19
Angelina followed the yellow school bus, feeling a bit like a stalker. But it was for a good cause. She needed to meet Charlie’s mom, figure out why someone thought they were missing. She couldn’t really explain why, but it seemed important.
By now it was probably out of her hands. Surely, Nate had already called the number. Or even the FBI. Maybe not. Did all missing person’s reports go through the FBI? She had no idea.
Still, she kept following the bus. It left the town and headed out onto the rural roads dropping off children every few houses. Most of the kids would turn back around and give a big wave to their friends.
Eventually, Charlie-Carlos stepped off the bus. He didn’t turn and wave at friends like all the other kids. Instead, he ran across the road and up toward an old white farmhouse that had seen better days. It was in need of paint, but the yard was trimmed and well-tended.
The door opened. A woman stepped out and waved at the bus driver.
As the bus drove off, Angelina wondered what to do. Should she follow the bus? Or take a chance? She turned into the drive.
Charlie ran to the woman who leaned down and hugged him. He hugged her back.
They both focused on Angelina as she stepped out of the car. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what to say or do. “Hi.”
“Go in the house, Charlie.” The woman’s face twitched.
“Miss Angelina.” He turned to his mother. “This is the nice lady from school who reads to me. Remember I—”
“Go in the house, Charlie.”
“But Mama—”
“Now, Charlie.”
He did as he was told.
She looked at Angelina. “Can I help you?” Her tone wasn’t friendly, but it wasn’t rude either. Just cautious.
“Ah, yeah, I guess you can. I work at the school. Well, actually I don’t work, I volunteer. Anyway, I was behind the bus and saw Charlie get off. Just thought I’d stop in and meet you. Charlie’s one of my favorites. He’s such a sweet boy.”
“He is a good boy.” The woman turned and motioned for Charlie to come back out. He was peeking out the door. “Charlie, do you know her?”
He nodded. “She reads books to us. And she let me help her carry the books out. She’s nice.”
When she turned back toward Angelina some of the tension had seeped out. “I wish I had time to help out at Charlie’s school, but paying the bills comes first.”
“Of course.” She held out her hand. “I’m Angelina Matthews.”
“Bonnie Wright, Charlie’s mom.” Bonnie Wright? That wasn’t the name on the report. It was Bonita Perez, but it was close enough. Wright could be her maiden name.
The two women stared at each other. So now what should she say? Oh, by the way, why are you calling yourself and your son by different names? Instead, she said, “I’m sorry I know I shouldn’t have just popped in like this. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”
“It was nice of you.”
Angelina pointed at her car. “I guess I’d better go.”
“Would you like to come in for a minute?”
Perfect. The woman was probably only asking out of politeness, but she might be able to find out more information if they had a conversation. “I’d love that. How long have you lived here? It’s a darling house.”
“Since last year. We moved around some before that, but once it was time for Charlie to start school, I decided we needed to find a place to stay put.”
“You made a good choice.” That didn’t sound like a bad mother. “Mt. Pleasant is a nice place to raise children. Do you have any other children?”
Bonnie Wright shook her head. “No, just me and Charlie.”
“Well, you seem to be doing a great job with him. He’s a good boy.”
Bonnie held the door open as Angelina walked in. She had to find a way to…to what? She was way out of her league here. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to accomplish. She blurted out, “Does his father live around here, too?”
Bonnie’s eyes turned hard, and then she shook her head. “Charlie’s father died. A car accident when he was not quite a year old.” She patted Charlie’s head. “But he loved Charlie so much, didn’t he?”
Charlie nodded. “I gotta picture of him. Want to see it?”
“Sure.”
Charlie ran out of the room.
Was Bonnie telling the truth or was that just a story she’d told Charlie? Or was he the person who’d reported them missing? Was Charlie’s father out there searching for him? “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“It’s been tough. That’s really the reason we traveled around so much. I needed some time and space to mourn. Sometimes, it’s hard to do that around family. They can expect so…so much from you.” There was a ring of truth in her voice.
Angelina believed her. “That’s true, but sometimes it’s good to have family around too.” She couldn’t have survived her ordeal without Keren and Peter.
“I guess it depends on the family.”
“That’s for sure.” Angelina looked around the room. Clean and tidy. “Where do you work?”
“I work at two different jobs. I work at The Parlor for the day shift and then I clean Simpson’s Law offices in the evening. After we eat supper, we go back in town. Charlie does his homework while I clean.”
Shame flooded Angelina. She’d never worked a day in her life, and here this woman was working two jobs so she could provide a home for her son. “I…uh, I don’t know what to say. That’s so admirable.”
“Admirable?” Bonnie laughed. “I don’t know about that. It’s just what I do to pay the bills.”
Charlie ran back in with picture in hand. “Here’s my daddy.”
She took the picture from him. A Hispanic young man with wavy black hair was holding a tiny boy. The expression on his face showed how much he loved the little baby in his arms. “Oh, he’s very handsome. Just like you.”
She flipped the picture over. In a scribbled handwriting, it said Carlos II and III.
Charlie giggled. “That’s me he’s holding.”
“Very nice.” She needed to talk with Nate. If he hadn’t already called, she needed to convince him not to. Angelina might not know the whole story, but this woman loved her son. She had the right to decide where she wanted to live. Angelina stood. “It was so nice to meet you, Mrs. Wright. Now, I see why Charlie is such a good kid. He has a good mother.”
The woman’s face flushed with pleasure. “Thank you. That is so nice of you to say. Please come back again.”
~*~
“It’s too late.” Nate stared at Angelina.
“What do you mean it’s too late? I’m telling you this woman didn’t commit a crime. She loves her son, and he loves her. She works hard to make sure he has a nice place to live. If she doesn’t want to live near her family, doesn’t she have that right?”
“Of course she has that right, but I already contacted the sheriff’s department in California. The police department will verify she’s safe and not missing, and then report that back to whoever filed the report in the first place. While I’d love to pursue this, we have to be careful of jurisdiction.”
Nate was probably right. It didn’t sound like a big deal, but something still felt wrong. “Can you check out her story about her husband dying?”
“Probably, what was his name again?”
“Carlos Perez II.”
Nate’s fingers clicked on the keyboard. “Yep. A Carlos Perez was killed in a car accident about four years ago in that area of California, so it sounds as though she was telling the truth. The obituary lists his wife as Bonnie, and a son, Carlos III.”
“So she did tell me the truth. I bet she went back to using her maiden name. But why is Charlie using it as well?”
“And why he’s going by Charles and not Carlos.” Nate added.
“Is that against the law? To change your name like that?”
He shrugged. “I’m sure it happens. As long as she’s using the correct social security number, it’s not a problem. I guess if she wants to Anglicize his name from Carlos to Charles, that’s her prerogative.”
“So she probably hasn’t done anything wrong, right?”
“Right. But I do need to talk with her and verify she is that Bonita Wright Perez and have her contact the sheriff in that county.”
“I thought you already did that.”
“I did, but they asked me to verify the info so they can take her off the missing persons list.”
“So who put her on the list anyway?”
“The deputy I talked with didn’t actually tell me.”
“It would be interesting to find out.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. What if she doesn’t want to be found? It seems to me she’s made some effort to make it more difficult. She’s changed their names somewhat, and apparently, she’s not in contact with them.”
“True. But what if it’s all a big misunderstanding? Things can get quite emotional after the death of a loved one and things can be said and done that everyone regrets. Maybe the person who reported them missing just wants to reconnect with them.”
“I suppose.”