Page 52 of My Child is Missing

A tear slid down Brody’s cheek. Pam reached over and stroked his hair away from his face.

“Brody,” Josie said. “We know you’ve been through a lot. We can do a longer interview later, but for now we just need to know what happened out there.”

Another tear rolled down his cheek. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know what happened.”

Pam used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away his tear. Brody seemed oblivious to her presence.

Noah said, “Let’s just start with last night. The last time you saw your mom. At home.”

He unclenched his fists, gathered up some more of his sheet and clenched them again, holding them lower this time, at his chest. “Oh, that’s easy. I was watching TV and she came into the living room to say goodnight.”

“What time was that?” asked Josie.

He looked toward Pam. She said, “You don’t remember, honey?”

“I don’t know. I just know that when the news came on, I was going to go to bed but one of my buddies on the team texted me. He said a bunch of people were going to the Stacks. He wanted me to come.”

“The news comes on at eleven,” Noah said. “Was it still on when you left for the Stacks?”

Brody nodded. He darted a glance at Pam. She said, “You tell them the truth, Brody. You already came clean with me, and we’ll deal with it accordingly when all this is over. Now you tell the police.”

There was the beginning of an eye-roll that was swiftly aborted. Then Brody looked back at Josie and Noah. “Yeah, I left for the Stacks while the news was still on. I remember because they were showing Kayleigh’s face. Again. And I didn’t want to go to the Stacks because this girl just got abducted from the woods, and while the Stacks isn’t deep in the woods, it’s still in the woods.”

“Then why did you go?” asked Josie.

“My buddy said there’d be at least ten of us and I figured there was safety in numbers. Plus, the guys from the team who were going are big dudes. I figured if that Woodsman guy came up on us at the Stacks, we could handle him.”

Noah said, “Were there ten people there?”

“More like fifteen. I never saw it so crowded.” Another glance at Pam. “Not that I go there much.”

She gave him a severe look. “Don’t lie, Brody.”

“I’m not lying, Mom. I don’t go there a lot. Some kids go a few times a week. The last time I went was weeks ago.”

Josie said, “We’re going to need you to write down the names of everyone who was there.”

His eyes widened. “You want me to rat out every person there?”

Noah said, “Felicia Evans is dead.”

Shame colored his cheeks red.

“What did you do at the Stacks last night?” asked Josie.

“We hung out and talked. Some people were drinking and doing other stuff.”

“Other stuff?” said Pam. “What does that mean?”

His hands relaxed, now resting on his chest. He turned them palms up. “Mom, please.”

“You told me about the drinking but not the other stuff.”

“Because I don’t do it. It’s weed, mostly. I think other kids do other drugs but me and my friends drink. One of the guys on the team has an older brother who gets us beer.”

Josie asked, “Did Kayleigh Patchett ever hang out there?”

He shook his head. “I never saw her there.”

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