station was placed in the middle, and the six emergency rooms surrounded it in a U-shaped ring. Drapes and sliding glass doors pulled closed around them. She walked straight up to one of the hand sanitizer dispensers attached to a wall, put exactly three pumps into her hands, and rubbed them together vigorously. It made the cracks in her fingers sting.
No one paid her much attention. The ER was cramped and chronically understaffed. There wasn’t enough storage space, so the walls were lined with shelves on wheels, stacked full of medical supplies that could be carted from room to room.
At least here, everyone was too busy to notice Wendy. She only caught a glimpse of the boy lying on a gurney in the far alcove before a nurse tugged the curtain shut.
Wendy sat in a plastic cushioned seat along the wall, watching the feet of the nurses and doctors crowding around the bed. She kept telling herself that he was just a boy who had gotten himself lost in the middle of the woods. It had been dark on the road, she hadn’t been able to see him properly. She was tired and stressed, and her mind was piecing together wild ideas. Once she could prove to herself he was just a stranger, she could go home and get some sleep.
But she wasn’t going to leave without seeing him.
“Back already?” Nurse Judy’s familiar voice snapped Wendy to attention. She stood behind the nurses’ desk, holding a tray of syringes as she peered at Wendy over the top of her glasses. Nurse Judy provided Wendy with an excuse before she had to make one up. “Oh, waiting for your mom?” Her expression relaxed. “She’s in the break room, should be out in a few.”
“Thanks.” That seemed to satisfy Nurse Judy enough and she went back to her work. Sometimes Wendy and her mom would drive home together, when they worked the same shift.
Wendy knotted her fingers into the hem of her tank top. She just needed to see the boy one more time. Then she could get out of there before anyone thought better of it, before anyone noticed her and started asking questions.
But, of course, that was too much to ask.
The ER doors swung open, and in walked Dallas, Marshall, Officer Smith, and another cop she didn’t recognize. Wendy’s stomach dropped and she pulled her feet up onto the chair and hugged her knees to her chest. Maybe they wouldn’t see her.
Dallas handed Officer Smith some papers and nodded in Wendy’s direction. Officer Smith fixed her with a harsh look, and Wendy’s eyes darted back to the closed drapes.
Great.
Wendy didn’t like cops. After what had happened to her in the woods, she didn’t trust them anymore. They had done nothing but scare her and ask her the same questions over and over. They never believed her when she said she couldn’t remember anything.
And they failed to get her brothers back.
Officer Smith had been one of those cops.
Wendy heard the clacking of their loaded belts and the squeak of their boots on the speckled linoleum. They came to a stop in front of her. Wendy tried to relax the muscles in her face and conjure up an expression of boredom as she continued to stare straight ahead. Her heart fluttered traitorously in her chest.
The officer she didn’t recognize spoke first. “Miss Darling?” His voice was too gentle. He was in the wrong profession.
Wendy hummed in acknowledgment.
“We just have a few questions for you,” he said. There was a rustling of paper as he pulled out a notepad.
“I already talked to the paramedics,” Wendy said flatly.
Officer Smith stepped forward. His handcuffs glinted from his belt. “Yeah, well, we have a few more questions.”
Angry defiance sparked in Wendy. “Shouldn’t you guys be out looking for those missing kids instead of bugging me?” She regretted saying it almost as soon as it left her lips.
“Yes, we should, Wendy.” She glanced up at his rough tone. Officer Smith scowled deeply, his fists propped on his hips. The other cop—young, with even, short-cropped hair—looked uneasy.
The name on his uniform read CECCO. Wendy knew it. She went to high school with a girl whose last name was Cecco. This must be her older brother.
Officer Cecco’s eyes shifted between Wendy and Smith.
“Which is why you should cooperate with us so we can determine if this boy was a victim,” Officer Smith added.
Wendy swallowed hard but raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Well?”
Cecco cleared his throat. “You said something fell onto