Her Silent Cry (Detective Josie Quinn Book 6)(10)

Colin rubbed his wife’s back. “Ame, we need to rest.”

She glared at him. “Fine. You go rest. I’m waiting here for my baby.”

“Amy,” he said, his tone edging into annoyance.

She pulled away from him. “This is your fault, you know.”

He stumbled back a little, as if the accusation had delivered a physical blow. “What?”

She reached forward and snatched his cell phone from his hand. Before he could react, she threw it against one of the tent walls where it made a pop sound before crashing to the ground. “You and your stupid phone,” she spat. “If you had been able to put it down for five minutes to go on the ride with Lucy or even to watch her, maybe she would still be here.”

“You can’t—” Colin began but his words failed.

Amy’s face twisted in disgust. She raised both arms, hands in fists, and beat against his chest. “If you were watching her, you would have seen where she went. Instead, you were on your phone. Do you know that every time we went past you on that stupid ride, she called out to you?”

She hit him again and he took it. A single tear rolled down his face.

Amy kept going, her voice getting higher pitched. “She said, ‘look at me, Daddy! Look at me! I’m on the blue horse.’”

“I didn’t hear her,” Colin said softly. He caught his wife’s forearms. “Amy, it was one phone call.”

“It’s always just one phone call, isn’t it? You bastard. This is your fault.”

“How is this my fault? You were on the ride with her. You were supposed to be watching her.”

“Screw you,” Amy shrieked. She wrenched her arms free and went after him with a force that seemed otherworldly, jumping at him, her fists flailing. As Colin fell onto his back, Josie and Mettner jumped forward, each of them hooking an arm under Amy’s armpits and dragging her back. Her shrill screams continued unabated. Her limbs continued to flail. Josie caught an elbow to her nose, and she felt blood stream down her face. Gretchen joined the fray, the three of them trying to get Amy under control. Finally, Mettner wrapped his arms around her, trapping her arms against her body. Amy continued to curse her husband. She fought against Mettner’s arms, but he held fast to her. It took a moment for Josie to process the words that Mettner said over and over again into her ear. “Mrs. Ross, please calm down. Lucy needs you. She needs you to be calm. Please.”

Josie wiped at her face with the sleeve of her jacket until Gretchen’s hand appeared in front of her, holding a paper towel. Without taking her eyes off Amy, Josie tried to wipe away the blood on her upper lip and chin. Noah lurched over on crutches. “Hey,” he said. “You okay?”

Josie nodded. In front of her, Amy’s cries slowly subsided to a low, sad keening. In Mettner’s embrace, she sagged. “My baby,” she wailed. “Please find my baby.”

Noah’s fingers gently tipped Josie’s chin up toward him. “You think it’s broken?”

Josie shook her head. “I’m fine.”

Gretchen pulled a chair over and Mettner let Amy sink into it, releasing her at last. Josie stepped around Noah. She walked over to Amy and knelt before the woman. “Mrs. Ross,” she said. “Look at me.”

“Josie,” Noah said, his voice steeped in concern.

Josie ignored him. She reached into Amy’s lap and took her hands. “Look at me, Amy,” she said more firmly.

Amy’s wide, sad eyes blinked and focused on Josie’s face.

“We’re going to do everything we can—absolutely everything—to find your daughter.”

Amy nodded. Josie felt the woman’s hand squeeze hers. She stood and turned away. Gretchen, Noah and now Chitwood all stood staring at her. Behind them stood Colin, looking stunned and disheveled. Josie gave him a nod as she pushed past everyone and walked out of the tent. She didn’t slow down until she was out of the park and in the street near some parked cars. Then she bent at the waist and threw up.





Seven





At last Amy went home to get some sleep and Gretchen sent a female officer with her. Colin stayed at the tent, silent and shell-shocked, sitting in a chair in the corner as other officers came in and out to report to Gretchen and get coffee. With Mettner mediating, the parents had agreed that they would take shifts sleeping so that one of them was always at the park in case Lucy was found. The sheriff’s K-9 unit arrived, and Gretchen went out into the playground with the deputy and his German Shepherd. The dog’s handler took him onto the carousel, next to the blue horse where Lucy was last seen and let him smell Lucy’s shirt before setting him loose. The dog sniffed all around the platform. He sniffed the column in the center of the carousel, then sniffed around the outer part of the ride between the fence and the platform. Nose pressed to the ground, he exited the gate surrounding the ride and veered right, going to the fence that separated the park from the sidewalk. There, he sat, issuing a short bark. The handler marked the section of fence and walked the dog to the other side of the fence where Lucy’s scent picked up again. Nose to the pavement, the dog traveled another twenty feet or so and sat again, silent this time.

Josie walked up to where Gretchen stood with the handler.

“The scent stops here,” the handler said. “It’s on both sides of the fence.”