Page 35 of Undone (Will Trent 3)

"No." Felix spoke so quietly that Will wasn't sure the boy had said anything at all.

"No?" Will asked, looking back at the mouse. The great thing about being around kids was you could be absolutely honest and they thought you were just teasing them. "I can't read very well. What does this say?"

Felix shifted, and Sara helped him turn toward Will. The child reached for the books. Instead of answering, Felix held the books close to his chest. His lip started to tremble, and Will guessed, "Your mom reads to you, doesn't she?"

He nodded, big, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

Will leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I want to find your mommy."

Felix swallowed, as if he was trying to choke down his grief. "The big man took her."

Will knew that to a kid, all adults were big. He sat up straight, asking, "As big as me?"

Felix really looked at Will for the first time since he'd walked into the room. He seemed to consider the question, then shook his head.

"What about the detective who was just in here—the stinky one? Was the man as tall as him?"

Felix nodded.

Will tried to keep the pace slow, casual, so Felix would keep answering the questions without feeling like he was being interrogated. "Did he have hair like mine, or was it darker?"

"Darker."

Will nodded, scratching his chin as if he was deliberating possibilities. Kids were notoriously unreliable witnesses. They either wanted to please the adults who questioned them or they were so open to suggestion that you could pretty much plant any idea in their head and have them swear that it actually happened.

Will asked, "What about his face? Did he have hair on his face? Or was it smooth like mine?"

"He had a mustache."

"Did he speak to you?"

"He told me that my mommy said to stay in the car."

Will treaded carefully. "Was he wearing a uniform like a janitor or a fireman or a police officer?"

Felix shook his head. "Just normal clothes."

Will felt a rush of heat to his face. He knew Sara was staring at him. Her husband had been a cop. She wouldn't like the implication.

Will asked, "What color were his clothes?"

Felix shrugged, and Will wondered if the boy was finished answering questions or if he really didn't remember.

Felix picked at the edge of his book. "He wore a suit like Morgan."

"Morgan is a friend of your mommy's?"

He nodded. "He's at her work, but she's mad at him because he's lying and he's trying to get her into trouble, but she's not going to let him get away with it because of the safe."

Will wondered if Felix had overheard some phone calls or if Pauline McGhee was the type of woman to vent her problems to a six-year-old boy. "Do you remember anything else about the man who took your mommy?"

"He said he would hurt me if I told anybody about him."

Will kept his face blank, as did Felix. "You're not scared of the man," he said, not a question but a statement.

"My mommy says that she'll never let anybody hurt me."

He seemed so sure of himself that Will couldn't help but feel a great deal of respect for Pauline McGhee's parenting skills. Will had interviewed a lot of children in his time, and while most of them loved their parents, not many of them exhibited this kind of blind trust.

Will said, "She's right. No one is going to hurt you."

"My mommy will protect me," Felix insisted, and Will started to wonder about his certainty. You usually didn't reassure a kid of something unless there was a real fear you were trying to combat.

Will asked, "Was your mom worried that someone might hurt you?"

Felix picked at the book jacket again. He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Will waited, trying not to rush his next question. "Who was she afraid of, Felix?"

He spoke quietly, his voice little more than a whisper. "Her brother."

A brother. This could be some kind of family dispute after all. Will asked, "Did she tell you his name?"

He shook his head. "I never met him, but he was bad."

Will stared at the boy, wondering how to phrase his next question. "Bad how?"

"Mean," Felix said. "She said he was mean, and that she would protect me from him because she loves me more than anybody in the world." There was a finality to his tone, as if that was all he was willing to say on the matter. "Can I go home now?"

Will would've preferred a knife to his chest rather than have to answer this question. He glanced at Sara for support, and she took over, saying, "Remember that lady you met earlier? Miss Nancy?"

Felix nodded.

"She's going to find someone to take care of you until your mom comes to get you."

The boy's eyes filled with tears. Will couldn't blame him. Miss Nancy was probably from social services. She would be a long way from the women at Felix's private school and his mother's well-heeled friends.

He said, "But I want to go home."

"I know, sweetheart," Sara soothed. "But if you go home, you'll be all alone. We need to make sure that you're safe until your mom comes to get you."

He didn't seem convinced.

Will got down on one knee so that he was face-to-face with the boy. He wrapped his hand around Felix's shoulder, his fingers accidentally brushing Sara's arm in the process. Will felt a lump rise in his throat, and he had to swallow before he could speak. "Look at me, Felix." He waited until the child complied. "I'm going to make sure your mom comes back to you, but I need you to be brave for me while I'm working to make that happen."

Felix's face was so open and trusting that it was painful to look at him. "How long will it take?" There was a wobble in his voice as he asked the question.

"Maybe a week at the most," Will said, fighting the urge to break eye contact. If Pauline McGhee was gone longer than a week, she would be dead, and Felix would be an orphan. "Can you give me a week?"

The boy kept staring at Will as if to judge whether or not he was being told the truth. Finally, he nodded.

"All right," Will said, feeling as if an anvil had been placed on his chest. He saw that Faith was sitting in a chair by the door and wondered when she had come into the room. She stood, nodding for him to follow her outside. Will patted Felix on the leg before joining Faith in the hallway.

"I'll tell Leo about the brother," Faith said. "Sounds like a family dispute."

"Probably." Will glanced back at the closed door. He wanted to go back in there, but not because of Felix. "What'd Jackie's sister say?"

"Joelyn," Faith provided. "She's not exactly torn up about her sister being killed."

"What do you mean?"

"Bitch runs in the family."

Will felt his eyebrows go up.

"I'm just having a bad day," Faith said, but that was hardly an explanation. "Joelyn lives in North Carolina. She said it'll take her about five hours to drive down." Almost as an afterthought, Faith added, "Oh, and she's going to sue the police and get us fired if we don't find out who killed her sister."

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