Back Before Dark (13 page)

Of course he had a point there. But she wasn’t about to tell him. He didn’t need any more fuel to keep him going in this direction.
Besides, it wasn’t the legality of things that really had her concerned. It was the danger Coop would be in.

“If Gordy is in one of those houses”—Cooper poked one of the homes on the aerial map with the skull and crossbones—“what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t check?”

She hated it when he asked questions like this. Because deep down, Coop was exactly the kind of friend she’d want if
she’d
been the one taken. The kind of friend who wouldn’t quit. The kind of friend who cared more about her than what others said was right or wrong. But how could she tell him that? It was dangerous. Really dangerous. “If you find a legal way to do this, I’m in too.” It was the best she could do.

“Maybe we can meet at
The Getaway
after school,” Coop said.

“Make a plan.”

Lunk angled another pizza slice into his mouth. “Legal or not, I’ve got your back.”

The way he said it raised goose bumps on Hiro’s arms.

Hiro glared at Lunk. “We’re not going to help Gordy by doing something illegal.”

He shifted the pizza to the side of his mouth. “Fight fire with fire.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Lunk shrugged. “Somebody crossed over the boundary of ‘legal’ when they took Gordy. Way over. And if we want to get him back, we have to be willing to cross that boundary too.”

Exactly what Coop
didn’t
need to hear. All his talk about checking the homes of sex offenders left Hiro feeling totally helpless somehow.

Coop checked the clock on the cafeteria wall. “I gotta go see the shrink. We’ll talk this all out later.” He crammed the rest of his peanut butter sandwich into his mouth.

She looked at his face and her throat got tight. What was there to talk about? He’d already made his decision. And she made hers. She would just have to stop him.

C
ooper read the note once more before opening the door to the nurse’s office. He’d never talked to a shrink before. Although Hiro was pretty good about getting into his head. And sometimes—under his skin.

Dr. Dale McElhinney. Cooper already had an image of him in his mind. Oily, slicked-back hair. Oily smile. Weak handshake, like he had never shoveled snow or swung a baseball bat. A guy who walked slow, talked slow, and treated everybody else like they
were
slow. Someone who intended to unzip the top of Cooper’s head and tinker around inside. What fun.

The key was to go into this with his guard up. Watch what he said, and be careful not to give anything away with his body language. Not to raise any red flags that would make a second appointment necessary or cause anyone to watch him more closely.

Be polite. Assure him you’re fine. Get out of there.
Cooper took a deep breath, blew it out, and opened the door.

A man paced the length of the nurse’s office, talking on the phone. He smiled at Cooper and motioned for him to sit down in a barrel-shaped chair covered with orange vinyl. The guy definitely had energy. Brownish, curly hair.
Really
curly. And a goatee and
mustache. Dockers. Dress shirt with sleeves rolled up. Gym shoes. Okay, not exactly the image Cooper had expected.

The man pocketed the phone and extended his hand. “Hey, I’m Dale McElhinney. And you must be Cooper.”

Cooper shook his hand. Firm grip. Calloused. Obviously, the guy did more than dig around in people’s heads.

“Miss Ferrand told me to expect you.” The doctor took a seat in the nurse’s swivel chair. “Bet this isn’t how you like to spend your afternoons.”

Cooper eyed him. “Not exactly.”

“What is it you
really
want to be doing instead of talking to me?”

Okay,
that
was an interesting question. “Looking for Gordy.”

McElhinney nodded. “I’d feel the same way. What about the police?”

Cooper shrugged. “I think they can use all the help they can get.”

“Probably true. You have a plan?”

“Yeah,” Cooper said. “Plan A, Plan B. It’s always changing. I keep working out different ideas at night.” “Not sleeping well, I bet.”

Here we go.
Had he just raised a red flag? Cooper looked at Dr. McElhinney. Wondering where he was going with this.

“And who
could
sleep,” the doctor said. “After seeing what you saw.”

Cooper didn’t really want to go there. Didn’t want to remember. He shifted in the vinyl seat, making a flarpy noise.

“Oh, yeah.” McElhinney smiled. “
That’s
why I have cloth seats in my office. Otherwise my clients would think I had hot dogs and beans for lunch.”

Cooper smiled slightly.
Okay, so this guy is nothing like I figured.

Dr. McElhinney took a deep breath and blew it out. “Alright, let me get serious for a few minutes. The administration realizes some students may be traumatized by what happened to Gordy. He
is
your cousin, right?”

Cooper nodded. “And best friend.”

