Read Online Long Lost by David Morrell - Free Book Online Page A

“The room’s at the end of the hall. On the right.”
    “That’s the one with the baseball glove on the bed,” Webber told a technician.
    “
Baseball glove?
” I tensed. “
On his bed?
”
    Pendleton frowned. “Yes. Is that important?”
    “The glove was Petey’s a long time ago.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “He’s saying he doesn’t want the damned thing anymore. Because he’s got something better.”
    “Slow down, Mr. Denning. We’re not following you.”
    As a technician pressed my fingertips on an inky pad and then onto a sheet of paper that had a place for each digit, I tried as hard as I could to make them understand.

2
    “Long—lost brother?”
    “God help me, yes.”
    “But how did you know he really
was
your brother?”
    “He told me things only my brother could have known.”
    The detectives gave each other that look again.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Just a thought,” Webber said. “Maybe you heard what you wanted to hear. Some con men are good at making general statements sound specific. The people they’re trying to fool fill in the gaps.”
    “
No.
I tested him. He got every detail right.”
    “They can be awfully clever.”
    “But it doesn’t make sense. A con man’s motive would have been robbery. All he’d have needed to do was wait until Kate and I went to work and Jason was at school. He’d have had all day to loot the house. He wouldn’t have needed to try to kill me. That was
personal.
That was Petey getting even!”
    Pendleton made a calming gesture. “We’re just trying to get a sense of the man we’re after.”
    “For God’s sake, a con man wouldn’t be stupid enough to add murder and kidnapping to a burglary charge.”
    “Unless he enjoyed violence.”
    The direct look Webber gave me was dizzying in its effect. All along, I’d worked to assure myself that Jason and Kate were alive. Now, for the first time, I admitted to myself that Jason might be dead in the mountains, that Kate’s body might be lying in a ditch somewhere.
    I almost threw up.
    Pendleton seemed to sense my panicked thoughts. His tone suggested an attempt to distract me. “You don’t happen to have a photograph of him, do you?”
    “No.”
    “With the excitement of the homecoming, you didn’t take any pictures?”
    “
No.
” I wanted to scream. If only I hadn’t let a stranger into my house …
    But he isn’t a stranger, I tried to tell myself.
    What the hell’s the matter with you? I thought. After twenty—five years, Petey
is
a stranger!
    “Mr. Denning?”
    I looked over at Pendleton, realizing that he’d said my name several times in an effort to get my attention.
    “If you’re able, we’d like you to walk through the house and tell us if anything’s missing.”
    “Whatever I have to do.”
    They handed me latex gloves and put on their own. Unsteady, I began in the downstairs rooms, and immediately I noticed that the silverware Kate had inherited from her grandmother was no longer on the sideboard in the dining room. A silver tea set was missing also. In the TV room, the DVD and videotape players were gone, along with an expensive audio/video receiver.
    “He’d probably have taken the T V, too,” I said bitterly, “except that it’s forty—six inches and wouldn’t fit in the Volvo. I don’t understand why he didn’t keep the Expedition. It’s got more room. He could have stolen more things.”
    Webber looked uncomfortable. “We’ll talk about it later. Finish checking the house.”
    The microwave and the Cuisinart food processor were missing from the kitchen. Numerous compact power tools were gone from the garage. My laptop computer wasn’t in my office.
    “What about firearms?” Pendleton asked. “Do you have any in the house? Did he take them?”
    “No guns.”
    “Not even a hunting rifle?”
    “No. I’m not a hunter.”
    I made my way upstairs and froze at the entrance to Jason’s room, seeing his drawers pulled out, his clothes scattered on the