Matthew looked around desperately for someone to help him comfort the poor woman, but there was no one.
“They think that maybe Becky had a crush on Ethan,” Margo said, squeezing Josie’s hand even more tightly. “Do you think he might have taken her?”
“No!” Josie exclaimed. “He wouldn’t,” she said, trying to wrench her hand free.
“She’s only thirteen,” Margo said plaintively. “Why would he be interested in a thirteen-year-old? She’s just a baby,” Margo said, her face pale and desperate with grief.
“Hey, now,” Matthew said sharply. “Ethan didn’t do anything. He’s missing too. Let her go,” he said, peeling Margo’s fingers from Josie’s. Margo finally released them, leaving behind half-moon indentations on Josie’s skin.
“I just want to know where my daughter is!” Margo cried out. “We’re getting calls,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “Did you know that? We’re getting calls from someone saying he’s Ethan and that he has Becky. Do you know what that’s like? Do you?”
“My grandson would never do that,” Matthew said, his voice choked with emotion. “It’s someone else. Now, I have to ask you to leave. I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t be here.”
The raised voices carried, and the deputy and Caroline came hurrying from the house. “Ma’am,” the deputy said, “Step over here and we’ll talk.”
“I want to know where my daughter is,” Margo begged. “Please.” Her eyes searched Josie’s. “Please, they won’t tell us anything. Please, Josie, you’re Becky’s best friend, don’t you want to help her?”
Josie couldn’t answer. Caroline held her arms out as if trying to be a barrier between Josie and Margo. The deputy gently tried to lead Margo away.
Margo stepped around Caroline and gripped the wrist of her injured arm. Josie cried out in pain. “Your brother did this, didn’t he?” Margo said between clenched teeth. “Why? Why would he take my baby?”
The deputy stepped in then and pried Margo’s fingers from Josie’s wrist. “Stop. You’re hurting her,” he said in a low, firm voice.
“I just want to talk to Josie for a minute. Please,” Margo said. “I need her to tell me what happened.”
The deputy who was posted at the top of the lane came trotting toward them. “Ma’am, you can’t be here.” He stepped between Margo and Josie while the other deputy whisked Josie quickly away. The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the back of a deputy’s vehicle parked next to the tent.
“You’ll be fine in here,” the deputy said, turning on the car and cranking the air-conditioning so that lukewarm air puffed from the vents. “She doesn’t mean anything by it,” he said. “She just wants to find their daughter.”
Josie knew this was true. She wanted to find Becky and her brother too, despite the suspicions that kept creeping into her thoughts.
Josie watched as the deputies spoke with Margo and her grandmother, their voices growing louder, more frustrated.
Finally, Margo threw her hand up in the air and rushed toward the deputy’s car.
“Josie, where is Becky?” she called out as she tried unsuccessfully to wrench open the car door. She pressed her hands against the window. “Open the door, Josie,” she ordered.
“Where. Is. My. Daughter!” Margo pounded out each word and the glass quivered beneath her fist. Josie slid to the car floor and covered her head with her arms.
“Ma’am, come away from the car,” the deputy said. There was quiet for a moment, then a wounded shriek that sent a spasm of dread down Josie’s spine.
I want to die, Josie thought as Margo Allen’s cries grew fainter. But if she couldn’t die, this was where she belonged, on the floor of a deputy’s car, her face pressed to the floor mat, gritty with dirt from criminals and drunks and bad people.
Deputy Levi Robbins tapped his steering wheel impatiently. He was agitated. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Brock Cutter knew a hell of a lot more than he was letting on.
It was looking more and more like Ethan Doyle killed his parents and took the Allen girl with him. Or maybe he killed her too, dumped her body, and took off. The evidence was mounting against him: the tension with his family, the alleged harassment of the ex-girlfriend, the shotgun found in the field. And now he learned that the Allen family was receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be Ethan Doyle.