Look Again - Lisa Scottoline [47]
“No, Mommy. We read four books!” Will held up four fingers, and Ellen grinned.
“Good for you!”
Connie said, “I don’t know why they closed. It’s a gyp, for what you pay.”
“It’s all right.” Ellen smiled at Will, cupping his warm head. “I wanna have some fun, don’t you, honey?”
“Fun!” Will started jumping up and down, and Ellen laughed.
“How about sledding? Is that fun?”
“YES!” Will shouted, jumping like crazy.
“Good idea.” Connie reached for her coat, purse, and tote. “TGIF, hey?”
“Exactly.” Ellen smiled, glad to give her the time off after she’d been working so hard. “Who are we playing this weekend?”
“Nobody as good as we are.”
“So we’re winning?”
“Of course. Mark might even start.” Connie grinned.
“Go Lions!” Ellen raised a fist, and Will did, too, still jumping. She stroked his silky hair, beginning to feel better. “Will, say good-bye and thank you to Connie.”
“Good-bye, Mommy!” Will shouted, throwing his arms around Connie’s legs, and Ellen cringed.
“See ya later,” Connie said, bending over and hugging Will back.
“Alligator,” he replied, his face buried in her coat, and Ellen opened the door while Connie left, waving happily.
Ellen closed the door behind her with a grin for Will. “Hey, pal, did you eat lunch yet?”
“No.”
“Me neither. How about we eat and then go sledding?”
“Sledding!”
“Not yet.” Ellen glanced at the dining-room table, covered with crayons and coloring books. “Go pick up those crayons, please, and I’ll get lunch ready. Okay, buddy?”
“Okay, Mommy!” Will ran into the dining room and thundered into the kitchen, where she could hear the scrape of the footstool as he pulled it up to the counter. Oreo Figaro jumped down from the couch with his characteristic chirp, and she bent over to pet him hello, then felt her BlackBerry vibrating on her waistband. She took the BlackBerry from its holster, and the screen showed a red asterisk next to the email.
She hit the button. The email was from twinzmom373, Cheryl Martin. Ellen felt her chest tighten. She opened the email and read:
Ellen,
I sent Amy an email about you and told her your email address. I’ll let you know if I hear from her, but don’t hold your breath. Hope your son gets better. Sorry I couldn’t help more.
Best,
Cheryl
Ellen bit her lip, her gaze lingering on the tiny screen. At least Cheryl had gotten through to Amy. If the email hadn’t bounced back, it was still a good email address. She’d have to hope for the best, but in the meantime, she was back to Before and After. Either the carjacker was Beach Man or he wasn’t. Two choices. Do or die.
“Mommy, I’m done!” Will called from the dining room. He was kneeling on a chair, trying to hold a logjam of crayons. They were dropping everywhere, and Oreo Figaro was chewing Burnt Sienna.
“Let me help, honey.” Ellen got up, putting the BlackBerry away.
During lunch, she tried to tuck her anxiety away in the back of her brain, but it kept coming to the fore, even as she got Will dressed in his snowsuit and retrieved the orange plastic saucer from the basement. She slid into her coat and took him in one hand and the saucer in the other, then went outside in the cold sun, inhaling a deep lungful of fresh air.
“Freezing, Mommy!” Will said, his breath making tiny puffs in the frigid air.
“Look, your breath looks like a little train. You’re Thomas the Tank Engine.”
Will giggled. “Choo-choo!”
“Here we go!” Ellen scanned the street, which was covered with a soft snow that blanketed the rooftops, filled the rain gutters, and lined the porch steps. The houses, mostly stone or clapboard, sat close together, and many of them shared driveways, like freshly shoveled Ys. Narberth was a stop-time neighborhood, where everybody looked out for each other.
They were making their way down the porch steps when Ellen realized something. Her neighbors must have gotten the white card in the mail, showing the photo of Timothy Braverman. They could