Page 59 of Night Moves
Pong whimpered his unease.
“It’s okay, boy,” Erik said to Pong. “Logan’s our friend.”
Drake expected Erik to extricate himself, but he held the boy, who didn’t seem to want to let go. Maybe Logan missed his parents more than he’d been letting on. Drake was proud of his brother for spending time with Logan and for holding him when he needed it. Drake had always known Erik was a good guy who lived his faith, but this just proved it.
“Logan likes dogs.” Willow picked up a blue brick and clipped it onto a tower. “He wants us to get one, but Dad said no ’cause we already have a cat.”
“And what about you?” he asked. “Would you like a dog?”
“Sure. It would be fun.”
“Do you want to pet Pong too?”
“Nah. I’ll let Logan have fun.”
Drake respected how kind she was to her brother. Drake didn’t know what it felt like to have the kind of responsibility that Willow was carrying. Erik was Drake’s only younger sibling, and only by a couple of years. Plus Drake had three older brothers and a sister who fulfilled that role.
After a few minutes of Willow’s silence, he turned his attention to the Legos. “Looks like you’re making good progress.”
“Could do better if you didn’t keep running out to your workshop.” She tilted her head, her curls shifting as if they had a life of their own, and focused on him. “What are you guys doing out there anyway?”
Drake took a moment to make sure his answer was appropriate. “Just working on one of our jobs.”
“What kind of job?”
“We investigate things and help people who are in trouble.”
She clutched the alarm. “Is that why we’re here? Are we in trouble?”
He should’ve been even more vague. “Not at all.”
“My dad would get really mad if we were.” She sighed. “But not Mom.”
“Sounds like you miss your mom.” Drake connected two bricks together to give her a chance to answer.
Willow gave a sad nod, those Little Orphan Annie curls bouncing. “I love her.”
“Of course you do. She’s your mom. I love my mom too. She’s the best.”
Willow frowned, but Drake had no idea what he’d said to upset her, so he sat back and waited for the child to continue.
She pushed a few bricks around on the table. “My mom isn’t like yours. Not at all.”
“No?”
“Nuh-uh.” She stared at the kitchen where his mom still had her hands in the dough, a flour kissed swatch on her face. “Nana makes all kinds of good things to eat. And she sits with you and acts like she wants to be with you instead of doing something else.”
He wasn’t surprised about the cooking and baking as a lot of mothers these days were too busy to spend much time in the kitchen. Didn’t make them bad moms, just different ones. But it sounded like Tracey Gentry didn’t much like being a mom at all. “Your mom didn’t do those things?”
“She stayed in her room a lot, trying to make herself look prettier.” Willow’s chin trembled. “She had a video camera. I snuck in once and saw her using it. She was showing off her outfit and talking about her makeup like someone was listening to her. It was weird ’cause she was all alone. I don’t think Dad knows about it.”
“Sounds different,” Drake said.
What was Tracey doing? Creating videos for social media? Was that where she was making her money? But if so, why go away from home in the afternoons when she could record them there, and did that have anything to do with Gentry murdering women?
“She got mad if any of us went up there.” Willow chewed on her lower lip. “I didn’t like it when she got mad. I had to keep Sadie and Logan busy so they wouldn’t bother her.”
Drake got mad all over again for this poor kid. Eight years old and forced to be the adult in the family. Still, it was probably better than getting split up from her siblings and being placed in foster care. And once Gentry was behind bars, with their mother missing and the father a serial killer, social services would likely petition for parental rights and make the children available for adoption. Likely individual adoptions as Natalie had said, and as an older kid, Willow would have an even harder time of finding a forever family than her siblings.
