Last Seen

“It makes you think about what you’re going to do if you lose your job. I’ve been with the Star-News a long time and reporting jobs are pretty hard to come by these days.”

“So there’s some stress in your home?”

“No more than anyone else in this economy.”

“What about you and Faith?”

“What about us?”

“Tell me about your relationship. How did you meet?”

Cal remembered the first time he saw Faith. She was on her phone, upset and in tears. He was immediately infatuated. After approaching her, he’d learned that her boyfriend had broken up with her and he thought, Who’d be stupid enough to break this girl’s heart? So he asked her out and they fell in love.

“We met in college.”

Price smiled. “And Gage is your only child?”

“Well, after Gage, Faith miscarried once and we never had another.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. When was that?”

“Two years after Gage was born.” Cal blinked several times.

Price made a note. “And Faith is with a public relations firm downtown?”

“Yes.”

“How would you describe Faith, Cal—is she calm or a nervous person?”

“She can be both.”

“How would you describe her intelligence?”

“Her intelligence?”

“Yes, is she a genius, a linear thinker, slow to grasp things?”

“No, she’s very intelligent, way smarter than me, graduated near the top of her class. She was in Mensa for a while.”

“Mensa? Really?” Price made notes. “Is she generally liked by others?”

“Yes.”

“Is she religious, devout?”

“She’s Catholic, goes to Mass. Well, not as much as she used to, but she’s still involved in the school and church.”

“What about you?”

“I was raised Catholic, was an altar boy, but I stopped going to church a long time ago.”

“Why? Were you abused or something?”

“Too much hypocrisy for me.”

“So you lost your faith.”

“No, guess you could say that I put it on the shelf.”

Price made notes. “Back to Faith—is she a good mother, attentive, or career-focused?”

“She’s a good mother. Gage is her world.”

“Would you say she’s confident or self-conscious?”

“Both, depends on the situation. She can be sensitive and sensitive to other people’s feelings.”

“Is she restrained and controlled or does she give in to urges and temptations?”

Cal hesitated at the word temptations and met Price’s eyes, wondering where this line of questioning was headed.

“She’s a disciplined, hardworking, devoted mother who has a weakness for banana milk shakes and tacos.”

“What about her spending habits?”

“She likes to shop—she’s fashionable. She buys things for Gage. But she’s not out of control or anything. In fact, she earns more than I do.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Tell me about her hobbies, likes, dislikes?”

“She picks the mushrooms and onions off her pizza or salad. She loves to read, mostly general fiction. She belongs to a book club. She likes TV crime shows.”

“Really? What kind?”

“The true-crime stuff—Dateline, The First 48, unsolved murder mystery stuff, forensic stuff.”

“And you?”

“No, I don’t watch those shows.”

“Funny, I would think it would be the other way around.” Price made notes. “Have you ever been unfaithful to her, Cal?”

“What?” Cal shot her a look for offending him. “No.”

“Has she ever been unfaithful to you?”

Price sipped from her mug, as if she’d just asked him the time of day, watching him from over the rim. Cal swallowed and looked into her eyes. They were indifferent to any pain she may have caused as she waited for an answer. Cal suddenly imagined Faith across the hall and Lang asking her a similar question.

“No. She’s a good wife and our marriage is solid.”

Price nodded and made notes.

“Sure, we argue from time to time. I’ve ticked her off and she’s ticked me off. Mostly it’s me ticking her off, but that’s what a marriage is.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not married.”

A soft knock sounded at the door.

A man in a suit, who looked senior to Price, stuck his head in.

“Excuse me, Rachel? Something’s come up. We need you now.”

13

Long before the knock on the door had ended Detective Price’s interview with Cal, across the hall in Interview Room 403, Detective Leon Lang slid a tissue box closer to Faith Hudson.

“Faith, I know you’re devastated and exhausted but the sooner we get through this, the faster Detective Price and I can go to the next step.”

“I’ve told you everything.” She touched a tissue to her eyes. “How can I sit here talking to you when every fiber in me is screaming that my child, my baby, is missing and when—” her fingers tightened into fists, her knuckles whitened “—when I don’t know where Gage is, if he’s safe, if he’s warm, if someone’s hurting him.”

“I know this is hard but we have to work together to help Gage, all right?”

Lang’s soft smile was assuring, his tranquil demeanor calming. That he had a daughter close to Gage’s age made his compassion genuine.

“All right.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Good,” he said, and consulted his notes. “Before we move on, I want to go back to the last moment you saw Gage. You say that you saw him in the spinner at the exits with Cal?”

“Yes, the last I saw him he was with Cal.”

“You’re certain about that?” Lang checked his notes. “Because in your initial statement to Officer Ripkowski you indicated you weren’t sure.”

“Yes, there was confusion—the floor was spinning, the strobe lights and the guy with the saw—but I’m sure I saw him with Cal.” Her chin crumpled.

“But he obviously wasn’t with Cal when you exited.”

“No.” She shook her head and brushed her tears.

“All right, I want to move on. Does Gage take any medication of any kind?”

“No.”

“Does he have any chronic illness or injury or condition?”

“No.”

“Has he ever needed or received counseling for any issues?”

“No.”

“Any problems in school?”

“Academically?”

“Start with that, yes.”