“I’m here to make sure students are coping with things in a healthy way.” He checked his notes. “You and a couple friends actually witnessed the kidnapping?”

“Hiro and Lunk. We were all together.”

“That must have been pretty traumatic.”

Cooper hesitated. If he admitted it was, the doctor might think he was “traumatized” and unstable in some way. He’d tip off his parents, giving Cooper less freedom to search for Gordy. But last October he’d learned the price of dishonesty the hard way. His lies and deception broke trust and nearly cost him the friendships he valued most. Nothing good would come from lying. “Yeah, it was.”

“Tell me something. When you’re lying in bed, unable to sleep, do you ever rerun the tape in your mind? Ever play back the abduction, trying to figure out what you could have done differently to keep him from being taken?”

Maybe the doctor was just trying to get Cooper to open up. To talk to him about his
feelings.
The truth was, the whole abduction scene was like a movie trailer that looped over and over in his head. His eyelids worked as the switch. He closed his eyes—and the movie played. Not exactly the type of thing he wanted to tell a shrink. But he wasn’t about to lie about it either. “Definitely.”

The doctor crossed his ankle over his other leg. “What did you come up with?”

Cooper looked away. “Things I could have done different? Everything.”

“What’s the first thing you would have changed?”

“I should have gone with Gordy. The kidnapper wouldn’t have even tried if there had been two of us.” Cooper closed his eyes and pictured the man. Definitely strong, the way he tossed Gordy inside the van. But would he have messed with two of them? Doubtful.

“Did you have any idea it was a trap?”

“No. Not at first, until Hiro had that funny feeling. But that’s the thing. I
should
have seen it coming. A van cruising along
a park? I mean, c’mon. How stupid could I be? I grew up being warned about Mr. Stranger Danger.”

If the doctor felt Cooper had been a total idiot, he did an excellent job of masking it. “Anything else? Any other way you could have stopped it?”

Cooper stared at his shoes. “Hiro wanted me to go with Gordy. She gets these
feelings
sometimes. Intuitions. I should have gone faster the second I realized she sensed something was wrong. When Gordy got to the van, then I got a funny feeling too. Like something weird was going on.”

“What did you do?”

“Pedaled harder. Shouted to Gordy to wait for me.”

The doctor nodded. “Did he wait?”

Cooper shook his head. “He grinned and waved, which is just like him. We had a little bet going.”

“So you think you could have stopped this kidnapping?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Cooper looked at him. The shrink’s face didn’t hold any judgment. But he wasn’t detached like Cooper thought he’d be. It honestly seemed like he cared. “I should have.” He thought for a moment. “I couldn’t even get the plate numbers right. If I had, the police might have picked him up. I messed up. Start to finish.” The reality hit him like a punch to the gut.

Dr. McElhinney leaned forward. “You ever meet somebody for the first time, and they tell you their name, and two seconds later you can’t remember it?”

Cooper shrugged. “Sure.”

“Exactly. A nervous reaction. Happens to me all the time. Your mind is saying, ‘Don’t forget that name; don’t forget that name,’ and that’s precisely what happens.”

“Yeah, but it
shouldn’t
have happened.” Cooper leaned forward. “He’s my best friend. I wasn’t thinking.” He clenched and unclenched his fists—then stopped, fearing the doctor would notice.

If he did notice, he didn’t let on. “You didn’t mess up on the plate number because you didn’t care.”

Cooper looked at him.

“You mixed up the number because you cared so
much.
And caring that much about someone frequently creates anxiety. And anxiety keeps your brain from functioning the way it should, so you couldn’t remember the license plate numbers correctly.”

“I forgot because I
care
so much?”
Lot of good it did Gordy.
“Gee, I guess Gordy is really lucky to have a friend like me,” Cooper said, mumbling.

Dr. McElhinney paused. He uncrossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. “So let me play this back to you. Gordy chased after the van. You had no idea it was a trap.” The doctor raised his eyebrows, obviously asking if Cooper agreed.

Cooper nodded.

“And when Hiro urged you to go after him you did. Correct?” Cooper nodded again.

“And you sensed trouble before Gordy did, and you shouted for him to wait, but he didn’t listen to you?” He didn’t wait for a response. “And so you pedaled hard,
really
hard, but couldn’t get there in time to help him. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“So help me understand why you’re blaming yourself.”

How could he explain something he didn’t understand himself?

Dr. McElhinney stood and walked around Cooper. “I’ve noticed you’re not wearing a cape.”

Cooper turned to watch the doctor. “What?”

