Chapter 14
“What are you doing talking to Chief Jensen behind my back?” says Judd in just above a whisper. It’s a seventy-degree day, and all the windows in the doublewide are cranked open.
“I didn’t go behind your back,” says Clay. “I just went. And the only reason I did is because you chose not to. You think Mike and Andy can handle it. But Mike and Andy seem preoccupied with being Mike and Andy.”
“That is not true,” says Judd. “They’re good police. They’ve got the word out all over the county. They’re talking to their sources. They’re talking to everyone who knows Teddy. They’re doing their job.”
“Are they? When I spoke to them yesterday, they gave me the same talking-to about going to Zoey. What’s their problem with her? What’s your problem with her?”
“Zoey Jensen doesn’t know Teddy. She doesn’t know his history.
She doesn’t know the way this town works.
Hell, how could she? She’s only been on the job six months.
I have no problem with Zoey. It’s just that this is a family issue.
You and me, we’re family. Mike and Andy and Sue, they’re family.
Zoey Jensen isn’t family. We don’t need her sticking her nose into this. ”
Clay feels his sixteen-year-old self begin to boil.
“What are you talking about? We have no idea what Teddy’s been mixed up in.
And do you know why we don’t? Because we’re family.
Because we love Teddy. Because we only want to think the best of him.
Because we don’t want to think the unthinkable.
We’re too close, Dad. We’re too goddamn close to Teddy.
Zoey Jensen is exactly who needs to be investigating his disappearance.
Asking questions. Finding out who Teddy’s been seen with lately.
What he’s been up to. Because we can’t see clearly when it comes to Teddy.
And you especially can’t. You’ve been bailing him out of trouble since you were kids.
I love him to death but the man can’t hold a job and can’t keep his hands clean.
And you’ve enabled it. Why should he straighten out his life when you keep cleaning up his messes? ”
Judd curls his lower lip into his mouth to let his anger cool to a simmer. He checks the open kitchen window to make sure Deb isn’t lurking near the screen. “Just stay out of this,” says Judd in a low growl. “I don’t need some soccer player out there stirring up an already murky situation.”
“Some soccer player?” says Clay. “That’s who I am to you? Not your son? Not Teddy’s nephew? But some soccer player?”
“Dammit, Clay, I don’t care if you’re a soccer player or an accountant or a ballet dancer.
The point is you don’t understand or appreciate the delicacy of this situation.
You spook the wrong people, they’ll clam up.
And that will make finding Teddy ten times harder.
Just leave it to me and Mike and Andy. We’ll find Teddy. That’s what we do.”
Clay turns away from Judd and stares out at the gravel driveway leading from the road.
His truck is pulled off to one side. He wants to get in it and drive away.
He did something like that twenty-four years ago and things turned out pretty well.
Maybe he and Judd just aren’t meant to be.
Would it have made a difference if Pam had lived?
Might she have found a way to bring father and son together without combustion?
Clay has no idea but the answer doesn’t much matter now, does it?
He turns toward his father and says, “I’ll do whatever the hell I want. Don’t take out your guilt on me.”
“I have no guilt. What do you think I’d feel guilty about?”
“Oh, man. So many things. Not helping Teddy turn it around. Not treating this disappearance seriously.”
“What do you mean—”
“I mean you refused to take this to the chief of police. You and Mike and Andy are just nosing around. No one’s done any real investigative work.”
“I—”
“What have you done?” says Clay. He hears his voice rise to a volume that can be heard inside the house.
He takes a breath, steps toward his father, and almost whispers, “By now you and your good buddies Mike and Andy should have Teddy’s cell phone records.
You should know who he’s been calling and texting.
You should know which cell towers he’s been pinging over the last few weeks to see if there’s any location patterns that might give some insight into where he’s been and what he’s been up to lately.
Every criminal complaint, questioning, and arrest in town should be referenced and cross-referenced for known friends and associates of Teddy.
And they should run every Facebook, Instagram, and X account of every friend Teddy has or has had through Sprout Social to analyze every picture and post in search for a connection.
And get back to basics. Why hasn’t a K-9 unit tried to track his scent?
It hasn’t rained since early Friday morning but it could any time. ”
Judd looks at Clay with a hint of a smile in his eyes. Looks but doesn’t say a word.
“What?” says Clay. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Judd scratches his head, then shakes it. He shrugs.
Clay turns and walks back into the house, where he manages a smile for Deb and Mei, then heads out to the deck to see how Braedon’s doing on the grill.
The rest of the evening is pleasant enough.
Judd and Clay are so used to conflict that they put it behind them rather easily.
They don’t get over it. They bank it. But banked conflict is better than boiling-over conflict—at least they can function.
And it helps that Mei is a talker. They learn she was married once in her twenties to a man her parents pushed on her.
He turned out to be bad at business and bad at monogamy.
When she divorced him, her family practically divorced her.
“They have some very old-world ways of thinking,” says Mei. “Even now, almost thirty years later, they say I should have never left him. That’s why I’ve been content to build my life here in Minnesota.”
Mei looks at Judd, and the two share a smile.
Despite Teddy’s disappearance, Judd has reasons to be happy.
He’s introduced Mei to his family. They all seem to be getting along well.
More importantly, they all seem like they want to be getting along.
Mei has questioned Braedon about his science studies, and she’s been impressed with what the boy knows at twelve years of age.
Deb is being especially welcoming to Mei.
Clay is treating her as if she’s already a member of the family.
And Judd won’t shut up about Braedon’s prowess on the grill. It almost feels like a happy occasion.
Then there’s a knock on the front door.