Before She Was Found(77)

The sky is the color of dishwater, gray and cloudy. And though all the snow has melted a cold breeze sweeps across his skin and Thomas wonders if the mild mid-April weather they’ve been having is just a tease.

He doubts that the girls would have left the Landry home in the middle of the night if there had been snow and the temperature near freezing. Though it’s only a short drive to the jail it still feels too far away. From talking with the attorney, Thomas knows that Jordyn is very lucky to have remained at the jail in town.

Robert said she very easily could have been shipped to the nearest juvenile detention center nearly an hour away and that was if there was room available. If there were no open beds in Cedar Rapids she could still end up as far away as Sioux City, which is over a five-hour drive.

The key, Robert said, was that because Jordyn is a juvenile, she cannot be within sight or sound distance with any adult prisoners at any time. He said the Pitch jail has one solitary room that will keep Jordyn separate from the others.

It’s Thomas’s understanding that the initial hearing is to be held at one this afternoon. This is where the judge reads the charges against Jordyn and asks her what her plea will be. Guilty or not guilty. Maybe he’ll get a chance to talk to Jordyn. Thomas wants to get his eyes on her, see if she’s really doing okay. He has a lot of questions for Jordyn. Like why was there a picture of Jordyn and the girls in front of a boxcar when Jordyn told him, no, promised him that she never actually went into the train yard? He also wants to ask about Jordyn’s house key and where Jordyn might have put it. That key has been worrying him. If Jordyn dropped it in the train yard anywhere near the spot where Cora was attacked, then it proved that she had lied to them all.

The phone trills and as much as Thomas wants to ignore it, he knows he can’t. The call might be about Jordyn or about Tess. He hurries down the steps, hoping to grab it before the person on the other end hangs up. As he listens to the voice on the other end his face darkens.

“Listen,” Thomas hisses into the phone, “call here again and I’ll break your legs.” He slams down the phone so hard that the cradle is knocked from the wall and the receiver falls and bounces against the floor and sways, dangling by the coiled cord.

Thomas’s hands are shaking, eyes wild.

He wants to rip the phone out of the wall, he wants this nightmare to be over, he wants Tess to come home so they can face this together. She would know what to say, what to do. Thomas picks up the receiver and lightly returns it to the wall and it immediately begins to ring again.

“Hello,” he says sharply, then apologizes when Jordyn’s attorney identifies himself on the other end. “What’s going on?” Thomas listens for a moment.

“I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes,” he says. He hangs up and Thomas doesn’t return the receiver to the cradle, but lays it on the kitchen counter. This will take care of the crank calls, he thinks.

Jordyn’s attorney has a lot to tell him. Jordyn’s arraignment is to be held at ten and the juvenile court officer assigned to the family will also be there to help them walk through all the ins and outs of what’s going on. But it’s Robert’s final statement that has his mind spinning.

Jordyn’s ready to talk.



Case #92-10945


Direct message dated March 1, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
JW44, where are you?
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 2, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
Are you mad at me?
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 2, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
Are you mad at me about the window?
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 2, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
I keep going back to the Primrose to see if you left me another note but you haven’t. I left you notes but they are still there. Please answer me.
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 12, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
I don’t know what I did wrong. You said you were my friend. I don’t have anyone else to talk to. Everyone else except Violet hates me. Is it because I’m friends with her again? I’ll stop. I’ll do whatever you want me to, just please answer.
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 13, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
After my parents went to bed last night I snuck out and went to the Primrose. I kept thinking you might show up. I stayed there until really late but you didn’t come. Doesn’t that prove to you that I love you? I’m not sure what you want from me. Please just tell me what to do.
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 15, 2018,
via DarkestDoor.com


Corareef12:
I haven’t been able to sleep. I wait until my parents go to bed and then I sneak downstairs to use the computer. I sit here and wait for you to send me a message. Why won’t you talk to me? Please tell me. I fell asleep in class today I’m so tired. Everyone started laughing. I thought I saw you waiting for me outside after school, and instead of getting into my mom’s car I went and looked behind the trees to see if it was really you. But no one was there—you were gone. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was going crazy. Please send me a message. Just one. Please tell me what I did wrong.
Case #92-10945
Direct message dated March 16, 2018,