Part 29 (2/2)

She sat up, took a quick shallow breath and looked around the room. ”Mike,” she whispered. ”Are you here?”

Mike went over to the bed and sat down next to her. ”I love you Mom,” he said, a placed a kiss on her cheek.

She slowly lifted her hand to her cheek as a tear left a single track down her face. ”I love you too, Mike,” she said.

”Alice, what are you doing?” Allen asked, standing at the doorway. ”Who are you talking to?”

”I'm just chatting with Mike,” she said. ”Telling him about his friend.”

”Some friend,” Allen spat. ”More like a trouble maker, an instigator.”

She stood and went to him. ”I still don't understand what he did to make you so upset. If Emil didn't kill those boys, then whoever did it should be punished.”

He stared at her for a moment and nodded his head. ”You're right, Alice,” he finally said. ”It's not his fault. I just...I just thought this was something we would never have to worry about again.”

Shaking her head, confused by his statement, she put her hand on his arm. ”What do you mean?”

”Nothing,” he said. ”Nothing you need to worry about right now. I have to go out for a while and when I get back, I'll explain everything.”

”Allen, there's something wrong,” she said. ”Tell me.”

He moved past her into the room. ”Do you really think Mike is in here with us?” he asked.

She nodded. ”Yes, I feel him more now than I ever have.”

He walked across the room and picked up the framed photo of Mike and him winning the Pinewood Derby. ”Mike,” he said softly. ”I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I let you down.”

Alice came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. ”You never let him down,” she said. ”You were the best father any boy could ask for.”

Mike could see the flash of pain in his father's eyes just before he closed them and shook his head with regret. He turned in her arms and hugged her. ”I'll be back in a little while, Alice,” he said. ”And I'll explain everything.”

He walked out of the room and Mike followed him through the house and across the driveway to the pickup. Allen hesitated for a moment before he opened the door and then he clenched his jaw and pulled the door open. Mike was already waiting inside.

Allen turned the truck on and pulled out of the drive, heading towards town. As they traveled down the familiar roads, Mike knew exactly where they were going. His dad was going to Uncle Chuck's house. His dad was going to turn himself in.

Chapter Fifty-one.

”Are my parents really coming?” Ronny asked for the fourth time, as they stood by the edge of the lake and watched the divers get ready.

She looked down at him and smiled. ”Yes, they are really going to be here,” she said. ”But you have to remember, they are going to look older than you remember.”

”Yeah, I remember,” he said. ”They're gonna look kinda like my grandma and grandpa, right?”

”Well, I guess we'll wait and see,” she said.

Ian was with the divers, about 50 yards from where Mary was standing, giving the divers precise instructions on where they could locate the body.

”So, if you can line up with that ridge on the east,” he said, pointing to the spot he'd mentioned, ”and this one on the west, then your corresponding coordinates will be that large oak tree at the edge of the lake and the small creek over there.”

The lead diver nodded, fixing the coordinates in his mind.

”How far down?” he asked Ian.

”No more than twenty-five feet,” he said, and then he glanced around to be sure Ronny's parents weren't around. ”I understand there's a rope attached to a heavy stone used to weigh the lad down. At this point, I don't know if there are any identifying materials left, but it would be great if you could take a look.”

”Weighed him down with a rock?” the diver asked. ”What kind of sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d does that?”

”The kind we are going to catch,” Ian replied.

An older model brown minivan screeched to a halt alongside the road, nearly running into the ditch as they tried to quickly park.

”I'm guessing that's the parents,” the diver said.

”I'll go check,” Ian volunteered.

A middle-aged couple hurried out of the van and nearly slipped on the muddy ground. The man was tall, with short brown hair and his wife was blonde and pet.i.te. ”Hold there,” Ian called out. ”I'm coming up to you.”

Ronny looked over and his face blazed with delight. ”I see them,” he said in awe. ”They're here.”

He floated away from Mary and quickly glided over the ground in order to stand next to them. Mary hurried down the road to meet them.

”I'm Professor Ian MacDougal,” Ian was saying as Mary approached. ”You must be Ronny's parents.”

”Yes, I'm Wade Goodridge and this is my wife, Elizabeth,” Ronny's father said, shaking Ian's hand.

”h.e.l.lo, Wade and Elizabeth,” he replied, holding out his hand towards Mary and motioning her over. ”This is Mary O'Reilly; she's the private investigator who initiated the new inquiry.”

Wade enclosed her hand in both of his large ones. ”Thank you so much for finding our Ronny,” he said.

Elizabeth threw her arms around Mary and hugged her. ”Thank you,” she cried and she stepped back, wiping tears from her eyes. ”Are you sure it's Ronny?”

”Well, we don't have practical evidence yet,” Ian said. ”But we, both Mary and I, are sure it's your son.”

Turning to Ian, Wade shook his head. ”I'm not sure I understand. How can you be sure?”

”Perhaps Mary would be better at explaining this to you,” Ian said.

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