to pick up a cue stick and try it out. It would seem the Nelsons had a fair number of grown-up toys, but the house and its furnishings seemed neglected. Interesting.
He took a moment to study the woman as she dribbled the facts to him slowly, almost dispassionately. Odd how she was far less emotional than Sara about Mike’s disappearance. She could have been reciting the plot of a book she’d read. Perhaps she didn’t feel her son was in danger.
When Meg finished, she didn’t look up, but drew in a deep, quivery breath and waited.
“Mrs. Nelson, do you feel your son is in imminent danger, even though he’s with his father?” Kincaid asked.
Again Meg glanced at Sara, obviously irritated at the question. “Lenny wouldn’t hurt Mike. That I know.” Her voice had a defensive tone as she went back to her sewing.
“Has Lenny done this before, taken Mike on unexpected trips?”
“Not exactly, but they’ve gone fishing without me.”
Sara watched and listened, wondering why her sister was being so difficult and almost evasive. However, since she’d moved out, she and Meg were no longer close. They never had been really, given nearly a decade’s age difference
Meg looked up, meeting Kincaid’s questioning gaze. “Lenny likes to do things on the spur of the moment. He says life is more fun if you don’t have every minute planned. I’ve always liked that about him. Some people get stuck in ruts, always working, never enjoying life.” She bent to her sewing, but not before sending Sara a sharp look.
Kincaid caught the accusatory glance Meg aimed at her sister. Was there animosity between the two, and what, if anything, did that have to do with the missing boy?
“I understand Lenny left a note. Could we see it?” Kincaid asked.
Meg huffed, but she got up and walked to a small desk in the corner, then came back with the note, which she handed to Sara, not Kincaid.
Sara unfolded the single sheet and held it so that Kincaid could read it, as well.
It was terse and to the point. “Meg—Mike and I decided to go on a little trip. Don’t know how long we’ll be gone. I’ll be in touch. Don’t worry about us. Lenny.”
The handwriting was sloppy and uneven, as if the writer had been in a hurry. “Why do you suppose Lenny didn’t tell you before they left?” Kincaid watched her closely.
Meg’s lips became a thin line, as if she was annoyed. Or was it embarrassed? “Mike had been pestering Lenny to go on a vacation like Disneyland or camping since school let out, even though we don’t have the money for that sort of thing. Maybe Lenny thought it was time for some father-son quality time.”
“I see,” he said, though he didn’t. From what Sara had indicated, Lenny didn’t strike him as father of the year. “So then, you don’t think there’s any reason to be worried about Mike being gone like this? I mean, you did call Sara, expressing concern, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I called her, but I had no idea she’d call in the cops. That wasn’t necessary, not at all.”
“Can we look through Mike’s room, see what he packed, maybe get an idea of where they went?” Kincaid asked.
“No. I’m not having a stranger prowling through my son’s things. Sara already did that.”
Seated on the couch, Kincaid looked at Sara beside him, at a loss over Meg’s cool acceptance of the situation and her almost belligerent attitude in contrast to her sister’s heartfelt plea. Raising his brows, he invited Sara’s response.
Taking her cue, Sara cleared her throat. Maybe she could get through to her sister. “Meg, how are you and Lenny getting along these days?”
Meg looked up, her expression suddenly hostile. “Fine. We have an occasional disagreement. Husbands and wives quarrel now and then, Sara. If you were able to keep a man interested in you long enough to have a real relationship, you’d know that. All you do is work, work, work. And spoil Mike so he sasses me.” She stood, abruptly clutching her needlework as she glared at her sister. “I asked you to help find my son, not to analyze my marriage. And I’m not happy that you brought a stranger, a detective, in on our troubles. I should think you’d remember that you owe me. You owe me plenty.”
Running out of steam, Meg turned and marched down the hallway surprisingly fast for a heavyset woman. In moments a door slammed shut.
Stunned, Sara sat back, heat moving into her face. Grasping for composure, she tried to make light of Meg’s outburst. “That went well, don’t you think?”
Kincaid stood, walked to the fireplace, giving Sara a moment to collect herself. What had caused her sister to react with such an outburst? Apparently, Meg felt that Sara still owed her for all those years she lived here. Finally he turned. “I guess I didn’t ask how you and your sister get along.”
She shook her head. “Fairly well, I thought, until now. I…she’s always had a sharp tongue, but she’s never been quite so mean-spirited.”
“Sounds like she’s envious of your relationship with her son.”
Sara rose, brushing back her hair. “I suppose she’s got a point. I do spoil Mike. He’s such a good kid, so smart. I reward him for good grades, for making the swim team. I take him to ball games, out to dinner, hiking and camping, bought him a ten-speed bike, things like that. I promised I’d take him to Disneyland this summer. Meg is too thrifty to do anything frivolous or fun, so I take up the slack. Still, I had no idea she felt such animosity toward me.”
“She also skirted the original question you asked her about how she and Lenny get along. Do you think they do a fair amount of fighting where Mike can overhear them?”
There was no use evading this any longer. “Probably. They certainly did when I lived here.”
Which was likely the real reason Sara had moved out. “Let’s try a scenario on for size,” Kincaid said, leading her outside. “Let’s assume that Meg and Lenny had a quarrel that Mike overheard. Perhaps the boy was upset, so Lenny decided to take him on that surprise trip, maybe while Meg left to run errands. Maybe Lenny wanted to worry her so she’d stop picking on him.” They reached his silver Explorer, and Kincaid turned to face her. “And maybe he intends to return after he thinks she’s learned her lesson.”
“Or maybe not,” Sara said, unconvinced. “Look, I don’t think Lenny wants to leave the Golden Goose. With the police department, he’s got a real job with potential, for a change, but obviously he hasn’t worked very hard to keep it or he wouldn’t have gotten suspended. He’s got it pretty good over here, so I’m not sure he’d risk getting Meg too angry.”
“Because she controls the money?”
Squinting in the glare, Sara slipped on her sunglasses. “Oh, yes. She’s told me she has him give her his entire paycheck, such as it is, then takes care of all the bills and gives him a monthly allowance, if you can believe it. If he runs out of money before the month ends, too bad. She used to give me an allowance when I lived with them, before I got a job and before I came into my own inheritance. I don’t know if she’s afraid the money will run out or whether it’s a means of control.”
“I vote for
