Just One Bite by Jack Heath

Author:Jack Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Published: 2019-03-22T14:32:19+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

One door leads to death, the other to freedom.

One guard always tells the truth, the other always lies. You get one question. What do you ask?

“You think Joseph is abusing Francine?” Thistle asks.

“I think there’s a ninety percent chance that’s what’s happening,” I say. “It looked like a time-out space. Like somewhere he would put her when she disobeyed.”

Thistle glances in the rearview mirror at the shrinking house. “They could be in a consensual BDSM relationship.”

“There would have been other signs. Handcuffs in the dresser, or a paddle under the bed.”

As I talk, I’m going through sixteen fat files about the other missing men. Learning about their jobs, their families, their friends, the jobs of their family and friends... Speed-reading isn’t always good for comprehension, but it’s useful for spotting connections. It brings all the facts closer together.

So far, though, all I’ve noticed is that none are married, which makes sense, given that they all used the same dating app: nTangle.

Thistle’s voice is grim. “Do you think Shannon knows?”

“That lock looked like it had been there a long time. He knows.”

“If I were to ask the Houston PD to investigate, not much would happen. Not without more evidence. But I’ll file a report, anyway. Any sign of Shannon?”

“None,” I say. “And neither parent seemed nervous enough to be hiding a fugitive, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I would.” Thistle takes the exit off the loop back toward the FBI. “How did you know about the IVF?”

“I didn’t, really. Just a feeling. Rich couple, only one child. Did you see the size of that AC? It looked about Shannon’s age, and hot flashes are a common side effect of IVF. Plus, Francine was moving like she’d had abdominal pain in the past. Although now I’m thinking Joseph may be hitting her.”

“Well, you rattled him, that’s for sure,” Thistle says. “Did it piss you off, what he said about adoption?”

“No,” I say. “That’s ancient history.”

She knows what I mean. “Not for me. I remember getting all dressed up whenever couples came to visit. It was like the world’s worst job interview. And you’d meet them, and you’d think it was going really well and that they liked you. You’d start thinking of them as Mom and Dad. Then you never hear from them again. You wonder what you did wrong, and that makes you self-conscious with the next couple... I wanted a mom and a dad so badly. But the Luxfords would spend tens of thousands of dollars rather than risk ‘raising someone else’s kid.’ It pissed me off.”

For a moment, the only sound is the humming of tires on blacktop.

“Sorry,” Thistle says. “I know no one picked you.”

I look out the window. “It’s okay. It might have been easier for me, in a way. I could always tell the couples didn’t like me, so I wasn’t left wondering if they’d be back.”

“Scary Timmy?” Thistle says.

The nickname takes me right back to the playground. “Right. Scary Timmy.”

“For what it’s worth, I think it was their loss,” Thistle says.

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