was.
“Megan. You can’t jump to conclusions and get angry at your mom without even—”
“Even hearing her side of things? Explaining why it’s okay when she goes risking her life? Maybe getting hurt. Again. Maybe she has her reasons. Who knows? She’s not answering her phone. At least not when I tried.” She flounced back in her seat. “Maybe you’ll have better luck.”
He was silent until they passed Murrysville and got clear of the traffic. That was her dad. He thought things through. Sometimes it drove her nuts—no need to think about what was obvious, you just did it. Of course whenever she said anything like that he’d tell her she was so very much her mother’s daughter. Passionate and compassionate. Whatever the heck that meant.
Right now, being told she was just like her mother was the biggest insult Megan could imagine.
“Your mother is not ignoring you on purpose. I’m disappointed that you’d even think that. Even if you don’t like her job, she still deserves your respect.” He slid his phone free from his inside pocket and handed it to her. “Give her a try. She was probably busy earlier, though, so it won’t mean anything if she picks up now. But you two need to start talking. To each other.”
Yeah. Right. Megan took the phone. “Dad. You forgot to put it on the charger while you were at work again. It’s dead.”
Chapter 14
LUCY DIRECTED SETH and June to the bath, fresh linens, and a bed for June. She couldn’t bear to walk down the hall to her mom’s room, see the photos and memories there, felt guilty when he glanced at her cane, assuming that was the reason why she didn’t join them. While he helped June get cleaned up, Lucy heated one of the many frozen entrees her mom had left behind, carefully packaged and wrapped in foil. Coletta Guardino did not believe in microwaves.
Eggplant parmigiana, one of her favorites. While it was cooking, Lucy rummaged through the kitchen drawers. First, the “junk” drawer, where she found a map of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic states along with an assortment of felt-tip markers. Then the “scrap” drawer where, among the carefully folded pieces of tin foil and wax paper, ready to be reused when needed—Coletta also believed in never wasting anything, especially not when it’d only been used once or three times—she found a ball of assorted pieces of string tied together.
Lucy unfolded the map and spread it over the kitchen table. She’d left her coat on but the heat had finally kicked in and with the oven on, the kitchen was growing warm, so she hung it on the back of a chair as she studied the map. Where to start?
Tentatively, she marked the location of the mall where June was found fourteen years ago. Stood back and stared, letting the map fill her mind, her gaze spiraling out from the landmark. There was a pattern—no matter how desperate subjects were to make their movements appear random, there was always a pattern.
She added the location where Oshiro had arrested Green Elephant Man that night, before they knew he had anything to do with June. Then also added his home in a town another thirty miles away. The three points created a vector—the approach Green Elephant Man would have taken from his home to pick up June at the mall. A total of almost fifty miles from point to point.
But it wasn’t Green Elephant Man she was interested in. It was Daddy.
Her meal heated through, she paced around the table, looking at the map from all angles. Funny how her ankle didn’t bother her as much, not now that she had something to focus on. She ate right out of the tray—Coletta would not have approved, not at all.
Lucy finished eating and had to stop herself before putting the aluminum foil and tray into the dishwasher. No one left to use them again. She crumpled them and tossed them into the trash.
Turning back to the map, she used the string to draw an arc with a highlighter, about fifty miles away from the
“Megan. You can’t jump to conclusions and get angry at your mom without even—”
“Even hearing her side of things? Explaining why it’s okay when she goes risking her life? Maybe getting hurt. Again. Maybe she has her reasons. Who knows? She’s not answering her phone. At least not when I tried.” She flounced back in her seat. “Maybe you’ll have better luck.”
He was silent until they passed Murrysville and got clear of the traffic. That was her dad. He thought things through. Sometimes it drove her nuts—no need to think about what was obvious, you just did it. Of course whenever she said anything like that he’d tell her she was so very much her mother’s daughter. Passionate and compassionate. Whatever the heck that meant.
Right now, being told she was just like her mother was the biggest insult Megan could imagine.
“Your mother is not ignoring you on purpose. I’m disappointed that you’d even think that. Even if you don’t like her job, she still deserves your respect.” He slid his phone free from his inside pocket and handed it to her. “Give her a try. She was probably busy earlier, though, so it won’t mean anything if she picks up now. But you two need to start talking. To each other.”
Yeah. Right. Megan took the phone. “Dad. You forgot to put it on the charger while you were at work again. It’s dead.”
Chapter 14
LUCY DIRECTED SETH and June to the bath, fresh linens, and a bed for June. She couldn’t bear to walk down the hall to her mom’s room, see the photos and memories there, felt guilty when he glanced at her cane, assuming that was the reason why she didn’t join them. While he helped June get cleaned up, Lucy heated one of the many frozen entrees her mom had left behind, carefully packaged and wrapped in foil. Coletta Guardino did not believe in microwaves.
Eggplant parmigiana, one of her favorites. While it was cooking, Lucy rummaged through the kitchen drawers. First, the “junk” drawer, where she found a map of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic states along with an assortment of felt-tip markers. Then the “scrap” drawer where, among the carefully folded pieces of tin foil and wax paper, ready to be reused when needed—Coletta also believed in never wasting anything, especially not when it’d only been used once or three times—she found a ball of assorted pieces of string tied together.
Lucy unfolded the map and spread it over the kitchen table. She’d left her coat on but the heat had finally kicked in and with the oven on, the kitchen was growing warm, so she hung it on the back of a chair as she studied the map. Where to start?
Tentatively, she marked the location of the mall where June was found fourteen years ago. Stood back and stared, letting the map fill her mind, her gaze spiraling out from the landmark. There was a pattern—no matter how desperate subjects were to make their movements appear random, there was always a pattern.
She added the location where Oshiro had arrested Green Elephant Man that night, before they knew he had anything to do with June. Then also added his home in a town another thirty miles away. The three points created a vector—the approach Green Elephant Man would have taken from his home to pick up June at the mall. A total of almost fifty miles from point to point.
But it wasn’t Green Elephant Man she was interested in. It was Daddy.
Her meal heated through, she paced around the table, looking at the map from all angles. Funny how her ankle didn’t bother her as much, not now that she had something to focus on. She ate right out of the tray—Coletta would not have approved, not at all.
Lucy finished eating and had to stop herself before putting the aluminum foil and tray into the dishwasher. No one left to use them again. She crumpled them and tossed them into the trash.
Turning back to the map, she used the string to draw an arc with a highlighter, about fifty miles away from the
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