BooksBarbecue
Back Parting Shot Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Copyright

I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my pocket. Stood there leaning up against the Honda, staring at the grocery store.

Thinking.

Finally, I went inside, where I found Jeremy pushing a nearly empty cart. When he saw me, he reached in, showed me the only thing he’d found so far.

“I got the Oreos,” he said.

Thirty-Five

THIRTY-FIVE

ALBERT Gaffney lay awake most of the night wondering what he should do.

Should he call the police about Ron Frommer? It was possible Frommer was the one who’d kidnapped Brian and tattooed his back, but then again, was it likely? There was no strong evidence that he’d done it. Not that he didn’t have a motive for being angry with Brian. If Frommer knew Brian had been fooling around with his wife, Jessica, well, just about anyone might lose their cool in a situation like that.

But what he’d actually done to Brian—knocking him down and kicking him in the ribs—sounded more like what a guy would do to another guy who’d slept with his wife. Pure, straightforward violence. And in a way, you could almost excuse someone for that. Albert was certainly not going to forgive the man for beating up his son, but given the circumstances, well, you could kind of understand where he was coming from.

Really, though, would Frommer abduct Brian and drug him and tattoo something that made no apparent sense onto his back? But then again, someone had done it. And regardless of who it turned out to be, it still wasn’t likely to make any sense, Albert figured.

He considered his options. He could, in the morning, call that Duckworth guy and tell him what had happened to Brian when he went to visit Jessica Frommer. At least that way, Frommer would be on Duckworth’s radar. Let the police figure out whether he’d had anything to do with what happened to Brian during those two lost days.

The only problem was, Brian did not want his father to do that. He was worried that Ron Frommer, who gave every indication of having a short fuse, would hurt Jessica if the police were called. Not because he’d suspect her of calling them—although he might—but because he was the kind of guy who, when upset, lashed out at whoever was close at hand.

What to do what to do what to do?

The other option, the one that had been keeping Albert awake and staring at the ceiling, was to talk to Ron Frommer himself.