“Well, don’t say, ‘little bitch.’”But then Tean frowned.
“What?”
“Hold on.”
As Jem started them west on the state highway, Tean placed a call.
“Hi, Lucy.”And then he broke off.“No, we’re still looking for Daniel.No, I’m sorry, I don’t know when they’re releasing Ammon.No, I’m sorry, they didn’t tell me they were going to release him.Did they tell you that?”A pause.“No, but we’re trying— Lucy, I need to ask you a question, and I don’t have much time.”After a moment, he said, “Do you have Kazen Shumway’s phone number?No, that’s all right.What about his mom?Perfect.Thank you.”
“You want to call him?”Jem said.“He might run again.”
“I don’t think so.I think he was scared last time.I think if we handle this correctly, he’ll try to help us.”What sounded like disbelief thinned Tean’s voice.“For whatever reason, he really did seem to care about Brennon.”
And neither of them said,Like Daniel.
“Okay,” Jem said.“Put it on speaker and let me talk to the mom.”
“I can talk to the mom.”
“I know you can, babe.”
“I call people all the time for work.”
“I know,” Jem said again.“Run me through what you’re going to say.”
“I’m simply going to ask to speak to her son in connection with an ongoing investigation.”
“Right.See, that’s kind of why I said, ‘Let me talk to the mom.’”
“I think it would work.I think she’d be happy to help.”Tean placed the call and said, “But fine.You can talk to her.”
“See?This is why we make a great team.”
“Why?Because I do exactly what you tell me—”
“Hello?”asked a woman.
“Hi,” Jem said, voice bright.“Is this Mrs.Shumway?”
“Ms.,” she buzzed back at him.“May I help you?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am.I’m Prydon Weathersmane, and I’m calling on behalf of the KSL Stars program.We have an audition tape here from Kazen Shumway, and we can’t get in touch with him.He listed you as an emergency contact.Do you have any idea how—”
“Kazen!”the woman shouted away from the phone.And then, her voice coming back, “How much does it pay?”
“Well, you know, contractually, I’m not allowed to reveal that to anyone but the talent.”
“The talent?”Tean muttered.
Jem squeezed his knee, and he squirmed away.
“I’m his mother,” the woman said.“You’re not going to tell his mother?”And then, speaking away from the phone again, “It’s KSL Stars.”
“Jesus, Mom,” Kazen said, and the scraping and fumbling noises came across the line of what Jem suspected was a not-entirely-voluntary phone transfer.“Hi.Yeah, this is Kazen.”
“You tried to run away from me,” Jem said.“Don’t hang up.And don’t tip off your mom.Just smile and act happy like I’m giving you great news.”
Silence.And then Kazen muttered, “Mom, fuck off!”An indignant squawk followed, but it faded into the distance.