“I just wanted to say…” He tried to speak but couldn’t be heard. He dropped his hand with the mic to his thigh and laughed to himself with a toss of his head. He had always wanted this. This exact moment he had dreamed of. But, he never knew it could feel this damn good.
“I just wanted to say thank you to all who have supported us, all of you who have been out for every practice cheering us on.” Slowly, the crowd quieted to a low hum to listen. “And I personally want to see every single one of you out there Friday night, shouting as loud as you have been today as we kick some serious Panther ass! Go Falcons!” He dropped the mic and chest bumped with Caleb and Ethan as the crowd dispersed into a frenzy.
The cheerleaders took over the court, breaking into a dance routine. Their shimmery silver pom-poms glittered in the air. Caleb whistled between two fingers at Avery as she shook her hips for him. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, showing off the length of her neck that Caleb liked to bury his face in. J.R. turned his attention from Ethan to watch the way Grace flipped her dark, wavy hair over her shoulder to smile at him. He loved the way she moved and she knew it well, always teasing him with sideways glances and a lift of her lashes. Ethan was the only one not interested in the cheer team, never had been. He liked a girl with more grit than glamour.
He wasn’t the only one not paying attention to the cheerleaders in the middle of the basketball court. Chief Rex Tourney, who’d never missed the first day of school pep assembly, took this time to scan the crowd for his daughter Lila, a sophomore this year. He spotted her sitting near the top of the stands, engrossed in conversation with her best friends, Hannah and Olivia. Her golden hair, the color of her mother’s, covered her cheek, and he could only make her face out when her head tilted back in laughter. He smiled at her youthful happiness. She didn’t notice him, nor would he expect her to. At age fifteen, friends trumped Dad. But that didn’t mean it didn’t sting sometimes.
He patted Principal Harris on the back and shook hands with Mayor Hudson before he excused himself to go back to the station. As he walked the courtyard, passing students who had trickled out of the gym, not one of them gave him a second glance as he would assume other students who saw police officers would. He was not a man of intimidation when he knew every one of these kids by name and had grown up with their parents. Still, he smiled in their direction on the off chance they looked up.
The day was warm, as it was still technically summer. Most kids wore cut-off jeans or dresses he thought were a little too short and banned on Lila, to her dismay. The sun shimmered off the gold Falcon statue that boldly took over the center courtyard, making it a focal hangout spot for students. Every year there were calls to the station in the middle of the night when one kid got stuck on top, often drunk, and needed help getting down.
As he walked to his patrol car, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride for his alma mater. Like the other men, he too had played football for the Falcons, but had not been a star like Jameson or Dan. He was also several years younger than the two men and had looked up to them as upperclassmen. Now adults, he had a hard time shaking that adolescent admiration when he was in their presence. He wondered at times if they still saw him as the young underclassman rather than Chief of Timber Falls Police Department.
And though he loved his hometown, he often felt as though something was missing in his life. Pointless it seemed to be a chief in a place where nothing ever happened. Maybe he should have taken that job up north years ago when Lila was young, sold his land and started over. Now it was too late, he could never uproot his daughter when she only had a few years left of high school. But, after she graduated, maybe a change would do him good.
First day gone
The Hudson home reeked of prestige in a way that made others envious. But tonight, no one would wish to be Anna or Jameson Hudson. It was after ten in the evening, hours after Anna had made the call to the chief, and no word had been heard from the three boys. Nick Young huddled in the Hudsons’ lounge beside his oldest friends. His wife, Nora, refused to leave the house in case Ethan called or showed up. But Nick couldn’t sit still; he needed to know that the police were on top of things.
The first thing that Nick noticed when Chief Tourney entered the room was that he looked like hell. That gave Nick some encouragement that he had been out busting his ass to find Nick’s son. He’d never had a lot of faith in the chief, but then he never had to. Timber Falls was a safe place, extremely low in crime. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Rex pull anyone over for a speeding ticket much less solve a missing person case.
Nick’s eyes wandered from the chief to Anna. She looked broken and fragile, as though if she stood on her two feet she would shatter. He wished he could comfort her, but he also knew that feeling that way just may have been what had gotten them into this situation.
Anna sat on the edge of the velvet cranberry couch, a cup of now lukewarm tea in her hand that she couldn’t drink. She realized that she wasn’t able to recall the last time she had eaten. Her tummy rumbled, but she felt a gnawing sickness in her belly that she couldn’t shake. Food would only make that worse. Besides, there was no time to stop and eat. Her day had been slammed with endless calls to J.R.’s teammates and friends. She must have dialed every number in the phone book. It left her with more questions than answers.
He was not a five-year-old boy who had just walked away from her at a store or disappeared from his bedroom in the middle of the night. He was an eighteen-year-old young man, but that didn’t make her worry any less. She had already been filled with anxiety when it came to her eldest son. She had seen the changes in him lately, feeling him pull away from her and into a dark space she didn’t know how to get him out of.
