Hiding Place (9781101606759) by David Bell

excitement.
    “Miss Manning,” Janet said. “Or Ms. Just not Mrs.—I’ve never been married.”
    “Right. Of course.” Kate placed a handheld tape recorder on the table.
    “Excuse me,” Stynes said. “It was Richie LaRosa who covered this story the last time there was a parole hearing.”
    “Mr. LaRosa?” Kate said. She put on an exaggerated frown. “He’s taking an early retirement, even though he’s only in his forties. A lot of the more experienced reporters at the paper are.”
    “Oh,” Stynes said.
    Kate shrugged. “I begged my editor to let me cover this for the paper. It’s my first big story. Shall we begin?”
    Kate’s sorority-girl good cheer had already irritated Janet. Shall we begin? Let’s sing a song! Let’s talk about your awful personal tragedy!
    “Miss Manning—”
    “Janet’s fine.”
    “Great,” Kate said. They were old friends already. “Okay. Janet, is your dad, Bill Manning, is he going to talk to us today?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    The young woman frowned a little. “Is it too hard for him to talk about it?” she asked.
    “Something like that.”
    Not only would Dad not talk, but Michael wouldn’t either. Janet checked her watch. Just after two. He could still show, she told herself, but even as she had the thought she doubted it.
    Stynes stepped in. “I’ve found over the years that Janet is an excellent advocate for her family. She was always very eloquent before the parole board.”
    “Well, Janet.” Kate leaned forward a little. “Can you talk a little about what it’s been like to live without your brother all these years?”
    Janet took a deep breath. What had it been like? She’d managed to control—most of the time—the fantasies she used to indulge in, the ones in which she imagined Justin hadn’t died and had instead spent the last twenty-five years growing up, maturing, becoming the young man—and brother—Janet wanted him to be. A college graduate, a businessman, a husband, a father…
    “I think about it every day,” Janet said. “I guess I feel like I’ve been cheated out of something.”
    “All those years?”
    “Yes. My whole family. I have a daughter who will never know her uncle. I wanted her to know him.” Janet cleared her throat. “She said she’d be here today…She must be running late.”
    “Are your memories clear of what happened the day Justin disappeared?” Kate asked.
    What happened that day, Janet?
Michael had asked. She wanted to say she was surprised he didn’t show up for the interview, but she wasn’t. Reliability and predictability had never been his strong suits. Janet learned that early on, during childhood. Why would anything change now, all these years later?
    But why show up at her job, asking that question?
    What do you remember from that day, Janet?
    “I can’t forget,” Janet said. “It’s something I’ll never forget. My mom sent us to the park to play, just the two of us.”
    “Was that unusual?” Kate asked.
    “Yes, it was,” she said. Then she added, “That was the first time that ever happened.”
    “Why do you think she did that?” Kate asked.
    Janet had been wondering the same thing for twenty-five years. And she had never asked her mother. “Maybe she just needed some time alone. She thought we were old enough to go to the park alone and give her a little break. There were a lot of people there.”
    Kate nodded.
Go on.
    “We played,” she said. “We ran around. We went on the slides. We went on the swings. There were other kids there, and a lot of parents. We weren’t alone. And Michael showed up, and we all played together.”
    “This is Michael Bower?” Kate asked.
    “He was my best friend.” Janet decided not to mention having just seen Michael and asked him to come to the interview. “His parents and my parents were friends, so we played together a lot.”
    “Now, at some point, you saw Dante Rogers there, right?”
    “Yes,” Janet said. She didn’t think about