Before She Was Found(32)

Violet presses her hands to her ears and shakes her head. “He’s real,” she whispers.

“He’s the bogeyman.” Clint laughs. “The monster under your bed. Was he under your bed, Violet?” he asks snidely.

Max has had enough. He’s out of his chair in a flash and shoves Clint, pinning him to the nearest wall. “I told you to shut up,” he hisses. The two boys are nose to nose, but Clint has about fifty pounds on Max. Right now the only thing going for Max is the element of surprise and his anger.

“Jesus, Max,” Clint says. “Don’t freak out. I’m just joking around.” Max looks like he wants to punch the smirk off his face and part of me wishes he would.

“You saw it. He assaulted me,” Clint says, pushing Max away.

“You’re being a jerk,” Officer Grady tells him. “You get off on teasing little girls? Go sit out front and wait for your mom to come and pick you up. If you leave before I talk to her, I will arrest you.”

“Asshole,” Clint mumbles under his breath as he moves toward the door. “Freak,” he says, directing the word toward Violet.

“He’s real!” Violet shouts after him. Spit flies from her mouth and she kicks at him but misses.

“Violet!” I exclaim.

Clint pauses and narrows his weasel eyes at her, the sneer returning to his face. “Did you go looking for him? Did you really think he was going to take you with him? If you believed that, then you really are stupid.”

Violet jumps up from her chair and lunges at Clint. Thankfully, Officer Grady is there to stop her. “Out front, Clint. Now,” he commands and Clint stalks out, leaving a stream of curse words trailing behind him. Max looks at his sister as if she’s lost her mind.

Officer Wilson comes into the room holding a set of handcuffs, sending Violet into another round of hysterics.

“You’re upsetting her even more,” I cry.

“I got this, Wilson,” Officer Grady says. Officer Wilson hesitates. “I mean it, put the cuffs away. You can go now. I’ve got it covered.”

Officer Wilson looks like she wants to argue but I’m guessing that Grady has a few years of seniority on her. Reluctantly she returns the cuffs to her hip. “Looks like a 10-96 to me,” she says, eyeing Violet.

“What’s that mean?” I ask, knowing it’s nothing good.

“Never mind,” Officer Grady says to me. To Wilson he says, “Wait outside.” With a shake of her head Wilson steps from the room and positions herself in the hallway so she can still look inside. Officer Grady briefly releases Violet with one hand and gives the door a push. I can’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction as it closes in her face.

“Okay, Violet,” Officer Grady says. “Easy now. I hear you. Someone who said he was Joseph Wither was there. I believe you. I know you’re scared.”

Violet tries to pull away from Grady again but realizes it’s futile and slowly she settles down, her tantrum eases and her breathing slows until she is limp in his arms. Once he relaxes his grip I pull her close to me. “It’s okay,” I soothe.

To Officer Grady I say, “I know you need to talk to her, but you can see how upset she is. She isn’t going to be any help like this. Please let us go home. She can rest and then you can talk to her, I promise. Please,” I beg, my voice trembling.

“All right,” Officer Grady finally says. I know it kills him to let us go home. He wants to get whatever information he can from Violet. Only she and Cora know what really happened by the train tracks and Violet is the only one in any condition to tell him. “Take Violet home, let her get some sleep. But I do have to talk to her soon. Tonight if possible, tomorrow morning at the latest. Got it?” I nod as I stroke Violet’s hair and she cries noiselessly into my chest. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

The last thing I want to do is get back into a police car, but my car is back at the house so we don’t have another choice. “Thanks,” I say. Officer Grady opens the conference room door and we slowly file out. Officer Wilson has given up her spot by the door and is back at the front desk.

“I’m taking Ms. Crow and the kids back to their place. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes,” Officer Grady says and Wilson gives a casual wave of her hand to let him know she’s heard him but keeps her eyes on the stack of paperwork in front of her.

Once outside, Officer Grady turns to Max. “Stay away from that Phelps boy, understand? He’s nothing but trouble.”

“I will, no problem,” Max agrees. I hope that Officer Grady’s warning is enough. I’ve tried telling Max that for months. Maybe the way Clint was teasing Violet in the conference room has finally revealed his true colors to Max.

To me, Officer Grady says, “Listen, I understand we’re dealing with kids here and I’m trying to be sensitive to what Violet has been through, but I’m running an investigation. You understand that, don’t you?”

“I’m trying,” I say, trying to keep the irritation I feel from creeping into my words. “But I have to take care of my children. They’re my top priority.”

Grady opens the back door of the police car and Cora and Max climb inside. I’m about to join them when he stops me with a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, and Cora Landry and the safety of everyone in this community is my priority. I’m going to have to ask the hard questions and the sooner I can do that, the faster we’ll catch this guy,” he says. “And I can’t ask Violet these questions unless I have your permission and support.”