Thanksgiving Day had been gloomy until their daughter arrived—and not just because of the rain. Predictably, Mack had declined her invitation. He claimed he had other plans, none of which he’d described. Corrie didn’t argue with him. Her son’s so-called plans, she supposed, were to avoid arguing with his father and therefore ruining everyone else’s holiday. Corrie wished she could shake some sense into both of them. Roy had been annoyed that Mack hadn’t come for dinner; he would’ve been equally annoyed if his son had shown up. But at least Linnette’s cheerful presence had rescued his mood…and the evening.
When she pulled into the apartment parking lot, Corrie saw that Linnette’s lights were blazing. She didn’t have to wait long for her daughter to walk outside and run down the stairs. Opening the passenger door, Linnette slipped into the front seat.
“Where first?” she asked, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.
“Wal-Mart’s already open,” Corrie said. “The entire store’s probably been bought out by now.”
“You’re joking.”
Corrie laughed. “I have much to teach you, my child.”
This was the first time in years that they’d been able to schedule a Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping adventure. The last occasion had been when Linnette was still in high school.
“Let’s go into Silverdale next,” her daughter suggested after a quick sortie through the local Wal-Mart. “The sooner we get to the mall, the better our chances of locating a decent parking spot.”
“Good idea.” Corrie headed out of town. There was an unusual amount of traffic for six o’clock on a holiday morning, but she knew from experience that lots of people had the same idea—get to the stores early. Hoping to bring Cal into the conversation, she tried to think of a subtle way to introduce him. She wanted to encourage Linnette to confide in her—yet she didn’t want her daughter to feel manipulated. It was a tricky balance. In the end she decided not to mention Cal. She’d see if Linnette brought up the subject herself.
“Thanksgiving dinner was great, Mom,” Linnette said.
“Thanks. Speaking of that, where was your doctor friend?”
Linnette tugged at the seat belt as if it was suddenly too tight. “With his family, I guess. He didn’t say anything to me.” This was stated with disappointment.
Corrie suspected Chad wasn’t interested in dating Linnette. The one time she’d met him, at the clinic’s official opening, he’d seemed more interested in Gloria, her daughter’s neighbor, than in Linnette.
“I was worried for a while that he might have spent it with Gloria,” Linnette continued.
“Does she have family in the area?”
“Apparently not. I invited her to come over and join us, but she couldn’t. She had to work, too.” Linnette paused. “I like Gloria, but I have to admit the real reason I asked her was to make sure she wasn’t spending the day with Chad.” Linnette heaved a deep sigh. “That was insincere of me and I regret it. I wish Gloria had been able to come. Dinner with you and Dad was great, don’t get me wrong, but I think she would’ve enjoyed having it with us. Gloria and Dad would get along really well. They’re both in police work and all that.”
“Your father’s not in police work anymore.”
“I know, but it doesn’t matter. He’s such a cop.”
Linnette certainly had her father pegged. “It was a cozy family dinner,” Corrie murmured, paying attention to the road. “And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
She concentrated on her driving, and they didn’t speak for the next few minutes.
The silence was broken by Linnette. “Any further developments?”
Her daughter didn’t need to elaborate; Corrie understood what she meant. “Some,” she admitted reluctantly. Perhaps if she shared what was happening, Linnette would feel freer to talk about her own life.
Linnette waited for her to explain and then nudged her lightly when she didn’t. “You can’t leave it at that, Mom.”
“It’s probably nothing.”
“Tell me.”
Corrie disliked this subject in the extreme, but talking to Roy about it was impossible. He kept so many of his thoughts and feelings hidden inside. She knew this came from long habit, the natural caution of a cop. And it came from his deep-seated desire to protect her. Still, after all these years of married life, Corrie sometimes found her husband a stranger.
“Mom,” Linnette whined. “Tell me.”
“Sorry, I was thinking.” She sighed. “At work during the last few weeks I’ve been getting an inordinate number of hang-ups.”
“What do you mean?” Linnette asked. “You pick up the phone and the person on the other end slams down the receiver?”
“No. But he or she doesn’t say anything and then disconnects as soon as I start to ask who’s there.”
“What about caller ID?”
“That’s interesting. The calls are coming from pay phones in different parts of the county. There was even one from Seattle.”
“Pay phones,” Linnette repeated slowly.
“Your father isn’t amused.”
“I can’t imagine that he is,” her daughter murmured. “Whoever’s doing this certainly gets around.”
“So it seems. And then—” Corrie stopped abruptly. She hadn’t meant to let this other part slip.
Linnette was too observant not to notice. “There’s more, isn’t there?”