Page 13 of Everything She Feared

“This is Detective Larry Grotowski,” Pierce said as he sat with them. “He’s just recording a video of us. It’s part of our job,” Pierce said. Grotowski gave her a small friendly wave. “You can call him Larry. He’s got two daughters who are pretty much the same age as you. I have a son about your age, too. You can call me Kim. Okay?”

Brushing at tears, Katie said nothing.

Pierce reached into her pocket and passed Katie fresh tissues, which she accepted. As Katie wiped her face under the hood, Pierce saw Katie’s ice-blue eyes, the pretty side braids of her blond hair.

“I want my mom to take me home now.”

“She’s on her way.”

“Everyone says Anna’s dead—When I saw her at the bottom of the cliff—I thought—” She took shaky breaths. “Is she really dead?”

“Anna’s hurt bad, very bad, and there are a lot of things people have to do to take care of her. And we need you to help us. Do you think you can help us?”

Katie gave a weak shrug, tightened her arms around her knees, and this time she began rocking gently.

“I need you to be brave and strong so you can tell me everything that happened, okay?”

“But I told the other policeman everything.”

“I know, honey, but I need you to help me understand exactly what happened so we can take care of everything and get you home with your mom.”

Katie sobbed a little.

“I know, I know, Katie, this is so hard, but it’s important because nobody else was there but you.”

Katie continued rocking.

“Let’s start like this,” Pierce said. “What did you do when you got up at home this morning?”

“I had a sleepover at Anna’s last night.”

“You woke up at Anna’s house?”

“Anna’s my babysitter.”

“How long has she babysat you?”

“A long time, I guess.”

“A couple months, a year, longer?”

“A year, I guess. She wanted to help today and we got up early.”

Pierce nodded, encouraging her to keep talking.

“We got a ride to Sunny Days and got on the bus with everybody.”

“Where did you sit?”

“In the back.”

“Did you and Anna talk?”

“Yes, about music and stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“She just broke up with Tanner, her boyfriend.”

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