She went back to her room and got her backpack. Then she tiptoed down the stairs and slipped out the front door and headed for the park.

In another part of town, Cody Roache was being pushed out of his home by his mother. One of the neighborhood dads was taking kids to the park. Not to the part where they had found the dead lady, but to the part where the fun stuff was—the swings and monkey bars and tetherballs.

Cody didn’t want to go. He felt nervous. But his mother said he would never get over it if he didn’t go out and do normal things and play like a normal kid.

There were about ten kids piling into the neighbor’s van. He would feel safe with ten other kids and a dad there. So Cody glanced back at his mom and climbed into the van. It never once occurred to him that he might never come back.

Chapter 60

60

Anne begged off from a ride to Santa Barbara for an afternoon of shopping and meeting some of Franny’s friends for wine in the afternoon.

“I’ve had enough excitement for one week,” she said as they parted company outside the restaurant. “And I really need to figure out the situation with Tommy.”

Franny frowned at her. “Please stay out of trouble. And promise me—if you aren’t busy tonight—and by busy, I mean having mad hot sex with Vince—promise me you’ll come over and watch The Golden Girls with me.”

“The Golden Girls?” Anne raised her eyebrows. “Can we play mahjong after?”

“Don’t make fun of my favorite show.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Anne kissed his cheek and promised to call.

Franny headed off to the parking lot. Anne walked up the street to the plaza, thinking some mindless window shopping would allow her brain to sort through the trouble with Tommy Crane . . . provided she could keep thoughts of Vince from creeping in. Easier said than done.

Preoccupied, she almost walked past Peter Crane without seeing him. He was taking the MISSING poster of Karly Vickers off the door of his office.

“Did they find her?” Anne asked, hopeful.

Crane stopped, poster in his hands. “Yes. The same way Lisa Warwick was found.”

“Oh, no.”

“But she’s alive. It’s quite a story.”

Anne looked at the photo of Karly Vickers on the poster in Peter Crane’s hands as he told her what he had heard. She looked shy but happy. Like everyone else, Anne had read Karly’s story in the papers. The young woman had fought hard to overcome adversity in her life. The gold necklace she wore with the Thomas Center logo of a woman with her arms raised in triumph spoke to just how far Karly had come. Now she would have to fight hard to just stay alive at all.