'You knew about Daniel's kidnapping. You knew it was going to happen. You knew he would be taken. And you probably told them when they could do it. Know that
I know. Because you'll have to live with that. Live with everyone knowing what you did.'
Her mouth fell open. She stared at me, shaking her head, openmouthed.
'No,' she said. 'My Danny, I didn't-'
'Shelly,' I said. 'You've been lying too long. I know why you did it. I know you met Raymond Benjamin.'
Shelly just sat there, her lower lip trembling.
'When I spoke to Danny, you even brought him a tray of food. Vegetables that would help replenish the thiamine levels that were so low in his brain. Food high in vitamin
B1. Did Petrovsky tell you to do that?'
Shelly sat there, stone silent.
'Did he come to your house? Raymond Benjamin.'
She continued to stare, then a tear streaked down her cheek as she nodded.
'Yes,' she said.
'What did he say?'
'He told me,' Shelly said, sucking in air and wiping her face, 'that this town was tearing itself apart. That he'd grown up here, and there were only two options for boys
Danny and James's age. Prison or the grave. Raymond said he'd been to prison, but that's only because he got caught.'
'And he offered you a deal,' I said. 'Right? He would take Danny away for a few years. He would be gone, but he would be safe. And by doing that you would give your children a chance to grow up in a neighborhood where they'd be safe. Where they could make something of themselves.'
Shelly nodded. Then she stood up. Went over to the mantel, and took down a framed photograph. She handed it to me.
It was an odd picture. I'd noticed it during my interview with Daniel. And now I thought about the photo I found in Robert Reed's wallet and it all made sense.
The photo was of Shelly's younger son, James. The shot had been taken from about five feet behind him. He was wearing a knapsack, baggy jeans. He was unaware of the photographer.
I turned the frame over and removed the knobs that held it in place. When the backing came off, the back of the photo was visible. One word was printed on it.
Remember.
'Raymond Benjamin gave that photo to me,' she said.
'He told me he'd taken it himself. He said if he could get that close to James, others could, too. People who meant him more harm than he did. He said it was a fair trade. A few years of Daniel's life would guarantee the safety of my whole family forever. Daniel would, in a way, be a hero. I never understood how my son could be a hero giving his life for a cause he didn't understand or even know about. I just wanted to believe in some way he was doing it for the future of James and Tasha. And he said that anytime I began to doubt myself or what I'd done, to look at that photo and remember what could happen to the rest of my family.'
'What did you do, Shelly?' I asked.
Shelly began to weep. She held her head in her hands.
I felt a modicum of remorse for this woman, but it soon went away.
'I told Benjamin the route Danny took to get home from practice,' she said. 'Six-thirty every night. I made him promise not to hurt my baby. He told me he wouldn't.'
'What else did Benjamin say?'
'He promised me a family would take care of him.
They knew about his diabetes and they would care for him,' Shelly said through bloodshot eyes. 'And I believed him. At least I wanted to. I needed to know my babies could grow up and lead full lives. I've seen what this town can do to people. I wanted my sons to have something better.'
'Is that what Danny has now?' I asked. 'Something better?'
'I don't know,' she said. 'But if he can get out of here and ends up in a safe office, making money, starting a family instead of rotting behind bars or in the dirt, then yes.
He has something better. I know you can't possibly understand that, Henry. Wanting your child to not just survive but live a life. Maybe one day you will. But you can't right now.'
'No,' I said. 'I can't.'
45
I woke up the next morning, pleasantly surprised that sleep had come so easily. I think it was more due to the complete lack of energy in every one of my muscles, the utter exhaustion I felt, than any sort of blissful conscience.
As soon as we returned from the Linwood residence,
I'd gone straight to the Gazette to write up my story.
Amanda had given me a long, deep hug, and for the first time since we'd started speaking again, a hug was all I wanted.
The story was difficult to write. That so many people had been so deceitful, purposefully putting so many lives at risk, it was hard to fathom how any of them could have felt they were doing the right thing. I heard over the wire that the police had apprehended Robert and Elaine Reed in a suburb just outside Chicago. Caroline Twomey was in the process of being returned to her family. The police had reopened the kidnappings of both Danny Linwood and
Michelle Oliveira. They still didn't know who kidnapped them, and they believed Gray Talbot had inoculated himself from that knowledge. It was Ray Benjamin who was the button man. And Gray had killed him to seal off the investigation. There was a chance those families who
held the children would never be found, never be prosecuted. We got lucky with Daniel Linwood.
The Reeds were found at a hotel outside Chicago.
They'd driven halfway across the country after fleeing
Harrisburg. The manager became suspicious when all of the family's credit cards were declined, and Elaine Reed attempted to use an expired driver's license as identification.
They claimed, like Shelly Linwood, that they were doing it to protect their son, Patrick. That Benjamin had threatened them, as well. And now Patrick would likely spend most of his childhood in foster care, and his parents would have to deal with the legal ramifications of what they'd done.
The children's lives would go on. But they would never be the same.
It's always the innocent who are forced to suffer.
Like Shelly said, maybe in a few years I would understand. When I had a family of my own, children I would do anything to protect, maybe that kind of sacrifice would feel justified.
But not right now.
I looked forward to seeing the paper, so when I rolled out of bed the first thing I did was go to the front door to get my morning delivery.
My neighbor down the hall, the lovely Ms. Berry, all eighty nightgowned years of her, must have been thrilled to see me standing there topless in my boxers. I waved hello. She retreated back inside. Maybe she wasn't so thrilled.
I took the paper inside, laid it on the table and read.
When I was through, my emotions were mixed. I was happy with the story, but not the outcome. All I could say is that Gray Talbot's operation would be shut down, and the man would certainly spend years behind bars.
Caroline Twomey was returned to her family. It remained to be seen what would happen to her parents. I assumed they were accessories, like the Linwoods. And it was only a matter of time before the Oliveira case was reopened, as well.
So many lives shattered by greed and fear. And I still wasn't quite sure who the villains were.
