won’t face additional charges.”
Leeper grinned at Ms. Knox but said nothing.
She continued, “This is assuming, of course, that you’re not playing games. I suspect that you are. So does the judge. So do the police.”
“Then all of you will be sorry,” Leeper said. “I’m giving you the chance to save her life. As for me, I’m sure I’ll die in prison.”
“Not necessarily,” Ms. Knox fired back. “You give us the girl, safe and sound, and we’ll recommend a twenty-year sentence on the kidnapping charge. You can serve your time here.”
“What about California?”
“We can’t control what they do in California.”
Leeper kept grinning, as if he was enjoying the moment. Finally, he said, “As you say, no deal.”
Chapter 15
The Boone family breakfast on Saturday morning was rather tense. As usual, Theo and Judge dined on Cheerios-orange juice for Theo but not for Judge-while Woods Boone ate a bagel and read the sports page. Marcella sipped coffee and scanned her laptop for news around the world. Not much was said, at least not for the first twenty minutes. The remains of other conversations were still hanging in the air, and a disagreement might flare up at any moment.
The tension had several causes. First, and most obvious, was the general gloominess that had afflicted the family since about 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when they were awakened by the police and asked to hurry over to the Finnemore home. As the days passed without April, the mood had only darkened. There were efforts, especially by Mr. and Mrs. Boone, to smile and be upbeat, but all three knew these were futile. Second, but less important, was the fact that Theo and his father would not play their weekly nine holes of golf. They teed off almost every Saturday at 9:00 a.m., and it was the highlight of the week.
The golf was being cancelled because of the third reason for the tension. Mr. and Mrs. Boone were leaving town for twenty-four hours, and Theo insisted he be allowed to stay by himself. It was a fight they’d had before, and Theo had lost before, and he was losing again. He had carefully explained that he knew how to lock all the doors and windows; arm the alarm system; call the neighbors and 911, if necessary; sleep with a chair wedged under his door; sleep with Judge by his side ready to attack, and sleep with a seven-iron golf club in his grip, if necessary. He was thoroughly and completely safe and he resented being treated like a child. He refused to stay with a babysitter when his parents went out for dinner or the movies, and he was furious that they refused to leave him on this little overnight trip of theirs.
His parents wouldn’t budge. He was only thirteen and that was too young to be left alone. Theo had already started the negotiating, even pestering, and the door was open to serious discussion on the issue when he was fourteen. But for now, Theo needed the supervision and protection. His mother had arranged for him to spend the night with Chase Whipple, which would have been okay under normal circumstances. However, as Chase had explained, his own parents were going out for dinner Saturday night and leaving the two boys to be watched by Chase’s older sister, Daphne, a truly dislikable girl of sixteen who was always at home because she had no social life and therefore felt compelled to flirt with Theo. He had suffered through such a sleepover not three months earlier when his parents were in Chicago for a funeral.
He had protested, griped, sulked, argued, pouted, and nothing had worked. His Saturday night was about to be spent in the basement of the Whipple home with pudgy Daphne chattering nonstop and staring at him while he and Chase tried to play video games and watch television.
Mr. and Mrs. Boone had considered cancelling their trip, in light of April’s abduction and the general sense of uneasiness in town. Their plans were to drive two hundred miles to a popular resort called Briar Springs for a few hours of fun with a bunch of lawyers from around the state. There would be afternoon seminars and speeches, then cocktails, then a long dinner with more speeches from wise old judges and dull politicians. Woods and Marcella were active in the State Bar Association and never missed the annual meeting at Briar Springs. This one was even more important because Marcella was scheduled to give a speech on recent trends in divorce law, and Woods was on tap to participate in a seminar on the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Both had prepared their remarks and were looking forward to the afternoon.
Theo assured them he would be fine, and that Strattenburg would not miss them if they left for twenty-four hours. Over dinner Friday evening, they had decided to make the trip. And they had decided that Theo would stay with the Whipple family, in spite of his vocal opposition to such a plan. Theo lost the argument, and though he conceded this to himself he still awoke on Saturday in a foul mood.
“Sorry about the golf, Theo,” Mr. Boone said without taking his eyes off the sports page.
Theo said nothing.
“We’ll catch up next Saturday by playing eighteen. Whatta you say?”
Theo grunted.
His mother closed her laptop and looked at him. “Theo, dear, we’re leaving in an hour. What are your plans for the afternoon?”
Seconds passed before Theo said, “Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just hang out here and wait for the kidnappers and murderers to show up. I’ll probably be dead by the time you get to Briar Springs.”
“Don’t get smart with your mother,” Woods said sharply, then raised the newspaper to conceal a grin.
“You’ll have a great time at the Whipples’,” she said.
“Can’t wait.”
“Now, back to my question. What are your plans for the afternoon?”
“Not sure. Chase and I might go the high school game at two, or we might go to the Paramount and watch the double feature. There’s also a hockey game.”
“And you’re not searching for April, right, Theo? We’ve had this conversation. You boys have no business riding around town playing detectives.”
Theo nodded.
His father lowered his newspaper, glared at Theo, and said, “Do we have your word, Theo? No more search parties?”
“You have my word.”
“I want a text message every two hours, beginning at eleven this morning. Do you understand?” his mother asked.
“I do.”
“And smile, Theo. Make the world a happier place.”
“I don’t want to smile right now.”
“Come on, Teddy,” she said with a smile of her own. Calling him Teddy did nothing to brighten his mood, nor did her constant reminders to “smile and make the world a happier place.” Theo’s thick braces had been stuck to his teeth for two years and he was sick of them. He could not imagine how a blazing mouth full of metal could possibly make anyone happier.
They left at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, on schedule, because they planned to arrive precisely at 1:30 p.m. Marcella’s speech was at 2:30 p.m.; Woods’s seminar was at 3:30 p.m. As busy lawyers, their lives revolved around the clock, and time could not be wasted.
Theo waited half an hour, then loaded up his backpack and took off to the office. Judge followed him. As expected, Boone amp; Boone was deserted. His parents rarely worked on Saturday, and the staff certainly did not. He unlocked the front door, disarmed the alarm system, and switched on the lights to the main library near the front of the building. Its tall windows looked onto the small front lawn, then the street. The room had the look and smell of a very important room, and Theo often did his homework there, if the lawyers and paralegals weren’t using it. He fixed Judge a bowl of water, and then unpacked his laptop and cell phone.
He’d spent a couple of hours the night before searching for Plunder. He still found it hard to believe that April would leave in the middle of the night with her father, but Ike’s theory was better than anything Theo could come up with. Besides, what else did Theo have to do over the weekend?
