“What do you want me to do?” Vicks asked.
“What do I want . . .” Shanks’s eyes zeroed in on Ben’s. “You . . . do . . . nothing. As much as I’d love to use your brainpower, you’ve got to stop right now. We’re working from theoretical to potentially very dangerous. You don’t want to mess around with the government, okay?”
“It’s not like I probed into any top security, Sam. I accessed the information on my laptop.”
“Stop it, Ben!” Shanks pounded the table. “If you interfere, I swear I will lock you up. Is that what you want?” No one spoke. Then Shanks said, “Promise me you will not interfere.”
“I promise.”
“Say it again.”
“I swear to God, I will not interfere with your case.”
“With Ellen’s case.”
“I swear to God, I will not interfere with your investigation into my sister’s case.”
“Okay.” Shanks seemed mollified. “Okay, both of you go home. I’ve got to think.”
Vicks stood up. “Will you keep me posted, at least?”
“Yes.” Shanks stood up and gave the kid a bear hug. “I know it’s hard for you, Ben. You’ve taken it as far as you can and you’ve done a fantastic job. Way better than any of us. Right now, I really need your cooperation to back off completely, okay?”
“Sure.” Vicks took Ro’s hand and the two of them walked out of the police station. Ro waited until they were in the car. “You’re not going to listen to him.”
“No. Why should I? Any concrete information came from me.”
Ro’s eyes started to water. “You’re gonna get yourself killed and it’s going to devastate all the people who love you. That’s very selfish of you.” She turned on the motor and pulled the car out of the lot. Tears were running down her cheeks.
“I’m not going to get killed . . . oh, c’mon. Please don’t cry. I hate it when you cry.”
“It’s preparatory mourning.”
“I promise I won’t do anything beyond looking up stuff on a laptop, okay? I mean, how much trouble could I get into doing that?”
“What if the murderer traces your computer?”
“He’s not going to trace my computer.”
“How do you know? If he’s some hotshot scientist, he probably has all these things at his fingertips that you don’t know about.” A fresh batch of tears. “Vicks, he knows who you are! He knows that you are the brother of the girl he murdered. But you don’t know who he is. And the closer you get, the more he’s going to take measures to stop you. And seeing as he knows you but you don’t know him, he has a sizable advantage. If you don’t stop, I’m going to break up with you.”
“Oh, c’mon! That’s not fair!”
“Benjamin Vicksburg, this monster kills teenaged girls and I am a teenaged girl. Have you ever thought about that? Why should I risk my life for you?”
Ben was quiet. Then he said, “Okay. Good point. You’re right. I won’t look stuff up on my computer.”
“What does that mean? You’ll look stuff up on someone else’s computer?”
“There’s always the library—”
“Ben!”
“Dorothy, don’t do this to me! I promised her!”
And what could she say to that. Ellen was as alive to him as she had been the day she went missing. He couldn’t let her go. It was just too damn painful. Ro sighed. “Just be careful, okay?”
Vicks rubbed his chin. “Maybe . . . maybe it would be better if I waited until you were gone.”
“Gone?”
“Done with high school and off to college. Out of town.” Another pause. “I’ve told Shanks everything I know. I’m pretty busy anyway. Maybe it would be healthy to take a breather . . . for both of us.”
This time, her tears were those of joy. “Do you really mean it?”
“I can’t compromise your safety. As long as we’re together, I can’t do this without worrying about you.”
“And your sister . . . remember, she’s turning fifteen in, like, six months.”
“No need to remind me.” Awkward silence. “You’re right. I’ll give it a rest. I’d literally kill myself if something happened to you or Haley. I can’t risk that.”
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He sighed. “Okay, I’ll stop. But . . . there’s one more thing I need to do.”
“Vicks—”
“It won’t compromise anything. Then I promise I won’t do anything while you’re here in River Remez. Is that fair enough?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I just want to talk to someone. Then I promise I’m all yours, body and soul.”
“Talk to whom?”
“Not important. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes, we have a deal. Shake.” Ro looked at his hands to make sure his fingers weren’t crossed. They weren’t. But since he was wearing boots, she couldn’t swear to his toes.
Chapter 7
Ben knocked and Lilly answered the door. Her dachshund came charging at Ben’s knee, yapping with excitement. Ben bent down. “Hey, Oliver, whaddup?”
The dog was running around in circles. Lilly was all smiles. “You wanna come in?”
“I do.” Ben wiped his boots on the mat, kicking off the snow, and stepped inside the house. It was hot. There were baking smells that were very inviting. He took off his ski hat and his parka. Lilly said, “Haley’s not here.”
“I know that,” Ben said. “I just dropped off Griff and her at the movies. I came to see your dad.”
“My dad?”
“You know . . . that fearsome, paternal thing that slinks around the house. Is he around?”
“Oliver, quiet.” The dachshund rolled over on his back. Lilly scratched his belly. “He’s working in his shop.”
“In the garage, right?”
“I’ll get him for you. Just make sure Mr. O doesn’t pee on the carpet.”
“You know, Haley misses you.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Yes, she does. In the car, she was complaining to Griff that you don’t come with them anymore. She said it wasn’t nice to Ezra, but I could tell she was hurt by your absence.”
“She’s not hurt, and I’m perfectly nice to Ezra. As a matter of fact, he’s coming over to play video games and eat leftover Thai that Mom made last night.”
Ben broke into a slow smile. “Is he now . . .”
Lilly hit him. “Stop it!” She smiled again. “You want some noodles?”
“No, thank you.”
“How about a cookie? Sure you do.” She grabbed the biggest one off the baking sheet. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, hon.” He took a bite and smiled. “Delicious. But I really do need to see your dad.”
“Right . . . I’ll get him.”
George Tafoya lumbered in five minutes later. He was as big and wide as his wife, June, was narrow and petite. He had dark hair, dark eyes, brown skin, a wide nose, and full lips. His hands and face were coated in sawdust. “How’s it going, Ben?”
“Okay,” Ben answered. “You have a few minutes, George? I need to talk to you.”
“Let me wash up.”
“We can just go in the garage.”
“Nah, let me wash up. Matter of fact, I’m hungry. Let’s go out for some pie.”
Ben looked at him. “Pie?”
“Yeah, pie. I’m in the mood for pie. What the hell is wrong with pie?”
“Daddy!” Lilly was aghast.
“Nothing,” Ben said. “I like pie.”