Chapters (68)
- Dedication
- Title Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Copyright
“We think Gloria might have given her phone to Jeremy. She took it out of Bob’s jacket and we can’t find it anywhere.”
“That’s exactly what she did,” I said.
“Oh my. I hope it hasn’t caused any kind of trouble.”
I filled her in on the latest developments.
“Good Lord,” Ms. Plimpton said. “You just can’t catch a break, can you?”
I smiled that she directed some of her sympathy to me. “I’m wondering if this changes anything. You want me to stay on the road with him, or bring him back?”
“I can discuss it with Gloria and Bob—I might even have a word with Grant about it—but honestly, I don’t think coming back here is an option.”
“Why’s that?”
“There was a protest out front of the house last night. About a dozen people, waving signs that said things like ‘Big Baby go home.’ We had to call the police to have them dispersed.”
“Okay,” I said. “I was going to take him to New York, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea any more.”
Madeline Plimpton said nothing.
“Hello?”
“I’m just thinking,” she said. “I have a place.”
“A place?”
“On the Cape. Cape Cod. My husband and I bought it years ago. I haven’t been there since he passed away. I still own it, but it’s in the hands of a rental agent. People book it for the summer months. But it’s only May. It might not be rented.”
“Would anyone be able to track us down there? Seems wherever Jeremy goes, people figure it out.”
A hesitation. “I don’t know. It’s owned through a company, so my name’s not really attached to it. I haven’t been to the Cape in years. And Gloria—in case you’re worried she might inadvertently let something slip—probably thinks I sold it years ago. But the good news is, it’s on the beach, you’ve got some privacy, there won’t be many people around through the week, it being so early in the season. I could make a call, see if it’s available right now. It’s not that far out. East Sandwich. Beautiful view of Cape Cod Bay.”
I thought about it. Finding a place to hunker down seemed better than moving from hotel to hotel.
“The question is, how long do we go on like this?” I asked.
A sigh. “I know.”
“Let’s take it a day at a time. You find out if the place is available and we’ll go from there.”
We said our goodbyes.
I found Jeremy right where he was supposed to be, sitting in the passenger seat of my Honda. He was relentlessly pounding the side of his right fist into the top of his thigh with everything he had.
Thirty-One
THIRTY-ONE