No way out

Chapter Forty-eight

A crowd had gathered in the street between Ellen’s and Peggy’s houses, word of Adam’s arrest racing through the neighborhood and leading the breaking-news updates being broadcast from adjacent driveways. Reporters swarmed toward us as we left the house, cameras and microphones aimed at our faces.

Nardelli declined comment, and we followed suit, a lone woman pushing her way past them, reporters jostling her, holding her back. I recognized Jeannie Montgomery.

“Let her through!” I said, brushing them aside, making room for her.

I took her by the hand, leading her away from the reporters so we could talk without having our conversation lead the six o’clock news. Her hand was cold, the bones slipping side to side, her fingers rolling together. I eased my grip, but she tightened hers. We found a quiet spot on the side of Ellen’s house. She searched my face, still holding my hand.

“Is it true?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to my boy?”

“Adam told me it was an accident, that he didn’t mean to hurt Timmy, that things got out of hand.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No. I think it’s supposed to make him feel better.”

She nodded, my answer matching hers. “Have they found my son’s body?”

“Not yet, but they will.”

“What will happen to Adam?”

“That’s up to the court, but there’s a good chance he’ll spend the rest of his life in jail or be executed.”

“His life for my son’s. It won’t change a thing. I’d never make that trade.”

“No one would.”

She let go of my hand. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“At least I know for sure.”

“That’s something.”

“It’s all that’s left,” she said and walked away.

She was blind to the waiting cameras, deaf to the reporters’ shouted questions. The crowd of neighbors shrank from her, and she passed through them untouched as before.

Nardelli tapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s go. City doesn’t like paying me overtime.”

Peggy Martin watched us from her open front door as we climbed the long flight of stairs from her driveway, a uniformed cop peering over her shoulder. She was pacing from side to side in the doorway, clutching her body and biting her lip, her eyes wide, darting from the cop to us to the floor and back to us.

Nardelli was on point, nodding to the officer, who motioned to Peggy, leading her and the rest of us into the house. We gathered in the small living room, circling around Peggy, our reluctant, beer-soaked, scraggly-haired host. In need of a strong cup of coffee and a shower, she tottered, reaching out to Lucy, who guided her to a lumpy sofa. Kate sat next to her, and Nardelli and I stepped back, giving them room, Lucy taking the lead.

“How are you holding up?”

Peggy stared at the floor. “How do you think I’m holding up?”

“I can’t imagine. I don’t know how you get through the day.”

She raised her head. “I can’t take much more of this. I swear to God, I can’t.”

Her speech was clear, no slurring, just a drunk’s self-pity, one thing jumping out at me. She hadn’t asked whether her kids had been found, and she hadn’t asked why Adam had been arrested.

“Kate needs to ask you a few more questions. Are you up to that?”

She looked at Nardelli, stiffening as if sensing a threat. Nardelli’s face was flat, making no promises. Peggy shrugged.

“Sure. Why not?”

“Peggy, we’re doing everything we can to find Evan and Cara,” Kate said. “We may have gotten an important break, and we need your help to figure out if we’re on the right track.”

She looked at Kate, her face quivering, eyes welling. “It’s about Adam, isn’t it? About Adam and me.”

“Yes.”

She buried her face in her hands. “I am so sorry, so, so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?”

She straightened, sniffling, taking a deep breath. “I should have told the police what Adam told me about Jimmy taking the kids, but I was too afraid.”

“Of what?”

“I thought Jimmy took the kids just to push my buttons. I thought he’d bring them back in a day or two at the most. I never thought he’d hurt them. But I was scared he’d get custody of them if he found out about Adam and me.”

Nardelli interrupted, unable to hide her disbelief. “Your husband was arrested for stealing. The judge won’t let him post bail because he won’t tell us a damn thing about your kids, and you kept quiet because you were afraid he’d get custody? He’ll do two to five years on the theft charge alone. You think he was going take the kids with him?”

She winced, like she’d been slapped. “Jimmy’s the kind who gets away with everything. He got this fancy lawyer. I thought he’d get off.”

“Peggy,” Kate asked, “what if Adam was lying about having seen Jimmy?”

“Lying? Why would he lie?”

“Did Adam talk to you about any problems he was having, anything he thought you could help him with?”

“Just his mother. She drove him crazy. Why? What are you talking about? Why would Adam lie to me?” And then she understood and started to shake, terrified at what she may have done. “Oh, my God, is that why the police arrested him? Did he take my babies?”

“We don’t know,” Kate said.

“Then what did he do?”

“He molested and killed Timmy Montgomery.”

The color vanished from her face, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted before she could scream.