Page 18 of Missing White Woman

I sounded unsure. He heard it in my voice. I did too. But it was the truth.

“I don’t know who she is. She must’ve broke in this morning after my boyfriend left.” I finally willed myself to stop blubbering, knowing I was only making things worse. Drew didn’t say anything. Just stared at me until I spoke again. “Are they coming?”

Still staring me down, he spoke into the cell. “We don’t know her name.”

But he sounded even less sure than I had.

After a second, he nodded. “Okay.”

He hung up, then reached out his hand. It took me a second to realize it was for the leash. Krista handed it to him. “They’re on their way,” he said. He wasn’t talking to me.

It hit me once again. The hair. The hands. The jeans. The blood covering it all.

I’d never seen anything like it. Even the worst fight I’d seen at the detention center was nothing like that—and that person had gotten stabbed. I lost my balance as the tears came full force. Neither Krista nor Drew tried to grab me. They were just going to let me fall, but I managed to catch myself. They watched as I wiped away tears with the back of my hand. It was okay. It was going to be okay. I was going to be okay. I just needed to talk to Ty. And to do that I needed my phone.

I didn’t even think, just walked back toward the house. I had the gate open when the arm grabbed me. Drew. “What are you doing?”

The hair. The hands. The jeans. The blood covering it all.

“I need to talk to my boyfriend.”

“He’s inside?”

I shook my head, and Drew let out a breath. “My phone is,” I said. “I need to call him.”

Ty was probably still working away, oblivious to what had happened after he’d left me asleep this morning.

“It’s a crime scene,” Drew said. “The police will get whatever you need when they get here.”

The police. Of course the police were coming. Not just an ambulance.

I didn’t trust them—at least not the ones in Maryland. I highly doubted the ones in Jersey would be much better. I’d obeyed all laws since my arrest. Never went more than ten miles over the speed limit. Always used my blinker. And hadn’t even thought of running a red light since that night. But still, my heart sped up every time I heard a siren or saw the strobing lights behind me. And they’d be long gone before I could breathe normally.

Drew was right in that the last thing I needed was for them to know I went back into the house.

I took a step back. He waited until I let the gate go before he crossed the street to what I now realized was his house, Krista on his heels. His was meticulous. A white stucco with shutters painted a black so shiny that it looked like they were still drying. Drew didn’t go inside, though. Just went up his short walk to sit on the steps, his dog trotting along next to him like they were still on a Monday midmorning stroll. Drew hadn’t invited me to come with him and I hadn’t invited myself either.

I just stayed on that sidewalk outside of 110 Little Street, afraid to look back, forcing myself not to think about the body inside and failing miserably. The hair. The hands. The jeans. The blood covering it all.

Hoping Ty would finally show up. I would’ve given anything to hear his voice saying my name, feel his arms around me, letting me know everything would be okay.

But Ty never came.

Neighbors quickly started to appear, though, coming from each house as if summoned. They barely looked in my direction, much less said anything to me. They all just went over to Drew, the huddle forming once again. The only one who didn’t show up was the one I’d wanted to see: Ms. Morgane. I didn’t need to look at them to know what they were talking about, what they were thinking.

I didn’t know how long it took the police to get there. My phone was somewhere still inside—with the blood. My mother had always told me to get a watch, not to depend on my cell for the time. I’d get one after this, though I wouldn’t tell her she was right.

The neighbors didn’t stop whispering until we heard the sirens. A triple shot. Even though my brain had been expecting them, my breath sped up. I had to remind myself that I could still breathe, but it took everything in me. I counted each inhale as an ambulance followed by two squad cars snaked down the street like a conga line.

In. Out. In. Out.

There was no driveway and no available street parking. So they all just double-parked in front of the row house. Side by side with their fronts to the sidewalk like some makeshift parking lot.

In. Out. In. Out.

That’s when Drew finally left the huddle.

The first officer climbed out of the car, looked over at me standing in front of the house. I immediately wanted to avoid eye contact. Instead, I forced myself to look at him, only to be ignored so he could meet Drew in the middle of the street. Another cop joined them. All white. I couldn’t hear them. None of them invited me into that circle either. None of them even said as much as a hello.

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