Her Silent Cry

Twenty-Three

Josie didn’t follow Amy right away. Instead, she went into the backyard, sucking in the fresh air and wishing she had some Xanax of her own, or maybe some Wild Turkey. But the moment the thought came into her head, her stomach clenched. If this went on much longer, she’d have to see a doctor. Or visit the local drugstore, said a low voice in the back of her head. She pushed it back, down deep into the recesses of her consciousness. She wasn’t ready to go there yet. Not while Lucy was in the hands of a madman and an army of law enforcement was powerless to recover her.

Josie took out her phone and called Noah. He’d already heard most of the news from the FBI agents at mobile command as well as other Denton team members. They talked for several minutes, Josie asking unnecessary questions just to keep him on the phone. The sound of his voice was the only thing that cut through the grief she’d been drowning in all day. “Come back to the tent,” he told her.

“I can’t,” she said. “I’m needed here.”

“Okay, well call me later. Oh wait…” Josie heard him talking to someone in the background. Then he came back on the line. “I’ve got the WYEP footage from yesterday.”

“I’ll be there in five,” Josie said.

The volunteer searchers from the day before had gone, although many people still lingered around the playground, drinking coffee, chatting and hoping to help—or to hear some news, Josie thought. She spotted Luke and his bloodhound among the handful of people who had brought their own dogs to assist in search and rescue. The college students with their search drones were still there, most of them fiddling with their machines while one of them used a large handheld controller to fly one of the drones over the park for what Josie imagined must be the dozenth time. The most popular local coffee shop, Komorrah’s, had set up a small table at the entrance, offering free coffee and pastries to law enforcement and civilian searchers. One of the local restaurants had set up another table nearby offering hot meals and various beverages. A crew from WYEP sat on benches nearby, all of their heads bent to their phones, except the cameraman who panned the area repeatedly with wary eyes, camera at the ready on his shoulder.

Inside the tent, Josie found Noah sitting at one of the folding tables, tapping away at a laptop in front of him. “You should ask those kids from the university for their drone footage,” she said as she sat next to him.

He turned and smiled at her. “Already did but we didn’t get anything. They were flying their drones over the rest of the city while the carousel was unattended.”

“I just can’t believe this guy snuck into the carousel while all these people were here,” Josie said.

“It’s kind of genius though,” Noah said as he pulled up the footage he had received from WYEP. “He blends into the crowd. No one is looking at the carousel.”

As the footage began to play on the laptop, Josie’s heart sank. “There were easily a thousand people here yesterday, and they all had backpacks.”

The camera focused on the entrance to the park, where the tent could be seen in the background. The reporter taped a spot while people milled around behind her. Then the footage cut to the line of searchers inside the park, panning the crowd. It focused on the carousel a few times for several seconds, but no one could be seen inside the perimeter of the ride. The reporter did another spot with the carousel behind her but again, no one suspicious appeared. Then the footage cut to various places around town where volunteers searched for Lucy.

Noah said, “He could easily have gotten into the carousel’s column once the search was underway. WYEP wasn’t taping there all day.”

Josie leaned across him and reset the footage to the beginning so they could watch again. “But he has to be here,” she said. “He must have been in the crowd.”

“Right but how could we possibly tell what he looks like? It’s not like this guy’s going to be wearing a T-shirt that says ‘Kidnapper’ on it. I mean all these people look the same—non-threatening. Except this guy.” Noah pointed to the screen. “He doesn’t look threatening. Just out of place.”

“Oh, tweed suit guy? I noticed him, too. I was thinking maybe he was a professor.”

“Should we find out who he is?” Noah asked.

“It can’t hurt,” Josie said. “But I don’t think the kidnapper would make himself so obvious. I’ve got to get back to Amy. Can you send this to my phone?”

“Will do,” Noah said.

“Let me know if anything develops.”

Her eyes searched the thin crowd of people as she made her way from the tent to her car, but no one stood out. Luke waved to her, and she gave an abrupt wave back, rushing to her car before he could approach. As she started her engine, nausea took hold of her stomach again.