinda said. ‘It will be a great piece of evidence in the courtroom. But we need more to get us there.’

‘Ah, c’mon, don’t put a damper on it. We both got good forensic reports this evening. Let’s celebrate that tonight – and move on tomorrow.’

‘Honestly, Jake, until Amber is found, I won’t feel up to celebrating anything. I’m terrified for her.’

A
fter a quick breakfast of bagels, cream cheese and coffee, Lucinda and Jake drove over to the Van Dyke home. They noticed that lights were on in a few rooms and that probably meant that Charlotte was up for the day. For a few minutes, they sat in the car observing the house and neighborhood for anything that appeared out of the ordinary.

Standing in front of the door, they listened for any suspicious sounds before ringing the bell. Charlotte answered wearing a blue terry cloth robe and pink fuzzy slippers. ‘Well, good morning, Lieutenant. You sure are up early today. I suppose you got my message. Or did you find my Jimmy? Is he OK?’

‘Yes, ma’am, I did get your message, but we haven’t found Jimmy,’ Lucinda said. ‘This is Special Agent Jake Lovett with the FBI. We were hoping you might have thought of something that would help us locate your son.’

Charlotte shook her head and frowned. ‘No, ma’am, I sure do not know a blessed thing. I keep having these horrible pictures of Jimmy being shot by a police officer for resisting arrest. I am so afraid for him. I do believe this is all going to come to a very bad end. But come on. Come on into the house. I have a fresh pot of coffee brewing and I need to pull the biscuits out of the oven. We can all sit around the kitchen table and try to find a way to make it all work out.’

The two investigators followed Charlotte through the living room and into an immaculate kitchen. The aroma of coffee fought for dominance over the fragrance coming from the oven. They sat down and watched as Charlotte slipped the baking sheet out on to the top of the stove, used a spatula to transfer the biscuits two at a time into a basket lined with a red-and-white checked kitchen towel. That morning’s bagels faded from memory as their mouths watered in response.

Charlotte put the basket on the table, slid a butter dish, a jelly jar and cream pitcher out of the refrigerator, small plates out of a cabinet, three butter knives out of a drawer and set them in front of Lucinda and Jake. Then she poured three mugs of coffee, carried them over and sat down. ‘Now that’s real butter, mind you, and real coffee cream – no substitutes allowed in this house.’

‘I imagine, then, that’s no decaf,’ Jake said with a smile.

‘Heavens, no. If God didn’t want us to have caffeine, He wouldn’t have put it in the coffee beans in the first place,’ Charlotte said with a grin. ‘Now, I don’t think I know a thing that I haven’t already told you. But perhaps if you ask some questions, something might come to mind.’

Lucinda thought for a moment about how to ask if Charlotte knew about her daughter’s interview without betraying the girl. ‘Do you think Tamara might know anything worthwhile?’

Charlotte smiled. ‘You are a lovely woman, Lieutenant. I see what you are doing – protecting my girl’s confidence. I am very pleased to know you’d do that. But, actually, Tamara told me all about her visit to see you. I don’t think she knows anything else but you could ask her. But if we wake her up this early on a Saturday morning, she would probably bite my head off – and yours, too – and she would be grumpy all day long. I could give you a call when she wakes up. Would that be OK?’

‘Oh, yes, Mrs Van Dyke, I do know enough about teenagers to realize that. Please, let her sleep and, yes, I was trying to find out if you knew without exposing Tamara. I’m glad you understand. But do you have any idea of where Jimmy would go to lie low.’

‘I tried really hard to know those things before Jimmy was eighteen – sometimes I did; probably most times I didn’t.’ Charlotte sighed. ‘Then on his eighteenth birthday he told me that he liked living at home and would like to keep staying here until he figured out whether he’d go to college or join the army or get a serious job; but if I was going to always be in his business, he’d live in the streets rather than put up with that. So I backed off. I guess that’s the long way of saying, “No, Lieutenant, I have not one single idea.” For all I know, he’s left town – even left the state. Maybe he’s been driving all night, heading for Montana or Idaho. He always said he wanted to live out where there were more acres than people.’

A flash of worry jagged through Lucinda’s thoughts and she asked, ‘Do you know if Jimmy knows that Tamara talked to me?’ Lucinda asked.

‘I don’t believe she’s talked to him since then. She hasn’t mentioned it to me so I don’t believe so. But I guess it’s possible he called her last night after I went to bed. We’ll have to ask her about that when she gets up.’ Charlotte’s head tilted to one side. ‘Well, speaking of the devil, did you hear that?’

Jake and Lucinda started to form the word ‘no’ but stopped when a louder thump hit the floor above their head.

‘Sounds like Little Miss Grumpy is up early today. She must have smelled the biscuits,’ Charlotte said with a chuckle. ‘I’ve told her if she sleeps too late, I might eat them all and leave her nothing but crumbs. I imagine she’ll be down shortly. Maybe the two of us will be able to think of something else. More coffee?’

They both nodded and lifted their mugs. Charlotte filled the cups, turned around and was walking back to the table when she gasped and the cups fell from her hands and crashed on the floor. Hot coffee sprayed in the air and splashed all over Charlotte’s legs but she seemed oblivious. She stared straight ahead, her jaw moving up and down but not a word coming from her mouth.

Lucinda and Jake spun their heads around to see what had alarmed her and both automatically put their hands inside their jackets and on the butt of their guns.

‘Put your hands where I can see them,’ Jimmy said. He stood in the doorway, looking dirty and disheveled. One arm was wrapped tightly around his sister. The other held a gun, pressed into the flesh of one of her cheeks. ‘I will shoot her, I swear I will.’

The surprised detectives slowly pulled out their hands and held them out, palms up and open.

‘Put both your hands on your head.’

Jake and Lucinda followed his orders without hesitation.

‘Mom, go get their guns.’

For a moment, she didn’t respond. Then she put hands on hips and said, ‘I will not. You stop this nonsense right now.’

Jimmy shoved the barrel into Tamara’s face, causing her to whimper. The force scraped the surface of her skin, causing a small trickle of blood to run down to her jawline.

‘Jimmy, you look what you’ve done. You cut her. Now give me that gun right now. You know I have forbidden guns in this house. You’ve known that all your life. Where did you get that thing?’ She stretched her hand out. ‘Give it to me.’