Her Silent Cry

Six

Within an hour, a large tent had been erected at the entrance to the playground with folding tables and chairs inside to be used by Denton PD as a mobile command post. Someone had brought coffee and pastries, although no one touched them. Noah sat at one of the tables with a department-issue laptop, uploading the footage and photos that the officers had taken from the other parents at the playground that day. Gretchen and Chitwood sat facing Lucy’s parents. Josie peeked outside to where a news crew waited to interview someone from Denton PD. Members of the sheriff’s office and state police troopers milled around, ready to embark on more searches. Josie knew they would work through the night, in teams, until Lucy was found. She heard Colin’s voice in her head once more: what if she’s not found?

Shaking it off, she turned back to her team. “WYEP is here. Gretchen, you want to give them a statement?”

Gretchen stood but Chitwood placed a hand on her forearm. “I want Quinn to do it,” he said.

Josie said, “I’m not the lead on this one, Chief. I just happened to be here on my day off when Lucy disappeared.”

Chitwood raised a brow. “I know that, Quinn. I want you out there as the face of the department.”

“Sir,” Gretchen protested.

“Listen, Palmer,” he replied. “You don’t have the—” he broke off when he noticed the Ross parents were staring at him. Clearing his throat, he went on. “Quinn is a local celebrity, and she’s great on camera. That’s all. I think if we put her in the press and keep you here working the case, we’ll get better results.”

Josie knew the real reason he didn’t want Gretchen in front of cameras on a high-profile case was because seven months earlier, Gretchen had been embroiled in a scandal that had nearly cost her her career. She’d only been let back on the force because of Josie’s machinations and when she returned, she’d been forced to spend time on the desk. For once, Josie understood Chitwood’s reasoning. He was putting the case first. Still, Josie felt uncomfortable. She looked pointedly at Gretchen, but she just smiled and said, “I always hated doing press.”

Relieved, Josie turned to Colin and Amy. “It would be great if you could join me out there. I know you’re upset but if you could say a few words, it might help.”

Colin squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “I think it’s best if Amy talks.”

“No,” Amy said. “I—I can’t.”

Colin frowned at her. “Amy, you’re her mother. People connect to mothers. All you have to do is go out there and ask people to come help in the search. That’s it.”

Her eyes were wide with something beyond nervousness. More like terror, Josie thought. Amy clasped her hands together and held them to her chest. “I can’t be on TV,” she muttered. “I can’t be on TV.” Her gaze traveled back to Josie. “Please, just find my little girl. Please.”

Chitwood, Gretchen and Colin all started speaking at once, but Josie held up a hand to silence them. Some people were not equipped to speak in front of cameras at their best, let alone at their very worst and most frightened. “It’s okay,” Josie said.

“Quinn,” Chitwood began.

“No,” Josie said. “Mrs. Ross is right. The only face people should see on television tonight is Lucy’s.”

“We’ll give them the photo we were using earlier,” Gretchen said.

“Mettner,” Josie called out and from somewhere in the rear of the tent, he appeared. “Yeah, boss.”

“Just Josie is fine,” she said. “Mett, call Lamay and have him bring over a podium, then can you take that photo of Lucy and run it over to Staples, see if they can blow it up for us? That’s what we want people to see.”

“You got it,” Mettner said, jogging out of the tent.

Josie felt a clammy hand squeeze her own. She looked down to see Amy’s pale face staring up at her, more tears streaming silently down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispered.

One of the sheriff’s deputies poked his head into the tent. “K-9 unit is two hours out.”

“Two hours?” Gretchen said. “They can’t get here any faster?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am. They were already out on a case when you called up.”

Josie looked to one of the tables where a large brown bag sat, containing one of Lucy’s dirty shirts that Amy had taken from her hamper to give the dogs her scent. She looked back at the parents. “It’s okay,” she told them. “We’ll have teams out there searching continuously before the K-9 unit gets here.”

