Marty ran his hand over Grant’s cheek. “I understand exactly what you’re saying. There are times when having the chance to be alone would be nice.”
“But not yet,” Grant said gently and patted his hand. “We’ll figure it out.”
Marty hummed as he drew nearer and closed his eyes, letting fatigue and exhaustion carry him to sleep.
“WHERE AREOfficer Grant and Dexter?” Cameron asked the following morning at the breakfast table. Thankfully it wasFriday and Cameron had only a few days of school left after the holiday weekend. Marty had been trying to think of something special they could do on Memorial Day and thought a picnic in the park would be fun.
“They had to go to work, just like you have to go to school,” he said.
“No. The bad man will take me.” Cameron got down from his chair and raced out of the room. Marty should have been prepared for this, but it still took him by surprise.
Marty followed him and scooped Cameron up as he tried to hide under the coffee table. “You have to go to school. It’s Friday, and they are doing fun things today. You don’t want to miss out. They are having special games and races with prizes, and I’ll be there to watch you.”
“But what if the bad man comes?” Cameron asked.
“Then I’ll be there to protect you. Now, you need to finish eating and then get your bag for school. I’m going to take you, and I’ll be there to pick you up.” He hugged Cameron tightly. “And remember, if you see the bad man, then you tell the teacher right away, and you tell her to call me. I promise I will get there as fast as I can.”
“You promise?” Cameron asked, his big blue eyes filled with worry that Marty wished wasn’t there.
“I do. Now have your breakfast, and then you can go to school like the brave boy you are.” He kept telling himself that there were just a few more days of school left and then maybe things would change for Cameron. But he just didn’t know.
Chapter 15
CAMERON’S GOOD-BYEat school was much longer than usual, but Marty finally got him inside and to his classroom. Marty returned home and checked that his clients weren’t having issues before heading to the historical society. He wanted to do some research on the town, and maybe see if he could pick up on something that Grant might have missed. After signing in, he continued to the library and requested a couple of books that had been put together about various houses in town.
Sharon approached as he was just sitting down. “Did your friend get what he needed?”
“I don’t know. But can I ask, you don’t check ID on anyone, do you?”
Sharon shook her head. “We’re a historical society open to all, not a top-secret repository of a nuclear arsenal.” She smiled, and Marty realized that if he were doing research to support activities he didn’t want discovered, he sure wouldn’t use his real name.
“I get that.” He thought for a few minutes. “Look, is it possible to tell me who else took out some library materials?”
She nodded slowly, skeptical. “Yes, I probably could, but I don’t think that’s something that I should do. How would our other patrons feel if they could have their information given to anyone?”
“I get it. And I’m not asking you to give me anything. But I have an idea.”
“Can I help you with something else?” she asked.
“Yes, you can. I got some information on my own home, and I was interested in looking at it once more. I also need information on this building on Bedford and this home on Ridge Street. Specifically if there are plans on file for those buildings?” He smiled, and she went in search of what he needed. She came back with the book Marty had looked at before as well as a large folio that contained architectural plans. “Thank you so much. Do you have plan books like this for all of the borough?”
“Not all of it. But a lot of the firms that were building homes and businesses in the late nineteenth century donated their plans to the society. There were also a number of architects who lived in town, and they donated their plans. So we probably have sixty to seventy percent of the plans for the core of the town.”
“That is awesome. Thank you.” He opened the folio and easily found his own home, which included an elevation for the cistern system, including the part that he’d found under his garage. It was a rainwater collection system that had been cut off years ago. He then went through the folio to find plans for the other building, and sure enough, the cistern was shown on the plans for the empty home where Bobby had been placed. Excited, he paged through the book but didn’t find anything on the old empty store. He found Sharon behind her desk and asked if there was anything else for that address.
She went in back and brought out four more books and a pair of gloves. “You’re welcome to look through these, but be very careful. Some of the pages are quite fragile. Though the plans are by section of town, it’s always possible that a mistake was made.” She set them down, and Marty went through each of the books, plan by plan. It wasn’t until he went through the fourth book that he found it. The mistake had been listing it as North instead of South Bedford. And sure enough, the plans showed ending the basement and walling it off because of the elevation of the bedrock, then using that rock as the basis forthe rest of the foundation. Shit, it was all here, everything that man had needed to hide Bobby and Cameron. Every bit of information was in these books.
Marty closed the covers and set the books aside, then made a call to Grant. “I think I found something,” he said softly. “And you need to see it. I’m at the historical society, and I may have found a way for you to find this guy. I have an hour, and then I have to go to Cameron’s school for field day. But I think I figured something out.”
“Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He ended the call, and Sharon returned to ask if he was finished with the books. “No. Look at this,” he told her and pulled out a seat. “See this here?” He opened the first book and showed her the plans. “The cistern in this house is where someone hid a little boy. And here, behind this wall is where they found my foster son, Cameron, a couple of days later. My theory is that someone has been doing research using these plans to find these places.”
Sharon put a hand over her mouth.
“I suspect that whoever was doing this research did it over the past few months.”
“These aren’t taken out all that often because they are so fragile.” She paused. “Louise, Kayla,” she called quietly, and two other ladies came over. “Do you remember anyone asking for or reviewing these sets of plans?”
“I haven’t gotten them for anyone in months,” Kayla said. “How about you?”
