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Josie continued, “If we don’t locate her, then we should check her phone, laptop, any electronic devices she uses. Talk with her friends and classmates. Take another look at her room. Have a much longer conversation with her parents. We also need to take a closer look at the map of this area. Did you hear anything from the patrols you sent out to cover Kelleher Road, since that’s where this patch of forest ends?”
Gretchen nodded. “They didn’t see anything. I stationed units on all three sides of the area though.”
“Great,” said Josie.
Noah added, “As soon as you radioed in, I sent units to canvass all the residences on this road. If the Patchetts are walking out in these woods regularly, it stands to reason other residents are as well. Could have been a neighbor.”
“We also checked for registered sex offenders within a five-mile radius,” Gretchen said. “There are a few. We’ve got a unit checking in with them.”
“I think we should be looking at property records in a five-mile radius, at least, tonight. We should call Mett. He can—”
She broke off. Horror stabbed at her diaphragm, freezing the oxygen in her lungs. The air around them went still. It was as though the entire world had stopped spinning, although Josie was vaguely aware of muffled conversations coming from where the Patchetts stood and where the uniformed officers milled around. Both Gretchen and Noah stared at her, wide-eyed and stunned. Every breath she took felt like fire in her chest. She started to count the seconds off in her mind, gauging how long the awkwardness lasted. When she got to ten, she tried to speak again, but all that came out was a choking sound.
Gretchen looked down at her notebook and tapped her pen against it. “Boss,” she said, voice cracking.
Now the words came, fast but still scratchy. “Please don’t call me that,” said Josie. “Please.”
Gretchen met her eyes and Josie saw the question in them.
Before their current Chief of Police, Bob Chitwood, arrived in Denton, Josie had been the interim Chief. In fact, she was the one who had hired Gretchen as a detective. Everyone on the force had gotten into the habit of calling her “boss” during that short tenure, and no matter how many times she’d corrected her colleagues afterward, it stuck.
Josie swallowed. She could barely push the words out. With them, the memory of Mettner’s last moments came racing back. “Mett said that. Right before he died.”
“I’m sorry,” Gretchen said. “I didn’t know.”
Noah inched closer to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Josie. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve almost called him or texted him? I’ve actually typed the words into my phone, nearly hit send, and then remembered he was gone.”
“You don’t think it’s something you would forget,” Gretchen said. “But when someone is that much a part of your life, turning to them becomes so automatic that you can’t help it.”
Josie’s throat felt thick with words she could not get out. Gretchen was right. It had been the same way for months after her grandmother’s death. Josie had picked up the phone to call her or automatically turned up the road to her assisted living facility to pop in before remembering that she was gone. The Denton PD hadn’t had such a large, high-stakes investigation since Mettner’s death. At times like these, they had relied on him. The Chief had authorized overtime so they were getting additional uniformed officers to come in and assist, but it wasn’t lost on any of them that the person they could have used most was Mettner. His absence wouldn’t impact the physical search, but it would certainly slow down other aspects of their investigation.
“Josie,” Noah prodded.
She shook her head, like a dog shaking off water, trying to focus on the task at hand. She pushed all the emotions associated with Mettner deep down inside a secret compartment in her mind and shut the lid. A girl’s life was at stake. Josie could not afford to let her personal emotions slow the search. She had a job to do.
“I’m okay,” she said. Then she turned and called out to Luke, “You guys ready?”
“Whenever you are,” he replied.
Noah squeezed Josie’s shoulder. “I’ll get some flashlights.”
EIGHT
No one sees me. I have learned how to traverse the woods as quietly as possible, taking careful steps, avoiding animals and other natural dangers. I have learned how to be patient and watch, sometimes for hours. No one ever expects me, even when they’ve come looking for me. I lay my traps and wait. When they come, it’s always in twos, because that is part of the legend, which is ever-evolving. I hear it talked about when I walk among them in my regular life. They have no idea that they are talking about me right in my presence.
They come in twos but I only want to snare one.
That is part of the fun. Keep them or kill them?
Sometimes things happen too fast for me to make the decision. Their heads crack and the thrill of the night is over. But my legend lives on because I let the other one escape.
Someone has to keep telling my tale.
NINE
The frantic race to keep up with Blue was much harder beneath a rapidly darkening sky. Although Blue was surefooted—as was Luke with his headlamp leading the way—the rest of them were not. Josie and Noah had gone along for the search while Gretchen stayed back at the house to coordinate the various facets of the investigation. The air had cooled considerably but as they made their way through the forest, sweat began to bead along Josie’s hairline and pool at the base of her spine. A few times, small animals darted across their paths, startling all of them except Blue, who was so focused that nothing got through to him except Luke’s commands.
Josie’s calves were burning by the time Luke and Blue stopped. She and Noah had fallen pretty far behind. Noah said, “Did Blue alert? I didn’t hear him bark.”