She lifted her head to see Nick watching her. When their eyes met, they held the glance a moment longer before turning their attention to the Chief. He was standing between them, rubbing the back of his neck as he peered down at the notes he had written on a small pad of paper. He swayed a little in his stance, enough that Anna had the fleeting thought he may be drunk. But that was absurd, of course. He was stressed, as they all were, about finding the boys.
She offered to make him a pot of coffee, but for the second time that evening, he declined. He didn’t want offerings from the Hudsons; he was there to work and needed to stay on the task at hand.
“So to clarify,” he said. “Not one of you has heard from or seen the boys since nine last night.”
Anna nodded. “J.R. was in a rush, but I saw him get into his car.” Her fingers trembled, making a clicking sound with her teacup on the saucer.
“And what time did he leave the house?” the chief asked.
“It was some time after eight thirty,” she answered softly.
He jotted notes on his pad of paper. “Did you ask where he was going? What his plans were for the night?”
She looked taken aback. “Well, no.”
“Mayor?” the chief pressed. He hadn’t meant to sound accusatory. God knows he didn’t know every plan Lila made.
Jameson stood at the mahogany liquor hutch with his back to the room. He poured himself a glass of bourbon, neat, without offering a drink to anyone else.
“No, Rex,” he answered hotly. “I did not ask my eighteen-year-old son what his plans for the evening were. Is that a crime?”
Anna closed her eyes. If she allowed herself to feel anything but distress for her son, it would be hatred for her husband.
Rex let the mayor’s hostility roll off of him. There was a time, not long ago, when Jameson’s cutting words would have made the Chief feel less confident about his job, but that time had passed. The Chief continued, “Nick, you recalled seeing J.R., correct?”
“Yes.” Nick cleared his throat and repositioned himself on the chair across from Anna. “J.R. came to the door. I’d say it was close to a quarter to nine. Ethan was in his room, so I told J.R. to go ahead on up.”
“And did they tell you where they were going?
” the chief asked steadily.
“Only that they were going to get Caleb and then something about a party that night.” Nick looked guilty that he couldn’t give the chief more to go off of. He and his son hadn’t been on the greatest of speaking terms, and if he hadn’t overhead J.R. talking, he wouldn’t have known anything at all.
“The Hoffman place,” the chief answered.
Nick raised a brow. “You know about the party?”
Rex knew everything that went on in this town. The mayor may have claimed ownership of Timber Falls, but it was the chief who ran it. “I was called in to break up a fight. By the time I arrived, the party had died down from the looks of it. I didn’t see the boys there.”
“Had anyone seen them that night?” Anna asked desperately, leaning forward in her seat. “Were they there earlier?”
“I don’t know, Anna,” the chief answered. “I didn’t ask.”
Rex watched the way she trembled and he tried to put himself in her position, as if it were Lila who was missing. He scratched at the back of his head.
“I remember a handful of the kids there that night. It’s a possibility that the boys were there earlier and someone knew where they had taken off to. I’ve got a list going of students to ask.”
Anna’s eyes widened. She was grateful for any lead. Of course, someone at the party would know something. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “I also spoke with Grace and Avery, who stayed together at Grace’s house Saturday night and were not at the Hoffman party. Her parents can confirm that. Neither had seen nor spoken to the boys since Friday night’s game.”
Mayor Hudson snorted as he took a sip of his bourbon. The mention of Friday night’s football game left a sour taste in his mouth. His golden boy had become the butt of many jokes in the locker room after that game, and everyone in this room knew it.
“Do any of you think this has anything to do with Friday night’s game?” Anna dared to ask. She was just as baffled as everyone else in this town by the embarrassing display the boys gave during the game. And to think that the coach from the Huskies was there that night, watching them ruin their reputation out there on the field. Anna had felt grief watching her son destroy everything he had worked so hard for. Jameson, on the other hand, felt betrayed.
“Of course it does!” Jameson said all too loudly. “Those boys just needed to blow off some steam. They got caught up in it and will be walking through this door anytime now with their tails between their legs. Wouldn’t you?” he asked no one in particular.
Nick and Anna exchanged a look that said they weren’t so sure. Yes, the boys were upset, but to leave without a word? It was Nick who said it. “I don’t know, James, that’s not like our boy to do that. He wouldn’t scare us by not calling.”
Jameson huffed. “They are grown boys who know how to take care of themselves. They’re humiliated by what the town witnessed. Hell, I’da bolted for a day too, to clear my head.” He pointed a finger at this friend. “And Nick, you would have been right there with me. Luckily, we never had to.”
Nick leaned forward in his seat. He was doing his best to keep his cool with his friend. “We aren’t talking about grown men here, Jameson. Yes, they’re no longer minors, but they’re still in high school. They live under our roofs. It’s not normal behavior to just take off.”
The tension was growing between the men, and everyone in the room felt it. Rex knew he had to rein them in if they were going to achieve anything tonight. He cleared his throat. “Let me ask if any of you noticed strange behavior among the boys recently?”
Jameson’s nostrils flared. He didn’t like anyone assailing his son’s character. “Just what is it you’re accusing them of, Chief?”
Nick sighed, clearly agitated by the way Jameson was handling this. The Chief was here to help them. Anyone who knew Ethan, and even J.R. and Caleb for that matter, knew they were harmless. “Please calm down, James.”
