Page 20 of Everything She Feared

“Yes, I’m here for Katie. She’s on this trip with her sitter, Anna Shaw.”

The man and woman traded a serious look.

Sara felt her scalp tingle.

“I’m Detective Kim Pierce, this is Detective Larry Grotowski.”

“Is it Katie? What’s happened?” Sara asked.

“I’m very sorry,” Pierce said. “It appears Anna Shaw fell to her death and your daughter was with her at the time.”

Sara covered her mouth with her hands. Eyes filling with horror, she thumped back against a Washington State Patrol SUV. She was frozen for a moment before hugging herself, fighting tears, struggling to cling to a measure of composure as Pierce rubbed her arm.

Then, her voice barely above a whisper, Sara asked: “Did Katie see it happen?”

“We believe so,” Pierce said. “We’ve spoken with her.”

“How is she?”

“Pretty shaken—paramedics have looked at her and say she’s holding up, given the situation.”

“What about Lynora and Chuck, Anna’s mom and dad?”

“They’re here and they know.”

Sara shook her head. “Oh, my God, this is so—so horrible!”

“Will you be okay?” Pierce asked.

Sara got tissues from her bag.

“I don’t know, I just—oh, God—I just want to get Katie home.”

“Is there someone we can call for you?”

“No, I’ll be okay once I get Katie.”

Pierce continued staring at her, assessing her until Sara’s attention shifted to the trailhead, the tape and Katie under the arm of a female deputy. Katie looked so small in the large hoodie, her face nearly concealed.

Spotting her mother, Katie broke away from the deputy.

Sara lowered herself and Katie flew into her arms. Holding her tight, Sara felt Katie’s convulsed sobs, muffled against her, for several moments before her crying subsided. Sobbing herself, Sara wiped her daughter’s tears and let Katie catch her breath.

“Everyone’s saying Anna’s dead,” Katie said.

“I know, sweetheart. It’s so awful, so terrible. Are you alright?”

Sara stroked Katie’s hair as the detectives watched and listened.

“I saw Anna fall. She was taking a selfie, and I told her to be careful. Then she fell.” Katie gasped. “She fell but she was hanging on to a branch, just hanging on. I ran for help. I ran as fast as I could and got Jackson and Adam and Connie. But when we got back, Anna was at the bottom and oh—oh, no—she looked broken!”

A TV reporter and camera operator had quietly inched closer to record Katie and Sara. Grotowski noticed them first. “Back off!” he said.

“We’re not intruding,” said the reporter, the same woman who’d tried to interview Sara before.

“Back off,” Grotowski repeated.

Deciding not to push the issue, the reporter and camera operator retreated and turned to hunt for people to interview in the parking lot.

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