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“True, but I’m still going to check.”
“Sure, that’s smart,” Gene agreed. “But maybe she’d seek shelter where she could stay hidden, but could still find food.”
“What are you thinking?” Amanda looked at him.
“Here.” He pointed at River Forks Park. “There are campgrounds for RVs, restrooms, and showers. It’s not high season for travelers yet, but I bet there are enough of them around. Perhaps she’s a camper.” Gene turned his gaze to Amanda, seeking her thoughts. She looked unsure. “It’s a stretch, but we have nothing else to go on,” he said.
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s a possibility. That’s all we have right now, possibilities. She could be the girl Liam’s friend mentioned, a runaway, or a lost camper. Hell, she could be a figment of my imagination if you were right.”
“Amanda…” Gene wanted to gather her into his arms and soothe the uncertainty from her face. “Until we have proof of anything, we go with your gut.”
She gave a solemn nod.
Though he still believed his confabulation theory had merit, Gene hated he’d put doubt in Amanda’s mind about her own memory. He’d rather have the angry Amanda again than the unsure one.
“Are you up for a hike tomorrow after the sketch artist?” he suggested, gesturing at the map.
“It’s a needle in a haystack,” she said, but her eyes lit up. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
“More important than finding a missing girl?”
And spending time with you? No.
The conviction in Amanda’s smile returned, and she nodded.
“I’ll pack the supplies this time.”
fifteen
Warm morning sunlight bathed the parking lot of the police department. There was a chill in the air in the earlier hours, but the rays quickly burned it off. The temperature had risen to the upper fifties by the time Gene had picked up Amanda. It would be in the high sixties by the time they started their hike.
But first thing first.
“Are you ready?” Gene asked Amanda when they got to the front entrance of the police station.
Amanda had said little during the drive—probably nerves, or perhaps she just didn’t feel like talking to him. She nodded, and they went inside. Within five minutes, Patrick met them in the lobby and escorted them through the bullpen. The atmosphere buzzed with uniformed officers going in and out, and plainclothes officers either on their computers or talking on the phone or with each other.
The buzz quieted down slightly as Gene, Amanda, and Patrick walked through. Some eyes followed them. More than a few knew Amanda and said hi. Gene didn’t realize how popular Amanda’s baking was among the plain officers. They were all excited about the big box of assorted baked goods she brought with her.
“You’re too generous. Thank you for bringing us goodies,” Patrick said to Amanda.
“I don’t know how you make money if you keep giving your goods away,” Gene teased as they followed Patrick to a private interview room.
“It’s nothing and costs me little.” Amanda brushed it off. “Many of them often come by and spend their money at the store.”
Patrick gestured them to seat. “And thanks for my special box of cinnamon buns.”
“It’s the least I could do. I truly appreciate your helping me out with this,” Amanda said.
“Well, I don’t know how much I can help,” Patrick said from across the table. “Without an official missing persons report, there isn’t much we can do. Unfortunately, NamUs, that’s the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, is saturated with girls of similar descriptions like the one you gave us. Though the open cases we found from our area are older than the age range you said the girl is.”
“If you have their pictures, I’d like to see them, please,” Amanda said. “I’m fairly certain she’s in her mid-teens, but I could be wrong.”
“Okay.”
Patrick opened a file folder he’d brought in with him. He pushed a piece of paper with an array of pictures of girls with blond hair and brown eyes.
Gene recognized three of them from the search they’d done the day before. There were two more added. Had Patrick found more cases, or were they new? His heart grew heavy seeing the pictures. Those girls might be in their early twenties now, but some of them were mere children when they’d gone missing. Two had run away when they’d been in high school, while one had vanished when she’d been thirteen.
