by Elle Gray
The man didn’t struggle much beneath her, clearly knowing he was up against someone faster and stronger than him. Olivia pinned the man’s chest down with her knee and quickly cuffed him, breathing hard. Brock arrived a moment behind her, panting a little.
“Damn, he was quicker than I expected. Good job,” he said to Olivia as the man squirmed slightly beneath her. She pressed her lips together, feeling anger taking her over. If he was the man they were looking for, then she had no sympathy for him. If she’d caught him in the act, then she was going to make sure he went away for the things he’d done for a long time.
She grabbed the ski mask and pulled it off the man’s face. Beneath her, she saw a familiar face.
“Craig?”
Fourteen
“You don’t understand,” Craig protested as Olivia down at him. “This is not what it looks like!”
“Save it,” Olivia hissed. “You’re going to the police station with us.”
“You don’t get it! This isn’t about Sophia! Please, let me go, I swear we can just pretend like nothing ever happened—”
“You set off an alarm that the whole town can hear, buddy,” Brock interrupted coldly. “You tried to break into the house where a child went missing last week. We’re not forgetting this any time soon. Now don’t make me tack on a resisting arrest charge.”
Olivia stood up, rubbing her arm where she’d fallen down as Brock hauled Craig to his feet. Brock glanced at her, looking concerned.
“You alright?”
She nodded, but she was far from it. She was so sure that Craig had been honest with them. She thought she could trust his word. But now that she’d caught him trying to break into Sophia’s house, she couldn’t think of a single explanation that would get him off the hook. The worst part was that Craig had managed to outsmart them for over a week if he was in fact the perpetrator. They thought they’d been dealing with someone sophisticated and intelligent, but Craig was quite the opposite. How had he managed to evade them for so long without getting caught?
“Looks like we were in the right place at the right time,” Brock muttered as they walked back toward Alice’s house. “It’s a good thing we were around.”
Olivia nodded, her mind still reeling from the reveal. She held the limp ski mask in her hand, still shaken by her own disbelief. She’d been wrong. So wrong. She knew she should be relieved that they’d seemingly caught the kidnapper red-handed, but something still seemed so wrong. Nothing made sense to her at that moment.
“What the hell is going on?” Alice Edwards cried from her doorstep as Brock paraded Craig toward the car. Some of the other neighbors were nosily sticking their heads out of windows and doors, craning their necks to get a view of what was happening.
“Everything’s under control, ma’am. We caught Craig trying to break into your house,” Brock told her, pulling Craig along by the crook of his elbow. “We’re taking him down to the station for questioning. We suspect he’s involved with the disappearance of your daughter.”
“You’ve got it wrong!” Craig cried out, feebly resisting Brock’s iron grip. “Mrs. Edwards, you’ve got to listen to me. I didn’t take your daughter! I don’t know where she is!”
“How am I supposed to believe a word you say!” Alice screamed at him. “I warned you, Craig! I warned you to stay away!”
She began to run at Craig, but Olivia reacted in time to block her as she came down her driveway.
“Enough,” she barked sternly. “We need to take him now. I’ll call you as soon as I know more. I’ll call Officer Stone and get her to send someone to search Craig’s house, but we don’t know anything for sure yet. Don’t get yourself in trouble, Alice. Let us handle this.”
Alice looked distraught as Olivia let her go, but she retreated back into the house where Elijah waited at the door. He pulled Alice in for a hug as she sobbed loudly. Olivia glared around at the neighbors.
“Show’s over! Go back inside!”
The neighbors slowly began to retreat too as Brock buckled Craig into the backseat of his car, behind his cuffs so he wouldn’t be able to run. Then he locked the car for a moment and headed back to check on Olivia. He examined her grazed arm.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s fine,” she insisted, pulling her arm out of his grasp. “It’s not important.”
“Olivia... take a breath, okay? I know this isn’t what we were expecting. But we don’t have all the answers yet.”
“How could we miss this?” Olivia asked, her voice cracking a little. She couldn’t believe they’d overlooked Craig so easily. She knew that if they discovered he’d taken Sophia, she’d never be able to forgive herself for letting him get away with it for so long. He’d been right under their nose the entire time. He’d been the obvious choice, the only person they had as a viable suspect. How had it taken them a week to get to this point?
“Let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? Let’s get to the station and speak to Maggie. You’re tired and angry. Don’t let that get in the way of your thoughts.”
Olivia sighed. She was still angrier than she’d been in a long time, but Brock was right. For the sake of being professional, she had to calm down. “Alright. I’ll sit in the back just in case he tries anything.”
“I don’t think you need to worry,” Brock muttered, glancing at Craig, who was trying desperately to reach up and open the door with his hands cuffed behind his back. “I doubt he’ll ever have the brainpower to figure out how child lock works.”
Olivia allowed him a small smile, but she was still seething. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Craig, but she let Brock open the other passenger door for her and she climbed in next to him. She met Craig’s gaze and saw that he was close to tears. Crocodile tears, she guessed. She’d underestimated him once before and she wouldn’t do it again.
