Page 50 of My Child is Missing

“My God.” Josie looked back at Felicia, struck by how something so gruesome could happen in a place so beautiful and peaceful. “What do you think?”

“About Hicks? I don’t know. You see a kid hysterical like that and you wonder: is he hysterical because he’s innocent and he just saw a dead body, or is he hysterical because he killed her?”

More branches snapped behind them. Josie turned and saw the signature silver-blonde hair of the county medical examiner, Dr. Anya Feist, moving among the trees.

“Hicks was on the mountain where Kayleigh was taken on the day of her abduction,” Josie said. “He’s an experienced hunter, comfortable in the woods, but if this wasn’t his first time killing someone, I don’t think he’d be that upset.”

“Plus, he’s only sixteen,” Noah said.

She shot him a look. “You know what Mett would say.”

“His age doesn’t mean he’s not a killer. I know. I guess then to eliminate Hicks we have to consider whether what we saw out here was real or an Oscar-worthy acting performance.”

“We can also check his alibi and his vehicle’s GPS for the dates of Detective Loughlin’s cases in Montour and Lenore Counties. We should ask his mother for permission to search his truck. See if there’s any evidence that Kayleigh was in it. What about Henry Thomas? Did anyone check on him?”

Anya emerged into the clearing, lugging her equipment with her. She greeted them with a nod and then dropped her things beside Hummel’s equipment station. Josie watched as she pulled on a Tyvek suit over her clothes.

Noah said, “The Chief tracked him down at the city park. It was just like you said: he had no idea what the Chief was talking about and said he was home sleeping last night.”

“We can’t prove otherwise,” Josie muttered.

“It’s pretty ballsy of him to do this right in his own backyard when he knows damn well he’s under suspicion for Kayleigh’s abduction,” Noah said.

“He probably gets off on it,” Josie said. “This is all a game to him.”

“Well, he’s winning,” Noah said. “And I don’t like it at all.”

Anya appeared beside him, a strained smile on her face. “Detectives. Hate meeting you like this. What’ve we got here?”

Noah said, “Two teenagers in the woods. Overnight, we believe. This morning we found the male walking around, covered in blood. He says it belongs to the female. Felicia Evans, age sixteen.” He pointed toward the teen. “He said he tried to help her. We located her here.”

“That’s all we know,” said Josie. “For now.”

Anya pulled on her skull cap. “We’ll start with that, then. Why don’t you two get suited up? Looks like Hummel’s about done.”

He wasn’t nearly done. They waited another hour, sweating in their Tyvek suits, while the ERT cleared the scene for Anya to have a look at the body. She started out by taking her own photos.

“The ME in Lenore County called me about a case a lot like this,” said Anya as she worked. “He’s a friend of mine.”

Josie and Noah looked at one another. He raised a brow. They hadn’t discussed Detective Heather Loughlin’s cases with Anya at all.

She stowed her camera and squatted next to Felicia’s head, probing at her eyelids. Noah watched over her shoulder while Josie stood on the other side of the body. “Two teenagers in the woods, male and female. The male survived. The female did not, and—” She paused, putting her face inches from the pool of blood surrounding Felicia Evans’s head. “She died from blunt force trauma to the head. A rock, probably. Just like this girl.”

She sat back on her haunches and looked around. “Weapon?”

“We didn’t find anything,” Josie said. “Neither did Hummel.”

Noah said, “So if it was a rock, he took it with him.”

“I should be able to tell you something about the wound on the back of her head once I get her on the table.”

Anya stood up and arched her back, stretching. Then she moved down toward Felicia’s midsection. Her bootie-covered foot slipped on a small patch of trampled purple wildflowers. Noah was close enough to reach out and snag her elbow before she went head over feet. Her cheeks flushed as she thanked him.

“You guys,” she muttered. “Always coming to my rescue.”

From the catch in her voice, Josie knew she was referencing the case that had resulted in Mettner’s death. It had involved some ugly elements of Anya’s past, including her abusive ex-husband. Josie knew she blamed herself for Mettner’s death even though it had not been her fault.

“Doc,” Noah said softly.

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