“You gave them all that you could. Now it’s time for you to take care of yourself.”
Maria took her hand and held it. They sat together that way in a warm silence for a few minutes, until a van pulled up to the curb. Annie watched a man get out from behind the wheel and a woman exit the passenger side. As the woman approached, Annie pulled her hand from Maria’s. The woman stopped at the bottom of the front porch steps and smiled up at them.
“I’m looking for the parents of Aaron O’Connor.”
“Waaboo,” Annie said.
“Waaboo? Little Rabbit?” The woman smiled. “And you are?”
Annie sensed something a great deal more troubling than the discomfort she’d been feeling since her return to Aurora. “How about you tell me who you are first?” she said.
“My name is Greta Hanover.”
Annie offered no reply, making it clear that she was waiting for more.
“I’m a reporter for the Duluth News Tribune.”
“Why do you want to see Waaboo’s parents?”
“It’s really Waaboo that I want to speak with. I understand he may have been helpful in locating Olivia Hamilton’s body.”
A blade of fear sliced through Annie’s gut. The secret was out. “Where did you hear that?”
“I picked up chatter on my police scanner. It was a little vague, but I was able to confirm with an inside source that he was at the cabin where her body was found. Is that true?”
“I’d rather not say.”
“I was given to understand that he may have actually led the police there. Some sort of vision he had.”
“I think it’s best that you leave,” Annie said.
The woman gave a nod, as if she understood Annie’s resistance. “Look, I’m sure other reporters have been monitoring their police scanners. If they make the connections in the same way I did, they’ll descend, and let me tell you quite honestly, they can be vultures. If I could speak with Waaboo and his parents, we might be able to keep you all from being overwhelmed.”
“Whatever you heard, it’s not true,” Annie said.
The screen door of the front porch opened and Rainy stepped out. “Can I help you?”
“A reporter,” Annie said.
“Greta Hanover. Duluth News Tribune.” Then the woman said, “Boozhoo.”
Rainy’s voice was not hostile, but there was stone in her words. “Why are you here?”
“She’s heard that Waaboo helped the police find Olivia Hamilton,” Annie said. “She wants to talk to him.”
Rainy crossed her arms over her chest. “That won’t be possible.”
“As I told…” Hanover held out a hand toward Annie, waiting, Annie suspected, for her name, which she did not give. “As I said earlier, there may be a lot of media attention. Olivia Hamilton is big news. But if you let me talk to the little boy and his parents, maybe I can help blunt it.”
“I’ll pass your request along to them,” Rainy said.
“Fair enough. Here’s my card.”
Annie saw the man who’d stayed beside the van snapping pictures with a camera.
“Chi miigwech,” the woman said but didn’t turn away. “One thing. My grandmother was a Grand Portage Shinnob. I understand your concern. But if other reporters sniff this out, and I’m guessing they will, it’s going to be almost impossible to keep them from beating down your door. If it’s true that he played a part in locating Olivia Hamilton’s body, your little Waaboo is news now. I’m sorry.” She sounded sincere to Annie.
As the van pulled away, Rainy whispered under her breath, “Damn.”
In a matter of only a few minutes, things had changed, and suddenly Gooseberry Lane no longer seemed so quiet to Annie.
As soon as Daniel walked into the house, Rainy gave him the hard news. Cork arrived at almost the same time and received the same update.
“How did she know about Waaboo?” Daniel asked, his voice pitched at the edge of anger.
“Apparently she picked it up on her police scanner,” Cork said. “And someone involved in the investigation talked more than they should have. If she heard, it’s likely that other reporters have picked up on it as well.”
Annie saw Daniel’s hands ball into fists. “No way am I going to let her interview my son.”
“She seemed genuinely concerned about Waaboo and us,” Annie offered. “And what she said is probably true. She’s just the first. Now that word about Waaboo is out there, others are going to come, and, as she said, they could be vultures.”
Outside, dark had descended. They sat around the kitchen table, where Annie remembered so many family councils taking place across her years in that house. On the kitchen counter sat the cookie jar shaped like Ernie from Sesame Street, the smile on Ernie’s face so wonderfully sedate. She remembered the comfort of the chocolate chip cookies that came from the jar and that accompanied so many serious conversations.
“Daniel?” Cork asked after a long moment of consideration.
“Two days ago, we discovered the buried body of an Indian girl. I didn’t see that make the headlines. But now they want to harass my son because of Olivia Hamilton.”
“What are you going to do?” Cork said.
