Cemetery Girl

Ryan nodded. “It’s her. She looks smaller and younger perhaps than the average sixteen-year-old. Maybe she hasn’t been eating as well. I don’t know. But that means she looks more like the pictures taken before Caitlin disappeared than we would have suspected. Then I told her we were going to fingerprint her, which she went along with. It’s going to take a few hours to find out if they match, but-I told Tom already-this girl has the same scar on her leg from a bike accident.”

“She was eight,” Abby said. “She needed stitches.” Abby finally looked up and faced Ryan. “But that’s not proof. Lots of people have scars. Until you have DNA or the fingerprints or an X-ray. .”

“Jesus, Abby,” I said. “You really don’t want her back, do you?”

She looked at me. “I don’t want to get crushed,” she said. “I don’t want that for either of us.”

“I understand that. I do, Abby,” Ryan said. “And, ordinarily, I would try to wait for something more conclusive. I don’t want to wind you both up for nothing. But in a town this size, people are going to know that girl’s here, and before things get too far away from us, I want you to be able to see her. I wouldn’t have brought you both here if I weren’t certain. My gut tells me this is it.”

“Let’s go see her then,” I said.

Ryan held up his finger again. “We have some things to take care of once you’ve seen her. We have to get her to the hospital to be examined by a doctor. You won’t get a lot of time, and the time you spend with her here, today, might be the last quiet moments you have for a while. This is going to be a hell of an adjustment for you two, and since we don’t know where she’s been or who she was with, we all need to be prepared for anything.”

“We know who she was with,” I said. “That man in the sketch. Did you ask her about him?”

Ryan shook his head. “It’s best in a case like this not to press too hard at the outset. Not to ask too many questions too soon, even if we want to.”

“A case like this?” Abby asked. “Are there other cases like this?”

“I just mean when a child has been kidnapped or run away.”

“No, no, no, no. Not a runaway,” I said. “That man, the sketch-that proves it. She didn’t run away. Someone took her-they took her from us.”

Ryan nodded along, placating me. But then he said, “I know this has been a long road for the two of you, but I can promise you what we already know and see is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s much more to the story here, and we’re going to have to get to it.”

“What are they going to do at the hospital?” Abby asked.

I knew. I knew I knew I knew. I didn’t want to hear it, but I knew.

Ryan confirmed it.

“They’ll do a complete exam. Gynecological included. They’ll be looking for evidence of sexual assault and pregnancy.”

Abby made a small noise in the back of her throat.

“Someone who needs to be checked for those things didn’t run away,” I said.

Ryan stood up. “Wait here, and I’ll go see if things are ready. I thought I’d give the two of you a moment together before we bring you back. I think maybe you have some things to get straight before you see Caitlin.”

“Ryan?” I asked. “Is this going to be all right?”

He offered me a small smile. “Your daughter’s back. Doesn’t that mean this is a good day?”

When he was gone, I turned to Abby.

She didn’t look at me.

“Abby?”

She remained rigid as a block of wood.

“Abby? Are you okay?”

“I was at the church, working, and then Ryan called me.” She was looking at the floor. “I knew something bad was happening, something about Caitlin. I wasn’t expecting this today, Tom. This just comes out of nowhere.”

“It’s not a bad thing, Abby.”

“Why did you say such awful things about me?” she asked, raising her head.

“Are you looking for an apology? Because I’m not offering one.”

“Do you really think I don’t deserve to be here?”

“It’s not about you, Abby. Your feelings have nothing to do with this day.” I stood up. “But I can tolerate the idea of you being along for this. I’m willing to put up with that. . for Caitlin. But I’m also not going to wait for you. They should be ready for us now, so get up and let’s go.”

Her upper body tilted forward, then back, and she slowly rose to her feet. She stood there for a second, looking like an unsteady drunk, one who didn’t trust that the world wasn’t about to tip over and throw her to the floor.

“Tom?”

“What?”

“I can’t do it.”

“You can’t-?”

“I can’t do it. I can’t go see her.”

“Oh, Abby. Come on.”

“Don’t push me, Tom.” She held her hand out. “Don’t give me some guilt trip about how I’m some kind of bad mother because I don’t want to. . can’t. . go see Caitlin right now.”

I looked to the door, my anxiety rising. She was here. Caitlin.

“Why don’t you want to go back there? Tell me.”

“I’m scared, Tom. Okay? I’m scared.”

“Of what?”