Gone (34 page)

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Authors: Lisa Gardner

BOOK: Gone
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He’s glancing at one of Sarah’s files. CLOSE ON gruesome crime scene PHOTO of an ADDICT – white, trashy, fatty (think Courtney Love) – cut ear to ear. Beneath, a SKETCH: a lonely grove of trees on the sand. Beautiful.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

Crack head thought she was Picasso?

SARAH

Crack head’s six year old son drew it.

HOLDER

He get iced, too?

SARAH

No.

Sarah takes the sketch. Puts it away. Holder waits for more. None coming. Fort Knox this woman.

HOLDER

So what happened to the kid–?

LT. OAKES – 50s, soft touch for Sarah – enters.

OAKES

Don’t waste your time moving in, do ya?

HOLDER

No. County cut me loose early. So, I…

OAKES

Well, you got a tough act to follow. You wrapped up here, Sarah?

SARAH

Yup. All done.

Oakes hands her a PAPER.

OAKES

Good. Got a call down at Discovery Park. Check it out.

SARAH

On my last day? My flights tonight–

OAKES

You’re still on the city’s dime.

(off her look)

You can hand it off end of shift. Six o’clock. Go on do your job. Take him. Show him how to work a scene.

HOLDER

(quietly)

I know how to work a scene…

Reluctantly, Sarah grabs her coat and a box–

SARAH

Grab a box. We’ll take my car.

HOLDER

Alright.

SARAH

(indicating a nearby box)

Over there.

As Sarah and Holder exit, boxes in tow, Holder shuts the door with his foot.

EXT. DOWNTOWN SEATTLE - AERIAL SHOT - DAY

Transition.

INT/EXT. SARAH’S CAR - DAY

Sarah drives, Holder yaks. Wipers flipping across the rain-soaked windshield. Squat factories – abandoned, graffii-marred – slide past their windows.

HOLDER

… They tapped me out of the Academy like first year, boom straight to

(MORE)

HOLDER (CONT’D)

undercover. So I was working vice, narco. I don’t know, I guess narco kinda stuck to me, so…

SARAH

(no shit)

You? A UC? I never woulda guessed.

Holder shoots her an amused look.

HOLDER

Whatever. It’s mostly like street level buys and busts, you know, Joaquim shooting Rakim, blah blah blah.

SARAH

You think Homicide’s gonna be any different?

HOLDER

Least you got a bad guy.

SARAH

Yeah? Who’s that?

Holder looks at her, waiting for more. No luck. They stop at a light.

On the sidewalk, a TEEN RUNAWAY – 16, male, filthy dreads, kindly face – slouches numbly against a monstrous duffel bag. Rain drizzling down.

Holder presses two fingers against the glass: “Peace”. The Teen Runaway lazily sticks up his middle finger: “Fuck you”.

Holder grins, gives him the finger back. As they pull away–

HOLDER

Is that why you running away, Linden? Cuz you don’t know no more?

She doesn’t even look at him. Off which–

EXT. SEATTLE - AERIAL SHOT FROM A DISTANCE - DAY

Transition.

EXT. DISCOVERY PARK - FIELD - DAY

Sarah drives down the fire road, pulling up to the scene. A scattering of UNIFORMS in a desolate field, woods in the near distance, lonely fire road. Rain abated for now.

Exiting their car, Sarah and Holder make there way to the scene and are approached by a young, UNIFORM in charge–

UNIFORM

Detective Linden…

SARAH

Where’s the body?

UNIFORM

Still lookin’. School kids on a field trip this mornin’ found this.

He hands a clear Evidence BAG to Sarah – inside a shimmery pink SWEATER. Torn, blood-smeared.

HOLDER

This park’s like Tweaker Central at nights. Ho-bags bringin’ their tricks down. Could be some basehead–

SARAH

(hands the evidence bag back to the Uni)

The owner’s not an addict. At least not the kind who hangs around here.

(off Holder’s look)

It’s a wool sweater. Looks recently cleaned.

HOLDER

Brought it to the coin wash, so what.

SARAH

You dry clean wool? Do you know any tweakers who drop their wardrobe off at the cleaners?

(to uniform) Anything else?

UNIFORM

This. ATM card.

He holds out a baggie: inside, a bank CARD. Imprinted on the front: “STANLEY LARSEN”. Holder takes it–

HOLDER

‘Stanley Larsen’. Guy loses his wallet while he’s gettin’ his knob polished?

ON Sarah as she steps away from Holder and the Uni, surveys the field – taking it in.

HOLDER (O.S.) (CONT’D)

(to Uni)

Anyway, keep lookin’. Search the field…

SARAH

(to Uni)

You find anything else, mark it, don’t move it. And call in Sex Crimes. This is theirs for now.

She heads to the car. Holder, surprised, follows–

HOLDER

Yo. We got here first.

SARAH

Yeah and we don’t got a body.

HOLDER

Not yet.

Sarah, impatient, checks her watch.

SARAH

You wanna follow it up, go for it.

HOLDER

You’re my ride, Linden.

SARAH

So, I’ll drop you off at the station, I need to finish packing up–

HOLDER

I thought you were done.

(off her look)

Flight’s not til nine, right? I won’t let you miss it. Promise.

Holder grins, walks ahead.

HOLDER (CONT’D)

Let’s have a talk with this Stanley Larsen.

Sarah clocks something on the back of his neck, peeking above his collar: a TATTOO. The top of an ornate CRUCIFIX. Sarah, curious, follows.

About the author

LISA GARDNER
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of
Alone, The Killing Hour, The Survivors Club, The Next Accident, The Third Victim, The Other Daughter,
and
The Perfect Husband.
Living in New England with her husband, Anthony, Lisa is already at work on her latest suspense novel, and invites readers to participate by entering in the third annual KILL A FRIEND, MAIM A BUDDY sweepstakes at
www.LisaGardner.com
.

By Lisa Gardner

THE PERFECT HUSBAND

THE OTHER DAUGHTER

THE THIRD VICTIM

THE NEXT ACCIDENT

THE SURVIVORS CLUB

THE KILLING HOUR

ALONE

GONE

GONE

A Bantam Book / February 2006

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2006 by Lisa Gardner, Inc.

Excerpt From Love You More

Copyright © 2010 by Lisa Gardner, Inc.

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gardner, Lisa.

Gone / Lisa Gardner.

p. cm.

1. Missing persons—Fiction. 2. Kidnapping victims—Fiction. 3. Government investigators—Fiction. 4. Separated people—Fiction. 5. Oregon—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3557.A7132G66 2006

813'.54—dc22                  2005053168

Published simultaneously in Canada

www.bantamdell.com

eISBN: 978-0-553-90228-0

v3.0_r1

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