“I get it. I have the same thing going on. But we’re on our own with this. It’s not safe to go talking to people—not until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“We’re innocent, Joe. You and I both know that.”
“Yeah, but others may not.”
“A nine-year-old can’t be held responsible for anything, especially when we didn’t do anything.”
“Bryce, you know the kind of people we’re dealing with. They don’t play by the rules, and they have acce
ss to loads of cash. Not a great combination.”
“I know. It’s just—”
“I get it. Believe me. I do. But the Spider is on it. He should have something soon, especially now that we have a last name. He can get an address.”
“In the meantime, do you have any old school photos? Maybe we can find someone who remembers Justin.”
“Anything we have would be in the crawl space of the main house. That’s where we found my mother’s and Marj’s original birth certificates, the ones that had been tampered with. But seriously, if we don’t remember Justin, who else would? He wasn’t overly memorable.”
“I don’t know. It’s like he just fell off the face of the earth. No one ever mentioned him again.”
“I know. It’s suspicious.” He rubbed his chin. “When did the kids start going missing?”
“Good question.”
“I have a file of news clippings about the disappearances. I’ll find it, but Bryce, it might be hard for you to look at. I mean, there’s one about…”
“Luke,” I said quietly.
My cousin and I hadn’t been close. He was a small kid, about three years my junior. I was the strong and athletic type. Luke? He was good prey.
Just like Justin Valente had been.
My fucking father. Luke had been his nephew! Nephew by marriage, but still.
Guilt pummeled me like pounding fists. Tom Simpson had left me alone. He’d been a good father. He’d taught me everything.
Everything.
I cleared my throat. “I can’t hide from the past, Joe, any more than you can. We need to look at those clippings. My mom says she has my old school photos in an album somewhere. I’m sure it’s in one of the million boxes that were brought over from the old house. I guess I’ll get looking.”
“I will too. Marj and Jade looked through some of the boxes in the crawl space already. Jade probably won’t be up for it, but Marj can help me look for old school pics.”
“What will you tell her?”
“That I’m looking for old school pictures. Maybe we have a reunion coming up or something.”
“Our twentieth,” I said. “Good ruse. Except that neither of us has ever had any interest in class reunions before now.”
“True, and I wouldn’t be the planning type. Maybe the committee is looking for old pictures, and someone contacted me because they…need funding.”
I nodded. “That makes sense. It still doesn’t explain the need for old photos, though.”
“I won’t bring Marj into it, then. I just thought she could help since she’s looked through all those boxes before. She might be able to tell me where to look.”
“Best keep her out of it,” I said, wishing it weren’t so.
“You’re right, except for one thing.”