“I don’t want to get tunnel vision here,” Santos said, pushing her chair away from the table. “But it’s looking like Ethan Doyle is at the top of our suspect list. Levi, keep an eye on Brock Cutter, see if he leads us to anything.”
She turned to Sheriff Butler. “We need to follow up on Jackson Henley but in the meantime you can introduce me to Josie Doyle. See if she has anything new to add.”
The door opened, and Dr. Lopez stepped into the room with Sheriff Butler and two strangers.
“Josie,” Dr. Lopez said, “how are you doing?”
“Okay,” Josie said, looking uncertainly at the man and the woman with Sheriff Butler.
“Your arm will be sore for a while. We’ll give you some pain medication and you should be sure to keep the wound dry. But the good news is that you don’t have to spend the night here. You can go home with your grandmother in just a little while.”
Josie looked at her grandmother, startled. They were going back to the house? She didn’t know if she could ever go back there. Josie thought of her bedroom and all her prized possessions. Her Discman and CDs. Her 4-H medals and collection of glass animal figurines that sat on the windowsill. An image of her father lying on her bedroom floor, face gone, flashed behind her eyes. Miserably, she looked to her grandmother.
Caroline patted Josie’s hand as if reading her mind. “You’re going to our house,” she said.
Josie nodded, taking this in. Of course, she wouldn’t be going back to the house. Her parents were dead. She and Ethan couldn’t live in their home by themselves—they were orphans.
The sheriff cleared his throat and removed his stiff brown hat. He looked at Josie over his hawkish nose. “Josie, glad to see you are doing okay,” he said. “This is Agent Santos and Agent Randolph from the DCI in Des Moines. They’re investigating the…what happened at your house last night. They’d like to talk to you for a few minutes.”
To Josie, they didn’t look like police officers. They weren’t wearing uniforms. The woman wore black pants and a matching jacket.
Josie looked to her grandmother, who nodded her approval. “Okay,” Josie said, shifting in the hospital bed.
Dr. Lopez took her leave, and Agent Santos pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed so close that Josie could smell the oil used to clean her sidearm. Sheriff Butler and the other agent stood with their backs against the wall to observe. Caroline stayed where she was, next to her granddaughter.
“I know you’ve been through a lot, Josie,” Agent Santos said kindly. “And we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. I just have a few questions for you right now, okay?”
Josie nodded.
“Tell me about your brother, Josie,” she said.
“Ethan?” Josie asked in surprise. “Do you know where he is?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” Agent Santos said, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “But that’s where we need your help.”
“Me?” Josie asked. “I don’t know where he is. Maybe he got scared and hid like I did. My grandma said people are looking in the cornfield.”
“Yes, yes, they are,” Agent Santos said. “We’ve got people out looking, but we want to make sure that we don’t miss a spot that Ethan might be. Where are some of his favorite places to go?”
“I don’t know,” Josie shrugged. “He spends a lot of time in his bedroom.”
“Anywhere else?” Agent Randolph asked from his position by the door. “A certain friend’s house? A girlfriend, maybe?”
“Ethan doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Josie said automatically, leaving out Kara Turner. That hadn’t ended well.
“We already know about Kara,” Santos said, and Josie blushed at getting caught in a lie. “Where does Ethan spend his time?”
“He likes to go fishing at Grandpa’s pond and at the creek,” Josie said. “He does that most days.” Agent Santos wrote this down in a little notebook she produced from her pocket. “Any friends he spends time with?”
“Cutter,” Josie said. “He hangs out with him sometimes.”
“Ethan and Brock are good friends?” Agent Santos asked.
“Kind of,” Josie said. “My mom and dad don’t like Ethan hanging out with Cutter. He’s kind of wild.”
“Wild in what way?” Agent Santos asked.
Josie lifted her shoulders. “He skips school, and he drinks a lot, I think,” she explained. “He’s kind of creepy.”