“Do you think the police aren’t on top of it? Because I might be able to make some calls through the U.S. attorney’s office and push things along on that front.”
“I think they’re on top of it. I mean, I guess. There is this Detective Wilson, who seems okay. But if you could double-check, that would be good. I can’t sit around and wait for them to find something, though. I think this dating thing … It’s—it doesn’t seem like her.”
“For the record, I was the one who encouraged her to do that,” Lauren admits. “I wanted her to realize how great she is.”
I make a face and gesture at the computer. “Again, have you seen these people?”
Lauren grimaces. “I’m not saying it was my best idea. Anyway, I really don’t think what happened has to do with anyone she dated online. As far as I know, she stopped talking to all of themafter she met this guy Doug, whom she really liked. She met him through work. She had been seeing a lot of him lately …”
“And?”
She sighs. “He was killed in a car accident. They’d only known each other a few weeks, but I felt bad for your mom. She was starting to really have feelings for him. And he had a daughter your age.”
“That’s terrible,” I say.
“It was. And for your mom, especially after everything she’s been through.”
“Was it reallythatbad?”
She nods. “Worse. Did she tell you about her parents?”
“She said they left when she was a kid; that’s it. And that she didn’t know where they went.”
“They left her. Four years old. They locked her in the house with some water and a loaf of bread. The mailman found her days later.”
“That’s—that’s terrible,” I say again, and I feel like an idiot.
“Extra hard to be a mom when your own mom did that,” Lauren says quietly.
I put a hand on my hot neck. “Yeah. Why didn’t she tell me?”
“I think maybe she didn’t want the bad things that had happened to her to become part of your story. She wanted you to have a ‘normal’ mom—whatever that means. A good childhood.” Lauren leans back and crosses her arms. “So, what is your dad saying?”
“You talked to him. What did he say to you?”
“I didn’t talk to him.” Lauren shakes her head. “Detective Wilson called me. Your dad must have given her my information, but he never called me himself.”
“Oh, I thought … I must have misunderstood.” But I didn’t. My dad lied about talking to Lauren.
“But he told you about the separation?” she asks.
I nod. “He said, ‘No one did anything wrong. We can’t be married anymore. But it’s all fine and good.’ Even though none of it makes any sense.”
Lauren studies her hands. “Well … your dad—” she starts.
“What about him?”
Lauren looks up at me like I know full well what she means. “Listen, you know there’s no love lost between us. Is he being … helpful?”
“I think so, yes,” I say quickly. I know how Lauren feels about my dad. And I’m not feeling great about him right now, either. “I mean, he’s not so good with … executing.”
Lauren smiles ruefully. “That’s one way of putting it …” She’s quiet again, traces a line in the couch with her fingernail.
“What?”
“No, nothing.”
“Lauren, I can tell there’s something else.”
