The Replacement Child - By Christine Barber Page 0,33
them; it was always, “He needed to find himself.” Like he was in India on a spiritual quest instead of in New York getting remarried.
Lucy walked over to the chest and pulled off the pictures and lace cloth. The photos she put with the others on the mantel. The lace cloth went, unfolded, into a drawer in the kitchen. The yellow-and-red chest she pushed out onto the back porch. Maybe some passing teenager would steal it. Maybe it would finally snow and ruin the paint. She could only hope.
Lucy turned off all the lights and fell asleep on the couch, with Three’s Company as her background noise and night-light.
CHAPTER FIVE
Wednesday Morning
When Gil walked into the kitchen just after waking up at six thirty, Susan silently handed him the Capital Tribune. He read the first three paragraphs of the Melissa Baca article before he saw the word drugs. He left the house without taking a shower or saying good morning to the girls, who were still sleeping.
The newspaper article had used the phrase sources close to the investigation. He wondered who the state police’s leak was. And he wondered why the state police, who had been acting so cooperatively, hadn’t told him about finding drugs in Melissa’s car.
Gil used his cell phone to dial Chief Kline. Kline answered groggily. Gil read to him from the article’s third paragraph: “‘Baca’s car was found in Oñate Park, which Santa Fe Police Chief Bill Kline called “a haven for drug dealers” during an interview last month. Sources close to the investigation said heroin and a syringe were found on the front seat of Baca’s car. The sources also said Baca was a frequent drug user.’”
All Kline said was, “I’ll get back to you.”
Next, Gil called Lieutenant Pollack, who answered his phone with a “yo.” Before Gil could say anything, Pollack started. “I bet you’re calling about the newspaper article.” Pollack sighed and said, “Look, if it had been up to me, I would have told you that we found heroin and a syringe in Melissa’s car, but my hands were tied by my bosses. You know, all that need-to-know crap. The good news is you’re pretty much the only one I can trust right now because I know you’re not the leak since you didn’t know about it.” Gil thought this reasoning was pretty flimsy but didn’t say anything. Pollack continued. “Things hit the fan here this morning. I’ll have to get back to you.” Pollack hung up.
Gil pulled up in front of Maxine Baca’s house just before seven A.M. She opened the door and walked away without inviting him in. The house was cold—colder than the morning air outside. As he followed her into the kitchen, he wondered where all the family and friends were from last night.
She sat at the table, a shoe box full of magazine clippings in front of her. He stared at her for a second as she rifled through the box. She took out an article with the headline new STUDY SHOWS DRUG USE MORE FREQUENT IN MIDDLE CHILDREN. She was still wearing the same blouse as she had the day before but with different pants. Without a word, he started making coffee. As it was brewing, he went in search of the heater and relit the pilot light, which must have gone out during the night. He found some bread that was starting to turn stale and put it into the toaster. Maxine jumped when the toast popped but didn’t look up. He put the toast and coffee in front of her.
He touched her hand. It was as cold as the air in the house.
“Where’s Ron and Mrs. Cordova and everyone else?” he asked.
“I sent them away.”
“But you need someone to look after you.”
“No,” was all she said. She took another clipping out of the box. He could only read part of the headline—DRUGS: THE KILLERS IN …
He said, as gently as he could, “You could have told me the newspaper asked you about Melissa using drugs. I would have taken care of it.”
“They called so late. It was close to nine P.M. Your children must have already been in bed. I didn’t want the phone to wake them.” She picked up the toast and put it back down without taking a bite.
“The story in the Capital Tribune says you denied she ever used drugs. Did you say anything else to them?”
When she spoke, she didn’t answer his question. “The state police last night asked about drugs,