77

NEIL AND ROBERT STEPHENS DROVE TO THE REMOTE ROAD where Maggie’s station wagon was still parked. Now it was surrounded with police tape, and as they got out of their car they could hear the yapping of search dogs in the nearby woods.

Neither man had spoken since they left the police station. Neil used the time to think through all he knew so far. It amounted to very little, he realized, and the longer he felt in the dark, the more frustrated he became.

It was good, even essential, to have the understanding presence of his father, he realized. Something I didn’t give to Maggie, he told himself bitterly.

Through the heavy woods and thick foliage, he could make out the figures of at least a dozen people. Policemen or volunteers? he wondered. He knew they had found nothing so far, so the search had spread out over a wider area. In despair, he realized that they were expecting to find Maggie’s body.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and bowed his head. Finally he broke the silence. “She can’t be dead,” he said. “I’d know it if she were dead.”

“Neil, let’s go,” his father said quietly. “I don’t even know why we came out here. Standing around here isn’t helping Maggie.”

“What do you suggest I do?” Neil asked, anger and frustration showing in his voice.

“From what Chief Brower said, the police haven’t spoken to this guy Hansen yet, but they found out he’s expected at his office in Providence around noon. At this point they consider him small potatoes. They’ll turn over the fraud information Norton left with his note to the district attorney. But it wouldn’t hurt for us to be at Hansen’s office when he comes in.”

“Dad, you can’t expect me to worry about stock deals now,” Neil said angrily.

“No, and at this moment I’m not worried about them either. But you did authorize the sale of fifty thousand shares of stock that Cora Gebhart didn’t own. You certainly have a right to go to Hansen’s office and demand some answers,” Robert Stephens urged.

He looked into his son’s face. “Don’t you see what I’m driving at? Something made Maggie mighty uneasy about Hansen. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that he’s the guy who fronted an offer on her house. You can get him on the defensive about the stocks. But the real reason I want to see him right away is to try and find out if he knows anything at all about Maggie’s disappearance.”

When Neil continued to shake his head, Robert Stephens pointed to the woods. “If you believe Maggie’s body is lying out there somewhere, then go join the search. I happen to hope—to believe—that she’s still alive, and if she is, I bet her abductor didn’t leave her in the vicinity of the car.”

He turned to leave. “Get a ride from someone else. I’m going to Providence to see Hansen.”

He got into the car and slammed the door. As he was turning the ignition key, Neil jumped in on the passenger side.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I don’t know where we’ll find her, but it won’t be here.”