Jameson shot back a drink in response to his friend’s request. How could he remain calm when his son’s actions were being called under attack?
“Mayor, no one is making accusations,” the chief answered. “But anything out of the ordinary, behavior changes particularly, can lead us to answers.”
“Of course there were behavior changes, they lost the game Friday night!” the mayor yelled.
Anna sighed at her husband’s outcry. She knew Jameson well enough to know his anger was based out of fear, whether he would admit it or not.
“Anything other than the football game?” the chief added patiently. He refused to feel threatened by the mayor.
They all looked at each other, afraid of what the answer would be. The had their suspicions, of course. But saying it out loud, that could be detrimental to their own and their son’s reputations.
“Okay, let’s take another tactic,” the chief tried, scratching under his jaw. He hadn’t shaved in several days and wasn’t used to the prickling shadow that had crept up on his face. “Has there been any sort of trouble lately with the boys?” He looked at Jameson when he spoke. Had Jameson told Anna or the Youngs about the night he’d brought the boys to the mayor’s doorstep?
Jameson huffed as he took a drink. “You all are overreacting. We’re talking about three strong, capable men. What harm could come to them that they couldn’t get themselves out of?”
Silence again as they all contemplated this. Anna wanted to believe Jameson, but his words didn’t calm the gnawing in her belly that said her son was in danger.
The chief cleared his throat. “I made calls to all the hospitals in a fifty-mile radius, and no one by their description has been checked in, but they know to contact me if they do.”
He noticed as he spoke the way that Nick looked to Anna, stricken by the idea that their boys could be in a hospital somewhere without their knowledge. But was that any worse than not knowing where they were at all?
He continued, “I also put a plug out to officers in the surrounding towns to keep an eye out for a black ’95 BMW 325i…”
“Oh, great!” the mayor bellowed. He couldn’t believe they were taking this so seriously. “So now they are a target like some hardened criminals?”
“This isn’t only about your kid, James,” Nick snapped. He had been best friends with the mayor since they were in grammar school and one of the only people who could speak to Jameson that way and get away with it. Even Anna was envious of that. Attacking the chief of police for trying to help them was unacceptable, and Nick had had enough.
Jameson glared at his friend but didn’t say a word. He nursed his drink as Nick continued. “Thank you, Chief, for your diligence. I know I’ll feel better if I get out there and continue to search myself. I can’t just sit at home.”
Just then, the phone rang in the entryway. Everyone held their breath, frozen in place as though they had forgotten how to move. Then like a switch had gone off, Anna jumped up and raced to the phone, picking it up on the third ring.
“Hello?” she answered frantically.
And then a sigh of disappointment that they all felt. “No, Mom. No word. Please, I have to go and keep the line open. I’ll call you when we know more.”
Anna returned, her shoulders slouched and her brow furrowed. It appeared she had aged in the two minutes she was gone.
“Mom?” They all turned to see the Hudsons’ middle child, Emma, standing in the doorway. “Was that J.R.?” She was her mother’s replica in every way but height. Emma at fourteen was all legs and limbs, not quite a woman yet, but she already towered over her mom.
Anna could only shake her head. Her voice was lost to her at that moment. She was filled with dread, guilt, and anger. Could J.R. have just up and left? Would he do that to her?
“Back to bed, Emma,” Jameson said as calmly as he could, though it was clear he was fuming under his words. When she left the room, he turned to the crowd in his living room.
“Okay, that’s enough.” He set down his drink. “I want everyone o
ut. This is clearly causing unnecessary stress, and we’ll all see that this was a big misunderstanding.”
Chief Tourney closed his pad and shoved it into his back pocket. He wanted out of that house faster than Jameson could push him. But he also knew it was his job to tackle all sides of this case. Jameson may not have cared where his boy was, but there was something in Anna that was about to crack, and Rex wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“I hope you know that my team and I are here to help,” Rex said to Anna. She nodded at him, grateful that he was taking this seriously. “But in order to do that, we need full cooperation. Is there anything you can think of that would make them want to run?”
Anna fidgeted in her seat. Saturday morning replayed in her head the way it had since she first realized that J.R. was gone. She hadn’t said anything to anyone yet, but now felt it was necessary. She lifted her lids to her husband and saw that he was glaring down at her as though he could read her thoughts.
“Jameson…” she started.
He shook his head wildly. “No, Anna.” He practically growled. “Please, Rex, Nick, see yourselves out.”
Nick stood on command, storming out of the house with the door slamming behind him. He wouldn’t let Jameson deter him from what he felt in his bones to be true. His boy was in trouble and he would spend all night searching the streets for him if he had to.
The chief eyed Anna, willing her to confess what she was hiding from him. But when she turned her head and closed her eyes, he knew he had lost her. Whatever pull Jameson had on her was strong enough to keep her silent. He gathered his coat off the back of the chair and headed for the door. When he passed, he caught the mayor’s eye. Before Jameson could look away, Rex saw something undeniable. Guilt. Rex knew enough about liars to know the mayor was hiding something.
Someone Knows Something Page 2