THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

Chinese takeout containers on the table, along with two cups of egg drop soup. “I know you girls love that egg drop soup. Looks like snot to me, but anything that looks that gross has to be good for you.”
    “Thank you, sweetie,” Riley said as she grabbed a container of soup and handed the other to Kasey. “You’ve put a real scrumptious light on it. I bet the Food Network will be hunting you down to write blurbs for them.”
    “I call ’em like I see ’em,” Von said, looking innocent.
     
    When the knock came at the door, they all stopped in mid-bite. Von wiped his hands on a napkin, strode to the door, and opened it.
    “You must be Billy Goodwin.”
    The round-faced man extended his hand. “Yes, sir.” His smile showed perfect teeth, and his blue eyes almost danced. “Hope you don’t mind I came early.”
    “Not at all. Come on in. Thanks so much for coming to talk to us.” Von gestured for Billy to come into the room. “This is my wife, Riley, and our dearest friend, Kasey. She’s Jake’s mom.”
    Billy walked over to Kasey. She stood and extended her hand, but he opened his big arms wide. “I bet you could use a hug instead.”
    “Thank you,” Kasey said. “I’ve been looking for Jake since the end of August. I knew in my heart he was alive. I never gave up, but I can’t believe we’re finally getting close to finding him. Thanks to you, Mr. Goodwin.”
    “Billy,” he said with a smile. “Call me Billy. Everybody does.”
    “Thank you, Billy,” Kasey cried—tears of joy, fear, hope and frustration.
    They all sat down at the table.
    Von flipped to a clean page on his notepad. “Do you mind talking us through everything? I know you’ve already done all of this with the police. But it might help. If you don’t mind.”
    “No problem. Are you kidding? Anything to help.” Billy started from the beginning and told his story. It lined up with what Chief Phipps had already shared, but with a few questions from Von, they got some additional details.
    “You say you saw him a few times?” Von tapped his pen on the pad.
    “About once a week, I think. He looked familiar. But it wasn’t until my daughter was tellin’ me how it broke her heart when Cody Tuggle made that announcement at the end of his concert that it occurred to me where I’d seen him.” Billy turned to Kasey. “I went to the concert here in Raleigh. Anyway, I remembered the bear. One time when they came in, I greeted them and offered them a cart, and the little guy was standing there hugging that bear.” Billy laughed. He had a hearty laugh, the kind you can feel across a room.
    “He was hanging on to that ragged bear for dear life. I asked him what his bear’s name was. He buried his face in it and giggled. When I asked him how old he was, he showed me on his fingers. I guess he’s three or four. Not sure.”
    Kasey laughed. “I know. He has trouble negotiating all those tiny fingers. He’s four now.”
    Billy nodded. “Cute kid. I had a bear like that when I was young. I guess that’s why I remembered him. Mine was named Brown Bear. It was a pitiful-lookin’ thing, but my mom hung on to it for years. She probably still has it.”
    “He loves that bear,” Kasey said, her voice quiet and steady. “Calls him Bubba Bear.”
    “Cute,” Billy said. “He looked fine. I mean, I didn’t think he looked dirty or mistreated or anything. Trust me, I see some bad stuff come through there sometimes. Nothing stood out as unusual.”
    Kasey dabbed her tears with a tissue. “Thank you.”
    Von continued taking notes. “And they were in every week?”
    “Yeah. I can’t be sure, but I think I saw them when I was working my afternoon shifts, so it would have been either Tuesdays or Thursdays. It’s been about a week since I last saw them.”
    Kasey handed Billy the photo album she’d brought along. “Do you mind taking a look at these other pictures to see if you still think it’s him?”
    Billy slid the album in front of him. “Yeah. Yeah, that looks like him.”
    Kasey relaxed. Her lips quivered as she smiled.
    Von stood. “I don’t have any other questions. I know you have to get to work. Thanks for giving us your time, and more than that, thanks for going to the police with this information.” Von shook his hand.
    “I told the police chief I’d call him if I see them come in again,” Billy said, then turned to Kasey. “I’ll do everything I can to help.”
    Von handed him a card. “Here’s my