Gingerbread Man

kicking up, and we wound up in the water." When Doris gasped, he smiled gently at her. "It's okay. As you can see, we're both fine. We did have a heck of a time hiking back from the far side of the lake. The first place we came to was the D'Voe mansion. Reginald was good enough to let us hole up there for the night."
    "We'd have called, Mom, but the phones were out."
    "My God. In that storm... are you sure you're all right?"
    "Yeah. We're fine." Holly reached across the table to squeeze her mother's hand.
    Chief Mallory said, "That light is damn near indestructible. We replace it every five years or so, and it isn't due for another two yet."
    Vince nodded. "So Holly tells me."
    "You think it was deliberate?" the chief asked.
    Vince's lips narrowed. "Possibly."
    Doris sat perfectly still, just staring from face to face for a moment. "Are you saying ... that someone tried to… kill you?"
    "They were probably just trying to scare us. Mom," Holly said. God, she couldn't bear the fear in her mother's eyes.
    But Doris was shaking her head, getting to her feet. "And last night, when you were so upset about the door being open. And the intruder at Vince's place. This is all related, isn't it?"
    He nodded. "Yeah. I'm afraid it is."
    "Mom, it's not going to be easy to hear any of this. I want you to sit down, and just try to listen. Hold on to me, and the chief, and let Vince explain it. Okay?"
    She stared at Holly. "What are you saying? Holly, what do you mean?"
    "It has to do with Ivy, Mom."
    Doris's knees bent. She landed heavily in the chair. "No. No, I don't want to do this."
    "I didn't, either," Holly said gently. "But we don't have a choice."
    Doris looked at Holly, her eyes big and round and filling with old, old pain. She sought something in Holly's eyes. Holly held her gaze, and, finally, Doris looked away, at Vince, gave him a slight nod.
    "Doris, the reason I came here had to do with the deaths of two young children in Syracuse. They were abducted and killed by a pedophile. At the scene, I found a copy of a book that came from the Dilmun Public Library."
    "The Gingerbread Man,"
Holly said softly.
    Her mother's eyes fell slowly closed. "It was Ivy's favorite."
    "I checked the library's old records, for Vince," the chief told her. "It's the same copy that Holly checked out when she was seven years old."
    Doris's eyes snapped open. "The same copy... the same copy Ivy was carrying when she was taken? But how can that be?"
    Vince came closer, put a hand on Doris's shoulder. "My theory is that it's the same man, Doris."
    She shook her head. "That's impossible. Holly, didn't you tell him? The man who took Ivy is in prison, Vince. He confessed and—"
    "I know. Holly and I paid him a visit. We learned some ... disturbing things."
    Holly slid out of her chair now, went to kneel in front of her mother. "Mom, Hubey Welles was on a direct path to Death Row when he made that confession. In return for it, he got life in prison. There's a very good chance ... that he lied."
    Doris's face lost all color. "No. No, he knew details—"
    "None that hadn't made the papers," Vince said. "He made a deal with the D.A., Doris. It was a bad deal. But he took it. He'd have said anything to save his own life."
    "Oh, my God," Doris whispered. She was shaking her head slowly, rising to her feet, and staring from one of them to the other. "No. No. This can't be true. I—"
    "It's true, Mom. When I saw the man in prison—I suddenly remembered the eyes of the man who took Ivy. And they were different. Totally different. It wasn't him."
    Doris looked stricken. Searching each face, almost pleading with them to tell her it wasn't true. She finally settled on Chief Mallory. "Jim?"
    "I'm sorry, hon. But it all makes sense."
    She stood there, fists clenched, trembling all over, eyes darting around, in search of something. Escape, maybe. Holly looked down and saw blood drip from her mother's fists. She was digging her nails into her palms. "Mom..." Holly reached for her mother.
    Doris went limp and her eyes rolled back. The chief and Vince lunged for her at the same time. A chair went flying as the chief hit it in his rush.
    It was Jim who gathered her up, held her against him. He looked stricken.
    Holly found Vince's eyes, and saw the pain in them. He'd been afraid of this, it was clear. It was the last thing she had expected.
    "I don't understand," she whispered. "Mom's always been the strong one."
    "She had to be," Vince said. "Because you couldn't.