forty-year-old men trying to act cool in front of a bunch of college girls. But not my father. He was by far the best behaved.”
“That’s because you were around,” Ike said.
“I suppose.”
“How about a pit stop, Ike?” Theo said, pointing to a busy exit ahead.
“Sure. I need some more coffee.”
“Where are we going when we get to Strattenburg?” April asked.
“Where do you want to go?” Ike asked.
“I’m not sure I want to go to my house,” she said.
“Let’s go to Theo’s. His mother is trying to find your mother. I suspect she’ll be there, and she’ll be thrilled to see you.”
Chapter 21
There were some additional cars in the Boone driveway when Ike rolled up at ten minutes after 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. His old Spitfire was right where he’d left it. Beside it was a black sedan, very official looking. And behind the Spitfire was the strangest car in town—a bright-yellow hearse once owned by a funeral home but now the property of May Finnemore.
“She’s here,” April said. Neither Ike nor Theo could tell if this pleased her or not.
It was still dark when they parked. Judge leaped from the vehicle and ran to the holly bushes beside the porch, his favorite place to relieve himself. The front door flew open, and May Finnemore came sprinting out, already crying and reaching for her daughter. They embraced in the front yard for a long time, and as they did so, Ike, Theo, and Judge eased inside. Theo got hugged by his mother, then said hello to Detective Slater, who’d obviously been invited to join the party. After all the greetings and congratulations, Theo asked his mother, “Where did you find Mrs. Finnemore?”
“She was at a neighbor’s house,” Detective Slater said. “I knew about it. She’s been too afraid to stay at home.”
What about leaving April home alone, Theo almost blurted.
“Any word from Tom Finnemore?” Ike asked. “We left in a hurry and did not leave a note.”
“Nothing,” replied the detective.
“No surprise there.”
“You must be exhausted,” Mrs. Boone said.
Ike smiled and said, “Well, as a matter of fact, the answer is yes. And quite hungry. Theo and I have just spent the past fourteen hours on the road, with little to eat and no sleep, at least for me. Theo and April managed to nap a bit. The dog, though, slept for hours. What’s for breakfast?”
“Everything,” Mrs. Boone said.
“How’d you find her, Theo?” Mr. Boone asked, unable to conceal his pride.
“It’s a long story, Dad, and I gotta use the restroom first.” Theo disappeared and the front door opened. Mrs. Finnemore and April entered, both in tears, both smiling. Mrs. Boone could not restrain herself and gave April a long hug. “We’re so happy you’re back,” she said.
Detective Slater introduced himself to April, who was exhausted and unsettled and a little embarrassed by all the attention. “It’s great to see you, kid,” Slater said.
“Thank you,” April said softly.
“Look, we can talk later,” the detective said as he faced Mrs. Finnemore. “But I need to spend about five minutes with her right now.”
“Can’t this wait?” demanded Mrs. Boone, taking a step closer to April.
“Of course it can, Mrs. Boone. Except for one small matter that I need to explore now. After that, I’ll get out of here and leave you alone.”
“No one is asking you to leave, Detective,” Mr. Boone said.
“I understand. Just give me five minutes.”
Theo returned, and the Boones left the den and headed for the kitchen, where the thick smell of sausage hung in the air. Mrs. Finnemore and April sat on the sofa and the detective pulled a chair close.
He spoke in a low voice. “April, we’re thrilled that you’re back home, safe and sound. We’re looking at the possibility of kidnapping charges. I’ve discussed it with your mother, and I need to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Okay,” she said timidly.
“First, when you left with your father, did you agree to do so? Did he force you to leave?”
April looked confused. She glanced at her mother, but her mother was staring at her boots.
Slater continued: “Kidnapping requires evidence that the victim was forced to leave against her will.”
April slowly shook her head and said, “I was not forced to leave. I wanted to leave. I was very frightened.”