“No cape. Which means you’re not Superman.” He sat back down and rolled the chair closer. “Only Superman could have stopped that kidnapping, Cooper. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

That’s what this was about. Try to make the student feel good about himself. “Why is it so important that I feel
good
about myself? I feel miserable. But it pushes me to keep looking. What’s wrong with that?”

“To keep looking? Nothing. But it sounds like part of your motivation is guilt. False guilt—which has a way of messing you up in the long run.”

Right now Cooper didn’t care about the long run. He just needed to find Gordy.

“Here’s why that’s important,” the doctor said, almost as if Cooper had said his thoughts out loud. “Let’s say Gordy isn’t found. Naturally, you’ll grieve deeply for him—but in time you’ll recover to live a normal life. You mix
guilt
in there, though,” he shook his head and winced, “well, lets just say guilt and grief make a toxic combination. Make sense?”

Cooper nodded. “I think so.” But he wasn’t about to try to process it now. And the doctor was talking about the future. Today, Cooper’s only concern was finding Gordy. He glanced at the clock.

“Have you been able to concentrate on anything your teachers have said today?”

“Not a bit.”

“Would you like to get out early?”

Cooper eyed him. “Are you saying you can
get
me out early?”

McElhinney shrugged. “I’m a doctor. All I have to do is say you need to get out of this environment, and it’s done.”

Cooper liked this guy. The doctor actually understood him. “Is there a catch?”

“Minor. Just stop in to see me tomorrow. Same time.”

That
was
a catch, but one he could live with. Cooper reached out and shook his hand. “Deal.”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about, Cooper. We’ll talk about that a little more tomorrow.” Dr. McElhinney smiled. “Anything else you need?”

Cooper could think of only one thing. “Think you can get two of my friends out early? I need their help.”

“Would they happen to be the two who were with you when Gordy was taken?”

When Gordy was taken.
Cooper nodded and tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I think I can make that happen.”

Cooper shook his hand again. “Fantastic. We’d get a couple of hours more daylight to work with. Thanks a million, Dr. McElhinney. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t find him.”

McElhinney narrowed his eyes, looking serious. “But it’s not about guilt, is it, Cooper?”

C
ooper walked slowly around
The Getaway
, his right hand gliding along the hull. The boat was beginning to look like new—for a 1950’s classic cabin cruiser. Gordy had logged nearly as many hours as Cooper and Dad on the project. Gordy had been revved up on the idea of the family taking it to Lake Geneva during summer break. But right now Cooper couldn’t bear the thought of being on the lake without his cousin.

Dr. McElhinney’s conversation replayed through his mind. The license number was the big thing. It was the one part that made him feel really, really lousy. Dr. McElhinney’s explanation made sense. He might even feel a little better, but he couldn’t imagine being completely free of guilt. And right now he didn’t see why that would be such a big problem. It helped drive him to keep going—which may help him find Gordy.

“Cooper.”

His mom stood at the back door. Fudge shouldered past her and bounded toward Cooper. The chocolate Lab slammed into him with more force than usual. “Easy girl.” Cooper dropped on one knee and pulled her close. “I’m still here.”

Mom trudged over. “I’m going over to Aunt Cris’s house. She’s a wreck.”

Mom didn’t look like she was holding together too well herself. Cooper stood and put his arms around her.

“She needs me. Uncle Jim and your dad are still out looking, and Aunt Cris wants to stay by the phone.”

Waiting for a phone call that will never come.
The thought sent a wave of weakness through Cooper. But it was true. If a ransom call were coming, it would have come hours ago.

She looked Cooper in the eyes. “You’re staying here, right?”

He knew what she wanted him to say, and Cooper guessed she understood why he couldn’t say it.

“For a little bit,” Cooper said. “Lunk and Hiro are coming over to look at the maps. We’re going to check some houses near the spot where I last saw the van.” It was true. But he was leaving out a little detail. What would she say if she knew the homes were of registered sex offenders?

“I wish you would stay here. The psychologist sent you home early for a reason.”

“So I’d have more time to look for Gordy.”

“This is a hard time for you, Cooper. Really hard. I want to be there for you. And I need to be there for your dad. And Aunt Cris. Why don’t you come with me? We can talk some more.”

Cooper pulled back. “I’d go nuts. I have to
do
something. Be looking. Anything but sit around and wait.”

“Just like your dad.”

“I’ll be with Lunk, and probably Hiro too.”

Mom nodded and held up her phone. “Call or text me. Every thirty minutes. And if I text you, get back to me within ten minutes or I’ll call the police. I need to know you’re okay.”

