Page 52 of Did You See Evie

“It really is,” Melinda answers, although I’d thought the question had been directed to me.

“Any news about what’s happening?” Lynette asks. This time, there’s no mistake she’s talking to me.

“I’m afraid not,” I say. “Have the girls said anything?”

“They’re shaken up,” Melinda says.

“That’s understandable. I mean, they’re supposed to be safe at school,” Tara’s mother says.

The dig cuts into me, purposefully so. I was the one who was supposed to be watching the girls. These women are probably only happy it wasn’t their own daughters that went missing.

“If the girls are struggling, we have school counselors they can talk to,” I say. “This must be scary for them.”

“We have it under control,” Melinda says.

Just then, I see Detective Fields walking across the parking lot. I use her presence as an excuse to get away from the mothers, but I can still feel their judgmental stares on me as I walk away.

“Detective,” I call out, hustling over to her. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

“It’s been a busy day, as you can imagine. I’ve been screening my calls.”

“This is important. It’s concerning something that happened last night.”

She stops what she’s doing, hands on her hips. Again, there’s that stare, like she’s not looking at me in the present, but seeing the rambunctious teenager of my youth. “What?”

“After the prayer circle, I stopped by Evie’s house and met her mom’s new boyfriend,” I say. “He was furious my friend and I even came. A man with that kind of temper shouldn’t be anywhere near Evie.”

She starts to walk away from me, but I stop her.

“I really think you should look into him more. Last night, Evie’s house was packed with strangers. If that’s what Evie’s going through on a daily basis, there’s no telling who she might have encountered. It could be someone who wishes her harm.”

“We’ve already looked into the family.”

“Josh verbally attacked my friend and I last night. He’s a loose cannon,” I say. “That combined with what Evie told the girls about him, I think it’s a dangerous situation.”

Detective Fields sighs, putting her hands back on her hips.

“I’m not disagreeing with you about the chaos in Evie’s home life,” she says, “but Josh and her mother weren’t involved with Evie’s disappearance.”

My stomach begins to churn. “How can you be sure?”

“They have an alibi.”

“For the entire night?”

“Yes. Evie’s mother worked until around eleven. Josh picked her up after that, and they went to a local bar. They were there all night.”

“That’s a regular occurrence for them. It doesn’t prove anything.”

“There was some drama when they were leaving the bar. Caused a big scene. People remembered seeing them both there all night, and we have them on camera. From around eleven to almost four in the morning. Evie went missing sometime during that time frame.”

“Okay,” I say, my mind scrambling. “Maybe they weren’t the ones to take her themselves. It could have been someone else. They could have paid someone.”

The detective laughs. “They didn’t have enough money to pay their bar tab on Friday night. I don’t think they could afford a kidnapping.”

“So, they’re off the list? Just like that.”

“No one is off the list,” she says. There’s a threat in her stare that unsettles me. “Everyone in Evie’s life is being investigated, but right now, it doesn’t appear her mother had anything to do with what happened to her daughter. Or the boyfriend. We have to send our resources elsewhere.”

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