Before She Was Found - Heather Gudenkauf Page 0,41

“You talked to him? Who is he?” I look to Max, who shrugs his shoulders.

Again Clint laughs and this time Max says, “Shut up, Clint.”

Violet gnaws at her thumbnail. “He is, too, real,” she says. “Cora showed me messages from him.”

“Violet,” Officer Grady says but she refuses to look his way. “Violet, this is important,” he says firmly. “Look at me.” Violet looks at him with something I’ve seen more and more in my daughter lately: defiance. “Someone might have told you he was Joseph Wither, but he wasn’t.” Violet’s eyes fill with tears and she swipes them away angrily. “Now, did you see someone attack Cora? Can you tell me what he looks like?”

Violet presses her hands to her ears and shakes her head. “He’s real,” she whispers.

“He’s the bogeyman.” Clint laughs. “The monster under your bed. Was he under your bed, Violet?” he asks snidely.

Max has had enough. He’s out of his chair in a flash and shoves Clint, pinning him to the nearest wall. “I told you to shut up,” he hisses. The two boys are nose to nose, but Clint has about fifty pounds on Max. Right now the only thing going for Max is the element of surprise and his anger.

“Jesus, Max,” Clint says. “Don’t freak out. I’m just joking around.” Max looks like he wants to punch the smirk off his face and part of me wishes he would.

“You saw it. He assaulted me,” Clint says, pushing Max away.

“You’re being a jerk,” Officer Grady tells him. “You get off on teasing little girls? Go sit out front and wait for your mom to come and pick you up. If you leave before I talk to her, I will arrest you.”

“Asshole,” Clint mumbles under his breath as he moves toward the door. “Freak,” he says, directing the word toward Violet.

“He’s real!” Violet shouts after him. Spit flies from her mouth and she kicks at him but misses.

“Violet!” I exclaim.

Clint pauses and narrows his weasel eyes at her, the sneer returning to his face. “Did you go looking for him? Did you really think he was going to take you with him? If you believed that, then you really are stupid.”

Violet jumps up from her chair and lunges at Clint. Thankfully, Officer Grady is there to stop her. “Out front, Clint. Now,” he commands and Clint stalks out, leaving a stream of curse words trailing behind him. Max looks at his sister as if she’s lost her mind.

Officer Wilson comes into the room holding a set of handcuffs, sending Violet into another round of hysterics.

“You’re upsetting her even more,” I cry.

“I got this, Wilson,” Officer Grady says. Officer Wilson hesitates. “I mean it, put the cuffs away. You can go now. I’ve got it covered.”

Officer Wilson looks like she wants to argue but I’m guessing that Grady has a few years of seniority on her. Reluctantly she returns the cuffs to her hip. “Looks like a 10-96 to me,” she says, eyeing Violet.

“What’s that mean?” I ask, knowing it’s nothing good.

“Never mind,” Officer Grady says to me. To Wilson he says, “Wait outside.” With a shake of her head Wilson steps from the room and positions herself in the hallway so she can still look inside. Officer Grady briefly releases Violet with one hand and gives the door a push. I can’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction as it closes in her face.

“Okay, Violet,” Officer Grady says. “Easy now. I hear you. Someone who said he was Joseph Wither was there. I believe you. I know you’re scared.”

Violet tries to pull away from Grady again but realizes it’s futile and slowly she settles down, her tantrum eases and her breathing slows until she is limp in his arms. Once he relaxes his grip I pull her close to me. “It’s okay,” I soothe.

To Officer Grady I say, “I know you need to talk to her, but you can see how upset she is. She isn’t going to be any help like this. Please let us go home. She can rest and then you can talk to her, I promise. Please,” I beg, my voice trembling.

“All right,” Officer Grady finally says. I know it kills him to let us go home. He wants to get whatever information he can from Violet. Only she and Cora know what really happened by the train tracks and Violet is the only one in any condition to tell him. “Take Violet home, let her get some sleep. But I