Page 26

CHAPTER 26

Early Monday Morning.

“I don’t think we’ve thanked you enough, T.J. for keeping the house so tidy while we’ve had to work these crazy twelve–and fourteen–hour shifts.” Mrs. Anne Johnson beamed at him from across the table.

“And making these great breakfasts too,” Mr. Taylor Johnson added, pouring syrup over the stack of pancakes with a generous hand.

“I was glad to do it,” T.J. said. “How much longer are you gonna be working those crazy shifts?” ‘Cause I’m getting tired of baby-sitting and I think David is gonna take off if I’m gone too long.

“Tonight, and tomorrow night,” Mrs. Johnson said. “And then off for a whole week. It will probably take that long to get our sleep patterns back in order.”

“T.J., have you heard anything about David Phillips?” Mr. Johnson asked. “Have you talked to anyone?”

“No, sir,” T.J. said quickly. “But then I didn’t want to bother anyone or make them think I was being nosy, you know? Aren’t a lot of people out of town for the holidays?”

“I’m so tired I really don’t remember, buddy,” Mr. Johnson said. “But if you see or hear anything, don’t wait for us to come home. Call the police right away. I saw on the news in the ER breakroom, there’s a special tip line you can call.”

“I think I saw that too.” T.J. hated to lie to them since they were being so nice, but he wasn’t going to tell them about that card the cop gave him a few days ago. If someone came looking for David, he’d call that social worker first.

“You know,” Mrs. Johnson said thoughtfully. “It’s too bad Mercy never got around to buying that webcam for her garage or even her house. If she had, maybe the police could have used the SD card to find whoever killer her by now.”

A hidden camera? T.J.’s fingers froze around his fork. Holy crap. Could David be right? As from a distance, he heard Mr. Johnson say, “Mercy was thinking about getting a webcam? Why?”

“She’d read about a child abduction case in another state,” Mrs. Johnson said sadly. “Some custodial dispute, I think she said. A child was kidnapped from their own home by a non-custodial parent. She said it spooked her enough to think someone could break in so easily, so it was going to be one of the first things she bought after the first of the year. Then she laughed, and said she’d put one camera either under one of her hanging bird feeders on the back porch or inside one of the garden gnomes there. No one would think to look there.”

“Mercy had a great imagination and a great sense of humor,” Mr. Johnson sighed. “I’m going to miss her. Aw, honey, don’t cry.”

He moved to put his arm around his wife’s trembling shoulders as she grabbed a napkin and wiped her tear-stained face. “When did she mention that, honey?”

“At the Meet, Greet and Eat party,” Mrs. Johnson sobbed. “Can we get one please? I know the house is safe since T.J. is never gone too long. You can tell by how clean the house is and how much food he makes. But school starts next week, and the house will be empty. Can we get one please?”

“Sure thing, honey,” Mr. Johnson soothed. “Anything you want. Right, T.J.?”

“You bet,” T.J. said, his feet itching to go. “You bet.”