“I need to speak with your daughter, Tana.”
Surprise registered in her expression before she said, “What for?”
“Sheriff’s department business. May I come in, or would you rather we do this at my office?”
She seemed to consider that for a moment before she stepped back and he climbed the two steps into the trailer. It was nice inside. There were bright-colored pillows on the couch and flowers in a vase on the end table. From the doorway, he could see the kitchen. Clean, even though the air still held the scent of a recently cooked meal.
“Have a seat,” Amanda said, openly studying him. “I’ll get my daughter.”
The girl who came into the room where Stuart had perched on the couch was small and slim. Her hair was long, threaded with blond highlights. She wore short shorts and a formfitting tank top. The look on her face was defiant. He wondered if that was her normal expression. He suspected it was.
“Please have a seat,” he said to Tana and her mother. Neither sat.
“What’s this about?” Amanda demanded.
He ignored her, keeping his gaze on the girl. “I want to ask you about Holly Jo Robinson.”
She frowned but instantly looked guarded. “Who?”
“The classmate you and your friends have been bullying.”
Tana laughed. “Seriously? She called the cops on us?”
Stuart hadn’t expected the girl would admit it, let alone that quickly. “What do you have against her?”
She shrugged. “There’s no law that says we have to like her.”
“But there is a law against bullying.”
Tana seemed surprised to hear that. “Seriously? You’re going to arrest me?” She sounded excited about it, as if she couldn’t wait to tell her friends.
“Have you seen her today?” he asked.
She shrugged, then shook her head. “I heard she skipped school.”
He knew that if Tana had abducted Holly Jo, she couldn’t have hidden her here in this trailer. “You have a car?” Tana mugged a face and shook her head again. “Your friends have cars?”
“What is going on?” Amanda said more forcefully.
“Their parents bought them cars and let them get their learner’s permits early,” Tana said and shot her mother a pointed look before turning to him again. “You going to arrest them, too?”
“Did Holly Jo do something to you?” he asked and immediately saw that she had.
Color rose to the girl’s cheeks. “She’s the one you should be arresting.”
“What did she do to you?”
Tana’s lips tightened like a vise.
It was her mother who answered. “Was that the girl who played the trick on you at school yesterday?” Amanda demanded. “It was Holly Jo, the girl from the McKenna Ranch? Why didn’t you tell me?” She swung around to glare at Stuart. “Tana came home crying after that girl tricked her into sitting in some ketchup. She was wearing white pants. All the boys were laughing and making fun of her for...” She shook her head. “Everyone thought she’d started her period.”
“Mother!” Tana looked near tears. “I can’t believe you told him that!”
“So, what did you do to get back at her?” Stuart asked before the two began arguing.
“Nothing.” Except the girl wouldn’t look at him when she said it.
“I need to know what you did.” He watched her, afraid and yet hopeful that this whole thing could be cleared up with one small confession. He could imagine the girls picking Holly Jo up before the bus got there. She would have been outnumbered. They could have tied her up and taken her somewhere. Maybe an old barn. There were plenty of those around. They would have just wanted to scare her, teach her a lesson. Maybe they planned to go rescue her later today.
Amanda was watching her daughter as well, worry in her expression as if she’d picked up the tension in his voice and knew that this was about more than bullying. “Answer him, Tana,” she ordered, her voice breaking.
The girl glanced at her mother, then lifted her chin and settled her pale blue eyes on Stuart in a challenging glare. There was that defiance again. “I beat up her boyfriend.”
“You what?” Amanda demanded.
He signaled her to be quiet. “What boyfriend?”
Tana gave him a look that said she thought he was pathetic if he didn’t know. “Gus the wuss.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I told you, I beat him up.” He waited, his gaze locked with hers until she lost patience. “I pushed him down, jumped on him and ground his face into the dirt. I told him to tell his girlfriend not to mess with me again and to quit telling lies about me.”
Stuart stared at the girl—just as her mother was doing. “You assaulted him. Are you aware you can be arrested for that? That his family can press charges and sue your mother?”
She tossed her head. “He wouldn’t do that. His dad would find out, and—”
“Shut up, Tana,” Amanda snapped, dropping her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. The girl grimaced as her mother’s grip tightened. “I’ve heard enough.” She looked up at him. “Are you going to arrest her?”
