nodded. “He’s her first boyfriend ever. Julia was really upset.” She gave Jeffrey a nervous glance. “She really fell hard for him, you know? She was sick, like, with grief, when they broke up. She wouldn’t even get out of bed.”
Lena lowered her voice, as if to leave Jeffrey out. “I guess when you saw them in the library, they weren’t exactly studying.”
Jenny glanced at Jeffrey. “No.” She laughed nervously.
Lena walked over, blocking his view of the girl. Jeffrey took the hint. He turned his back to the two women, pretending to take an interest in the contents of Julia’s desk.
Lena’s voice dropped to a conversational tone. “What do you think about Ryan?”
“You mean, do I like him?”
“Yeah,” Lena answered. “I mean, not like like him. I mean, does he seem like a nice guy?”
The girl was quiet for a while. Jeffrey picked up a science book and thumbed through the pages.
Finally, Jenny said, “Well, he was kind of selfish, you know? And he didn’t like it when she couldn’t see him.”
“Kind of controlling?”
“Yeah, I guess,” the girl answered. “She’s from the sticks, okay? Ryan kind of takes advantage of that. Julia doesn’t know a lot about the world. She thinks he does.”
“Does he?”
“God, no.” Jenny laughed. “I mean, he’s not a bad guy—”
“Of course not.”
“He’s just…” She paused. “He doesn’t like for her to talk to other people, okay? He’s, like, scared that she’ll see there are better guys out there. At least, that’s what I think. Julia’s kind of been sheltered all her life. She doesn’t know to look out for guys like that.” Again she paused. “He’s not a bad guy, he’s just needy, you know? He has to know where she’s going, who she’ll be with, when she’ll be back. He doesn’t like for her to have any time to herself at all.”
Lena’s voice was still low. “He never hit her, did he?”
“No, not like that.” Again the girl was silent. Then, “He just yelled at her a lot. Sometimes when I would come back from study group, I would listen at the door, you know?”
“Yeah,” Lena said. “To make sure.”
“Right,” Jenny agreed, a nervous giggle escaping. “Well, one time, I heard him in here and he was being so mean to her. Just saying nasty things.”
“Nasty like what?”
“Like that she was bad,” Jenny said. “Like that she was going to hell for being so bad.”
Lena took her time asking the next question. “He’s a religious guy?”
Jenny made a derisive sound. “When it’s convenient. He knows that Julia is. She’s really into church and all. I mean, she was back home. She doesn’t go much here, but she’s always talking about being in the choir and being a good Christian and that kind of thing.”
“But Ryan’s not religious?”
“Only when he thinks he can work her with something. Like he says he’s real religious, but he’s got all kinds of body piercings, and he’s always wearing black and he—” She stopped speaking.
Lena lowered her voice. “What?” she asked then, even lower. “I won’t tell anybody.”
Jenny whispered something, but Jeffrey couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“Oh,” Lena said as if she had heard it all. “Guys are so stupid.”
Jenny laughed. “She believed him.”
Lena chuckled with her, then asked, “What did Julia do that was so bad, do you think? I mean, to get Ryan upset at her like that?”
“Nothing,” Jenny answered vehemently. “That’s what I asked her later. She wouldn’t tell me. She just lay in bed all day, not saying anything.”
“This was around the time they broke up?”
“Yeah,” Jenny confirmed. “Last month, like I said.” There was worry in her voice when she asked, “You don’t think he has anything to do with her being missing, do you?”
“No,” Lena said. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”
Jeffrey turned around, asking, “What’s Ryan’s last name?”
“Gordon,” the girl supplied. “Do you think Julia’s in trouble?”
Jeffrey considered her question. He could tell her not to worry, but that might give the girl a false sense of security. He settled for, “I don’t know, Jenny. We’ll do everything we can to find her.”
A quick visit to the registrar’s office revealed that Ryan Gordon was study hall monitor this time of day. The agricultural wing was on the outskirts of the campus, and Jeffrey felt his anxiety build with every step they took across the campus. He sensed the tension coming from Lena as well. Two days had passed with no solid leads. They could very well be about to meet the man