“Mom?” Jack said from the backseat. “Are we going here?” The suppression of hope rang clear in his voice. She twisted around to face him.
“You and I,” she declared, “are having dessert first.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Jack’s face beamed, though with a touch of disbelief that kept him in his seat.
“The donuts here don’t come to the car, buddy. Better get in there before they run out.”
That was all it took to send Jack clambering out of the vehicle. At the counter inside, they ordered an apple fritter for her, a sprinkled donut for him, and a maple bar to share. To wash it down, they drank from squatty milk bottles, but not before Audra challenged him to a bubble-blowing contest with their straws. When he giggled over his win, Audra could swear she heard an echo of Devon’s laugh, and it only broadened her smile.
Once they finished and were wiping their hands with napkins, Audra thought of Judith and how much, as a young girl, she must have craved knowledge about her parents. Audra decided right then; she would never again rob Jack of that gift.
“Baby, I want you to know,” she said, “if you ever want to ask about your dad, or hear stories about him, or anything like that ... I want you to say so. Okay?”
After a pause, he nodded and his eyes regained the faintest trace of an old, sweet glimmer.
Together they disposed of their garbage and exited through the glass doors. Outside, a couple of kids were fawning over a woman’s Maltese, its hair trimmed in a puppy cut. Audra caught Jack watching with a smile—though how could he not, with a dog so cute it appeared to require batteries?
A canine companion might be good for Jack one day. Not a rush. Just something to consider.
They had just reached the car when Audra heard a buzzing in her purse. She retrieved her phone and recognized the number.
It belonged to Taylor Shuman.
Though with reservations, Audra answered the call.
“Audra, I’m so glad I reached you,” Taylor replied. “I have some news about Jakob Hemel.”
“Actually, Taylor, I’m not sure we need any more information.”
Due to either the cell connection or the woman’s enthusiasm, Taylor continued as if she hadn’t heard. “We did some more searching, me and my friend at the museum. We were trying to figure out why Jakob disappeared. Audra,” she said, “I know what happened to him.”
66
This time around, Vivian didn’t bother with trying to reach Agent Gerard on the telephone. She went straight to Foley Square to confront him face-to-face.
“Ah, this must be your little one,” he said in greeting after opening his office door. He wore suspenders over his white shirt, his tie loosened and sleeves rolled up. His hair had receded a tad more over the past three years.
This was the first that Vivian had seen him since their meeting on Binnen Bridge, but just like then, she had no interest in pleasantries.
“Judith, honey, go over and sit down for Mommy.”
As Agent Gerard closed the door, the girl bypassed the chair to investigate items on the desk. She knocked a cup of paper clips onto the floor, turning him around.
“Was it him?” Vivian asked.
The agent shifted his attention, perplexed.
“I saw a man this morning. A man who looked like Isaak was outside our apartment.” She clenched her purse handle. “I need you to tell me I’m wrong. That he hasn’t been alive all this time.”
Agent Gerard dropped his shoulders. His skin paled, though surely not to the degree Vivian’s had that morning. He muttered to himself, “Those bastards had no business . . .” He shot a glare toward his door, as if meant to reach agents in another office.
The confirmation weakened Vivian’s knees, but only slightly. She already knew what she had seen. What she did not know was the reason for the lies. “For heaven’s sakes, just tell me the truth.”
He hitched his hands on the hips of his pin-striped trousers and glanced at Judith, who was now on her knees, playing with the shiny mound of paper clips. Finally he answered in the begrudging tone of having hoped to never have this conversation.
“When we brought Isaak in, he spilled it all. The details of their plans, the agents’ locations, their training and strategies. Everything we needed to shut down the ring.”
Vivian narrowed her eyes. “You told me he changed his mind. You said George Dasch was the one-”
“Dasch collaborated too. That’s the God’s honest truth. And Isaak was found guilty by a tribunal, in spite of me doing everything I could to help. His family was taken care of, like I promised. But in the end, they still slapped him with fifteen years in the pen.”