Cooper couldn’t have appreciated her more than he did at that moment. She was scared. They all were. But she wasn’t reeling him in, forcing him to stay close to her, even though she could. She knew he needed to do this.

She hugged him tightly. “I want you safe. The thought of you leaving the house scares me.”

She’d be absolutely terrified if she knew of the houses he planned to visit. “I’ll be okay,” he whispered. “You know that, right?”

She squeezed him hard, like she was afraid to let him go. “Don’t worry about Mattie. I’ll watch for her bus and bring her to Aunt Cris’s house.”

Cooper gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and held up his phone. “Call me if you hear anything.”

She nodded. “You be careful.” She turned quickly and headed back to the house, swiping at tears.

Cooper checked the time on his phone. Hiro and Lunk would be here soon. He climbed the ladder propped against the transom, the broad back of the boat, and swung a leg over the rail. He opened the door to the cabin and ducked inside. Now to get to work.

On the cabinets in the tiny kitchen area, he taped printouts of the sex offenders living in Rolling Meadows. Each had a picture of the offender and a brief description of the charges against him. It turned his stomach.

“Coop?” Hiro’s head peeked over the transom. “We’re here.”

She scrambled the rest of the way up the ladder, with Lunk right behind her. Lunk stood on the deck, arms out from his side, like he was trying to stay balanced.

“You really going to take this out on the water this summer?” Lunk didn’t sound one bit eager for the event.

“Yeah.” But Cooper’s heart wasn’t exactly in it either. Not because he didn’t like the water, but because he couldn’t stand the thought of launching the boat without Gordy.

Hiro pulled the satellite view of the neighborhood out of her backpack. She unfolded it and smoothed it on the table. She stared at one of the pages Cooper had taped up. She shuddered and hugged herself.

Lunk ducked inside the cabin, making the whole place seem cramped. “I got something for you outside,” Lunk said. “By the bikes.”

Cooper tried to read his face. The corner of Lunk’s mouth curved up a bit, and he raised his chin in a single nod. “A little protection. Show you later. You ready to go?”

“We have to do this legally, though. And safe.” Hiro’s voice was firm. “Exactly how do you plan to do that?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute,” Cooper said. He didn’t think she’d be doing cartwheels when she heard his plan. If you could call it a plan. “First,” he pointed at the sheets of registered offenders, “I think we can eliminate most of these.”

He pointed at one of the printouts. “Like this one. Elliot Santoro.”

Hiro fingered her police star necklace and studied the photo. “Too old. There’s no way he could toss Gordy into the van like he did.”

“Agreed.” Cooper tapped the picture of Dominic Gigliotti. “I think we can eliminate this guy too. It says he’s 145 pounds. The kidnapper was definitely bigger.”

Hiro studied the other printouts and pulled a page off the cabinets. “Jeffrey Purvis is out—5’4”. The guy is close to the same height as Gordy.” She pulled the pictures of Dominic Gigliotti and Elliot Santoro off the cabinets and stacked them facedown.

“Donald Burnside looks like a total geezer,” Cooper said. “And this guy,” he tapped the pages for Steve Schliemming, “weighs well over three-hundred pounds.”

“Looks like a real schlime-ball,” Lunk said. “But definitely not the man with the minivan.”

Hiro looked relieved. “That leaves two possibilities.”

Two homes to check. To get into somehow. Two chances to find Gordy—or to get caught trying.

Hiro kept her eyes on the remaining printouts like she was looking at an actual lineup of suspects. “Raymond Proctor and Michael VanHorton.”

“VanHorton gets my vote,” Lunk said. “He’s not the kind of guy anybody messes with.”

Hiro kept studying the printouts for Raymond Proctor. “And this guy looks really, really creepy. I’m getting a bad feeling about him just looking at his pictures.”

Hiro sat on the bench and got busy checking their addresses and circling the houses on the map.

Cooper watched over her shoulder, analyzing the location of each home as she circled it. How in the world was he really going to pull this off?

VanHorton’s was on the other side of town. Raymond Proctor’s home was on School Drive, with the backyard butting up to Salt Creek. And it was close. Proctor’s house would be their first visit.

Cooper collected the sheets and folded them into his back pocket. “We ready?”

Hiro held up her hands. “Hold on. Not until I hear how you’re going to do this legally.”

“Look,” Lunk said. “I think—”

“Don’t even start.” Hiro glared at him. “If you’re going to give me the old
the kidnapper broke the rules when he took Gordy, and we have to break rules to take him back speech
—just save it.”

Lunk stood there for a second, mouth slightly open. He let out an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.

