It wasn’t Emma.

Baffled at this, Marissa rose back up, then backed out of the crowd and rushed back into her house, where she closed the door and fell onto her knees behind it, crying.

This might not have been her nightmare, but she had a feeling it was about to become something even worse.

SEVENBILLIE ANN

I searched for Tom and found him still talking to the responding officer. I approached him, wondering how we were going to identify our victim. Dr. Phillips had told me he believed her to be between fourteen and fifteen years old, but that was all we knew so far. Would we have to wait for forensics to get a look at her teeth? Would we be combing through missing person records? As far as I was aware there were no children missing—no one had reported anything yesterday or the day before.

“What have you got?” I asked.

“Officer Steele here was first on scene,” Tom said. “Got the call at seven forty-one on his radio while on traffic patrol nearby. A runner found the body in the pond when she was out on her morning jog. I talked to her and got her statement, but she couldn’t help us much. She was very shocked and could just tell me that she saw the body bobbing on the surface then called nine-one-one.”

“Okay, we will keep her name on the notepad for now,” I said, “and focus on finding out who the girl is. Has anyone reported a teenage girl missing in town? I haven’t heard of it, and usually it’s something we all know about from the second it happens. There have been no reports, have there? No search parties?”

Tom shook his head. “Nope. I called the Chief just to be certain, and he said they heard nothing.”

“Does anyone know this girl?” I asked.

“I do.”

I turned to look at who was coming up behind me.

“Officer Craig,” I said.

He was one of the younger ones in our little police force, fresh out of school. He had only been with us for a few months. He and Officer Hansson served as school resource officers. Their job was to patrol at the high school, and the elementary school, during school hours. The job also required them to control traffic around the time when school was out in the afternoons and to make sure the traffic went smoothly. But they were also the ones who kept a close bond with the kids at the schools, and part of the job was to get to know that one kid who might try to bring a gun and to avoid the one catastrophe we all feared so deeply.

“She goes to the high school,” he said. “Her name is Cassandra. I don’t know her last name, but I have seen her around the school. She bikes back and forth so she can’t live far. I’d say somewhere on Minutemen.”

I nodded. Most of the school kids lived on the main street in town and biked or skateboarded every day. A lot of them used electrical bikes now, and it annoyed me greatly. My kids had all asked for one, before Charlene got her driver’s license, and I had said no. Kids needed exercise.

I wrote Cassandra’s name on my notepad, then grabbed my phone and called the school. There couldn’t be that many girls with that name enrolled there. I was right. Only one Cassandra. She was a freshman and fifteen years old, according to Diana at the office. And she hadn’t made it to school today. I didn’t tell her what this was regarding, as I knew she spoke to each and every parent who came in, and I had to be careful. I couldn’t have Cassandra’s parents finding out about their daughter through anyone but me.

“Cassandra Perez,” I said and looked at my notepad where I had written the name and address.

Tom came up next to me with a deep exhale.

“I guess we’re about to ruin Mr. and Mrs. Perezes’ day.”

“Try their life,” I said and tried to swallow the knot in my throat while we walked to the car.

Having teenagers myself, I knew this was going to be more than tough. It was going to be heartbreaking.

EIGHT

Then

He stopped by a few weeks later, on a Sunday, when he was off duty. The nice police officer with the shiny black shoes drove up in their driveway and walked to the door and knocked. The way he knocked was so particular, Kitty would always recognize it for many months to come.

And she would be so excited every time.

Police Officer Damian turned out to be a good friend of her stepdad’s, and as he walked inside, after her stepdad had opened the door for him, Kitty stormed toward him, the anticipation bubbling inside of her.

“Hi, Officer Damian,” she said.

“Hi there, Kitty,” he responded. “How’s that doll working out for ya?”

She blushed. She was holding the doll in her hand still. She had slept with it, brought it into her bath with her, and was playing with it every chance she got. She had taken it in her backpack for school, even if the children weren’t allowed to bring toys anymore, because their third-grade teacher Miss Taylor didn’t allow it. Not since Barbara and that boy Aiden had gotten into a fight over a truck he had brought to school. Miss Taylor wasn’t having it anymore.

“Y’all are way too old to bring toys to school anyway.”

And that was it. But Kitty had kept her Barbie doll inside of her backpack and only taken it out to peek at it under the table every now and then, when no one was looking.

She loved it so much.

“Really good,” she said with a smile as she looked down at the doll in her hand.

“Hmm,” Officer Damian said and tilted his head. “I think she looks a little lonely. Don’t you?”

She glanced up at him. What did he mean by that?

He smiled widely. He had a friendly smile.

“Let me take a look at her.”

He grabbed the doll from her hand, and Kitty gasped, worried that he was going to take it away from her. After all, he was the one who had given it to her, so he could take it away too.

Officer Damian looked at the doll’s face.

“I really think she does look a little lonely,” he repeated. “Maybe she needs a friend.”

“She has me,” Kitty said, standing up straight. She reached out for the doll, ready to snatch it out of his hands if he let go of it. He wasn’t taking her doll back. She wouldn’t let him. “I’m her friend.”

“Oh, I bet you are,” he said and handed her the doll back.

Kitty hurried up and grabbed it, then held it tight to her body, swearing she would never let go of it again. No matter what.

That’s when he pulled out something from behind his back. “Maybe she would like a boyfriend?”

Kitty stared at the package in his hands. She couldn’t believe it. There it was. The Ken doll that everyone in school was talking about. Wedding Day Groom Ken. Not even Patricia had that one.

Kitty’s jaw dropped.

“I think your doll would like to be with her boyfriend, don’t you?” Damian asked.

Kitty nodded, mouth gaping. Was this really for her? Was he giving her another doll? If so, then she would be the most popular girl in her class.

She stared at the Ken doll as the man handed it to her.