Page 38 of No More Words

“Oh, I will,” Olivia agrees. She lays her hand on Josh’s midback, a protective gesture that doesn’t feel as foreign as she’d expect.

Tanya nods, satisfied, and taps the keyboard. “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Lily Carson.”

“No,” Josh says firmly.

The hand on Josh’s back tenses. Olivia looks at him. “No? That’s not her name?”

“Not ... Lily.”

She stares at her nephew. No wonder he gave her funny looks whenever she spoke Lily’s name. “She changed her name?” Of course Lily would. She didn’t want her family to find her. That also explains why Lily is a ghost on the internet. Olivia feels a lightness in her chest as her pulse races. They’re getting closer. They’ll find her now.

“Not Lily. Her name is.” He stops all of a sudden and inhales roughly through his nose. “Can’t ... can’t ... don’t say.” He pounds his forehead with his fist.

“It’s okay. It’ll come to you.” Her words are rushed. Olivia’s teeth dig into her bottom lip. She’s sitting at the edge of her seat.

Josh nods, but his mouth takes on a doubtful twist, and she tries not to let his disappointment douse her hopes. Lily is out there. They only need her name. He cracks his knuckles.

“What’s Lily’s date of birth?” Tanya asks, steering them back to the report.

Olivia tells the officer and Tanya’s frown deepens as she reads what’s on her screen. “Is your sister Lily Carson of 398 Sundial Court in Seaside Cove?”

Their parents’ address. “Well, she was. Have you got something?” Olivia leans forward to see what’s on Tanya’s screen.

“Says here she was reported as a runaway fourteen years ago.”

“I know. My mom filed a missing persons report. They never found her.”

“But he found you.” Tanya points at Josh.

“I don’t know how.”

Tanya’s gaze mines Josh’s. Olivia sees the questions flicker across the officer’s face, but something on the screen grabs her attention. Her brows lift into her hairline.

“Is your brother Lucas Carson?”

Olivia briefly closes her eyes and silently curses. She found Lucas’s record. “Yes.”

“And your father—”

“Is Dwight Carson. Yes, yes, I know.” They both have records.

“He was a suspect in the St.John murder, which is still unsolved,” Tanya adds, and Olivia detects a hint of accusation, as if Olivia is wasting the officer’s time.

She peeks at Josh, worried how he’s taking this news. He gapes at the officer. “Everyone on that street was questioned. It wasn’t just my dad. It wasn’t just him,” she says to Josh.

“But the St.John case wasn’t the only one for him.”

Olivia wants to disappear under the table. Her family is an embarrassment. “I know,” she mutters. The night Lily ran away Wes Jensen, a boy in Lily’s algebra class, drowned just off their property. Olivia was away at college and Charlotte was a wreck after Lily ran. All she knows is Wes was last seen walking up the Carsons’ driveway. Dwight was brought in for questioning, but there wasn’t enough evidence of foul play. Wes’s case was ruled an accident. Old news that Josh doesn’t need to hear about his mom.

“Your family has had a few run-ins with the authorities.”

Tell her something she doesn’t know. “Can we focus on Josh’s mom?” She tips her head in her nephew’s direction. He doesn’t need to hear their family’s dirt, and frighten him more than he already is.

“Here’s the deal, Ms.Carson.” Tanya closes her tablet. “Your sister is an adult and has every right to go missing.”

“She left her son,” Olivia argues.

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