Her Silent Cry

Sixty-Three

Josie and Noah picked up takeout on their way back to her house. Misty and Harris were already asleep in the spare bedroom. They scarfed their meal down in the kitchen while Josie texted Trinity to see if she was still awake. A moment later, Trinity called.

“You’re still up?” Josie asked when she answered.

“Not for much longer,” Trinity said. “I was hoping you’d call. I hear the police there aren’t giving the press anything but that there has been a ton of police activity in your area. I also heard from my WYEP contact that Amy Ross is in the hospital. What gives?”

“There were some developments. Amy was injured. I can’t say more than that.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Trinity said, “If you weren’t my sister, I would never let you off the hook with just that. I’ll say this: I want an exclusive when this is all said and done. I’m doing all this work, and you’re not telling me anything.”

Josie laughed. “Because I can’t. You know that.”

“Don’t worry. I always get the story.”

Josie laughed. “I know you do. I assume you didn’t uncover anything useful about Amy—or Tessa—today since you didn’t call.”

“I’m sorry, Josie. I interviewed two of the living Lendhardt men here in Buffalo and the widow of one of the Lendhardts who passed away. None of them ever knew a Tessa, and none of them recognized Amy’s photo or the age-regressed photo I had made of her.”

“Age-regressed photo?”

“Yeah we did a story a few years back about how this genealogy company was using age regression software to restore damaged or destroyed photos. They also do it if you bring them a photo of an ancestor and for fun, you can have the photo regressed to see what the relative looked like when they were a kid. Anyway, I still have a contact at that company so I asked her to age-regress Amy’s photo to between sixteen and eighteen so I could use it in interviews. I’ve been showing her current photo as well, but I’m thinking if she lived here twenty-two years ago or more, people’s memories might be sparked by the younger version of Amy or Tessa or whatever her name is.”

“That’s actually kind of amazing,” Josie said.

“Tomorrow I’ll track down the other two living Lendhardts and then interview the neighbors of the other one who passed away since it doesn’t appear that he had any family.”

“Let me know if you find anything,” Josie said.

She hung up and helped Noah up the steps to her bedroom. Once inside, Noah sat on the edge of her bed and propped his crutches against the end table. “How long do you think Misty is staying?” he asked.

Josie rummaged through her dresser, looking for something comfortable to wear. “I don’t know,” she said. “Until she feels safe going home.”

Noah laughed. “You realize that could be never, don’t you?”

“No,” Josie said. “Misty’s strong and independent. She’s just having a hard time with this abduction case. I think once it’s over, she’ll feel better going home.”

Josie stripped down, leaving her clothes on the floor and pulled a large T-shirt over her head. She climbed into bed and stretched out on her back. “Does it bother you that much?”

“No,” Noah said. “It doesn’t. It’s just hard to remember that we have to be quiet, so we don’t wake Harris.”

He hefted his cast onto the bed and shifted so he was sitting up, his back against the headboard. He reached over and stroked her hair. “Why did you really not tell me about getting shot today?”

“I thought I might be pregnant,” Josie said.

“Are you?”

“No,” Josie said softly.

The moment stretched out between them. Noah’s fingers continued to roam softly over her scalp.

Finally, Noah said, “I thought you might be too.”

Josie looked up at him. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I figured you’d bring it up when you were ready. Plus, this case…”

Josie shifted closer to him. He shimmied down so he was flat on his back and she rested her cheek against his chest. Tears leaked from her eyes and wet his T-shirt. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

His hand moved to her back, fingers tracing her shoulder blades. “What’s that?”

“When I was on your mom’s case last month and I went to Sullivan County to follow up on that lead, I spent the night at Luke’s.”

“I know.”

Her head popped up. She looked into his hazel eyes. “What?”

“We couldn’t find you, remember? I was the one who suggested Trinity check Luke’s sister’s place. I figured it was the one place in Sullivan County you knew how to get to, so you’d probably go there.”

“Did you know Luke would be there?”

Noah shrugged. “Well, where else would he go after he left prison? That was their family home, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Josie said. “It was. You weren’t worried?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know, that something would happen between me and Luke.”

“Josie,” Noah said. “You’re a lot of things, but dishonest is not one of them. So no, I didn’t give it a thought.”

“Well, there’s something else.”

“Which is?”

“I got drunk. Blackout drunk. I woke up in bed with Luke—clothed—but in the same bed. But I didn’t sleep with him.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me. I talked to him. Tonight. I’m sorry.”

“Well,” Noah said. “I’m pretty sure I was being a major asshole around that time.”

“That doesn’t excuse my behavior,” Josie said.

Silence fell over them. Noah’s hand kept exploring her upper back and the nape of her neck. Finally, he said, “I was right, though.”

“About what?”

“I didn’t think you would sleep with Luke and even blackout drunk, you didn’t.”

“Don’t let me off the hook,” Josie said.

“You let me off the hook after the way I acted during my mom’s case,” he pointed out.

“Not the same thing,” Josie pointed out.

“Well,” Noah said. “I can still let you off the hook if I so choose.”

Josie smiled, closed her eyes, and nestled her face deeper into his chest, inhaling his scent. “I’m not as forgiving as you.”

“Well, some sins are more egregious than others. Are we going to talk about the pregnancy?”

“There was no pregnancy,” Josie pointed out.

Noah squeezed her shoulder. “You know what I mean, Josie.”

“No, we’re not going to talk about it.”

“What if you had been pregnant?”

“Please don’t.”

“You would be an amazing mother, Josie.”

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “Misty said the same thing but how do you know? How can you possibly know that? I had no example. I have no frame of reference. I wouldn’t know the first thing about being a mother.”

Noah pushed some of her brown locks out of her eyes. “You would figure it out. You would love your child. Everything else would come naturally.”

“Would it?” Josie asked. “Some mothers don’t bond with their children. They just don’t. Look at Amy—what Bryce Graham told me—she clearly loves and adores her daughter and yet, she had trouble bonding with Lucy.”

“But she did, eventually, and besides, trouble bonding hardly makes her a bad mother.”

“I’m just saying that the mothering thing doesn’t just come naturally. When horrific things happen to you, it changes you. Me. What happened to me in my childhood changed me.”

“I agree,” Noah said. “It made you a better, stronger, more caring person.”

“I love that you think that,” Josie said. “But can we please not talk about this now? We need sleep. Lucy Ross is still missing. I don’t want to think about anything but finding her.”

Noah laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. “You’re making my point for me.”

“I can’t hear you,” she muttered. “I’m sleeping.”