Eric said, "He's an African, kid. He won't eat ya until he cooks you."

The African carefully peeled the tape from Ben's mouth. Ben was so afraid that he trembled. It was dark outside; full-on night.

"I want to go home."

Eric made a soft laugh like he thought that was funny. Eric had short red hair and milky skin. A gap showed between his front teeth like an open gate.

Ben was in an empty living room with a white stone fireplace at one end and sheets hung over the windows. A door opened behind them, and the African stepped away. Eric spoke fast as a third man came into the room.

"Mazi has the African thing goin'. I told him not to."

Mike slapped his palm into Mazi's chest so fast that the African was falling back even before Ben realized that Mike had hit him. Mazi was tall and big, but Mike looked stronger, with thick wrists and gnarled fingers and a black T-shirt that was tight across his chest and biceps. He looked like G.I. Joe.

Mazi caught himself to stay on his feet, but he didn't hit back.

Mazi said, "Ewe ahr dee bawss."

"Roger-fucking-that."

Mike pushed the African farther away, then glanced down at Ben.

"How you doing?"

Ben said, "What did you do to my mother?"

"Nothing. We just waited for her to get back so that I could call. I wanted her to know you're gone."

"I don't want to be gone. I want to go home."

"I know. We'll take care of that as soon as we can. You want something to eat?"

"I want to go home."

"You need to pee?''

"Take me home. I want to see my mom."

Mike patted Ben's head. He had a triangle tattooed on the back of his right hand. It was old, with the ink beginning to blur.

"I'm Mike. He's Mazi. That's Eric. You're going to be with us for a while, so be cool. That's just the way it is."

Mike smiled at Ben, then glanced at Mazi and Eric.

"Put'm in the box."

It happened just as fast as when they plucked him from the hill beneath the walnut trees. They scooped him up again, retaped his legs, and carried him through the house, holding him so tight that he couldn't make a sound. They brought him outside in the cold night air, but they covered his eyes so he couldn't see. Ben kicked and struggled as they pushed him into a large plastic box like a coffin. He tried to sit up, but they pushed him down. A heavy lid slammed closed over him. The box suddenly moved and tipped, then fell away beneath him as if they had dropped him down a well. He hit the ground hard.

Ben stopped struggling to listen.

Something hard rained on top of the box with a scratchy roar only inches over his face. Then it happened again.

Ben realized what they were doing with an explosion of horror. He slammed into the sides of his plastic prison, but he couldn't get out. The sounds that rained down on him grew further and further away as the rocks and dirt piled deep and Ben Chenier was buried in the earth.

CHAPTER 5

time missing: 6 hours, 16 minutes

Ted Fields, Luis Rodriguez, Cromwell Johnson, and Roy Abbott died three hours after our team picture was taken. Team pictures had been taken before every mission, the five of us suited up alongside the helicopter like a high-school basketball team before the big game. Crom Johnson used to joke that the pictures were taken so the army could identify our bodies. Ted called them "death shots." I turned the picture Ben had found face down so I wouldn't have to see them.

I had taken a couple of hundred snapshots of red dirt, triple-canopy jungles, beaches, rice paddies, water buffalo, and the bicycle-clogged streets and bazaars of Saigon, but when I returned to the United States those images seemed meaningless, and I had thrown them away. The place had lost its importance to me, but the people had mattered. I kept only twelve pictures, and I was in three of them.

I listed the people in the remaining pictures, then tried to remember the names of the other men who had served in my company, but I couldn't. After a while the idea of making a list seemed silly; Fields, Abbott, Johnson, and Rodriguez were dead, and no one else in my company had reason to hate me or steal a ten-year-old boy. No one I had known in Vietnam would.

Lucy called just before eleven. The house was so quiet that the sudden ring was as loud as a gunshot. My pen tore the page.

She said, "I couldn't stand not knowing. Did he call back?"

"No, not yet. I would have called. I'll call you right away."

"God, this is awful. It's a nightmare."

"Yeah. I'm trying to make this list and I'm sick to my stomach. How about you?"

"I just got off the phone with Richard. He's flying out tonight."

"How was he?"

"Furious, accusatory, frightened, belligerent – nothing I didn't expect. He's Richard."

Losing her son wasn't bad enough, so now she had this. Richard hadn't wanted Lucy to move to Los Angeles, and he had never liked me; they fought often about it, and now they would fight even more. I guess she was calling for the moral support.

She said, "He's supposed to call from the plane with his flight information, but I don't know. Jesus, he was such an asshole."

"You want me to come by tomorrow after Starkey leaves? I can do that."

Richard could shout at me instead of her.

"I don't know. Maybe. I'd better get off the line."

"We can talk as long as you want."

"No, now I'm worried that man will try to call you again about Ben. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

The phone rang a second time almost as soon as I put it down. The second time, I didn't jump, but I let it ring twice, taking the time to ready myself.

Starkey said, "This is Detective Starkey. I hope I didn't wake you."

"Sleep isn't an option, Starkey. I thought you were him."

"Sorry. He hasn't called again, has he?"

"Not yet. It's late; I didn't think you'd still be on the job."

"I waited to hear from the phone company. They show you received a call at six fifty-two this evening. Does that time out about right?"

"Yeah, that's when he called."

"Okay, the call was made from a cell number registered to a Louise Escalante in Diamond Bar."

"I don't know her."

"I figured you wouldn't. She says her purse was stolen this afternoon, along with her phone. She says she doesn't know you or anything about this, and her billing records support that the call to you was out of her pattern of use. I'm sorry, but I think she's a dead end."

"Did you think about calling the number?"

Her voice cooled.

"Yes, Mr. Cole, I did. I've dialed it five times. They've turned off the phone."

Stealing a phone meant the man who took Ben had criminal experience. He had anticipated the line trace, which meant he had planned his action. Smart crooks are harder to catch than stupid crooks. They are also more dangerous.

"Mr. Cole?"

"I'm here. I was thinking."

"You getting those names together for me?"

"I'm doing that now, but I'm thinking about another possibility, too. I've had run-ins with people, Starkey, doing what I do. I've helped put some people in jail or out of business, and they're the kind of people who would hold a grudge. If I make a list, would you be willing to run their names, too?"

"Sure. Not a problem."

"Thanks. I appreciate this."

"I'll see you in the morning. Try to get some sleep."

"Like that could happen."

The darkest part of the night stretched through the hours, but little by little the eastern sky lightened. I barely noticed. By the time Starkey arrived, I had filled twelve legal-sized pages with names and notes. It was six forty-two when I answered the door. She was early.

Starkey held up a cardboard tray with two cups from Starbucks.