The press conference went off without a hitch, the blown-up photo of Lucy smiling while sitting on the carousel horse striking in its size, color, and because of the vibrant smile of the young girl. The WYEP producer promised it would be their top story. Afterward, Gretchen urged Amy and Colin to go home and get some sleep.

“I can’t,” Amy said. “Lucy’s still out there somewhere. I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep until she’s home with me.”

Colin rubbed his wife’s back. “Ame, we need to rest.”

She glared at him. “Fine. You go rest. I’m waiting here for my baby.”

“Amy,” he said, his tone edging into annoyance.

She pulled away from him. “This is your fault, you know.”

He stumbled back a little, as if the accusation had delivered a physical blow. “What?”

She reached forward and snatched his cell phone from his hand. Before he could react, she threw it against one of the tent walls where it made a pop sound before crashing to the ground. “You and your stupid phone,” she spat. “If you had been able to put it down for five minutes to go on the ride with Lucy or even to watch her, maybe she would still be here.”

“You can’t—” Colin began but his words failed.

Amy’s face twisted in disgust. She raised both arms, hands in fists, and beat against his chest. “If you were watching her, you would have seen where she went. Instead, you were on your phone. Do you know that every time we went past you on that stupid ride, she called out to you?”

She hit him again and he took it. A single tear rolled down his face.

Amy kept going, her voice getting higher pitched. “She said, ‘look at me, Daddy! Look at me! I’m on the blue horse.’”

“I didn’t hear her,” Colin said softly. He caught his wife’s forearms. “Amy, it was one phone call.”

“It’s always just one phone call, isn’t it? You bastard. This is your fault.”

“How is this my fault? You were on the ride with her. You were supposed to be watching her.”

“Screw you,” Amy shrieked. She wrenched her arms free and went after him with a force that seemed otherworldly, jumping at him, her fists flailing. As Colin fell onto his back, Josie and Mettner jumped forward, each of them hooking an arm under Amy’s armpits and dragging her back. Her shrill screams continued unabated. Her limbs continued to flail. Josie caught an elbow to her nose, and she felt blood stream down her face. Gretchen joined the fray, the three of them trying to get Amy under control. Finally, Mettner wrapped his arms around her, trapping her arms against her body. Amy continued to curse her husband. She fought against Mettner’s arms, but he held fast to her. It took a moment for Josie to process the words that Mettner said over and over again into her ear. “Mrs. Ross, please calm down. Lucy needs you. She needs you to be calm. Please.”

Josie wiped at her face with the sleeve of her jacket until Gretchen’s hand appeared in front of her, holding a paper towel. Without taking her eyes off Amy, Josie tried to wipe away the blood on her upper lip and chin. Noah lurched over on crutches. “Hey,” he said. “You okay?”

Josie nodded. In front of her, Amy’s cries slowly subsided to a low, sad keening. In Mettner’s embrace, she sagged. “My baby,” she wailed. “Please find my baby.”

Noah’s fingers gently tipped Josie’s chin up toward him. “You think it’s broken?”

Josie shook her head. “I’m fine.”

Gretchen pulled a chair over and Mettner let Amy sink into it, releasing her at last. Josie stepped around Noah. She walked over to Amy and knelt before the woman. “Mrs. Ross,” she said. “Look at me.”

“Josie,” Noah said, his voice steeped in concern.

Josie ignored him. She reached into Amy’s lap and took her hands. “Look at me, Amy,” she said more firmly.

Amy’s wide, sad eyes blinked and focused on Josie’s face.

“We’re going to do everything we can—absolutely everything—to find your daughter.”

Amy nodded. Josie felt the woman’s hand squeeze hers. She stood and turned away. Gretchen, Noah and now Chitwood all stood staring at her. Behind them stood Colin, looking stunned and disheveled. Josie gave him a nod as she pushed past everyone and walked out of the tent. She didn’t slow down until she was out of the park and in the street near some parked cars. Then she bent at the waist and threw up.