The Stolen - Jason Pinter [22]
I toed the floor. Looked away.
"We aren't seeing each other anymore," I said. "Haven't
talked in a while, actually."
"That's a shame. Remember you talking about her from
time to time. In a good way."
She was worth talking about, I wanted to say. Instead,
I let my silence speak for me. It was an issue I couldn't
talk about with Wallace. Or Jack. Or anyone. I wasn't
fully ready to face it myself. Knowing the woman I loved
was out there in the same city walking the same streets, it
was enough to tear me apart if I thought about it too much.
Knowing what I'd let--what I'd forced away.
"Not to get too parental, but you'll meet someone nice,"
Wallace said. "All these bylines, your name in the paper,
lots of girls would probably kill to go out with a hotshot
journalist."
"Yeah, nothing sexier than a guy with half a dozen cartons
of half-eaten Chinese food, who makes less money than a
public school teacher and doesn't own a mattress cover."
I could tell Wallace didn't find that funny. I decided to
change the subject.
"Hey, know who showed up at the Linwoods' place
today? Gray Talbot."
"No kidding?"
"In the flesh. Or suit."
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Jason Pinter
"The savior of suburbia checking on his constituents."
"What do you mean, savior?"
"After Daniel Linwood disappeared, Gray Talbot came
in and rattled the cage until someone changed the lining.
Made a big stink about how the town was becoming a
cesspool, how the crime rate was simply unacceptable. He
got state and federal funding to rebuild Hobbs County
pretty much from the ground up. Nearly doubled the police
force, turned a hellhole of a town into a damn fine place
to raise a family. There's still work to be done, but that
place is pretty unrecognizable compared to what it was."
I thought about what Wallace said, and agreed with
him. Even Stavros, the driver, had said the same thing.
"Daniel Linwood's kidnapping was a terrible thing, but
the silver lining is he forced change," he continued. "That
boy basically returned to a brand-new, safer home and community. That's all Gray Talbot. Rumor has it he contributed
close to a million from his own coffers to aid the effort."
"I thought his suits looked nice. Guess he's got enough
money for them."
"I have Gray's home phone number. It'd be great to get
him on record for this story as well. He's got a lot invested
in Hobbs County, both in time and money, and I'm sure
he's expecting a heck of a story from you as well. You
don't construct a house and then not care how it's decorated. Get to it," Wallace said. "All story, all the time. I
want to see ink on your eyeballs. If I hear you had a single
drink with Jack, you'll be reporting on the passing of
venereal diseases in the champagne room. Show me the
copy before you send it to Evelyn."
"No problem," I said.
"Then tomorrow morning, I'll send over a copy of the
paper with a fruit basket to Ted Allen and Paulina Cole."
The Stolen
67
"Do me a favor, leave my name off the card,' I said.
"Enough people in this town hate me."
"If they hate you it's because you're doing a good job.
You're getting the scoops they want. So go make some
enemies. Just make sure they're the right enemies."
"Operation Piss People Off to commence immediately, sir."
I gave Wallace a halfhearted salute and returned to my
desk. I sent Jack a quick e-mail declining drinks.
I pushed all that aside and got to work. Punching keys.
Making enemies of the right people. Something still didn't
sit right with me about the interview. I needed to pinpoint
it. To do justice to the story. To give justice to Danny
Linwood.
6
"It's called 'declared dead in absentia,'" Amanda said.
"It's when a person is presumed dead, yet there is insufficient evidence to prove such a death occurred."
Darcy Lapore chewed her gum thoughtfully. At least
Amanda assumed it was thoughtful, because her brows
were furrowed as if creating space for a gopher to hibernate. Regardless, she continued. Amanda Davies had been
working at the New York Legal Aid Society for several
years.