Gone

CHAPTER 29

Mary Catherine came into my room with a stack of laundry as I was packing.

“Don’t tell me. The kids called me a cab,” I said as she laid my underwear down on the bed, next to my carry-on.

“Please, Mike. Those kids love you more than life. You know that,” Mary Catherine said. “They’re just frazzled. The one thing in life kids crave is stability, and it’s been about as stable as a house of cards in a wind tunnel lately. Plus, they know how good you are at what you do. They don’t have a single doubt that you’ll be able to find Perrine.”

“Oh, sure,” I said, tucking my shaving kit into a zippered compartment. “I’ll be back by dinner. Don’t forget to leave the porch light on.”

“Well, before you go, I have something to show you,” Mary Catherine said, reaching into the back pocket of her jeans.

When she opened her fist, I saw what looked like a tiny white pebble in the palm of her hand. I grinned. It was a baby tooth.

“Shawna’s eyetooth!” I said, smiling as I held it to the light like a jeweler with a gem. “It finally wiggled free, huh?”

“With a lot of wiggle help from Shawna,” Mary Catherine said, smiling back at me.

“Quick,” I said, opening the closet door. “To the fairy box.”

From the top shelf, I took down a small box. It was an old, plastic Macy’s jewelry box that my wife, Maeve, had painted over with white and gold, with generous amounts of glitter. On its lid was a dainty, smiling fairy with elaborately swirling butterfly wings. I smiled at it. It was just a few strokes, but Maeve had been an artist, in addition to so many other things.

I handed it to Mary Catherine, who held it open as I placed the tiny tooth on the little white silk pillow inside it.

“Make sure she sees it before she puts it under her pillow,” I said. “And don’t try to do the switcheroo until after midnight. You know what an unbelievable skeptic that kid is!”

“Aye, aye, Detective Tooth Fairy,” Mary Catherine said, laughing as she looked at me.

Our eyes met. Mary Catherine and I had gotten closer and closer after she’d become part of our family. But right before we went into hiding, we’d gotten into a huge fight, and that had made things pretty tense. In fact, ever since we’d landed in California, she’d been all business, had kept things strictly professional.

But for a second, as we stood there, looking at each other over the jewelry box, we were suddenly back the way we used to be. It felt good. Better than good. Like suddenly finding something you’d thought you’d lost forever.

“You know,” I said, staring at her, “I don’t have to go, Mary Catherine. I really don’t.”

“Oh, yes, you do, Michael Bennett,” Mary Catherine said, closing the jewelry box shut with a loud snap before leaving the room.