Before She Was Found(75)

“No, buddy, I don’t want you to talk to him. I think it’s best we don’t talk to the Landry family at all.”

I told Officer Grady about Jordyn pushing Cora down and he promised me that he would look into it. All I can do is trust him.

I glance at the clock. Seven thirty. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to see Violet sometime this morning. Dr. Gideon told me that seeing her would depend on how her night goes. Max also told me I need to find Violet a lawyer. I tried a few local firms yesterday afternoon but they made it pretty clear that I couldn’t afford their services. I’ve missed work for the last two days and I can’t imagine going back until I get Violet out of here but we need the money. I don’t own a house, I work at a gas station and drive a crappy car. How am I going to be able to pay for a decent attorney for Violet?

“You want me to run home and check on Boomer and the house?” Max asks.

I don’t want him to go back to the house without me there with him and tell him so. The vandalism has rattled me. “I’d be fine, you know. I wouldn’t let anyone mess with me.” I give him a look that makes it clear it’s not up for discussion.

Max rolls his eyes at my overprotectiveness and stands and stretches his arms over his head. “I’m going to go walk around,” he says. “I’ll be back in a while.”

My phone buzzes and I check the display. It’s the guy, Sam, from the other night. He’s texted and called about a dozen times. I hit Ignore.

I nibble on a bagel and take a drink of orange juice and stare mindlessly up at the television. A man and a woman come into the family room. The woman looks dazed and the man fights back tears. They sit down on the sofa, only a few inches between them but it seems like they are a million miles apart. I wonder what brought them here. What mental illness has overtaken their loved one. But of course I don’t ask.

I turn my attention back to the television and the local morning newscast. A reporter is standing in front of the Welcome to Pitch—We’re Glad You’re Here sign.

“Do you mind if I turn it up?” I ask the couple as I grab the remote and press the volume button until I can hear the reporter’s voice.

“Officials aren’t revealing much, but what we do know is that three twelve-year-old girls were involved in an incident early Monday morning that left one child with severe injuries. Our sources tell us that the weapon used was a knife much like this one.” The reporter holds up an odd-looking hooked blade with a wooden handle for us to see.

“Oh, Jesus.” I lower my face into my hands. A knife. I know there is no possible way that Violet could have stabbed anyone. But my mind keeps flashing back to the image of her walking out of the tall grass covered in blood. So much blood.

“The Pitch Police Department and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office aren’t sharing details,” the reporter says, “but we do have unconfirmed reports that an arrest has been made in the case, though we don’t know who the individual is. Word is that a local Pitch man was brought in at least once for what a spokesperson has called ‘routine questioning.’ The name of that man has not been released and we do not know if he was arrested. Again, we do not have official confirmation of an arrest, but will continue to follow this shocking and disturbing case and be sure to bring you any updates as they unfold.”

The woman sitting across from me clucks her tongue and shakes her head while her companion murmurs, “This is terrible, just terrible. I hope they string up whoever did this to that poor little girl.”

The woman looks at me as if waiting for me to agree. But I can’t do anything, not even nod my head. In any other situation, I’d be thinking the same thing, saying the same thing. But my daughter is tangled up in this entire mess and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get her out.



Case #92-10945


Excerpt from the journal of Cora E. Landry


Feb. 25, 2018

It took me a few weeks, but I ended up telling Violet everything and I showed her all of Wither’s messages. She kept saying, This can’t be real! Someone is playing a trick on you!

I told her that at first I thought he was fake, too. Then I showed her the message about Rachel Farmer and the yearbook and I think that’s when Violet started to believe that Wither is real.

I begged her not to tell Jordyn, that she’d make my life even more miserable than it already was. She said she promised. She said Jordyn wasn’t hanging around with her much, either, and said some mean things about Violet’s mom working at a gas station. Violet also said that Jordyn and Gabe started going out again. This made me feel jealous, though I’m not sure why. It’s not like Gabe has gone out of his way to be nice to me lately.

I told Violet that Jordyn wasn’t worth worrying about and to forget about her. She smiled like she was thinking, Yeah, right. But then we ate supper and made cupcakes. My mom even let us go into my room to eat them. We laughed and talked until like one in the morning. It was so much fun.

Before Violet’s brother and his dorky friend Clint picked her up to take her home, I made her promise not to tell anyone about Joseph Wither. She rolled her eyes and held up her right hand and said, “I swear I won’t tell anyone!” So all I can do is believe her.

But all I can think about is how Wither said he can see everything. I wonder if he already knows. He’d be so mad. This afternoon I snuck back to the depot and left a little present for him at the Primrose—a note and a rock I found that was shaped like a heart. I hope he likes them.