Page 13 of Swerve
“This morning when she left for school,” I say. “I spoke with her about seven-thirty this evening. She was going to the festival here with a friend tonight and planned to be home by midnight. I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up at one o’clock, she hadn’t gotten home yet. She’s not at her friend Grace’s house. Neither one of them has come home. I drove here and found her phone in the grass over there,” I say, pointing behind me. “But no sign of Mia.”
The officer shines his very bright light up and down the tall grass at the edge of the woods.
“How old is your sister, Ms. Benson?”
“Seventeen,” I say. “She’s seventeen.”
“Has she ever not come home before?”
“No. Never. She wouldn’t do that without letting me know.”
“Ms. Benson,” he says in a voice that indicates he’s heard it all before, “at that age, there’s a first time for everything.”
“I know. But you don’t know Mia. She wouldn’t—”
“You’re right, ma’am. I don’t know your sister. I do know teenage behavior though. But because you found her phonein such an out-of-the-way spot, let me get some backup, and we’ll search around here.”
I nod, grateful that he’s taking me seriously, and, at the same time, wondering what it is he thinks they might come up with. The thought of Mia being found somewhere in those woods is more than I can process.
“Whatever information you need,” I say, “please just ask.”
He walks back to the door of the car, ducks inside and speaks into the microphone on his shirt pocket. He’s back in a minute.
“I’ll take a walk farther into the park. Why don’t you wait in the car?”
“I’m fine here,” I say, wishing for something to do, anything other than stand and wait helplessly.
In ten minutes, two more police cars pull in behind the first. Three officers in total get out and walk over to Officer Duncan. They speak in low tones, and I’m assuming he’s briefing them on what I’ve already told him.
One of the policemen walks over and introduces himself. “I’m Officer Adams,” he says.
He’s young, but his eyes are serious and concerned. I realize it is only them taking me seriously that will allow for the possibility of Mia being found quickly.
“Her car is parked in the field over there?” he asks, pointing in the direction of the festival tents.
“Yes.”
“Would you mind letting me take a look in the vehicle?”
“I don’t have the keys to open it.”
“I can open it. Not a problem.You can ride with me and show me where she parked.”
“Okay,” I say, walking around the front of the car to slide in the passenger side.
I am instantly sobered by the wire divider between the front and back seats, and the official-looking computer attached to the dashboard.
He starts the car and pulls onto the road. I tell him where to turn and then point to the Land Cruiser at the end of the grassy field, my own car still sitting next to it with the lights on.
“Wait here,” he says, getting out and walking toward the four-wheel drive. He shines the flashlight under the vehicle and then inside each passenger window, until he reaches the back. He walks to the trunk of his car, opens it and pulls out a tool which he uses to slide between the window and door lock.
The door opens easily, and he again uses the flashlight to search the inside of the car.
My phone rings, and I glance at the screen. Grace’s mom. I answer with an uneven hello.
“Any word from the girls?” she asks, her voice no longer sleep-roughened, but laced with panic. “I’ve been calling everyone I can think of. We’ve driven anywhere I can imagine she might have gone, but there’s no sign of them.”
“I’m at the festival grounds,” I say. “I found Mia’s phone on the side of the road and called the police.”
