Page 137 of Our Daughter's Bones

“Come in,” a raspy voice came from inside.

Abby rested on the bed with a drip inserted in her right arm. A bandage was wrapped around her left foot. Dressed in a purple hospital gown, her skin had patches of bluish green pigmentation.

She was plain. She had the kind of face that doesn’t stick in your head. Her nose was long and slightly crooked. The crescent scar was her only blemish. She was frail. Like a pile of bones on the bed. “Detective Price, I thought visiting hours were over.”

“They are. But I told them it was an emergency. The badge helps. Where’s your mom?”

Abby followed her eyes to the black gym bag sitting on a chair. “She went to her shift at Remington’s.”

“What?”

Abby’s smile was bleak. “Yeah. How else are we going to pay the hospital bills, right?”

“Sorry. How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

She flushed pink and gripped her neck. “I will be fine. Ihaveto be.”

“Are you well enough to talk?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for before. I was mumbling most things.”

“It’s okay. As you know, David Falkner was killed at the cabin, but I want you to know that we have arrested Nathaniel Jones and Samuel Perez. The other two men who were responsible for what happened.”

“Mr. P-Perez?” she stammered. “A-are you sure?”

“Yes. He confessed. Of course, we’re in the process of matching the DNA now.”

“Oh!” She clamped her hand on her forehead. “That… I can’t believe that! I’ve known him for years.”

“Yes. You were very brave, Abby. Max told us everything.”

“Max? What did he say?”

“How you decided to go after Club 916 alone. You left clues for us in your journal too.Youhelpedussolve the case. You might have been wrong about Bill, but you shed light on what happened in this town decades ago. That’s something.”

“I don’t know.” She blushed. “I was just trying to do the right thing.”

“I feel like I’ve gotten to know you a lot. I’m sorry I read your diary. It was personal, but the concept of privacy doesn’t exist during an investigation.”

“I understand. I’m a little embarrassed…”

“Don’t be. I wish I’d been like you when I was young, Abby.” Mackenzie paced the room. “Your ambition, your focus, your intelligence. They’re all very admirable qualities.”

“I wish others felt the same,” she blurted.

“People can be so…small, can’t they?”

“Yes. They can be,” Abby replied thoughtfully.

“They don’t see the potential. They only see what’s on the surface.”

Abby folded her hands in her lap. “All my life, I’ve struggled with this. Struggled to get people to see the real me. To see what I’m capable of. I used to think I was doing something wrong. Until I realized that it’s their insecurities that keep them in denial.”

“Well, they won’t be in denial anymore.” A proud smile played on Mackenzie’s lips. “Tomorrow, the world will know that you have returned and how you survived. They will know how brave you were.”