“I just…” Liam squirms on the sofa. “I like her, okay? I wanted to see her. And she came down and… you know…”
Jason frowns at him. “No. I don’t know.”
Liam’s ears turn pink. “We made out a little. That’s all.”
“And then?”
“And then Mom called. So I came home. And that’s it.”
Jason narrows his eyes at Liam, but I can tell he believes the story. He was genuine in what he told the police officers. He does not believe his teenage son could possibly be responsible for the disappearance of a young girl. He knows Liam is capable of lying, but he doesn’t know what else our son is capable of. Only I know the truth.
“Go to your room,” Jason says to Liam.
Liam doesn’t need to be told twice. He jumps off the sofa and scrambles up the stairs. I wish we could keep questioning him, but it won’t make a difference. Whatever else he knows, he’s told us all he’s going to.
Jason drops his head back against the sofa and lets out a long sigh. “We have to get him a lawyer, Erika. This doesn’t look good for him.”
“Yes…” I chew on my lip. “It’s kind of a big coincidence though, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, he just happened to be around this girl’s house on the night she disappeared? Do you really believe that?”
He frowns. “What are you saying?”
“You know what I’m saying.”
He raises his eyebrows. “What? You’re saying you think our son murdered this girl? Really, Erika?”
“Maybe not murdered…”
I wish I had a wife, so I could keep her deep in a hole. I can still hear Miss Williams’s words in my ear. Liam said a lot of disturbing things, but that one was way up there. That was one of the ones I won’t forget. Or his answer when I asked about him about it later that night:
I’d just like to see what would happen to her, Mommy. If I put her in a hole and didn’t feed her, what would happen? And if she were my wife, I could do what I wanted and no one would even look for her.
That was the day I made our first appointment with Dr. Hebert.
“You know the kind of comments Liam has made in the past,” I remind Jason.
He shakes his head. “You’ve always made too much of that. He’s precocious. It’s just words.”
“It’s not just words.”
Jason blinks at me. “I can’t… I can’t have this conversation with you, Erika. This is our child we’re talking about. He didn’t do it. And I’m not going to let them pin it on him.”
“Fine,” I say. “Get him a lawyer.”
Jason spends the rest of the night looking up criminal attorneys. He’s convinced that a good lawyer can make this problem go away. But I know he’s wrong. The only one who can make this go away is Liam.
Chapter 28
Olivia
I don’t know how long I stay crouched in a little ball on the ground, sobbing my eyes out.
When I’m done, my eyes are raw and my face feels puffy. There’s dried snot on my cheeks and hands. But that’s the least of my problems.
I can’t sit here feeling sorry for myself. If I don’t want to die here, I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to figure out a way to escape. Or at least, figure out a way to survive until I’m rescued.
I’ve got to be smart. It’s the only way.
I feel along the ground, hoping to locate something that might give me a clue as to where I am or how to get free. I have to crawl, because my ankle hurts far too much to put any weight on it. It’s definitely got to be broken. Even when I’m not putting weight on it, it’s throbbing like crazy.
I discover another wall across from me. I would guess this hole is about four feet by four feet. Maybe six or seven feet deep. Not very big. I wonder if he dug it himself. It would’ve taken him a long time if he did. I remember reading that book Holes when I was in ninth grade. It was about some kid who had to dig holes as part of a punishment. It was pretty good, as I remember. I think they made it into a movie.
In the third corner I check, my heart leaps when my fingers close around a tiny thermos. I pick it up, and it makes a noise when I shake it. There’s liquid inside! I fumble with the cover, desperately trying to open it, even though I can’t see a thing. If I spill this thermos, I’m toast. It’s not much water, but I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. Even more than I wanted Liam to kiss me when we were at the diner.