Page 11 of Silent Echo

“What? Of course not. I would have told you.”

“Well, did she leave you a voicemail? The phone records show an eleven-second call.”

His face paled. “Charlotte, what is this? Why are you rehashing all this now?”

She continued. “I thought maybe Sebastion got sicker that day, and Penelope was calling to let us know he couldn’t go on the field trip. She could have told the bus driver to go without them and taken him to an urgent care or something.” She didn’t mention that she’d already called all the ones in the immediate area to no avail.

“But if she didn’t reach us, she would have had to go ahead and get back on the bus. I mean, she wouldn’t have the authority to take him anywhere on her own. Plus, she wouldn’t have had a car,” he said.

“I thought of that too, but she could have called an Uber. But that’s not all. I found out that the life insurance on her was never paid out.”

“How did you—”

“I called Misty at the school, and she gave me the name of their insurance carrier. So, I called them to check. Anyway, don’t you think it’s suspicious that the benefit wasn’t paid?”

“I don’t know. Did Penelope have a family? If no one called to make a claim—”

“She has a sister. I’m trying to locate her. I looked over the accident report. There were three teachers on that trip and three adult chaperones. The diagram showed fatalities in all the occupied seats. There were four empty children’s seats, and the bus driver’s seat was empty, as was one other adult seat. I don’t think any of the other adults would have tried to get out before helping the children. What if Penelope was never on the bus?”

He blew out a breath. “That’s a lot of conjecture. Honey, this could all be nothing. I would love to believe that our boy is still alive. You’re pinning your hopes on a picture that is most likely just a boy who looks like ours. I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t you see all these red flags? The stop at McDonald’s for all that time. The phone calls to us. Something’s not right.”

He took her hand in his. “Sweetheart, this is all very far-fetched. And the phone calls were probably because she wanted to give him something for his stomachache. She and Sebastion must have been on the bus, otherwise, why wouldn’t Penelope have brought him home?”

“That’s exactly what I intend to find out. First of all, if Penelope and Sebastion didn’t get on the bus but somehow got hurt or lost, then Penelope’s sister would have assumed she died in the crash and would have claimed the money. I told you, there was no insurance payout on Penelope.”

“Who knows why the insurance wasn’t paid. Maybe Penelope’s sister didn’t know about the policy. You have to stop this. All you’re going to do is dredge up more pain, and like I said, jeopardize the insurance payout. Then where will we be left?”

She gave him a steely look. “I’m not giving up on our son, and I don’t understand how you can.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Charlotte sat across the table from Agent Jamie Preston in the Violent Crimes Against Children squad at the Baltimore FBI field office. When the agent first walked in, Charlotte was surprised at how young she was. Even with her hair pulled back in a tight bun and minimal makeup on, she was attractive. Charlotte estimated her to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She wondered how long she’d been on the job.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” Charlotte said. “I got the feeling from the first agent I spoke with that my concerns might not be taken seriously.”

Agent Preston’s eyebrows went up slightly. “I’m sorry the agent made you feel that way. We get a fair number of reports from people thinking they see their missing child that turn out to be false leads. But, please, tell me why you believe that your son is alive.”

Charlotte told her about the phone calls, the unscheduled stop at McDonald’s, and what she’d discovered about Penelope Watson’s life insurance not being paid out.

Preston arched an eyebrow. “And you found out about the insurance, how?”

Charlotte shrugged. “I may have lied to the insurance agent, but I’m telling you, something doesn’t add up. I know my son is alive, and for some reason, Penelope Watson took him.” She leaned forward, making eye contact. “Do you have children, agent?”

Preston pursed her lips as if deciding whether or not to share personal information, then nodded. “Yeah, I have a son. A little younger than yours.”

“Well, try to put yourself in my place. What would you do? At the very least, can’t you look into Penelope? See if there’s any evidence that she’s alive? I think she’s in Florida, so that’s a start.”

“Okay, let me see what I can find out. You said Ms. Watson called you from her cell phone. Do you have that number?”

Charlotte pulled out her phone. “Yes, I took screenshots to show my husband. Here.” She handed her the phone, and the agent copied down the number. Preston returned the phone to her.

“Okay, Mrs. Fleming. I’ll get back to you as soon as I have something.”

“Thank you. And please, call me Charlotte.”

The agent smiled for the first time and nodded. “Okay, Charlotte. And again, I’m deeply sorry for what you’re going through. I’ll get back to you soon.”

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