“It’s okay,” Wilson said. “Kass and I will make sure Cameron and Marty get home with the dog.” He had done his job and needed a day off.
Grant shook his hand. “Thank you. I’ll call if I’m not going to be too late and can come back.” He hugged Marty and then hurried to the SUV, drove across town to the north side, and pulled into the station, where Carter met him at the entrance.
“I take it we have an image of this guy,” Grant said.
“Yeah, we do.” He rubbed his brow. “And the FBI photo enhancement came back, and it’s a very close match. So we’re sure we have the correct person.”
“Do we have a name?” Grant asked as Carter led him to Captain Robards’s office. “Shit, I take it this is a landmine waiting to explode in my face.”
Carter shrugged, and then they went inside. The captain stood behind his desk and without a word handed Grant the stillimages from what had to be inside the historical society. Then he slid the image from the FBI across the desk. Grant lifted them and looked the images over. “They are really similar, so that’s good. We should be able to run this through the DMV database and get a match.”
“Yes. And we did.” He handed over the entry from the database.
“Okay. So why the long faces? What is it that I’m missing?” He continued looking over the information. Then he checked the images once more. “Shit….”
“Exactly. According to the database, the person in these photos died two years ago,” the captain explained.
“But he’s obviously not dead.” He looked more closely at the name. “Why is this name familiar?” he asked and searched his memory. “Bryant Gunderson….” He went still. “Holy crap. I talked to a Gunderson after we found the third little boy. Hansen Gunderson. He said that he volunteered at the school, and so did his son, Hansen Junior, but that he was out of town.”
“You think the father is in on this?” Captain Robards asked.
“I don’t know. Let me go through my notes and find the address, because we need to keep an eye on his house.” He turned to Carter. “Could you find out if Bryant has a brother named Hansen? If we know the answer to that question, we might be able to figure this whole thing out. Because that’s about the only explanation I can think of for these results.”
“I’m on it. Give me a half hour or so. I should be able to find out.” He left the office, and Grant looked across the desk.
“One thing we do know—a dead guy did not go around taking kids. And if this is a brother impersonating the other sibling, then we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“We will. But what’s going to be difficult is proving what we believe is true. Right now we have evidence that a dead person is kidnapping children. I’m going to go to the DA and the coroner’soffice, and we’re going to put together an order for a judge to sign to allow us to exhume the grave of Bryant Gunderson. That way we can find out who was buried there.”
“And I think we need to put some pressure on their father. If one of his children is taking the place of the other, then he has to know it.”
Captain Robards didn’t blink or move, and then he slowly nodded. “I agree. But we don’t know what else is going on there. I know that I would do just about anything for my son and daughter. But there are limits… there have to be, for all of us. We’re going to have a talk with Gunderson Senior, and I think you and I need to be the ones to pay him a visit. Because we need some answers before one of his sons, whichever one is actually alive, goes after another kid.”
THEIR PLANSto speak with Hansen Gunderson, Senior, were derailed when the house was dark. There was no answer to their knock. “Should we get a warrant?” Grant asked as he looked up and down the street. Most places were equally quiet, given the holiday.
“I think we’ll have to,” Captain Robards said as he stepped back, looking upward. “Let’s drive around the back and check out the house from the alley side.” They returned to the car and drove around, but the house was totally quiet, with no activity inside or in the yard. “You follow up tomorrow and keep trying to catch him at home. If we have to, we’ll stake the place out. In the meantime, I’ll work on the warrant, and we’ll go in once we have it.” He turned around. “Where’s the dog? I just noticed he isn’t here.”
“At the park. I was having a picnic with my boyfriend and his foster son.”
Captain Robards nodded. “Yes. I heard that the man who helped us find those boys had taken one of them in. And you’re dating?” He seemed curious, and as Grant started the engine, he knew that Captain Robards had a number of questions, but was probably thinking twice before asking.
Grant figured he’d put him out of his wondering. “He’s a smart guy, and I really like him and Cameron. They make me happy. Anyway, Cameron has become attached to Dexter, and I think he’s good for him. When we aren’t working, Dexter has a chance to be a real dog and play. When I got the call, I didn’t think he would be needed.”
The captain nodded. “I get it. Children work their way into your heart, and you’ll do just about anything for them. It was how it was with my kids. As soon as I held then in my arms after they were born, they had me wrapped around their little finger. Both of them. But,” he added as they headed back to the station, “Dexter is a police dog, and he’s important to the department.”
“I’m well aware of that. But he is a dog as well.” Things had suddenly grown serious, and he was wondering if he was going to be reprimanded.
“I know it was your time off. Go be with them and follow up on Gunderson tomorrow. By then I should have the warrant.” Grant dropped the captain at the station and called Marty as he pulled away.
“Are you still at the park?” Grant asked when he answered.
“Yes. The kids are having a ball. The adults are sitting around getting toasty.” It was pretty clear that Marty had been imbibing. “We’ll be here for about another hour or so.”
“Then I’m going to get a little rest.”
“Go to my place if you want. You know where the spare key is. We’ll be home pretty soon.”
For some reason, Grant always slept better at Marty’s. When he was home alone, he spent a lot of time thinking andwondering about Marty and what he was doing. He had also come to see just how much time he spent alone.
