Page 58 of Muted

“Laura is Susanna Walston’s biological mother.” I’m confused by that because last night when I drove her home, she mentioned she had parents. That makes no sense if her biological mother went missing. I was thought she was still gone. Unless…

“Did she end up showing back up? Susu—sorry,Susanna. Susanna had mentioned having parents.”

“No. Well, yes, she has parents. Laura Evans went missing, which is still an open missing person’s case. Her father, Royce Walston, passed away from an apparent overdose when he was eighteen years old. I think it was only about six months later that Laura disappeared. Oddly enough, it’s my lieutenant that answered the call when Susanna was found.”

“Found? What do you mean found?” I ask, feeling uncomfortable with what he’s telling me. I also fucking hate that she had everneededto be found. The math on her father’s age finally kicks in. “Susanna was from a teen pregnancy. So is Laura’s mom the one who raised her?”

“Nope. She took off about a year after Laura gave birth. Royce and Laura were around fifteen or sixteen years old when Susanna was born. Anyway, Susanna was found left alone in the trailer Laura and her mom lived in. There’s a much older sister, Elaine Fisher, who took Susanna in. She and her husband Ronald raised her until they all just sort of left town.”

I tap my pen on my desk as I try to remember everythingIknow about Susu. The place I drop her off at every night, I believe, is occupied by just her and a roommate. I’ve never noticed an older couple stop in to see her, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t here.

“Did you know she doesn’t speak?” I ask him after a moment of silence between us.

“Yeah…” he trails off, not giving me anything, but I can hear him clicking rapidly on his computer.

“Do you know why?” I probe, feeling a little guilty diving into something that’s bordering on going past appropriate boss-employee boundaries. But I’m invested now and want to know, so I ignore it, hoping he’ll answer.

Vincent hums and starts speaking slowly at first. “I’m not entirely sure, but I can make some assumptions from stories I’ve heard, along with a couple of things people have told me when I did a bit of asking around. There’s a partial report here that she made about three months ago, but only that she came in claiming she was attacked. It doesn’t list who she accused or any details of what happened, but she immediately retracted it.”

My throat feels grainy when I swallow hard as he gives me more and more details that I wasn’t expecting.

“From what I understand, Susanna and her family were not well liked in town. I can’t share everything because they sealed most of the reports due to Susanna being a minor. What Icantell you is that she’s had multiple hospital visits for injuries resulting from physical altercations at school and around town. I’m about 95% certain that Susanna was bullied pretty severely.”

My pen clatters on my desk as I sit up. “You said she was attacked three months ago. Do you think it was a bully from school?”

Vincent’s sigh is loud. “Honestly, I have no clue. Nobody looked into it. There’s minimal information listed. Just that she claimed she was attacked and there were injuries, but not what those injuries were. The time stamp says the report was closed out within thirty minutes of being opened. I did try to contact her aunt and uncle, but their phone numbers are disconnected, and I have no clue where they are. Then I called her biological grandfather, Royce Walston’s father, Arthur Walston.”

“What did he have to say?” I cut in. It’s rude of me, but I want Vincent to hurry up. Their names mean nothing to me right now.

“He didn’t have much to say. Susanna has never been close to that side of her family. I asked if he knew anything about the report she filed before she left town. He didn’t but was curious about where she went. Said she left without letting anyone know. The Walston family is fairly well known here. They own a ton of commercial properties and own a transportation company. Long-haul trucking, along with other stores, and a smaller gas station chain. They’ve got a lot of money and influence.”

I hear the door to my office rattle when someone tries the knob, before they knock after finding it locked. “Would you hold on a minute, Vincent?”

Without waiting for his answer, I set my phone on my desk before unlocking and swinging the door open. Theo is leaning against the frame with his arms crossed.

“Why’s the door locked?” he asks me as he moves like he’s going to come inside. I hold up my hand to stop him.

“Give me about ten minutes. I’m finishing up a call, then I’ll be out.” Theo raises a questioning brow, then nods once before walking away toward the bar. I’ll tell him what I was doing, but not until I figure out what I want to say. I have no problem telling him everything, but this is Susu’s business and not mine to share.

After shutting the door, I hurry back and place my phone back up to my ear. “Sorry about that. So, all in all, she’s had a shitty time there, but we don’t reallyknow anything? You didn’t see anything I should be concerned about her lying on her application?”

“No, there’s nothing criminal here. Just little pieces of information that don’t really connect to give me a full story. I don’t have actual facts, Chester, but I get a feeling that there issomethingodd going on. If I had to make a guess at the false information she gave you, I’d put money on the fact that she’s running from something, or someone. Maybe whoever allegedly attacked her, but I don’t know.”

Scowling at my dark computer screen, I try to figure it out myself. It shouldn’t be too hard with what Vincent shared and what I’ve learned about her. Maybe I’ll try to dig a little more. A smile curls the corners of my lips up when I remember the way I got her to answer the yes and no questions. I just may need to try that again.

“Listen, I appreciate you looking into all of this. If I have any more questions, would it be alright to reach out to you?” I ask him, hoping he won’t shut me down after giving me all of this already.

“Not a problem. I’m always here to help. Take care, Chester.” He doesn’t wait for me to say anything before hanging up the phone.

I sit in my chair for a few minutes to get everything sorted in my head before I go out to find Theo. Vincent didn’t give me much to go on, but there are three things I do know.

One. Susu didn’t lie because she’s up to something nefarious. She did it to protect herself. I won’t say a word about knowing anything until she feels comfortable enough to share her situation with me.

Two. I can’t tell Theo anything. Even sharing one part of her story will raise more questions. He’ll know the moment I start refusing information and he’ll push me. I can afford her that privacy for now.

Three. She’ll be safe here.ThatI will make sure of. I’m also not going to hand off any part of her transportation to someone else, since I know a bit about her situation.

Striding out of the office, I find Theo unloading boxes from the storage room to restock the bar. Tearing open one of them, I ask, “Rachel not in yet? I thought she was opening today.”

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