“Don’t move a muscle,” she growled. “If you’ve got nothing to hide then I don’t know why you’re so on edge.”
“I want a lawyer!” Craig cried. “I don’t want to talk to either of you. You don’t understand.”
“Seriously? Playing the misunderstood teenager card?” Brock prodded as he got behind the driver’s seat. “Well guess what, Craig? You’re nineteen. That won’t work on us. You’d better get your story straight. I’m sure the police department is going to be very interested to see what you come up with.”
The drive to the police station was silent aside from Craig’s occasional sniffling. Olivia couldn’t believe she’d ever had sympathy for him. She wondered what the hell he was doing going back to the scene of the crime. The police hadn’t found anything in Sophia’s bedroom when they’d searched, so why would he go there? Perhaps he thought he’d left something behind? But if Sophia had left the house on her own accord, then what evidence could there be left in the house? They’d already searched her phone and found nothing. And if he did manage to enter the house, then why couldn’t he manage it this time without getting caught?
Nothing made any sense.
On top of that was the tree in the forest to consider. Craig had taken them right there and said that’s where he’d waited for Sophia that night. If that was a lie, then was he trying to mislead them, to appeal to their emotions with his little sob story? And what significance, if any, was there to the things they found inside the tree? Olivia felt further from answers than ever, even with their prime suspect in the car beside her.
Olivia quietly called Maggie to let her know what had happened and she promised to meet them at the station when they arrived. As they pulled up in front of the station, Olivia saw her standing in her police uniform, her hair a little disheveled and her face grave. She shook her head like a disappointed parent as Craig was hauled out of the car.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Maggie started to Craig as he was taken into the station. “I’m already sending a team to your house to search it. Would you like to admit to anything before we go there?”
“No!” Craig shouted a
t her, tears streaming from his eyes. “Please don’t take me in there, I’ve done nothing wrong!”
Maggie said nothing, turning her back on him. The tension in the air was so thick it was practically solid as they all filed quickly to the interrogation room in the back of the precinct. Olivia didn’t feel ready for what was about to happen. It felt like she was about to walk into a room and discover all the things she’d done wrong. If that was the case, then she was about to discover her own inadequacy; about to discover that she wasn’t as good at her job as she should be. The thought made her feel sick.
She glanced at Brock and was strangely comforted to see the concern on his face too. They’d been trusted with a huge case and they might have blown it. Even if they discovered that this was the end of it, she knew they wouldn't be able to feel the pride of solving the case themselves. It was like Brock had said: they’d been in the right place at the right time. Nothing more.
As Olivia entered the interrogation room, she found Craig already seated, glancing around him like a caged animal trying to find an escape route. Maggie sat opposite him, looking more serious than Olivia had ever seen her before. All of her jolly, sweet attitude was gone. She faced off with Craig, waiting for him to speak.
“I didn’t take her!” Craig finally broke the silence. “You’re not going to find anything at the house because there’s nothing there.”
“In that case, let’s not even talk about Sophia,” Maggie replied, her voice cold as ice. “Let’s talk about tonight. We don’t even have to talk about the fact that you were trying to enter the premises of your missing girlfriend. Whatever your excuse is, you were breaking and entering. You’ll be charged for that, you were caught in the act. So you might as well tell us what you were doing there.”
“I’m not saying anything without a lawyer!”
“Well, that is your right, young man. But we’re going to find out one way or another. It will be better for you if you decide to be honest with us,” Maggie said firmly, never taking her eyes off Craig. Olivia noted for the first time how good Maggie was at her job. She knew exactly how to walk the line between stern and understanding. Craig shifted in his seat, glancing over at Brock and Olivia with suspicious eyes.
“They’re trying to get me for something I didn’t do.”
“Well stop telling us about what you didn’t do... and tell us about what you did do.”
Craig shifted again. “I don’t want to say.”
“Why not?”
“Because—because I’m going to get in trouble.”
“I hate to tell you this, Craig, but you’re already in trouble. Breaking and entering is a serious offense. But maybe Sophia’s family will be willing to drop the charges if you explain why you were trying to get into their house.”
Craig sucked in a deep breath, shaking his head fervently. “I don’t know, I don’t know... I feel like you’re trapping me.”
Irritation clawed at Olivia. How was he getting away with trying to control the interview? He was acting shady and she wanted to know exactly why that was. Maggie leaned back in her chair.
“Craig. You’ve lived in this town all your life. We might not know each other very well, but I’ve seen you around. I know you sometimes get yourself into trouble. You’ve spent the night here a few times, haven’t you? For underage drinking?”
Craig nodded slowly. Maggie leaned back toward him.
“Then you’ll be aware that you never get into as much trouble as you think you will. Everything seems worse in the heat of the moment. I’m sure a young man as smart as you knows a little about US law. If you get convicted of a kidnapping, I’m sure that will be much worse than whatever you’re trying to cover up. It’ll be better for everyone involved if you tell the truth.”
