The Stolen - Jason Pinter [15]
home," I said.
"Best for him to get used to a real home again," Shelly
said, nodding.
A man entered the room. He looked weary but happy.
He was a slightly paunchy man with a receding hairline
and deep bags under his eyes.
"You must be Henry," he said, offering his hand.
"Randall Linwood."
"Mr. Linwood," I said. "Thanks so much for having me.
I'm grateful for you letting me into your home."
"Thank you, Mr. Parker. With so many vultures circling
us since Daniel's return, it's good to have someone we feel
we can trust handling the story. Shelly and I have done our
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47
homework on you and your newspaper. I think we're all
in good hands."
"You are, sir. I ask for nothing but the truth, and I give
nothing but my word." Shelly smiled at this, flicked at her
eye as though wiping away a nonexistent tear.
"Anyway, I have to get back to the office. I wanted to
be here to meet the senator, but if I miss any more time,
Daniel'll have to eat Spaghetti O's for the next few weeks.
Pleasure to meet you, Henry."
"Likewise, sir."
When Randy Linwood left, I heard a brief scuffle come
from another room. Looking through the doorway, I saw
two pairs of eyes peering at me from between the slats on
a staircase. Just as quickly as they appeared, the legs they
were attached to ran back up the stairs, whispers following.
"James and Tasha," Shelly said, brushing a strand of
hair from her face, the red still there. "They're not really
sure how to deal with all of this. We're so happy, but all
this...attention, it's not what they're used to. They deal
with it in their own way."
"I can't imagine going through what you've been through.
But I have to say, Mrs. Linwood, you're handling it well."
"I'd say thank you, but it's not on purpose."
"Have the police been helpful?"
"Oh, my, incredibly so. I actually thought it'd be much
worse, but they've barely spent more than half an hour here
since Danny came back. In fact, when the senator came,
that's the first time I saw more than two of them at the
same time." I found that strange, but allowed Shelly to
continue. She paused for a moment, said softly, "We're just
so glad to have Daniel back. It's like, a wave crashing over
you when you're ready to burst into flame. I can't explain
it. All I know is I love him now more than I ever did."
48
Jason Pinter
Without thinking, my hand went to my briefcase and I
started to unlatch it. My eyes snapped back to Shelly, a
sheepish grin on my face.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I'd kind of like to keep the tape
recorder running, if you don't mind. Things like that, what
you just said, they'd add a lot to the story. I don't want the
piece to be just about Daniel and how his return has
affected him, but what it's meant to your family. How it
affects you, your husband, your other children." Shelly
smiled, nodded once. I took out the recorder, raised my
eyebrows, clicked it on.
"Are you recording now?" she asked.
"I am."
"So this will go in your interview?"
I laughed. "Not everything. Not what you just said,
only if it relates to Daniel and your family."
"Can you print swear words?" she asked.
"Uh...no."
"Okay, I curse sometimes and I don't want Daniel to
get embarrassed by his potty-mouthed mother."
I smiled at her.
Behind Shelly, I noticed a row of photographs lining a
gray shelf. Inside the frames were pictures of the Linwood
family. Most of the photos had just four people in them.
Shelly, Randy, James and Tasha. Two pictures had been
placed in front of the others. One was of all five Linwoods:
Randy, Shelly, Tasha, James and Daniel. It looked like a
photo from a Christmas card, all five bundled in warm
sweaters, posed on a couch with smiles as big as they could
muster.
"The last photo we took as a family," Shelly said.
"Tasha was only a year old."
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49
"It's beautiful," I said. Then I looked at the photo next
to it.
The picture was of their daughter, Tasha, when she was
just a child, maybe one or two years old. Tasha wasn't facing
the camera. Her head and body were turned away,