Hiro looked at Cooper. “You
do
have a plan, right?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, not so much of a plan, really. It’s more like an idea.”

She raised her eyebrows. “An
idea
?”

Cooper took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay. We go to the house and ring the bell. When the guy comes to the door, I’ll introduce myself, tell him about Gordy, and ask to search his house.”

Hiro’s eyes widened in a look of total disbelief. “You’re kidding.
That’s
your idea? How long did it take you to put that one together?”

“It’s legal.”

“I’m good with that,” Lunk said.

Hiro poked her finger at him. “Well
I’m
not. It’s
crazy.
You are
not
going to ring that guy’s doorbell. You’re not going to go
near
him.” She held up her phone. “I won’t let you do that.”

“You won’t
let
me?” Cooper eyed her phone.

“I’ll stop you if I have to. I’ll make a call.”

Cooper was ready to snatch her phone and throw it off
The Getaway.
“How am I supposed to check their homes, then?”

“You’re not. That’s police work.”

“C’mon, Hiro. What are you going to do—call the police on me?”

“Worse,” she said. “I’ll call your dad.”

She was serious, and Cooper knew it. She stood there, holding her phone. She was a wall—and she wasn’t budging. Inside Cooper was shaking. Frustration? Probably. But he was hopping mad, too. “What was all the stuff you said about being in? Was that just so you could keep me from going to their houses?”

“I’m doing this for your own good.”

“But what about Gordy’s good?” Cooper glared at her.

“I was hoping you’d change your mind. Or that you actually had a decent plan,” Hiro said. “Look, I let Gordy go to that minivan. I’m not going to let you do something stupid.” She raised her phone. “You know I’ll make the call.”

Great.
Gordy had been kidnapped, and now Hiro was holding Cooper hostage. Tying his hands. Making demands he had no choice but to agree to. But he didn’t have to like it.

Lunk cleared his throat—like he was trying to clear the air. “Why not at least ride by Proctor’s? Check it out a bit. See if there’s something suspicious about the place. We don’t even have to step on his property.”

Hiro kept her eyes on Cooper. “Like a stakeout?”

“Exactly,” Lunk said.

“Anything would be better than staying here talking,” Cooper said. They had to do something to check these guys out.

“Okay,” Hiro said. “We ride by. Don’t even get off our bikes.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “And if we see something suspicious, we call the police. Agreed?”

She had him cornered on this one, but Cooper nodded. If she called his dad, Cooper wouldn’t be doing any more searching for Gordy.

They’d all caught a break getting out of school early, thanks to Dr. McElhinney. Cooper wasn’t about to waste time arguing. “Let’s do it.” He stepped out of the cabin and started down the ladder.

Lunk and Hiro followed. Fudge greeted him before his feet reached the ground. “Hey girl, we’re going to look for Gordy again. Stay here and guard the house, okay?”

She plastered her ears flat. Fudge didn’t look any happier than Hiro had been five minutes ago. “You want to come with us, girl?”

Her ears perked up, and she wagged her tail. Honestly, dogs had to be smarter than people. Sometimes Cooper was convinced she understood nearly everything people said. But he was absolutely positive she understood
him.

“I think I’ll take Fudge.” He made a mental note to grab her leash before they left.

“For protection?” Lunk kept his distance from her. Lunk definitely wasn’t a dog-lover, even though he’d been to Cooper’s house several times a week for months.

Cooper shrugged. “Maybe. But I was thinking she might help us sniff him out.”

Hiro patted her thigh with the palm of her hand. Fudge trotted over, and Hiro knelt down in front of her. “Looks like you and I will have to keep these boys safe, girl.” Fudge stretched closer as if trying to sniff out the meaning in every word. Hiro worked her hands under Fudge’s collar, then behind her ears.

“I still don’t like this,” Hiro said. “I don’t want to go anywhere near them.” Her voice was softer now.

Which partially defused Cooper’s frustration with her. “I know. But I have to try something.”

She nodded. “I can live with a drive by.” It was a compromise,
but probably a needed one. She just hoped Coop wouldn’t press for more when they got there. “Please don’t make me call.”

He shrugged. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“I’m going to trust you on this, Coop,” she said without taking her eyes off Fudge.

Hiro was back on board. Sort of. “I know what I’m doing, Hiro.”

She kissed Fudge on the top of her head and stood. “Alright then. Let’s go.”

He’d stake out the place with Hiro. Do it her way. But if that wasn’t working, he’d try something else. He had to. He just didn’t need to tell her that yet.