Page 55 of Explode
“And this is a friend of mine, Barney,” she said, indicating to me.
Fucking Barney. Of all the names she could have picked for me, shewent with Barney?
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Leonard said, smiling at the three of usbefore turning his attention to Riley. “So, who is your brother? Carol and Anthony fostered a number of children during the time they lived next door to me.”
“Was,” she said, doing a damn good job at sounding remorseful thather fake brother was dead. “His name was John. John Anderson. He was fostered by Mr. and Mrs. Brown when he was nine.”
“Ah, yes! I remember John,” Leonard beamed, sitting back in hisarmchair. “He was a quiet boy, didn’t speak much. Did something happen to him?”
“He was shot on duty about six months ago,” she replied, a hint ofvenom in her voice that you would only hear if you knew Riley like I did.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Leonard replied, giving her asympathetic smile. “I have to say, out of all their children, I was most surprised he joined the force.”
“Thank you,” she replied through gritted teeth. Subtly so Leonarddidn’t see, I put my hand behind her and placed it on her lower back, hoping it would keep her calm. She stiffened, but after a beat, her body relaxed as if my simple touch was grounding her, and she finally removed her hand from Ash’s thigh. “I didn’t get the chance to meet him so he never knew he had a sister. But I’ve been tracking down people who might have known him, I wanted to know what he was like. I’ve managed to speak to some colleagues, but you’re the first person I’ve been able to find who could shed some light on his childhood.”
It should have worried me how easily Riley was maintaining the lie,but I was proud of my girl for not batting an eyelid as she reeled old Leonard in.
“Hmm, well I’m afraid I’m not sure I will be much of a help. Like I said,John was a quiet boy. You’d do better at tracking down the other boy who was fostered with him, they were as thick of thieves. I can’t think of his name now.” Leonard paused and rubbed his chin. “Simon! Simon Evans, I think his name was.”
It was the first time we’d heard this kid’s name, but that wasn’tsurprising. Someone, presumably Thorne, had done a fucking excellent job deleting all records of the names of kids the Browns fostered. Michael Tucker was the only name Isaac, my private investigator, had found when he’d first started trying to find out who John Anderson was. Sadly for Isaac, his quest to find information had resulted in his death at the hands of Thorne.
“Was Simon the only other kid who lived with Carol and Anthonywhen John lived with them?” I asked, sitting forward with piqued curiosity. If this Simon kid was still alive, he would be a better source of information on Thorne than Leonard was.
“No. There was a girl, she was a year or so older than John, but shekept to herself, very studious girl, always had a nose in a book. She moved as soon as she was eighteen, went to study abroad, and didn’t come back until a few months ago. She lectures at the university, right here in Jacksonville. And there was Michael of course,” he paused as a somber look crossed his face. “Michael, Simon, and John were as thick as thieves, they were all a similar age. Where one went, the other two were bound to follow. They were inseparable. Tucker, that was his last name, but I’m afraid to tell you, he’s dead.”
I’d been rubbing my thumb against the soft skin of Riley’s back, but athis words, I froze.
We knew from the minimal information Isaac found that MichaelTucker had allegedly died in the house fire that claimed the Brown’s lives, but with information missing, it proved difficult to piece everything together.
Isaac had found a death certificate for Michael Tucker showing he’ddied as a result of the fire, but later we’d been given the deed poll showing the name change from Michael Tucker to Max Thorne, along with the DNA test showing Tucker was my half-brother.
Thorne had enjoyed playing his little game, dropping enough piecesof the puzzle along the way to keep us guessing what the fuck was going on. My guess was that he’d somehow forged his own death certificate to make it look like he’d died in the fire. It was his way to stop us from finding out the truth until he was ready to reveal who he really was.
But if he’d forged his death certificate, why the fuck was Leonard ofthe belief that Michael Tucker had actually died in the fire?
“How did he die?” Riley asked, playing her part in not knowinganything about the history of Anderson and Thorne.
“Well, it’s not a nice story. There was a fire at Carol and Anthony’shouse, I think it would have been about seventeen years ago now. The investigators believed it to be arson but they never caught anyone for it. But the fire was devastating. It happened in the middle of the night, and Carol and Anthony were found dead in their beds, they didn’t stand a chance.”
His eyes glazed over as he recalled the memory, and I couldn’t helpbut feel a pang of sympathy for the Browns, burning to death was not a nice way to go.
“The fire spread to my house,” Leonard continued. “I was at work, butwhen I got home, half my house was on fire. It was a miracle the firemen were able to put it out before it claimed the entire place. I managed to salvage some belongings but I lost a lot. Of course, I shouldn’t grumble, if I hadn’t been working, who knows what would have happened.”
“What about Michael?” I asked, growing impatient. I didn’t want a tripdown memory lane of what he’d lost, I wanted information.
“Ah, yes, Michael,” he replied, snapping himself out of the memories.“Well, he was caught up in the fire as well.”
“Are you sure?” I replied quickly, the feeling that something wasn’tadding up grew stronger the more he spoke.
“Oh, I’m sure. I watched them bring his body out myself. Such ashame, he’d only just turned eighteen. He was the only one who still lived with Carol and Anthony. Stephanie, John, and Simon had all moved out in the months leading up to the fire, but it was definitely Michael’s body they brought out. It’s a sight that has stayed with me all this time,” Leonard said.
Riley’s body tensed next to me, and Ash and I shared a look over thetop of her head, both of us thinking the same thing.
If Michael Tucker really was dead, then who the fuck was MaxThorne, and why was he pretending to be Tucker?
“You know, I think I might have an old picture of the family before thefire claimed them, give me a minute.” With that, Leonard wandered out of the living room, leaving the three of us dumbfounded.
“What the hell is going on right now?” Riley whispered after a minuteof tense silence, only broken by the distant sound of Leonard rummaging down the hallway.
