“It’s okay. You did everything you could to help Lucy. You’re lucky to be alive. We’re still looking for her and the things you’re telling us are very helpful. Just a few more questions, and we’ll let you rest.”
Violet nodded. She looked to her husband, who squeezed her hand in both of his large hands and smiled at her encouragingly.
“What happened after that?” Josie asked.
“They drove some more. Then they stopped. He got me out of the car and started marching me into the woods. He had a gun to my head. I was too afraid to run, and the woman, she was behind him and she kept yelling. She kept saying, ‘Why did you do that? You shouldn’t have done that.’”
“They were fighting?”
“Yes. She was angry with him for ruining some plan. He kept telling her to shut up. Then he told her to go back to the car. She refused and he hit her. Knocked her down. He told her he was in charge and the plan had changed. Then she got up and left. He—he stabbed me. He had this knife. Like a hunting knife. It was on his belt. I didn’t notice before because I was too concerned about the gun. I… I tried to fight back, but he was too strong. I was scared.”
“Did they call each other by name? Did you hear either of them say any names at all?” Oaks asked.
Violet nodded. “He kept calling her Nat. She didn’t call him by any name.”
Natalie Oliver, Josie thought.
“So,” Josie said, picking up the narrative. “He stabbed you. They were fighting. Then what happened?”
“Then the woman came back. She hit him over the head with something. They started fighting again. I wanted to get up and run but I was bleeding. I didn’t want to draw their attention, so I just stayed very still. He came over after they stopped and kicked me in the ribs a few times. I tried not to react. She said, ‘Let’s go,’ and then he said he was going to finish the job.”
She paused to suck in several breaths. Her face had gone even paler than when they’d walked into the room. “Take your time,” Josie told her.
After a few more breaths, Violet continued, “She said I was dead already. I felt her hands on me. She checked my pulse. In my neck. She must have felt it—my heart was hammering at that point. But she told him, ‘See, I told you she was dead. Leave her and let’s get out of here.’”
Josie and Oaks exchanged a puzzled look. “She saved you,” Josie said.
Violet nodded again. “I don’t know why. There’s no way she didn’t feel my pulse. But she convinced him I was gone. I heard them walk off. A little while later, I tried to get up and walk, but I didn’t make it very far. I was too weak. Too much pain.”
“You’re safe now,” Josie told her. “Just rest. Thank you, Mrs. Young.”
Josie and Oaks left the Youngs and walked down the hall toward the elevators. “That doesn’t sound good,” Oaks said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Josie said. “Did your team find any evidence that Lucy had been at the mill?”
“We’re still processing, but so far, no. We haven’t.”
They didn’t say it, but she knew they were both thinking it: there was a very good chance that Lucy was dead.
Sixty
She was gone again in the dark. I woke up cold. I knew that if she wasn’t there in the room with me then she must be getting ready to go home again. I ran to the door and looked through the crack. I waited for her shadow to appear, but it didn’t. My legs felt stiff, my mouth dry. I listened hard for her footsteps but didn’t hear them. She was always good at moving without making any noise. When the daylight started to creep across the living room, a spike of fear pierced my heart.
Where was she?
It seemed like hours and hours, but I don’t know how long it was before he came out of one of the other rooms. I watched him in complete silence. He wore his usual flannel shirt, blue jeans and heavy boots. His thin brown hair was combed from one side of his scalp to the other, and as always, the scent of cigarette smoke trailed behind him. He smelled of cigarettes even when he wasn’t smoking. He saw me sitting on the floor in the doorway. “You looking for her?”
I didn’t