Cottage on Gooseberry Bay: Charmed Summer by Kathi Daley (fb2 epub reader .TXT) 📕

“And Kalen’s dirt bike?” I asked.

“It was parked at that lot across from the marina. Todd had it impounded.”

“And Todd didn’t find friends of any of the boys who might have seen them?” Josie asked.

“No. Zane and Kalen left home on a weekend of their own free will and presumably headed out to meet up with friends, but never did. Deputy Todd sees their disappearance as differing from Trevor’s since Trevor hadn’t been heading out but heading home when he went missing. At one point, Deputy Todd thought that maybe Zane and Kalen had simply gone off somewhere together.”

“Are Zane and Kalen friends?” I asked. I’d asked Jemma this before but figured it would be good to get a different perspective.

“Not really,” Parker answered. “At least not anymore. Zane is a jock. He plays all the sports and is super popular, so he tends to hang out with the popular crowd. Kalen used to be athletic, but after his parents split up, he began to cut practice in favor of hanging out with a group of kids who are into cars and street racing.”

“And Trevor?” I asked.

“I actually spoke to Trevor’s counselor today,” Parker said. “She’s a friend of mine and told me that Trevor is really smart and that his math, science, and computer skills are off the chart, although academically, he’s been struggling lately. Not because he’s unable to do the work, but because he’s basically stopped turning anything in. My friend said that, in her opinion, Trevor is having a hard time balancing his intellectual needs with his social needs.”

“So it’s unlikely the three hung out with the same crowd,” I said.

“Very unlikely,” Parker agreed.

“Given the timeline, I think we need to assume that all three boys are missing for the same reason,” I said. “They all could have been kidnapped, which I hope isn’t what is going on, but does seem possible given the fact they’re the same age.”

“What does Deputy Todd think happened?” Josie asked.

“At this point, he’s going with the kidnapping theory,” Parker said. “I guess I get that. If they have been detained by someone, then they are probably in real danger, and finding them is critical, so that’s where he’s focusing his attention at the moment.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” I asked.

Parker frowned. “I’m not sure. I guess it wouldn’t hurt if we poked around a bit. Maybe even talked to some of the boy’s friends. If they did take off, it’s possible that the boy’s friends lied when they were interviewed by the police.” Parker got up to take a call. “Let me poke around a bit, and I’ll let the three of you know if there’s something you can do.”

Apparently, one of Parker’s confidential informants had something for her, so she left to meet up with her CI and then head home. After she left, Jemma, Josie, and I grilled our steaks. Once we’d eaten, we sat down to compare the list of runners Jemma had previously pulled up with the list of reading champions Kendra had emailed to me.

“There are seven names that overlap the two lists,” Jemma said. “I recognize two of the seven. Both Heidi Vargas and Olive Brown live in town. I guess we can start by talking to them. Even if the bracelet doesn’t belong to either of them, they may recognize it.”

“Do you have their phone numbers?” I asked.

“I can get them. I’ll try to get contact information for the five names I don’t recognize as well. Do you want to meet up in the morning to go over things?”

“I do,” I answered.

“I’m afraid I have to work,” Josie said. “I have an early shift, so I’ll get off early. If there’s anything interesting going on, I can jump in then.”

“What time should I come over?” I asked Jemma.

“Actually, maybe mid-morning. I really should check in with work first thing.”

“Is ten-thirty okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Jemma agreed.

After I got back to my cottage, I called my client with an update. She was thrilled with the progress I’d already made. She’d spent the day walking up and down the boardwalk, showing the bracelet to vendors who worked the area, but so far, she hadn’t found anyone who remembered someone from twenty-five years ago wearing anything like it.

It wasn’t surprising no one remembered anything. There were a few cart vendors who’d been around back then, but by and large, the group of men and women who worked the boardwalk tended to have a large turnover. The work was physical, for one thing. Since you couldn’t simply lock up your wares at the end of each day, the inventory displayed had to be packed up each night and then brought out again each morning. It was a cycle that most folks tired of after a few years, hence the turnover.

After I’d washed up and put on my pajamas, I opened one of the boxes that Warren had sent me and began to sort through it. Looking at the old photos and mementos was emotionally draining, but it was helping me to get to know the couple who’d bore me. My father had a crooked smile and tended to wear the most out-of-date argyle sweaters I’d ever seen. I really had no idea what was in style in Italy during the nineties, but they were definitely out of date here in the States now.

My mother was beautiful, petite, and blond. She had a soft smile in comparison to my father’s wide grin. She tended to prefer stylish yet conservative clothes. I supposed that made sense given her position in society, but hadn’t the woman owned a single pair of blue jeans?

The longer I looked at the photos, the more the couple, who at one point