Page 32 of Little Child Gone

Amelia stared at Nikki. “They called in the FBI?”

Nikki smiled at the two older kids. “Sheriff Miller asked me to help.”

“Who’s the FBI?” Penny wiggled in her father’s arms.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Jared said. “Chris, I’m going to get her dressed while you guys talk.”

Christy had been sitting silently, staring into space. She nodded at her husband. Jared looked at the older kids sitting at the table. “We don’t care if you’re keeping secrets for your brother. Hell, we don’t have to know what they are. Mom can leave the room if you need her to, but you need to tell these people if Taylor confided something in you, okay?”

Amelia and Caden nodded. Jared left the room with Penny chattering the entire time.

“Your father is right.” Christy finally spoke to her older children. “No one is going to be in trouble.”

Caden and Amelia looked at each other but didn’t say anything. Nikki walked over to the table and sat down across from them. “Can you tell us when you last talked to your older brother?”

“Yesterday morning, before school.” Caden’s voice cracked. “He had to work last night.”

Amelia picked at her fingernails. “He texted me at lunchtime yesterday.”

“About anything specific?” Nikki asked.

“Just about how bad lunch was.” Amelia fought fresh tears. “I don’t understand why he hasn’t called at least one of us or told Dad where he is.”

“Did you know about the last time?” Christy demanded. “That he texted Jared he was okay and let me worry all night?”

Both kids looked at each other but said nothing. Christy stood, shoving the barstool beneath the bar, making sure the stool lined up with the others at the counter. “I need to get some fresh air. You have my permission to continue talking to the kids.” She left the big kitchen, taking most of the air out of the room.

“Mom’s just worried,” Caden said. “I’m sure she feels guilty.”

“Why?” Miller asked.

“She always feels guilty about something,” he answered. “She just worries a lot about everything being just right and doing everything just right.”

“For Penny,” Amelia corrected him. “She’s trying to make up for me and Taylor’s childhoods, even though we know she did the best she could.”

“She seems to think Taylor has some resentment.”

“He does,” Amelia answered. “About the whole situation. But not really at her. She just takes it that way.” Her eyes met Nikki’s, and she could tell the teenager had realized they weren’t helping their mom look any better in this situation. “She’s a good mom. She’s just never forgiven herself for some things.”

“Sometimes it’s easier to forgive other people for their mistakes than yourself,” Nikki said. “Were you two up when your mom came back without Taylor?”

Both nodded. “She came upstairs and told us he’d done it again and checked our phones to make sure he hadn’t texted us.”

Fresh tears spilled from Amelia’s eyes. “I told her not to worry, that he was probably being a brat again and to go to sleep. She probably would have gone looking for him if I hadn’t.”

Nikki wanted to hug her. “Honey, I don’t think you’re being fair to yourself. Your mom followed her instincts, and that’s okay. We’re not judging her. I know it’s hard raising teenagers.”

“Do you remember when your dad got home this morning?” Miller asked.

“He was home just as we were getting up at five thirty,” Amelia said. “Why?”

“We just need to make sure we have the timeline right,” Nikki said. “Your parents said Taylor had gotten into a disagreement with another student because they’d said something to you. Can you tell us about that?”

Amelia’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“Because when someone goes missing, we have to talk to every single person they ever had an issue with,” Nikki said. “We can’t figure out what happened until we rule them out.”

Caden nudged her. “Go ahead. Lynch should have to talk to the cops anyway.”

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