Slater took a deep breath and looked at May, who was still avoiding all eye contact. “All right,” he said. “The second question—Were you held against your will? Did you want to leave at any time, but were told you could not do so? With kidnapping, there are rare cases where a victim went away without objection, without force, sort of voluntarily, but then as time passed the victim changed her mind and wanted to go home. But her captor refused. At that point, it became a kidnapping. Is this what happened?”
April crossed her arms over her chest, gritted her teeth, and said, “No. That did not happen to me. My father was lying the whole time. He convinced me that he was in contact with my mother, that things were all right here, and that we would come home. Eventually. He never said when, but it would not be long. I never thought about running away, but I certainly could have. I wasn’t guarded or locked up.”
Another deep breath by the detective as his case continued to slip away. “One last question,” he said. “Were you harmed in any way?”
“By my father? No. He might be a liar and a creep and a lousy father, but he would never harm me, nor would he let anyone else. I never felt threatened. I felt alone, and scared and confused, but that’s not unusual for me even here in Strattenburg.”
“April,” Mrs. Finnemore said softly.
Detective Slater stood and said, “This will not be a criminal matter. It should be dealt with in the civil courts.” He walked into the kitchen, thanked all the Boones there, and left. After he was gone, April and her mother joined the Boones around the kitchen table for a hearty breakfast of sausage, pancakes, and scrambled eggs. After the plates were served, the food properly blessed, and everyone had taken a bite or two, Ike said, “Slater couldn’t wait to get out of here because he’s too embarrassed. The police spent four days playing games with Leeper, and Theo solved the case in about two hours.”
“How’d you do it, Theo?” his father demanded. “And I want the details.”
“Let’s hear it,” his mother piped in.
Theo swallowed some eggs and looked around the table. Everyone was looking at him. He smiled, at first a nasty little grin, then a full-blown, ear-to-ear blast of orthodontic metal that was instantly contagious. April, already beyond braces, flashed a beautiful smile.
Unable to suppress it, Theo started laughing.
Detective Slater drove straight to the jail where he met Detective Capshaw. Together they waited in a small holding room while Jack Leeper was startled from his sleep, handcuffed, and practically dragged down the hall in his orange jumpsuit and orange rubber shower shoes. Two deputies hauled him into the holding room and sat him down in a metal chair. The handcuffs were not removed.
Leeper, his eyes still swollen and his face unshaven, looked at Slater and Capshaw and said, “Good morning. You boys are up mighty early.”
“Where’s the girl, Leeper?” Slater growled.
“Well, well, so you’re back. You boys ready to make a deal this time?”
“Yep. We got a deal, a really good deal for you, Leeper. But first you gotta tell us how far away the girl is. Just give us some idea. Five miles, fifty, five hundred?”
Leeper smiled at this. He rubbed his beard on his sleeve, grinned, and said, “She’s about a hundred miles away.”
Slater and Capshaw laughed.
“I say something funny?”
“You’re such a lying scumbag, Leeper,” Slater said. “I guess you’ll lie all the way to your grave.”
Capshaw took a step forward
and said, “The girl’s home with her momma, Leeper. Seems she took off with her father and spent a few days on the run. Now she’s back, safe and sound. Thank God she never met you.”
“You want a deal, Leeper?” Slater said. “Here’s your deal. We’re dropping all charges here, and we’re gonna speed up your shipment back to California. We’ve talked to the authorities there and they’ve got a special place for you, as an escapee. Maximum security. You’ll never see daylight.”
Leeper’s mouth opened but no words came out.
Slater said to the deputies, “Take him back.” Then he and Capshaw left the room.
At 9:00 a.m., Sunday morning, the Strattenburg Police Department issued a statement to the press. It read: “At approximately six o’clock this morning, April Finnemore returned to Strattenburg and was reunited with her mother. She is safe, healthy, in good spirits, and was not harmed in any way. We are continuing our investigation into this matter and will interrogate her father, Tom Finnemore, as soon as possible.”