There wasn’t much to it. The kid had been there at lights-out, but was missing the next morning. The school staff searched for him for a few hours before they called it in.He stretched. He hadn’t had the most restful night’s sleep. Everything about this case bugged him. From the fact that this kid had been dead for two decades without anybody realizing it, to the effect Veronica Osborne had on him whenever she was nearby.And then there were the parallels with his own life. What if things had turned out differently for him? What if his mother had gotten remarried to some alcoholic asshole who had wanted him out of the picture? Max Shelden’s bones came with more than a little taste of “there but for the grace of God” for Zach, and he didn’t want to contemplate those pathways.He picked up the phone and called Lam. “You get the report?” she asked after he tracked her down through a couple of telephonic gatekeepers.“I’m looking at it right now.” What there was of it.“There’s nothing I can add.
