“Typical child-parent things,” Aubrey said, hoping to minimize the situation. “Kevin was a sensitive kid. He sometimes felt our mother wasn’t always there for him.”
“Did you feel that way?”
“Absolutely not. Our mother loves us. She always put us first.” At least that was Aubrey’s perception. But she knew from studies that children from the same family rarely viewed their parents in the same way.
“Okay,” Smolleck said. “Back to the wedding. Your mother was hospitalized and didn’t attend. Tell me about her illness.”
“She suffered from severe vertigo, from an old injury. It flares up when she’s under stress.”
He looked at something on the yellow pad. “An injury she got when she was in college, is that right? At Barnard. And your father was at Columbia University. That’s where they met, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how she got injured?”
“Not really. She was in an accident. That’s all I know.” He was making her defensive. “Does this have something to do with Ethan?”
“Ah, sorry.” He scratched the indentation in his eyebrow with his pen. “You’re studying psychiatry, right? You’re probably busy analyzing me and my questions.”
“I’m working on my PhD in psychology,” she said. “I’m not in medical school.”
It seemed he gave her a little wink, but she must have imagined it. “Glad we cleared that up,” he said. “So, are you in a relationship with anyone?”
“Was.” She glanced at her bare hand. Jackson had never gotten around to getting her a ring, though he’d been hinting at it for years. She now knew he had never intended to take things to the next level. “I ended it with him a couple of days ago.”
“A couple of days ago,” he repeated, then pressed his lips together. “Had your boyfriend ever met Ethan? Did he know you were close to your nephew?”
“Well, yes, but . . .” Smolleck couldn’t be thinking Jackson was involved.
“Is it possible your boyfriend was angry enough over the breakup to try to get even with you?”
“By kidnapping Ethan?” She shook her head. “No. Definitely not. It isn’t in his nature.”
“I suppose you’re pretty good at knowing what people will and won’t do from your studies in psychology.”
“That’s right.” She sat up straighter. “In particular, I know Jackson.” She stopped herself. She had thought she knew him, but she had closed her eyes to the real person. “I, I think it’s very unlikely that he’s involved.”
“May I have Jackson’s contact info so we can rule him out?”
She gave Smolleck his phone and e-mail address, feeling violated somehow. She had heard that Jackson had moved in with a graduate student in the English department, but didn’t know the specifics.
The agent jotted down what she told him on the yellow pad, then looked back up at her. “So tell me about your brother and his wife,” he said, changing direction so abruptly that Aubrey started. “Do they have a good marriage?”
“I guess.”
“Kevin’s a financial guy at BBM,” Smolleck said. “Baer Business Machines is a nice family business to marry into.”
“I suppose so. Is there some reason you’re bringing it up?”
“Does Kevin get along well with his in-laws?” he asked without answering her question.
This FBI agent was all over the place. First, he hinted at Mama’s involvement with the kidnapping, then Jackson’s, and now it seemed he was considering the Simmers, or maybe BBM. But, of course, anyone might be a suspect. Was she?
“I couldn’t say what his relationship is with the Simmers,” she replied. Or more accurately, it wasn’t her place to say.
A couple of years before, when she and her brother had been sharing a rare fraternal moment, Kevin had confided that he hated working at BBM. Ernest Simmer treated him like an errand boy, but Kevin felt trapped because his father-in-law was paying him so well. Kevin had told Kim he wanted to quit, but she was clearly not a fan of taking a hit to their comfortable lifestyle. Of course, it had been two years since that conversation. Maybe things had changed.
Smolleck leaned forward in her mother’s chair. It creaked. “So what happened with your mother?”
Back to Mama. Why was he playing this head game? “What do you mean?” she asked.
“For eight years Kevin and Kim cut her out of their life; then when Ethan is six, they welcome her back.” His voice had softened, no longer in attack mode. “Why’d they forgive her after all this time?”
It was a good question. One she’d given some thought to, but there had been no particular event or change that she knew of.
Smolleck’s eyes were still on her.
“I don’t know for sure,” she said. “Maybe Kevin and Kim decided it was time for Ethan to get to know his other grandmother.”
He picked up the photo of Ethan holding out his baby tooth. “It’s kind of interesting that they would trust your mother with Ethan after she was sued for negligence that led to a child’s death.”
Aubrey winced. “My mother was cleared of those charges.”
“Yes, I understand. But the timing seems odd to me.”
“If you’re trying to build a case against my mother, that’s absurd. Why would she kidnap Ethan now, when she and my brother are finally reconciled and she’s able to see her grandson freely?”
“An interesting paradox.”
“Not a paradox at all, since my mother didn’t kidnap him.” Her voice had gotten higher, the way it did when she was upset. She took a breath, trying to bring it—and herself—back under control. “Agent Smolleck,” she said, “I can appreciate that investigating the family is part of your due diligence, but shouldn’t the FBI be considering other possible abduction suspects? Sex offenders, that kind of thing.”
“There are several of us down here on the CARD team, Ms. Lynd. Excuse me, I mean Aubrey.” His voice had resumed its clipped formality. “We’re each investigating different areas. Does that answer your question?”