Page 35 of All the Missing Pieces

He held my hand for a beat longer than was necessary. “You look too young to be doing investigative reporting.”

The hold and the statement didn’t readcreepyto me, more like a display of dominance. I’d give it to him. Whatever heneeded to do to feel okay about giving me this interview. I’d gotten good at feigning deference to alpha-male personalities. It didn’t matter to me if they wanted to be known as the apex predator, just as long as they gave me the information I needed.

I gave Grady an easy smile. “Twenty-seven, and been doing this for more than four years now.”

He ran a finger across the scruff below his bottom lip. “Practically still a baby. Your parents okay with your career path?”

A hint of annoyance flickered, but I shoved it down. “You’d have to ask them.”

Grady chuckled. “Fair enough.” He scanned our surroundings. “Where do you want to do this?”

Relief swept through me that he wasn’t asking to be off the record like the coach. Because if I didn’t come back with some interviews soon, Baker was going to cut this season short. “I thought we could walk and talk. You could show me where you were when you last saw Emerson and anything you observed.”

His fingers tapped against the outside of his thigh. “Yeah. Whatever.”

It was a bizarre statement for someone in his midfifties. It felt like the phrase of someone younger.

Swinging my bag around, I pulled out two wireless lav mics. “I’ll have you attach one of these to your shirt so we can get good quality sound. It’ll connect with my phone, which will be recording.”

I’d found that it was better to explain how each step worked so no one felt like I was trying to pull something over on them. But Grady’s eyes still narrowed on the mic, though he didn't say a word as he took it from me and clipped it to his tee.

I turned my own on and fastened it to my shirt. Pulling out my phone, I quickly attached the receiver to my lightning port and opened the recording app. “Testing, testing.” My levels werein the acceptable range. I’d become an expert in where to place my mic to get that on the first try or two. I glanced at Grady. “Can you say something for me?”

“Something,” he muttered.

The level was a bit high. “Can you move the mic a little farther away from your mouth.”

Grady’s amber eyes hardened but he moved to adjust the lavalier.

“Try it again.”

“How’s this?” he asked.

I watched the screen. “We’re good.” I hit therecordbutton and carefully slid the phone into my pocket.

Grady started toward the tennis courts without waiting for me. There were four in total, and it looked like two were now being used for pickleball. Just one thing that I knew had to have changed in the past ten years.

The moment of distraction meant I had to pick up my pace to catch up with my interview subject. “What all has changed in the park in the past ten years?”

Grady sent me a sidelong look, surprise lacing it. He probably thought I’d dive straight into the heavy, but that wasn’t how I liked to work. He took a moment to really take in his surroundings. “Fucking pickleball,” he groused.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “A little louder than tennis.”

He shook his head. “Thank God I got out of here before all the yuppies and millennials started playing that shit.”

“Definitely a headache starter.”

Grady’s gaze moved on from the courts. “New playground equipment. Regraded walking trails into the woods there. And more lights. The lights went in right after the girl went missing.”

It was interesting that he’d saidthe girl. Not using Emerson’s name depersonalized her. But there could be a million differentreasons he’d do that. “Can you walk me through the day she went missing?”

Grady’s jaw worked back and forth as his molars ground together. “Just like any other day. Wife made me breakfast, and I headed to work. Boss wanted me to prune all the shrubs around the park. They were starting to creep into the lawn.”

I followed his line of sight as he led me out onto the grass. I could see how the forest around the park on three sides could easily encroach. “That’s a big task.”

Grady simply grunted in agreement. “And it wasn’t like his ass was going to help me. Worked all day with only a short break for lunch. But the boss wanted me to finish it in two days. Was still working when the tennis team started practicing.”

“You had to see them practicing often, right?”

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