[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
every morning for a week."
"Must seem quiet when the week is over," Kate commented.
"Madre, my ears, they sing. Next February will be the last time. I wonder if I
will miss them."
"You said it was for a thesis?""
"Yes, I am tracing the development of gender characteristics, which boys play
with toy cars and which girls prefer dolls, comparing them with the results of
a number of other researchers doing similar studies. I have been following
this group since they had one year."
"Since they were one year old, Mama," corrected her daughter, clearing dishes
in the background.
"Since they were one year old. Thank you, Angél. My English suffers after one
of these sessions," she remarked to Kate, her pronunciation more precise than
ever. "It is a symptom of stress. Angél, go and get your suit on; we , will go
for a swim. You, too, Julia. Leave those dishes; we'll do them later. Now" -
she turned to Kate when the door had closed behind the girls - "you will
please tell me what problem you are helping Julia with, what is troubling her,
and why she did not go to her computer class today."
"I think you're aware that Jules made a friend in the park this summer, a
homeless boy." Rosa Hidalgo nodded. "Well, he's disappeared, and she's
concerned. She came to ask me to look into it. I'm with the police
department," she added. "In San Francisco. I work with her mother's &
boyfriend."
"Alonzo Hawkin, yes. And you live in San Francisco?" Kate nodded. "I see. And
she went during school hours that I might not know."
"She thought you'd worry."
"She was correct. Why do the bright ones always do such awesomely stupid
things?" The shake of her head was the gesture of an experienced mother rather
than that of a trained psychologist. "What will you do, about the boy?"
"There isn't much I can do, to tell you the truth. Talk to the local sheriff's
department, put his description out over the wire if he doesn't show up in a
few days, see if he's shown up in L.A. or Tucson."
"That does not sound very hopeful."
"Juvenile runaways are nearly impossible to trace. I haven't said anything to
Jules, but I think she is aware of the difficulties. She also seems aware of
the dangers, though if anything, I'd say she has an overly dramatic view of
the threats to the boy. AIDS and hepatitis are more likely than the murdering
maniac she visualizes."
Rosa Hidalgo's gaze narrowed to attention at Kate's last words, and she spoke
sharply.
"What precisely did she tell you?"
"I think she was worried about a serial killer torturing him to death.
Something like that."
"Madre de Dios," she muttered, shaken.
Page 15
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"I told her that was completely unlikely," Kate hastened to say. "And really,
it's a credit to her that she's concerned about him. It doesn't even seem to
be anything romantic, just that she feels responsible for a friend she's just
realized she badly misunderstood. She's a good kid. Don't come down too hard
on her for lying to you."
"If 'coming down hard' means expressing anger, then no, I will not. I will,
however, strongly urge her mother and Alonzo to educate her as to the dangers
the world holds for young girls. Talking to a boy in a well-populated public
park is one thing; taking a bus to San Francisco without telling anyone is
quite another. Her mother has a strong tendency to be overly protective, and
to avoid unpleasant topics with her daughter. She must be shown that it only
makes the darkness beneath Julia's brilliance all the greater. I shall speak
to Alonzo about it, I think. It was very perceptive of you to see beneath the
armor of Julia's mind, Ms Martinelli."
For a cop, Kate supposed she meant.
"The name is Kate. Here, let me give you my phone number, in case anything
else comes up. That's my number at work, and - do you have a pen? This," she
continued, writing on the back of the card, "is my home number. I have to run,
but would you tell Jules I'll call her tomorrow night? Maybe you'd better give
me your number, too," she said, taking back the pen and writing down the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]