Page 79 of Husband Missing

“I’m thinking of ordering takeout,” he said absently.

Josie lifted her head, glaring at him, and snarled, “I will punch you right in the throat.”

He chuckled. “None for you then.”

She opened her mouth to tear him a new one, but he squeezed her shoulder again and used his phone to gesture toward the monitor. “Pay attention.”

Gretchen’s tone was soft. “It can feel confusing—humiliating, even—when someone you care about becomes abusive. It happens more often than you think.”

“What?” Erica said incredulously. “Are you serious? That’s not what happened.”

“There’s no reason to be embarrassed.”

“I’m not embarrassed!” Her voice went up an octave. “No one treats me like that. I mean it! No one.”

Getting nowhere, Gretchen swiftly changed course. “You didn’t come to Denton using a rideshare, did you?”

Silence.

“He brought you here, didn’t he?”

Erica didn’t answer. Her fist flexed around the charm of her necklace.

Gretchen tried another avenue of inquiry, one that Josie had been mulling over. “What happened when you got here? Did he expect you to do things for other men?”

In other words, had this boyfriend tried to traffic her?

Erica’s face scrunched up. “What? No! That’s—that’s horrible!”

“Then it was just him hurting you?”

Erica glowered at her. “I told you, no one hurts me! I never saw that guy before.”

“I know this is scary but Erica, I can help you. Keep you safe. But you need to tell me the truth.”

“I am telling the truth! You’re not listening!”

“You don’t need to protect him.”

“I’m not trying to protect him!” she shouted. “I don’twantto protect him!”

FIFTY-THREE

Gretchen let the words hang between them.

Erica’s eyes went wide. Her skin turned ashen. The silence stretched on so long, Josie began to wonder if time had stopped. Gretchen waited for Erica to fill it.

When it became clear she wouldn’t, Gretchen said, “Tell me his name.”

Erica straightened her posture and tilted her chin in what was probably meant to be defiance but the slight tremble in her lower lip told Josie she wasn’t as confident as she tried to project. “I don’t know his name. I already told you. No one is hurting me. I don’t know the person who attacked us, okay?”

Us.

“I can make sure you’re safe,” Gretchen assured her.

“Stop saying that! I don’t need help. I can take care of myself! I’ve always taken care of myself. I had to.”

“I believe you,” Gretchen said in that matter-of-fact tone that was uniquely hers. The one that always settled Josie when she was backed into an emotional corner and ready to lash out.