“For now, but there’ll come a day when I won’t be able to care for him.”
He heard a door open and felt a hand squeezing his shoulder.
“What’s shaking, Bjorny? Here to read me my Miranda rights?” Ray said, chuckling as he spun a chair around and sat down.
“How’s it going, Ray?” Karl looked away, not wanting to show his intense dislike for the guy.
“What brings you here?”
“I need to speak to Katie for a few minutes.”
“Come on now, Bjorny. We just finished eating dinner.”
“Her best friend is still missing, Ray,” Isla said. “If Karl can get any information out of her, then maybe we stand a chance at finding Willow.”
“Everyone knows that the odds of finding a missing person alive after forty-eight hours are slim to none.”
“Stop that, Ray,” Isla scolded. “How can you say such a terrible thing when your daughter is in the other room?”
“What? It’s a well-known fact.”
“Okay if I talk to Katie now?” Karl said.
“Knock yourself out,” Ray said, getting up and grabbing himself a beer.
Isla walked into the living room and told Raisin to go up to his bedroom for a few minutes. Karl nodded at the boy as he and his service dog passed. Katie opened her eyes when she sensed him standing over her. He dropped to one knee and took out his notebook. As he did this, he turned and saw Ray snuggling Isla in his arms, and he heard her giggling at whatever Ray had whispered in her ear.
“Hi, Katie.” He turned back and smiled at her.
“Hi,” she said in a weak voice.
“Okay if I ask you a few questions?”
“Have they found Willow yet?”
“No, which is why I need some answers.”
She pressed her eyes together. “I really want to help you, Officer, but I just can’t remember anything. It’s like my mind doesn’t want to cooperate.”
“Maybe we can jog it.”
“Okay.”
“Try to think really hard now.”
“Don’t you think I’ve been trying my hardest?”
“I do, but now you need to try even harder,” he said. “Can you think of anyone who doesn’t like Willow?”
“Only half the school.”
“Enough to harm her?”
She shrugged.
“Why don’t they like her?” he asked.
“Why do you think?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I’m asking.”
“Because she is beautiful and talented and lives her life to the fullest. But mostly because she is not one of us.”
“Not from Shepherd’s Bay?”
“What else could I mean?”
He didn’t expect resistance. “So why do you like her?”
“For the same reasons people hate her. I have just never viewed her as a bad person like the others. They don’t know her like I do.” She adjusted the washcloth higher over her forehead. “Willow is everything most girls in this town want to be but will never become. And Willow knows this and was flaunting it.”
“That seems kind of mean.”
“I never said she was perfect.”
“So why have you stayed friends with her?”
“I like her, and she likes me. Once I cast my lot with Willow, there was no going back to being friends with the girls I grew up with.” Her voice sounded weak.
“Did these kids threaten or tease her?”
“Yes, but she never complained or went to the teachers and ratted them out. Kids can be mean in this town.”
“What did they say to her?”
“They called her a spoiled rich bitch, among other things. One of the girls even threatened to beat her up.”
“What did she do?”
Katie smiled. “Willow kicked her ass.”
“Really? Were there any witnesses to this fight?”
“Wasn’t much of a fight. Willow knocked her out.”
“Knocked her out?”
“Yes, with some crazy martial arts kick. It happened after school one day. Once word got out what Willow did to that girl—and Tiffany deserved every bit of it—it made things worse. For both of us.”
“Can you give me the names of all the girls involved?”
Katie listed them off.
“Maybe it was these girls who committed this crime against you and Willow.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. They kept their distance after that day.”
“What about that night after you won the softball championship?”
“I can barely remember the game, except for the bits and pieces that randomly come back to me.”
“Your friend is still missing, Katie. You really need to try to remember something.”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all this time?” Tears dripped down her cheeks. “I’ve been trying to work my way back to that terrible night, trying to remember everything that happened.”
“Okay,” he said, putting away the notebook. “As soon as you remember something, please let me know. Here’s my card.”