Before She Was Found(27)

“They treated her for shock but she’s okay.” I feel almost guilty that my daughter might be able to leave the hospital today. “The policeman is talking to her right now trying to put together what happened.” I reach for Mara’s hand. It is cold and dry to the touch. “I can’t believe this. What in the world were the girls doing at the train yard in the middle of the night?”

Mara pulls her hand from mine. “I checked on them before I went to bed. They were in Cora’s room sleeping.”

I’m startled by the defensiveness in her voice. I wasn’t about to criticize another’s parenting skills when I had no idea where my own daughter was in the wee hours of the morning and still have no idea where my sixteen-year-old son is right now. “I just mean I can’t believe something like this could happen here in Pitch.”

“There’s no way that it was Cora’s idea to leave the house. No way. She never snuck out like this before,” Jim says. His voice is tight with irritation and I suddenly know he blames Violet. She’s the new girl in town. We’re the outsiders. “She knows she’s not to go anywhere without talking to us first.” He pulls on Mara’s hand. “Come on, we need to get up to the surgical floor.”

“Good luck,” I say. “Please let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Mara says, allowing herself to be guided down the hallway by her husband.

I know the Landrys are worried about their daughter but I’m angry on Violet’s behalf. Jim all but said that Violet and Jordyn are responsible. We don’t know the full story. Besides, I know Violet. She’s more of a follower than a leader.

I wish I was back in the room with Violet and Officer Grady. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on. I have so many questions. Who attacked them and why were the girls out in the middle of the night? I pace outside the examination room until I can’t stand it anymore and I ease open the door and sit in a corner of the room where I’m out of the way but can still hear what they are talking about. Officer Grady gives me an aggravated sidelong glance but continues his conversation with Violet.

“You weren’t injured, right? No one hurt you, right?” he asks.

“No,” Violet says. She looks so small sitting in the center of the bed, her knees now tucked up beneath her chin. Her long dark hair hides her face but from the wobble in her voice I know she’s upset.

“But someone hurt Cora very badly,” he says gently. “Can you tell me what you saw? What you heard? Anything at all?”

Violet lowers her forehead to her knees, clasps her hands in front of her shins. Officer Grady waits her out. I’ve got to give him credit. He’s being very patient. “You said that you and the other girls got separated. Where did you go?”

“I went to find Jordyn. She got mad and left,” Violet says, her mouth muffled by her knees.

This doesn’t surprise me. I like Jordyn but she runs hot and cold. One minute the girls will be laughing hysterically about something and the next Jordyn will be stomping away over some imagined slight.

“Why was Jordyn mad?” Officer Grady asks. He lowers his forearms to his knees and ducks his head to try to see Violet’s face still hidden behind a curtain of hair. Violet shrugs. Officer Grady waits.

“She said we were being stupid,” Violet finally says.

“Why did she say that?” Officer Grady eases his chair a few inches closer to her bedside.

Violet raises her head, tucks her hair behind her ears. Now that her hands are cleaned of the blood I can see that she has bitten her nails down to the quick. I thought she had broken that bad habit. Evidently not.

“Jordyn said he wasn’t going to show up,” Violet says and my blood runs cold. Without looking at me Officer Grady raises one hand in my direction as if to say, I’ve got this.

“Who is he, Violet?” Officer Grady asks. Violet ducks her head. Officer Grady waits a few beats to see if Violet will answer. She doesn’t so he decides to move on.

“So Jordyn left and then what did you do?”

“I went looking for her but I couldn’t find her, so I went back. I wanted to be there when he did come. And he did—Jordyn was wrong.”

“Who?” I ask before I can stop myself. “Who came?” Violet looks over at me as if she realizes for the first time that I’ve returned to the room.

Officer Grady’s radio crackles and he reluctantly removes it from his utility belt. He listens to a string of muffled words that I can’t understand but my attention is still on Violet. “Who came?” I ask again once he puts away his radio but Violet is watching Officer Grady carefully.

“Violet, this is very important,” he says. His voice has lost all of its earlier warmth. “Who did you see at the train yard?”

Violet ducks her head. “I don’t know.”

“But you saw someone?” Officer Grady asks. Violet nods. “But you didn’t recognize him? You didn’t know the person?” She nods again. “So you did know him?” Officer Grady says in exasperation.

“You’re confusing her,” I protest. “Violet, did you recognize the person?”

“You won’t believe me,” she answers with a slight shake of her head.

“Violet, all we want to know is the truth,” Officer Grady says, again trying for his earlier gentle tone but Violet is having none of it and buries her face in her hands.