“We were six,” Conor said. “We lived on the same street. I made her a ring out of some soldering wire I found in the garage.”
“And she kept it all this time?” Garrett asked.
“I don’t know what to tell you about that,” Conor said, burning to get going, to find Kate. He pictured those shreds of his mother’s veil—Kate’sveil—and his thoughts were revving, going to terrible places, wondering what was happening with her.
“Yeah, well, you better tell mesomething,” Garrett said. “I told the paramedics to take her to Westerly Hospital, to check her for a concussion. I’m on my way there, but I had to see you first. I’m going to give you a chance to explain ...”
“Before what?” Conor asked.
“I arrest you for assault.”
“You’d better askherto explain before you do that,” Conor said. “I have things to say, but you talk to her first. And really listen—I mean, past the words.”
“You mean like I’m interrogating a suspect?” Garrett asked.
Yeah, like that, Conor thought. But he held the comment inside.
“Why were you grabbing for her phone?” Garrett asked.
“Ask her,” Conor said.
Garrett left, but Conor didn’t miss the fact that his hands were balled into fists.
“That was nice,” Tom said. “Two friends and colleagues having a civil discussion. What’s this about a kid?”
“Belinda’s playing a game,” Conor said.
“Is it called ‘destroying your life’?”
“Seems to be,” Conor said, but just then he didn’t care what Belinda did. Only Kate mattered, and he had to get to her before Belinda hadthe chance to do any more damage, to twist the truth and tell Kate her version of the longer story.
He couldn’t get that cut-up veil out of his mind. Could Kate have been so angry that she’d done it? In his worst nightmare, he couldn’t imagine that she could. It was a question he encountered in many investigations: How well do people know each other?
Even people in love—he had seen it over and over. Secrets sometimes led to unfathomable behavior. Conor had always told himself that he and Kate had been through so much together, they knew everything important about each other.
But that was letting himself off the hook.
He had never told her the worst thing. After what had just happened with Belinda, he could barely confront it himself.
Maybe Kate had just revealed a side of herself he’d never seen—the ability to destroy that veil—a symbol of their love, of the marriage vows they had yet to say. A family heirloom that they could pass on to a daughter.
Then a worse thought hit him: If Kate hadn’t done it, who had? If Kate wasn’t hiding, had someone taken her?
“Where are you?” he asked out loud, but the only answer he received was the sound of the waves.
4
Girl #1
Late fall, nine months earlier
The woman had found her, taken her away from a place she’d never wanted to be. The teaching began right away. The woman had a soothing voice and a twinkle in her eye that seemed to promise that everything would be worth it. She brought them gifts, and she assured them that the lessons might seem rigorous at first, but life would get better and better. It would be like a dream. She took them to the spa, treated them to days of beauty and massage, and she gave them a place to live.
That’s when the man came.
Sometimes he took the girl to the boat. She always hoped it was the last time, but then he would get mad and tell her it was time to go back. He would blindfold her. Then he would unlock the bedroom door and lead her down the stairs and out of the house. She breathed the fresh air. It smelled like salt, and sometimes she felt tiny drops of water on her skin, and she recognized the feeling of condensation, of fog. He had her on a leather leash, like a dog. They walked a short distance, and grass tickled her bare feet. Then she would feel rough boards under her feet, and they would step onto the boat.
He would take the blindfold off and unclip the leash. The door would be open just long enough for her to walk to the bunk. He didn’t touch her, didn’t lead her there. He made her lie down by herself, as if it were her idea, and in some secret way, deep inside herself, that made it worse. Then he’d clamp the cuffs around her ankles. At those moments, she wished she had never been found—“rescued”—by the woman.
