The line buzzed for a moment. “With your daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” she said. “I understand. But can you just make some time to see him? I’ll send you the hospital address. When you get some time, will you go see him?”

I wasn’t sure when I’d have time, but I also felt like I owed Rodney. “I will. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks. And good luck.”

We hung up and I put the phone back in my pocket.

“Everything alright?” Lauren asked.

I turned the heater down, the air in the car stuffy and heavy. “Yeah. It’s fine. I’ll take care of it later.”

She hit start on the GPS and we pulled away from the curb.

“I thought you were going to go after him,” Lauren said after we’d been driving for a few minutes.

“I thought I was, too.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because they are hurting, too.”

The GPS instructed me to turn right onto a major street and we slid into the traffic. “I don’t care about them.”

“You should.”

“You’re on their side?”

“I’m not on anyone’s side, Joe,” she said. “I’m just trying to put myself in their shoes. And they aren’t shoes that are comfortable to wear.”

“You think?”

“I don’t mean it like that,” she explained. “Look. You don’t really think they were the ones who took her that day, do you?”

“I don’t know what I think.”

She frowned. “Bull. If you thought they did, there wouldn’t have been anything I could’ve done to keep you off of them. I’d be calling a criminal defense lawyer right now because you’d be charged with murder.”

I didn’t say anything.

“So, I know you don’t think that,” she said. “Their story holds up. You may not like it, but it holds up. They were desperate to have a child. They’d probably gone through all of the right channels and got stonewalled. That isn’t unusual and you know it.”

The light turned red and I slowed to a stop.

“They found a way to adopt a child they thought needed to be adopted,” she continued. “Were they naïve? Probably. Did they overlook some things? Probably. But desperation can do that to people. They were told they had an opportunity to adopt a little girl who needed a home and they took it.”

Traffic starting moving again as the light switched to green.

“For the last eight years, they gave her a place to live,” Lauren said. “They did all the normal things parents do for their kids. I’m grateful for that.”

“Grateful?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. “You’re grateful?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Joe, I’ve run every awful scenario through my head for the last decade. Every horrific thing that could’ve happened to her. Guess what? Finding her living with a family and finding out she’s had a fairly normal life? That wasn’t on the horrific list. Ever.”

The GPS told me to switch lanes and I complied.

“They didn’t take her,” Lauren said. “They made a mistake trying to do a good thing— a selfish thing—but ultimately, a good thing. I wish they had thought harder about adopting a girl through illegal channels. I’m angry about that, obviously. But big picture?” She shook her head. “They took care of our little girl. I’m not angry with them for that. I don’t hate them for that.”

Her words all made sense, but I couldn’t purge my anger, think as rationally as she did. Anyone that had been a part of Elizabeth’s disappearance deserved my wrath, as far as I was concerned. Anyone that was a part of that had also kept her from me for all those years. I’d never forgive that and I’d never be sympathetic to the consequences they had to deal with.

At the very least, though, her words calmed me and gave me something else to focus on for the moment. It allowed me to clear my head and begin thinking about Bryce Ponder’s parents.

The GPS directed us into a tree-lined neighborhood, the branches heavy with snow. Small, one-story brick homes on large, square lots. The GPS told us we’d reached our destination and I pulled the car next to a pile of snow that was supposed to be the curb and cut the engine.

The house sat up on a small embankment, the garage behind the house, off the alley. Icicles hung from the rain gutters and the walk up the embankment had been shoveled—the shovel still on the front porch next to the door.

We navigated the walk carefully, avoiding small patches of ice, with Lauren holding onto my arm. I pushed the gold button next to the door and we waited for a moment.

A man with a gruff expression opened the door. “Yeah?”

“Mr. Ponder?” I asked.

“We don’t want any,” he said.

“We’re not selling,” I said. “We’re here about your son. Bryce.”

He shrugged. “He’s not here.”

“We’re aware,” I said. “We’d like to speak to you about him.”

“Why? Who are you?”

“My name’s Joe Tyler,” I said. “This is Lauren. We believe your son is with our daughter, Elizabeth.”

He blinked several times. “Your daughter?”

I nodded.

“I’ve met the girl’s parents,” he said. “You aren’t them.”

“It’s complicated,” I said. “If you’ll let us in, we’ll explain.”

“I’m not interested,” he said and started to shut the door.

“Your son is an adult,” I said. “Our daughter is not. I’ll call the police if I need to.”

His hand rested on the door and he ran the other across his jaw, his mouth twisting in decision. He stared at me, unsure what to do.

Then he unlatched the screen door and pushed it open. “You’ve got five minutes.”

FORTY-EIGHT

Ponder ended up giving us more than five minutes.

He showed us into his small living room, where his wife was waiting.

She smiled nervously. “Hello. I’m Marian. I heard you at the door. You’re here about Bryce?”

I nodded.

“Please sit,” she said, gesturing to a beige sofa. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“They aren’t staying, Marian,” Ponder said, glancing at her.

“No, but thank you,” I said to Marian. “We’re fine.”

She nodded, the nervousness still apparent as her hands fidgeted, trying to find a place to land.

Lauren and I reintroduced ourselves to her and then sat on the sofa.

“You aren’t the girl’s parents,” Ponder said, folding his arms across his chest. “So, who are you?”

Before I could answer, Lauren said, “The girl you know as Ellie? Her name is actually Elizabeth. She was taken from us about eight years ago.”

And with that, Ponder’s entire expression softened. As Lauren explained the history and how we’d shown up at their door, he eased himself down into an olive-green recliner and Marian came over to stand next to him, listening.

Lauren told the story impassively. She kept the emotion out of her voice, sharing with them the facts. It was her lawyerly training. She was bringing them around to her side. She’d been wise to cut me off before I began ranting and raving and making threats. She’d made more progress in ten minutes than I might’ve made in thirty.

“There’s no doubt,” Lauren said, looking at each of them. “She’s our missing daughter. The Corzines admitted as much. Now, we just need to locate her. And they said she is most likely with your son.”

Marian placed her hand on her husband’s shoulder and he glanced up at her, forcing a smile.

“I’m sorry,” he said to us. “We didn’t know.”

“No one did,” Lauren said. “It’s not your fault nor the Corzines. But you can understand our anxiety in wanting to find her.”

They both nodded.

“The Corzines told us that Elizabeth and Bryce were dating,” Lauren said. “Is that your understanding?”

Ponder hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. And we don’t approve.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because she’s younger than he is,” he said. “And because she seems like a nice girl. Bryce…has some issues.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Issues?”

“Bryce is a screw-up,” he said, looking down at his lap.

“Ed,” Marian said. “No.”