If She Hid

“Did she have any particular college she had her eye on?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, at the little thing they had for us at school, she looked pretty hard at material from UVA and Wake Forest. But…yeah, I don’t know.”

“Can you tell us anything about Charlie?” Kate asked. “We saw her name in her journal and know they were at least familiar enough to share a quick kiss between classes. But the police told us that you said Mercy doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“She doesn’t.”

Kate noticed right away how Anne’s tone shifted a bit at this comment. Her posture seemed to go a little rigid as well. Apparently, this was a sensitive topic. But, being that she was only sixteen and her parents were both sitting beside her, Kate knew she could not directly accuse the girl of lying. She’d have to take another approach. Maybe there were some dark secrets concerning her friend that she simply did not want to voice.

“So are she and Charlie just friends?” Kate asked.

“Sort of. I mean, I think they maybe liked each other but just didn’t want to date. You know?”

“Did she and Charlie ever do anything other than kiss that you know of?”

“If they did, Mercy never told me. And she tells me everything.”

“Do you know if there were any secrets she was keeping from her parents?”

Again, Kate noticed an uneasiness settle across Anne’s face. It was brief and barely there, but Kate recognized it from countless cases in the past—particularly where teenagers were involved. A quick dart of the eyes, shifting uncomfortably in their seat, either answering right away without thinking about their answer or taking far too much time to come up with an answer.

“Again, if she did, she never told me.”

“What about a job?” Kate asked. “Was Mercy working anywhere?”

“Not recently. She was working like ten hours a week as a tutor for middle school kids a few months back. Algebra, I think. But they shut that down because there weren’t enough kids interested in getting the help.”

“Did she enjoy that?” DeMarco asked.

“I guess so.”

“No horror stories from when she was tutoring?”

“None that she told me.”

“But you feel confident that Mercy told you everything about her life, right?” DeMarco asked.

Anne looked slightly uncomfortable at the question. Kate wondered if it was perhaps the first time she’d been questioned in such a confrontational way—questioning something she had spoken as truth.

“I think so,” Anne said. “We were…we are best friends. And I say are because she’s still alive. I know it. Because if she’s dead…”

The comment hung in the air for a moment. Kate could see that the emotion on Anne’s face was real. Based on her expression, she could tell that girl would start crying soon. And if it came to that, Kate felt certain her parents would ask them to leave. It meant they likely didn’t have much time—and that meant that Kate was going to have become a bit of a bully if she hoped to get some answers.

“Anne, we want to get to the bottom of this. And, like you, we are working under the assumption that Mercy is still alive. But, if I can be honest with you, with missing persons cases, time is the enemy. The more time that passes, the smaller our chances of finding her become. So please…if there is anything you might have been reluctant to tell the local Deton authorities, it’s important that you tell us. I know in a town this small, you worry about what others will think and—”

“I think that’s enough,” Mr. Pettus said. He got to his feet and walked toward the door. “I don’t appreciate you implying that our daughter has been hiding something. And you can look at her and tell that she’s starting to get upset.”

“Mr. Pettus,” DeMarco said. “If Anne is—”

“We’ve been more than fair about letting her speak with the authorities, but we’re done here. Now, please…leave.”

Kate and DeMarco shared a defeated look as they got to their feet. Kate made about three steps for the door before she was stopped by Anne’s voice.

“No…wait.”

All four adults in the room turned toward Anne. There were tears rolling down her cheeks and a stern kind of understanding in her eyes. She looked at her parents for a moment and then quickly away, as if ashamed.

“What is it?” Mrs. Pettus asked her daughter.

“Mercy does have a boyfriend. Sort of. But it’s not Charlie. It’s this other guy…and she never told anyone because if her parents found out, they would have gone nuts.”

“Who is it?” Kate asked.

“It’s this guy that lives out near Deerfield. He’s older…seventeen.”

“And they were dating?” DeMarco asked.

“I don’t think it was dating. They were sort of seeing each other. But when they got together, I think…well, I think it was just physical. Mercy liked it because there was this older guy giving her attention, you know?”

“And why would her parents not approve?” Kate asked.

“Well, the age thing for one. Mercy is fifteen and this guy is almost eighteen. But he’s sort of bad news. He dropped out of high school, runs with a rough crowd.”

“Do you know if the relationship was sexual?” Kate asked.

“She never told me. But I think it might have been because whenever I would joke with her and tease her about it, she’d get all quiet.”

“Anne,” Mr. Pettus said. “Why did you not tell the police?”

“Because I don’t want people thinking bad of Mercy. She’s…she’s my best friend. She’s kind and nice and…this guy is scum. I don’t understand why she liked him.”

“What’s his name?” Kate asked.

“Jeremy Branch.”

“You say he’s a dropout. Do you know what he does for a job?”

“Nothing, I don’t think. Tree work here and there, like cutting limbs and helping logging crews. But according to Mercy, he sort of just sits around his older brother’s house and drinks most of the day. And I don’t know for sure, but I think he sells drugs.”

Kate almost felt sorry for Anne. The looks on the faces of her parents made it clear that she would be getting a stern talking to when Kate and DeMarco were gone. Knowing this, Kate walked over to Anne and sat in the place her father had been sitting only a minute before.

“I know this was hard for you,” Kate said. “But you did the right thing. You’ve given us a lead and now maybe we can get to the bottom of things. Thank you, Anne.”

With that, she gave a polite nod to Anne’s parents and showed herself out. On the way to the car, DeMarco pulled out her phone. “You know where Deerfield is?” she asked.

“About twenty minutes deeper into the woods,” Kate said. “If you thought Deton was small, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

“I’ll call Sheriff Barnes and see if we can get an address.”