“It could get infected,” said Troy, almost hopefully.

“We won’t let it, will we?” said Mom.

“We Fletchers take care of one another,” Aaron said, already knowing the family gospel.

Genie came into the room just then and said, “Of course we do.” She came closer and frowned in concern, though Carrie wasn’t sure if the frown was at the sight of the cut. “Everything okay?” Genie asked, studying Carrie’s face.

Suddenly Carrie thought about Genie risking getting into big trouble, just to help her. Genie, who also had a before.

“Everything’s fine,” she said.

We Fletchers take care of each other.

“Do you think you’ll feel up to our shopping trip?” Mom asked, her head bent in concentration as she lightly wrapped the injured hand in gauze. This was their day to go to the grocery store. Dad would watch the boys while Genie and Carrie accompanied Mom to the supermarket. Carrie always loved this outing.

“Sure, I’m fine, really.”

IT was just before they went to the store that Genie managed to whisper to her, “I couldn’t find one.”

“No newspapers?” Carrie whispered back in disbelief.

“I tried five houses.”

“Five! Oh my gosh-you could have been caught!”

Genie waved a dismissive hand at this danger. “Everyone around here gets the Orange County Register. We need the Las Piernas paper. I should have looked for it at Grandfather’s house. Maybe we can get it at the store.”

But when they went to the store, they didn’t go in through the entrance they usually used. Carrie and Genie exchanged a glance. They didn’t need to say what they both knew at that moment-Mom used this other door because the newspaper vending machines were next to the usual one.

Genie quickly signed, Don’t worry. I’ll get one.

Carrie didn’t know whether to fear or admire the look of determination on her sister’s face.

CHAPTER 27

Wednesday, April 26

9:15 A.M.

LAS PIERNAS

THE four men sat in silence. Giles, Nelson, and Dexter had listened to their brother Roy without interrupting him. Giles, the oldest of the four, was pleased that the silence stretched.

Graydon Fletcher had often said that if someone laid his or her problems before you, you were to think of it as a privilege, and not respond without taking time to carefully consider what had been said to you. One of Dad’s many lessons.

Nelson would be the first to speak, of course. Nelson didn’t really have a tremendous amount of impulse control.

Roy was better at keeping his head, but he was also better at keeping secrets. That was useful unless those secrets were kept from his brothers. Giles wondered if Nelson and Dexter suspected that Roy was not being completely truthful just now.

Dexter probably did. Dexter would have made an excellent spy, Giles thought. He could ferret out information from anyone, with the possible exception of Giles. Dexter wouldn’t dare to question Giles-he held his eldest brother in a kind of awe. It pleased Giles that this should be so.

Dexter wasn’t the only one who looked to Giles for guidance-Nelson and Roy thought of Giles as their problem solver, a role he had taken on from an early time in each of their lives.

Giles knew things about each of them that none of the others knew. He knew, for example, that Nelson still felt guilty for lusting after their late brother Richard’s wife. Although Elisa was Nelson’s wife now, Nelson had wanted her for years before Richard’s death. It was as if Nelson carried Richard’s ghost with him, even into bed. If Nelson didn’t learn to get over that, he would ultimately ruin his marriage.

Nelson had also badly mishandled matters with Caleb. Giles frowned, thinking of it. He must make additional efforts to bring Caleb closer to the family.

Nelson was doing better with Mason. He had used the family’s considerable influence and resources to ensure that his stepson was placed in a facility closer to Las Piernas. The boy was initially ungrateful, but Giles thought that perfectly understandable, given Nelson’s testimony at the trial. Elisa had known how much effort Nelson had made, though, and her gratitude had helped Nelson’s courtship.

Eventually, Mason came to appreciate Nelson’s regular visits. Giles thought of Mason as one of the Fletchers, and hoped to one day help the boy win his release, if it wasn’t going to cause the family too many problems. Mason was bright and talented, after all. Giles was keeping an eye on the situation. At the moment he was far more concerned that Nelson’s fear of losing Elisa would ultimately drive her away.

Dexter, whose birth parents must have been extraordinarily good-looking to produce such a handsome child, suffered no similar worries about his wife, Maggie. He was as emotionally detached from her as she was from him. She enjoyed being connected to the Fletchers. She enjoyed Dex’s wealth. She also enjoyed the envy her marriage to a handsome man brought out in other women. She would do nothing to jeopardize any of that. On the whole, Giles was glad Dex and Maggie had no children, adopted or of their own. She worked at the school, where she was the sort of teacher who inspired the children’s attachment simply because she was hard to win over.

He thought that might have been the case with Dex-he was attracted to the aloof. Now that he had captured Maggie, she was no longer of interest to him. That led him to hunt on other, more dangerous ground at times. But Maggie would not cause problems for the Fletchers. Giles had no concerns about Maggie-which did not mean he relaxed his vigilance. His vigilance was exactly why he had no concerns.

Roy. Roy’s wife, Victoria-formerly Bonnie Creci Ives-had been difficult from the beginning. Roy had been crazy about her when he first met her, insistent on bringing her into the family. He was her rescuer, in those days. So the family had taken extraordinary measures to include her and her child in their number, rather than risk losing Roy.

Alas, Roy was finding Victoria to be a difficult wife. Roy was not one who would abandon his children, and imperfect though it might be, Giles didn’t believe for a moment that Roy would give up on the marriage. Now Roy had brought his problems to his brothers, seeking advice. Victoria was the topic at hand. As Giles had expected, it was Nelson who spoke first.

“Maybe Victoria is right. Maybe Huntington Beach is too close,” Nelson said. “I mean, I don’t want you to move away, Roy, but if your wife thinks she’ll be recognized by a reporter…”

“I can’t move much farther away,” Roy said. “Not unless I give up a large part of my business. Most of my client base is here in Las Piernas. And I don’t want to be any farther away from the family.”

“What exactly is it that Victoria is afraid of?” Dex asked.

“The article that you showed me. The one in the Express about missing children. Understandably, seeing that her former coworker-this Irene Kelly-is looking into cases of missing children disturbs her. She knows her ex-husband is still looking for the child who used to be known as Carla Ives. Victoria thinks Irene Kelly has a grudge against her or something, and will be fired up to try to find the woman she knew as Bonnie.”

“The woman she knew as Bonnie Creci,” Giles said. “A woman who was long gone from the paper before she became Bonnie Ives. Her name has changed a second time now. There is no reason to believe Irene Kelly has any reason to know of Victoria Fletcher’s existence, let alone that Bonnie and Victoria are the same person. The child’s name has been changed as well, and she’s not in the public school system. How is it that this reporter will find her?”

“None of these stories have mentioned Blake Ives,” Nelson added. “And now that it has published one set of stories on the topic, it probably won’t do so again, at least not for a year or two.”