Missing Pieces (18 page)

Chapter 76

On Saturday Randy’s team would play
two games—assuming they won the first—so Derek and I had plenty of time to explore the nearby park.

I bought a big bag of red licorice when we got there, and within an hour I had finished the whole thing. My stomach felt like it was going to explode, so I wound up stretching out in the backseat of Randy’s truck. I left the windows down, hoping for a cool breeze.

“Randy, lover boy, get over here!” someone yelled.

“Here he comes,” someone else said. “The Red Rock Casanova.”

The first game must have been over. They were laughing and sounding happy, so they must have won. It sounded like half a dozen guys. I wondered if Leigh was with them. Didn’t sound like it.

“We’re watching the final tape tonight, Randy,” a younger voice said. “Did you make a copy of it?”

“It’s in my glove compartment,” Randy said.

“How about we watch it at your house?”

“I don’t know,” Randy said. “My brother’s a pest, and my mom and dad are home.”

“We can go to my house,” another said.

I felt even worse, and it wasn’t from the licorice. I scrunched back as far as I could and hoped they couldn’t see me.

Chapter 77

I stood behind Mom
and looked into the mirror as she put on her earrings. She was wearing a dress too. She and Sam were about to take me up on my babysitting debt. Dylan was pumped that we were going to eat pizza and watch a movie.

“Mom, remember that guy you interviewed for the murder mystery you wrote?”

She paused. “The DNA expert in St. Louis? Sure. Officer Jim Deavers.”

“Do you know if he liked the book?”

“Matter of fact, he did. I gave him credit in the front and sent him copies to pass around.”

“How long does it take to analyze DNA?”

Mom turned so fast I thought she was going to smear her lipstick. “Why? What are you up to?”

“Just investigating,” I said, retreating a step.

“Ashley, you have to be really careful with things like this. You’re not looking for a lost coin or who ate the last Twinkie. These are people’s lives. They have a right to their privacy.”

“But if Mrs. Garcia’s daughter is who I think she is, doesn’t she have rights too?”

Mom pursed her lips and sighed. “When you get older, you’ll understand that Mrs. Garcia is a troubled woman. I’ve learned some things about her.”

“Like what?”

Mom sat on the bed and ran her hand across the spread. “She’s . . . she’s . . . well, a little unpredictable. People aren’t sure if the things she says are always true. And you said yourself that she’s been in three different schools—”

“She’s been looking for her daughter.” I was insulted that Mom thought I could be fooled. But what if Mrs. Garcia
wasn’t
telling the truth? What if
she
was the one who wanted to steal a child? Maybe she was using me?

Sam knocked. He was wearing cowboy boots, a Western shirt, new jeans, and a hat the size of Oklahoma. “You look nice, hon,” he said. He looked at me. “Dylan’s counting the minutes.”

Mom put a hand on my shoulder and kissed my forehead. “Don’t forget to take your medicine tonight.”

Adults!

Chapter 78

I stayed as still as I could
and prayed the guys would leave. It was clear there was a bunch of them involved, and I wondered how the police would charge all of them. Their voices trailed off, so I thought I was in the clear.

Then the door opened. It was Derek. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I never want to see another piece of licorice in my life.”

“Wanna watch the second game? It’s for the championship.”

“Give me a few more minutes,” I said.

When Derek left, I sat up. My stomach churned and my head spun. I had to get out of the truck.

I didn’t want a repeat of a year before. At a carnival I had eaten two corn dogs slathered in mustard, then played miniature golf. Then Ashley pointed to the Tilt-A-Whirl and said she would race me. She barely beat me. We were three spins in when I remembered the corn dogs. Or, I should say, they remembered me. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

I climbed out of the truck and took a deep breath. From the diamond I could hear them announcing the starting lineups.

I moved to the front of the truck, slid in the passenger side, and popped open the glove compartment. Underneath a pile of napkins was a videotape. The same tape I had seen under Randy’s bed—the one with the smudged word
mailbox
on it.

“What’re you doing?”

I nearly lost my licorice. It was Leigh.

“Getting ready to come to the game,” I said.

“Derek said you weren’t feeling well.”

“I’m okay now,” I said. But I wasn’t. In fact I felt even sicker about the whole thing.

Like Sam said, every clue before this had been “circumstantial.” I finally had the “concrete” I’d been looking for.

Chapter 79

I doodled in the sandbox
beside Dylan while our pizza cooked. All I could think of was Mrs. Garcia and Danielle. For all I knew, she had stolen a picture of Mrs. Z’s baby. No wonder the girl looked like the computer-generated older picture.

I told Dylan I’d be right back and went in to check the pizza time. Still a few minutes to go. In the kitchen I found Mom’s day planner. I turned to her work section and looked up the phone number for Jim Deavers in St. Louis. I took the cordless phone outside so I could be with Dylan.

It took a while for Officer Deavers to come to the phone, and I apologized for bothering him at home. When he found out who I was he laughed and said it wasn’t a problem.

“I’m working on a missing person case,” I said, then felt dumb for calling it a case. I asked how long it would take to analyze hair from two different people to see if they’re related.

“The technology is improving all the time. Probably a few days.”

I took a breath. “If I sent the samples, could you look at them?”

“Not a problem,” Mr. Deavers said. “As long as your mom makes me famous in one of her next books.” The phone clicked, and he said he was getting another call.

I held on for a few minutes, then hung up. I figured I would talk with him in a few days.

Dylan pointed at the house. “Ashley, what’s that noise?”