Page 100 of Whistle
“I didn’t know that boy. Evan Corcoran. I’d never met him. But, believe me, even though that book sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and there were no other similar incidents, his death weighs on me every day, and no matter what anyone says, I feel responsible. So, yeah, that one’s on me, I suppose. He was in my orbit, as you say. And John? That was a hit-and-run. He walked out into the street looking at his phone and some son of a bitch ran him down. So, another one in my fucking solar system.”
Standish pursed her lips thoughtfully. “As I said, it was an observation. And a sympathetic one, whether you choose to believe that. The stress, the grief, it must be incalculable.”
Annie said nothing.
“Are you under any kind of care?” Standish asked.
“Am I what?”
“A counselor? A therapist? A psychiatrist?”
Annie slowly rose out of the chair. “Get out,” she said.
Standish remained seated. “Please, Ms. Blunt, I mean no offense. I’m simply—”
“Get out!” Annie said again, and this time Standish stood. “Is this how they do things here? When your son goes missing they accuse you of having something to do with it?”
“I’ve made no such accusation.”
“Well, there’s a fuck-ton of insinuation in the air.”
“We’re going to go through the house now,” Standish said matter-of-factly.
“What? I’ve been through the house. Charlie’s not here! I’ve looked. His bike is gone! Why are you—”
Standish raised a hand. “You’ll stay out here while we take alook.” She waved one of the other officers over, directed him with her thumb to head inside.
“You have no right to—”
“I’m not asking.”
With that, Standish turned and followed the other officer into the house, leaving Annie standing there, shell-shocked.
It was the longest day.
Police from neighboring counties came in to join the hunt, which was expanded from roadways to nearby forests. Once the police were done with searching the house—Annie could only assume they believed she’d killed her own son and were looking for, if not his actual body, some evidence he’d died on the premises—they allowed her to come back inside.
Standish insisted she stay on the property and allow others to conduct the search. At one point, a van withaction newsemblazoned on the side was parked down at the end of the driveway. From the porch, Annie could see Standish being interviewed by a young woman with big hair who was accompanied by a cameraman. When the reporter failed to come up to the house to get a quote from her, Annie could only assume Standish had not permitted it. Didn’t want the media interviewing their prime suspect, Annie guessed.
Okay,sure, therehadbeen a lot of shit happening in her fuckingorbit, Annie conceded. But this—this was just lazy police work. Without any evidence, they were zeroing in on her because it wasconvenient. And whatever energy they were focusing on her wasn’t being directed toward finding Charlie.
Oh, John, I wish you were here.
By late afternoon, as the search continued, Annie began to feel faint and realized she’d eaten nothing all day. For reasons of pure survival, she went into the kitchen and ate one of the bagels she’dput in the cooler. That, and a coffee, gave her some strength, but to do what? She wanted to be out looking for Charlie, too, but what area would she search that hadn’t already been combed over by the police?
She had to think about this in a different way. The question wasn’t where Charlie was. The question really was: Why had he left? Maybe Standish was right. Charlie’s motive for leaving was critical.
If she believed Charlie was still alive—and she simplyhadto—and that he had not been abducted but left on his own accord, where would he go?
Back to the city? He might want to, but on a bicycle? It was hundreds of miles, and he’d be spotted somewhere along the way. A kid that little, pedaling on an interstate highway?
If not the city, then—
“Ms. Blunt?”
She put down her bagel and turned to find Standish in her kitchen. There was nothing in the officer’s expression that suggested good news.
“We’re scaling back the search, for the moment,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean we’re done. We’re short of people. We’re in the process of bringing in more teams. We have someone coming with tracking dogs. There are still going to be some people on this tonight. We’re bringing in a plane first thing in the morning that can pick up heat signals, so if Charlie is lost in the woods somewhere, we have a good chance of finding him that way, provided he’s... We could find him that way. I want you to know we’re not giving up. We’re throwing everything we have at this tomorrow. Plus, we’ve got media coverage. A lot of people, just regular folks, are going to be checking their own property to see whether Charlie might be there.”
