Piece of My Heart (Under Suspicion #7) - Mary Higgins Clark Page 0,65
right, it might be too late to save Summer Carver. The question was whether they even had time to save Johnny.
* * *
Grace looked glum as they climbed into the back of their Uber.
“You okay?” Laurie asked, waiting for her cell phone to power up again.
“I feel bad for her is all.”
“She’s definitely worried about her daughter.”
Something else seemed to tug at Grace. “If I had a mom who loved me that much, I’d tell her everything—the good, the bad, and the boring. Someday, Summer’s going to regret shutting her mother out.”
It dawned on Laurie that Grace often spoke about her sister and occasionally referred to a monthly dinner with her godmother, but rarely mentioned her parents. She was trying to figure out how to follow up on Grace’s comment when her phone finally came back to life. A text message from Jennifer Langland was waiting for her. Sounds like your phone is off. Please call me as soon as you get this.
Laurie hit a button to call Langland.
“I looked into Summer Carver and her known associates like you asked.”
Laurie braced herself for disappointing news. Langland was convinced that Gunther had nothing to do with Johnny’s abduction. “I had an interesting meeting with her mother, Julie, just now. She described Summer as extremely vulnerable to influence. She said her daughter was, quote, ‘obsessed’ with Gunther. Summer’s apparently living with her half brother, and it sounds like the mom thinks he may be a bit shady. She thought he might have some kind of agenda for helping his sister right now.”
Langland’s response was immediate. “Tobias Anderson Carver, six years older than his baby sister. Current address in Brewster, New York. He was accused of fraud about four years ago, for raising money for a nonexistent condo project. Served three months and got his record expunged after two years for keeping his nose clean.”
“He told Julie he was camping during those months. Is it possible Toby met Gunther while he was in jail?”
“No. The brother’s charges were federal. Two completely different systems. But if Toby’s involved with Gunther, too, maybe he has more of a financial incentive. If Gunther wins his wrongful conviction case, he could get millions as compensation. Summer may be helping out of love, while the brother sees a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Laurie was surprised to hear how open Detective Langland was to the possibility that the Carvers might be behind Johnny’s disappearance. “You found something,” Laurie said.
“I did. According to the E-ZPass electronic toll records, last Wednesday, at 1:02 P.M., a Toyota Camry registered to one Tobias Anderson Carver crossed the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan, then onto the Throgs Neck Bridge at 1:37. At 7:52 P.M., it returned to the Throgs Neck again in the other direction, then back to the GWB.”
As Langland spoke, Laurie’s thoughts raced, calculating the timing and the route from Brewster, New York, to the Hamptons. The route meant only one thing: a one-day trip onto Long Island and back. “It lines up,” Laurie said.
“Like clockwork. And it’s the only time Toby Carver’s account shows any travel east of New York City in the past twelve months. It looks like your father may have been right, Laurie. Now we need to figure out how to bring Johnny home.”
Chapter 39
Sitting at her office conference table, Laurie took a deep breath before dialing Summer Carver’s cell phone number. She thought she heard her own blood pulse through her veins as she waited for an answer. With each ring, she pictured the rustic cottage that Toby Carver owned on four acres of land in Brewster. She imagined little Johnny, locked away in a basement or an attic or a tool shed.
In cooperation with Detective Langland, local police had sent an unmarked car to drive by the property, but they saw no obvious signs of foul play. The investigative team had decided against knocking on the door. Until they had a search warrant to authorize entry into the house, which a judge had declined without further evidence, they didn’t want to tip off Summer and her brother that they were suspects.
The voice that answered was perky and peppy. Laurie reminded herself that Summer’s own mother said that she had been acting like a different person under the influence of Darren Gunther.
Summer let out a high-pitched squeal at the mention of Under Suspicion. “Oh my goodness, you have no idea how much I love your show. I’ve seen every one of them. I