“No, his grades are good. He likes school. He completes his assignments. He’s very bright. He told me he wants to be an architect, that he wants to design buildings and stadiums.”

“What about peer pressure or bullying at school?”

“No, nothing that I’m aware of.”

Lang made notes while Faith glanced again at the camera up in the corner that was recording everything.

“Has anyone moved in or out of your neighborhood recently?”

Faith thought. “The Robinsons at the end of the block—they’re accountants. They retired and moved to Nevada about two months ago. A family—the Carrutherses, from Seattle—moved in with twin teens, a boy and a girl. They keep to themselves, pretty much. I think the dad works at O’Hare for United or Delta.”

“Have you observed anyone taking special interest in Gage?”

“No.”

“Anyone acting suspicious around him?”

“No.”

“Tell me about Cal, his personality. Just quick descriptors—would you say he’s calm or nervous?”

“Calm.”

“Overly suspicious or overly trusting?”

“Well, he’s a crime reporter, so I’d say suspicious.”

“Self-centered or a team player?”

“I’d lean to self-centered.”

“Heartless or compassionate?”

“Depends.”

“How?”

“If he needs an interview with someone, he can be as compassionate as he needs to be. If he’s trying to beat his competition on a story, he can be heartless, ruthless even.”

“Would you say your husband is a giver or a taker?”

Faith considered the question for a moment. “A taker.”

“A taker?”

“He’s often at work, or with friends, or sources. Taking Gage to the fair was like a gift of his time to us.”

“Would you characterize him as a workaholic?”

She nodded.

“Is that a source of tension for you and Cal?”

She took a moment to respond. “No. We’ve adapted.”

“Would you say Cal is solitary or needs to be with others?”

She brushed a tear from the corner of her eye.

“Solitary.”

“Deceptive or truthful?”

“Truthful, unless he’s suspected someone has deceived him.”

“What do you mean?”

“If he’s dealing with unsavory types for a story, that sort of thing, he’ll do whatever it takes to get at the truth.”

“Would you say he was arrogant, or humble?”

“Somewhere in between, I suppose.”

Lang made notes.

“All right. Now, Faith, prior to Gage’s disappearance, was there any significant event in his life and yours—a school problem, a relationship or family issue, something involving police, anything?”

Faith began shaking her head. “No, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Any recent stress in your family, say, with something financial, a death?”

“Cal’s worried about losing his job at the paper.”

“And what kind of stress has that put on you and Gage?”

“We try to keep that from Gage, but I told Cal we could survive on my salary if we tightened up on things.”

“And Cal’s reaction?”

“He didn’t really want to talk about it.”

“Faith, do you have any marital stress at all now, or in the past?”

She swallowed and blinked quickly. “A few arguments here and there, like most married couples, but no.”

“Aside from the workaholic thing, is Cal a good father?”

“Yes.”

“A good husband?”

She nodded.

“Faith, I have to ask these questions, but before you answer, you must understand that no matter what the truth is, all we care about is finding Gage, all right?”

“All right,” she said, unsure of what was coming.

“Do you suspect anyone of being involved in Gage’s disappearance?”

“No.”

“Are you involved in your son’s disappearance?”

“No!”

“Did someone help you to cause his disappearance?”

“No, absolutely not!”

Lang made notes, glancing at the time on his mini digital recorder.

“Has Cal ever been unfaithful to you?”

“No.”

“How would you characterize his attitude toward infidelity?”

“Oh my God, Detective, what do you think?”

“You tell me. Is he indifferent to it?”

“It’s wrong.”

“Have you ever been unfaithful to Cal?”

Faith clenched her tissue; her breathing quickened and she turned as if counting the cinder blocks in the wall.

“Listen, Faith,” Lang said. “All we care about is finding Gage and to do that we need a foundation of honesty and truthfulness.”

“No, Detective Lang, my answer is no.”

He held her in his gaze for a moment, then made notes.

“Good, that’s good.” He resumed looking at her with a hint of his warm smile. “You work as a public relations manager downtown at Parker Hayes and Robinson?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any reason to believe someone in your workplace would want to harm Gage?”

“You keep asking me the same questions. The answer is no.”

Lang was flipping back through the pages of his notes when there was a knock on the door and Detective Price leaned into the room.

“Leon, something’s come up. We have to go.”

“Okay.” Lang turned to Faith. “Excuse me,” he said to her. “We’re pretty much done.”

In the hall beyond the detectives, Faith saw Cal and a uniformed officer.

“What’s going on?” Cal said. “Will somebody tell me?”

“Hold on, Mr. Hudson.” Price turned to Faith and said, “Officer Ramirez will take you and Cal downstairs so we can swab your cheeks for DNA and collect your fingerprints—all routine, I assure you. Then she’ll drive you home.”

“Wait!” Faith saw men in the squad room pulling on jackets, talking on phones, heading out, the heightened activity signifying some sort of development. “What’s happened? Is this about Gage?”

“Please.” Lang nodded to the uniform. “Carmen, would you?” Then to the Hudsons: “Please go with Officer Ramirez, she’ll get you home.”

“Please tell us!” Faith’s eyes widened. “Did you find Gage?”

Hands went to Faith’s shoulders to nudge her toward the elevator but she shook them off.

“Why won’t they tell us anything? Cal, did they find Gage? Please! Somebody tell us! Did you find our son?”

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