What Follows After: A Novel by Dan Walsh Read Free Book Online Page B

house over in DeLand. Some might call them rich. She wondered if she should mention it.
    “Something bothering you, Gina?”
    She looked at Scott. “I was just wondering about your folks, whether that could be something.”
    “What about them?” the officer asked.
    “They’re pretty well-off,” Scott said. “My dad and two brothers are bankers over in DeLand.”
    “Well, the point I was raising is, I find it hard to believe that a kidnapper would’ve been able to get two boys into his car, especially when one of them is eleven. Maybe the six-year-old—what’s his name?” He looked at his notes. “Maybe Timmy,” he continued, “but I can’t see the older boy going along with this.”
    Gina couldn’t either. “I think Colt would have made a terrible fuss if someone tried to get him or his brother into a car.”
    “I agree,” Scott said. “I can even see him kicking and punching anyone who tried to mess with him or Timmy. He definitely wouldn’t have gone quietly.”
    “And there weren’t any reports of any altercations in front of the school this morning? No reports of anything unusual?” Officer Franklin asked.
    “No,” said Gina. “It was just a very ordinary day.”
    The officer shook his head. “See, that’s got me thinking that this ain’t a kidnapping. Something else happened here, some reason the boys had for walking away from the school on their own. They waited there until you drove off, then they walked away to pursue whatever scheme they had conjured up.”
    Gina was relieved to hear him talk this way. She looked over at Scott; he seemed to feel the same way. It didn’t make things a lot better, but if all they had done was run away, at least they were safe somewhere.
    “So that brings me around to what I was getting at before. I’m not trying to pry into you folks’ business, but I really need to ask these questions if we’re going to figure out what happened here.”
    Gina tensed up; she knew where this was heading. Her eyes fell on Colt’s baseball glove and ball sitting on the hutch, still wet from being left out on the front lawn all night. Flashes of the conflict she’d had with Colt that morning came to mind. He was so irresponsible with his things. She had specifically reminded him to bring it in last night, but there it was when she went out to get the newspaper this morning. She thought about the second argument after breakfast. The boys seemed so distracted; they just wouldn’t get it into gear. They had to leave for school in ten minutes, and Timmy still didn’t have his teeth brushed or his socks and shoes on. Both the boys’ lunchboxes were still unpacked.
    “You used to do that for us,” he’d moaned. “All my friends’ moms pack their lunchboxes.”
    “Maybe you should go live with them,” she’d replied. “I can’t do those things anymore. Don’t you think I’d like to? But I’ve got to get ready for work myself. It’s not gonna kill you to help out a little around here.”
    Oh no, she thought. Was that what set him off? She didn’t really mean it. She was just letting off some steam.
    “Is there anything going on around here,” the officer asked, “something between the two of you, or with one or both of them that you’re not telling me? I don’t mean something small and petty—the ordinary parent-kid stuff—but something big enough that the boys might want to escape from?”
    Scott looked at her, then nodded. Was he wanting her to bring it up? Was he planning to? He shook his head. Now what did that mean?
    “Possibly,” Scott said.
    “Possibly?” Officer Franklin repeated.
    She heard Scott inhale deeply. How was he going to handle this? Would he blame it on her?
    “Well, there is something going on. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the boys being gone, but I guess it could have.”
    “Go on . . .” Officer Franklin had his pen and paper ready.
    “My wife and I have been separated for the last ten