Page 28 of Trapper Road

I shouldn’t be surprised. There are a lot of parents, especially in the South, who get pretty strict about the idea of their daughters hanging out with the opposite sex. Of course, not being allowed doesn’t mean she wasn’t doing it anyway.

“What about you, Mandy? Did Juliette ever mention a boyfriend or anything like that?”

Mandy cuts her eyes to Patty and then back to me. “No ma’am.”

“Would she have told you if there was someone she was interested in?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely.” She nods her head, eyes wide and earnest. “We’re best friends — she, Willa, and me. We tell each other everything.”

Sometimes my own cynicism surprises me because my first thought is that everyone has secrets, even from their best friends. But there’s no need for me to tell Mandy that. She’ll discover that on her own eventually.

She squirms then, untangling herself from Patty’s arms and swiping a hand under her eye. “Anything else I can help with?”

I shake my head. “No, thank you. I may reach out if I have more questions if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure. Of course. You got my cell number?” When I tell her it’s in the file, she says, “Just text if you need me.” She then turns to Patty. “Can I go sit in her room?”

Patty gives her a fond, sad nod and runs a thumb lightly down her tear-stained cheek. “Of course you can, honey. You can play her music if you want.”

I watch as Mandy makes her way down to the hall to a set of stairs she climbs slowly. I’m guessing Juliette’s bedroom is somewhere upstairs. I’ll search that room myself, later, but not now. Once Mandy’s out of earshot I ask, “Does she come over a lot?”

“Oh yes,” Patty says. “Nearly every day. Especially this week with fall break. It makes her feel closer to Juliette. Sometimes she just comes and sits. Sometimes she listens to music or reads Juliette’s books, and we talk about her. Honestly, Mandy’s been a real blessing to us. Sometimes…” She pauses, staring down at her hands “Sometimes when I hear her up there, I think it’s my Juliette back home again.” Tears spill from her eyes, and she doesn’t try to stop them. They trail down her cheeks, dripping onto the table.

I can’t imagine how torturous that must be: having that hope that your daughter has returned, only to be reminded all over again that she’s gone. I wonder if Mandy has any idea what her presence is doing to Patty — the cycle of hope and despair she’s perpetuating even now, months after Juliette’s disappearance.

7

GWEN

Once I’m done interviewing Juliette’s parents I return to the car to find Connor and Vee both in the backseat, huddled over his tablet. They barely look up when I open the car door, which is disconcerting because I’ve trained both of them to have better situational awareness.

“If I’d been an attacker, you two would have been screwed,” I tell them pointedly.

“I knew it was you,” Connor says without looking up. “I saw you leave the house.”

“How was it?” Vee asks, leaning forward.

The Larsons’ desperation still hangs on me like a weighted blanket. “Not that fun,” I tell her. “Come on. Let’s find the motel and check in. Then we can grab dinner.”

Vee slips out of the back and resumes her place in the front seat, propping her feet against the dash. I’m just pulling away from the Larsons’ house when she asks, “So, that Mandy chick is kind of a trip, isn’t she?”

I slam on the brakes and twist to look at her. “You talked to her?”

“She stopped by the car on her way into the house,” Connor says. “She wanted to know if we were lost. I told her we were there with you and that you were looking for Juliette.”

I frown slightly. When I met Mandy she seemed surprised to see me, as if she hadn’t expected me to be there. “What did she say?”

Vee shrugs. “She said she might see us around if we’re in town long enough.”

I shoot her down immediately. “Absolutely not.”

“What if we could learn something that would help you find the girl?”

“Her name’s Juliette,” I tell her. “And the answer is still no.”

“But you said we could help with the case,” Connor says.

“Yes, with research. Not by hanging out with one of the two biggest witnesses.”