Vanishing Act: Mystery at the U. S. Open by John Feinstein

Author:John Feinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780375849251
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2008-04-08T04:00:00+00:00

They walked back outside onto the plaza and through the big midday crowd to the food court.

“You get a table,” Stevie said. “I’ll get a hamburger. Then I’ll fill you in.”

“Get me…”

“I know, a bottle of water.”

“Actually, I think it’s time I try one of those hamburgers,” she said. “Get me one too.” She started to pull money out of her skirt pocket but Stevie waved her off. “It’s on me.”

He walked up to the counter, thinking, Because it might be the last time you ever eat with me.

She had found a table right on the edge of the food court. He put the food down, then took a swig of the water he had bought and a deep breath. “Okay, I might as well just tell you everything from the beginning,” he said. “If you hate me, you hate me.”

“I won’t hate you,” she said. “I might disagree with you, but I won’t hate you. Just tell me what the heck’s going on.”

He started from the beginning, going from accidentally overhearing her uncle’s arrival in the apartment right through their hostile conversation in the Grandstand court. She was pale when he finished. He imagined he was too. She took several bites of her hamburger, causing Stevie to think she might just finish eating, get up, and walk away from him forever. Melodramatic, he thought, but entirely possible.

Finally, she took a sip of her water and shook her head. “Look, Stevie, I don’t blame you for being suspicious of my uncle after what you heard,” she said, sending a wave of relief through him. “But I can also kind of understand why he lied to me. I’m not saying it was right or that I’m not upset about it. But it does make sense that he was worried about the secret getting out before he has a signed contract. He is new at this.”

“Then why do you think he blew up at me like that?” he asked.

“Well, you did call him a liar.”

“Because he lied,” Stevie said, getting a little bit defensive.

“And he tried to explain why. Then, in return, you called him a kidnapper.”

She had a point. Maybe he had gone too far. “Okay, maybe I came on a little strong. But let me ask you this: if he wasn’t your uncle and you didn’t love him, would you feel any differently, given the facts, than I do? Wouldn’t it at least cross your mind he might be involved—especially when someone you know to be honest gets caught in a flat-out lie?”

Again, she took a while to answer. “Maybe,” she said. “Okay, yes, I would wonder. But I do know him. And I know he would never do anything like that. I’ve known him all my life.”

“Have you ever known him to lie before?”

She sighed. “No.”

They were both silent for a moment. Then she smiled—something he hadn’t seen very often in the last twenty-four hours. “Do me one favor,” she said. “Don’t be upset with me for defending someone I love.

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