Maggie gestured at Brock and Olivia. “These two people... they’re not out to get you. This ain’t a personal attack. They’re doing their best to try and find your missing girlfriend. But you understand, they are federal agents. The longer you hold back information, the longer you waste time that I’m sure they’d rather be spending looking for her. So I’ll ask you one more time. What did you do?”
Craig was shaking hard. Olivia could see his hands trembling from across the room. He took a deep breath.
“I was looking for something.”
The room fell utterly silent. It was like no one dared breathe in fear of spooking Craig. Olivia was certainly holding her breath. Maggie nodded. “Okay. What were you looking for?”
Craig swallowed. Another long silence stretched before them. And then he spoke.
“I gave Sophia something. I was looking for that. I thought... I knew the police might go looking in her house again, and I didn’t want you finding it.”
“What did you give her?”
Craig shook his head again. Olivia narrowed her eyes. If he was withholding information, it was because what he gave her was either illegal or at least something he didn’t want her parents to find. Something he’d get in big trouble for.
“What did you give her?” Maggie pressed. Craig’s lip wobbled.
“I can’t say.”
Maggie’s phone dinged and she made a show of pulling it out to read it. She looked back over to Craig with an even expression.
“That’s my team now. Looks like they’re all set up and about to start searchin’. And after they check out the Edwards home, I just might send them over yonder to yours. How do you feel about that, Craig? Think they’ll find any surprises?”
Craig took a deep breath but said nothing in response.
“They’re waitin’ for my order. What’ll they find, Craig? This is your chance to tell us before it gets bad for you. Real bad.”
Craig put his head in his hands, muttering to himself. Olivia and Maggie glance at one another. Olivia knew Maggie could feel how close they were to an answer. Craig was going to break soon and then they’d finally have some answers. He squirmed in his chair.
“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. I don’t know whether she still has it there, or where she might have put it. But I gave her... I gave her a couple of joints.”
Olivia’s heart stopped. “You supplied marijuana to a minor?”
“She wouldn’t stop asking me for it!” Craig cried out. “She gets these horrible headaches. She said she did some research and she thought it would help with the pain. I didn’t want to give her anything, but she wouldn’t stop asking. She said she’d stop seeing me if I didn’t give her some, so I gave in.”
Olivia felt like slapping the idiotic kid sitting in front of her. It was so obvious now that he hadn’t taken Sophia that it hurt. He was just a stupid boy who had made a colossal mistake. Olivia knew that supplying a minor with marijuana in the state of Virginia was a felony conviction, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison. Maggie knew it too and she sat back in her chair, watching Craig come undone before her eyes.
“I gave her two the day before she disappeared,” Craig whispered. “She said she was saving them for when she next got sick. I didn’t want her keeping them in her house, but she wouldn’t listen to me. When she disappeared, I forgot about it for a while. But then I remembered and I got scared. I didn’t want to get in trouble. I thought if someone had managed to get into the house unnoticed once, then I’d be able to do it too. But I didn’t mean any harm, I swear. I was just trying to help... I just wanted to help her…”
Olivia closed her eyes. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved that he hadn’t kidnapped his girlfriend or distraught that they still hadn’t found the culprit. She couldn’t decide between being happy that it wasn’t her fault they hadn’t caught their kidnapper and being anxious that she still might fail her task.
“Craig, just to confirm. You had nothing to do with Sophia’s disappearance, and we won’t find anything at your house that relates to her?”
“Of course not! I’ve been telling you people all along. I would never do something like that.” Craig sank a little deeper into his sea
t. “I’ve made bad decisions... I know that I’m in trouble. I messed up real bad this time. But the one good thing I’ve ever done is care about her. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or her family.”
Olivia rubbed her forehead. At least she knew her initial judgment about him was right. But now she had an impossible task to fulfill. Their one suspect had just shown his innocence. Their only lead had come to yet another dead end. Olivia knew that Maggie could handle the rest of the issue, so she excused herself from the room and walked out. As she headed out of the station, she heard Brock call her name.
“Olivia, it’s okay,” Brock said, running to catch up with her. “We did what we could.”
“But we’re right back where we started,” Olivia said desperately. “I really thought we were on to something tonight. I thought we were finally going to get some answers. But... but this is impossible.”
Brock put his hands on her arms, rubbing them gently. “I know. I think unless anything changes, we’re not going to be on this case for much longer. But it’s not our fault. There’s only so much we can do with minimal evidence. But hey, you never know. We might get lucky with the stuff we found in the forest.”
Olivia didn’t even want to get her hopes up. She had lost all confidence in their leads. The kidnapper was too smart for them. It was over. She wondered whether Sophia was holed up somewhere in terror, being mistreated by the same person who took Amelia away. She wondered if she was going to make it out alive. Olivia felt like she was falling apart at the seams. Like the kidnapper was slowly and deliberately unpicking the stitches holding her together.
It’s over, she couldn’t stop thinking. It’s over.
Fifteen
Brock pulled up outside Olivia’s house just as the morning sun was beginning to make an appearance in the sky. She felt heavy with tiredness and disappointment. Disappointment in the case, in their failed leads, and in herself. The way she felt about herself in that moment was the hardest thing to bear since her family fell apart.