Page 50 of The Magic We Made

“Speaking of your mother,” Dina says, and points across the deck at a middle-aged woman in a pantsuit, very obviously flirting with an older Asian gentleman. She’s laughing and laying her hand upon his chest while he looks pleased. “Check it out. Love is in the air.”

I have to shade my eyes with a hand before I recognize the woman. “Is that Mom and... Mr.Hong?”

I’m stunned. House of Hong has the best Chinese food in West Harbor. But Mom and Mr. Hong? No. No way.

“You didn’t know?” Mark looks delighted. Like Angela, he loves knowing something I don’t. “He’s been trying to get into Ma’s pants for years, ever since Mrs. Hong kicked the bucket.”

“Mark,” Dina says in a tone of disapproval. “Don’t be gross.”

“I’m not being gross! It’s a fact. Did you know he brings orange beef over to Ma’s every time the Jets play at home? He knows she’s a huge fan—of the Jets, not his orange beef. Though I think she’s coming around to it.”

“Mark!” Dina cries.

I’m still standing there, blinking. A lot more has been going on with my friends and family lately than I’ve realized.

“Hey, Frankie.” Now Troy has come up, a bottle of beer in his hand. I almost didn’t recognize him at first because he, too, is wearing a suit and not his usual Fish and Wildlife uniform or cargo shorts. He looks excited, but not about my mom and Mr. Hong sharing orange beef every time the Jets play. “Is it true you found one of those missing girls this morning?”

If the sight of my mother flirting with a man other than my father has caused the champagne to turn sour in my mouth, this turns it to sand. “Why?”

“Just wondering if you got the reward. They always seem to find a way to wheedle out of paying anyone those rewards—”

“No one’s mentioned a reward. Where did you even hear I’m the one who found her?” Jackie had sworn she’d leave my name out of it.

“I saw the address on the crime report. Lakeview Drive? That’s you, right?”

I shake my head. “And about ten other families. What about Ash? Does the report mention Ash?”

He looks confused. “Why would it mention him?”

“Because.” I realize I’m grinding my teeth in distress and will myself to stop. “I found her at Ash’s house.”

“Ash?” Dina grins in a knowing way. “So we’re calling himAshnow?”

I look at her blankly. “It’s his name. What else would we call him?”

“Thatcoglione,” Mark says. “That’s what you’ve been calling himsince he bought the place. Also dickhead, asshole, shit for brains,hijo de la chingada,leccaculo—”

“I never called him any of those things,” I say, though from the way Mark is laughing, I’m not certain this is true. “He’s not so bad when you—”

“He’snot so bad?” Mark is howling. “I thought he was the Prince of Darkness, the way you carried on about those speaker cables!”

“Excuse me.” Dina has either spied someone else across the deck who she wants to speak to, or she’s tired of listening to her husband bust my chops. Either way, she says, “I’ll be right back. I have to go do hostess duties.”

Mark looks in the direction that Dina has just taken off. All I see are the backs of more people I don’t recognize, but Mark must know one or two of them since he says, “Me, too,” and takes off as well, leaving me alone with Troy.

“So where did the girl say she was all this time?” he’s asking me.

“She wouldn’t say. At least, not when I was there.”

“She wouldn’t? Why not?”

“She was too traumatized, Troy. She’s suffering from exposure and malnutrition. Didn’t the crime report mention that?”

“No, it didn’t. Exposure, huh? Exposure like—”

“Like she’s been out in the woods for a long time. She’s got poison ivy and mosquito bites and scrapes and bruises like—”

“Like she’s been living rough? In the preserve, maybe? Because that makes sense. It would explain why she and her friends are robbing houses in your neighborhood.”