Page 102 of The Witch’s Orchard

“Yeah,” Nicole says. “She hates car rides, but once she gets inside she’s usually fine. Let me just put on some music.”

I breathe out a sigh but say okay.

“Look,” Nicole says as she rummages through her bag. “My mom and Uncle Cole are, like, intense. They want to protect Olivia and they’re so sure she can’t or won’t help you but—”

“But you think she can?”

I look at the young woman rocking back and forth on my sofa.

“My mom’s at work,” Nicole says. She takes a phone and a little portablespeaker out of her bag and sets the speaker on the table. A few seconds later, Top 40 starts drifting out of it. Olivia’s rocking pace changes and she taps gently on the tops of her thighs in 4/4 time.

Nicole lets out a relieved breath and says, “This is my time to sit with Olivia. I figure we can sit somewhere besides our own living room.”

I take out my phone.

“Jesus, please don’t call my mom!” Nicole shrills.

“I’m not going to,” I say. “I don’t have a laptop anymore. I need to bring up the case notes and this is all I have.”

“I should… probably not be here,” AJ says, grabbing his coat. “If Olivia’s mom does happen to come home and find her girls aren’t there, I’m sort of up the creek if Jacobs finds out.”

“I’ll make sure not to rough them up too much,” I say.

He rolls his eyes and heads out.

“Are you guys, like, dating?” Nicole asks once AJ’s gone. She’s making herself comfortable in the armchair on the other side of the sofa.

“We’re helping each other,” I say. Nicole tries to stifle a mischievous grin but doesn’t succeed. I ignore her, sit down in the one other chair, face Olivia, take a deep breath.

“Okay, Olivia. Do you know who I am?”

Olivia rocks back and forth, taps her thighs. If she hears and understands me, there’s no sign of it.

“My name is Annie Gore. I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to find answers about something that happened here ten years ago, when you were a little girl.”

Rock, rock. Tap, tap.

“Is it okay if I show you some pictures?”

Rock, rock. Tap, tap.

I glance at Nicole. She shrugs.

“Okay,” I say. “Is it okay if I come a little closer?”

Rock, rock. Tap, tap.

I glance again at Nicole. She says, “If she hates it, you’ll know.”

“Great.”

I get up and sit near enough to Olivia that she can see my phone screen if I set it on the coffee table but not so near as to be threatening, I hope.

“Okay,” I say, wishing like hell I had Max’s casebook with all his pictures and notes. Instead, I bring up a photo of Olivia when she was a little girl.

“This was you,” I say. “When you were little.”

Olivia’s mouth twitches a little, almost a half smile. She looks like Nicole when she smiles.