“No, but no one has seen the family since that Friday, so we need to look at the investigation with fresh eyes and confirm all the facts.”
Jill frowned, her hands rubbing her large stomach. “Joe and Ginny are going to be so upset when they find out that Ricky is … is dead.”
Lucy glanced at Nate, then said, “We don’t know what happened to Ricky. We found the remains of his parents and sisters, but not him. That’s why it’s so important that we talk to Joe and Ginny and find out if he said anything to them, even if they didn’t think much about it at the time.”
“They’re at school,” she said.
“We can come back.”
“I need to talk to my husband first. We need to decide how we want to tell the kids about Ricky and his family.”
“We understand. We can come back about five thirty?” Lucy suggested.
“Okay, but I can’t make any promises.”
“We’re going to be in town for the rest of the day, so we’ll stop by on our way back to San Antonio.”
They got up, and Lucy motioned for Jill to continue sitting. “We’ll let ourselves out. Thank you, Mrs. Young.”
They walked to the car and Nate said, “He was probably grabbed when he got home.”
“Probably,” Lucy said.
“You don’t sound like you believe that.”
“I don’t know what to believe at this point. Ash didn’t find his body. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I want that kid to be alive.”
“So do I, Luce,” he said.
She pulled out her cell phone and called Sean. He answered on the second ring. “Hey, I’m going to be late tonight,” she said.
“How late?”
“Nate and I are still in Kerrville, and we have an interview scheduled for five thirty tonight. So I don’t see me getting home before seven thirty, maybe eight.”
“Jess and I will find something to keep us occupied.”
“Save me food.”
“Well, that’s asking quite a bit, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“You’re so funny,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Be careful out there. I love you.”
“Love you, too.” She smiled and ended the call. “We have a couple hours, I’d like to talk to Glen Albright’s principal, if she’s still there. Check on Ash at the Albright house.”
“Becky Albright’s best friend was originally interviewed, we should talk to her as well.”
As Nate drove off, Lucy had the odd feeling that she was being watched. She looked at the Young house but didn’t see anyone standing at a window. She looked over her shoulder and didn’t see anyone on the street.
“What’s wrong?” Nate asked.
“Nothing.”
“It’s something. You have that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“Concern.”
Lucy didn’t like talking about her odd sixth sense about being watched. It had started years ago, and while she controlled the panic that used to come with the sensation, it still made her feel off-center.
“Someone was watching us. I had a feeling as we left the house, and it just got stronger.”
“Maybe you’re psychic.”
“I’m not psychic,” she snapped.
“I was joking, Lucy. But I trust your gut, and if you say someone was watching us, someone was watching us.”
“A neighbor most likely.”
Lucy looked back several times, getting the sense that they were being followed, but no one followed them out of the Youngs’ neighborhood.
She wanted to believe that she was being paranoid … but that sixth sense, whatever she called it, had saved her butt more than once, so she wasn’t going to discount it.
Even if no one was around.
Chapter Four
THREE YEARS AGO
Ricky pedaled as fast as he could, but he was hot, tired, angry, and unbearably sad, all rolled into one.
He knew his parents were going to get a divorce. For months all they had done was argue. He didn’t know about what—he didn’t hear anything specific, other than that his mom had done something that made his dad really, really mad. And his dad never got mad. Even when Ricky and Joe, his best friend, broke the big picture window because they were playing baseball too close to the house. Even when Tori missed curfew for the hundredth time. So when his dad got mad, everyone would freeze because it was so … weird.
Ricky talked to his sister Becky, whom he thought of as his nice sister, when he heard their mom crying after their dad went on a walk. That was another thing—his dad didn’t just go for a walk. That meant he was thinking things through, like a complex problem or something. Becky said that it was normal to argue and they weren’t getting a divorce. They’d been married for almost twenty years. As proof she told him that she’d just the day before walked into the house after school and they were hugging in the kitchen.
He didn’t know if that was proof of anything, but it made him feel better. Until this morning when he heard his mom crying again when talking on the phone. He didn’t know who she was talking to, but she said one thing that stuck with him.
“I have to leave. I don’t a choice, I have to.”
Divorce. Just like his friend Rafi two years ago. Rafi’s parents got divorced and Rafi moved to Austin with his mom and Ricky only saw him when he visited his dad and it was weird. It wasn’t the same, and Ricky didn’t want anything to change. He didn’t want to see Joe and Ginny only a couple times a year. He didn’t want to change schools and find new friends. He didn’t want to move. He wanted everything to go back to the way it was before his mom and dad started fighting.
That morning, he’d left for school early even though he didn’t even really like school. Sure, he was good at tests and stuff, but he was bored. Joe made school fun, and if he moved he wouldn’t ever find another friend like Joe, who could make him laugh when he drew funny pictures of Vice Principal Jenkins or the biggest bully in the school, Monica Brazzno. Or when Joe put a frog in Mrs. Perez’s desk drawer.
It made him feel all weird to hear his mom cry and talk about leaving. He was going to cry and he was not a crybaby. He didn’t want his mom to leave. He didn’t want his dad to leave. He wanted everyone to stay. Even Tori, who was sometimes mean to him.
After school he’d gone home with Joe and Ginny, which he did almost every day. They were twins, which was cool, and Ginny wasn’t a girl like Becky and Tori. Well, she was a girl, but she liked baseball and dirt bikes, so she wasn’t a girl girl. Joe and Ginny’s dad worked and their mom was always at her church volunteering for this and that, so they had the house to themselves. Ricky called his mom, and her phone went right to voice mail. He left her a message that he was at the Youngs’ and he’d be home by six. He did the same thing almost every day, so he didn’t think much about it. And she wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye.
She’s not leaving.
He’d feel better when he talked to Becky, but Becky had volleyball practice every day after school and he’d much rather be here with Joe and Ginny than alone waiting for everyone to come home. Waiting and worrying.