The officer was immediately drawn to a group of people gathered around a large pile of ashes. Slowing to a stop, he rolled down the window and called for someone's attention. An older woman walked over with a somber expression on her face. Tara recognized her right away.
"What happened here?" The officer asked.
"A house burned down in the middle of the night."
"Everyone OK?"
The woman hung her head.
"Unfortunately, no. Someone was killed."
"Sorry to hear that. Where's the sheriff? Harrison, right?"
"He was killed last night. A car accident while racing to the scene of the fire. He was a brave man."
"Jesus Christ, that's awful."
"What can we do for you, officer?"
"I have a little girl here," he pointed over his shoulder. "She said her mom was here and she was in trouble. Know anything about it?"
The woman peeked through the back window and gave Tara a smile. Tara sunk down in her chair, terrified of the woman she knew as Carol. She had been the last person Tara saw her mother with. If something had happened to her, it was because of her.
Carol pulled away from the window and looked back at the officer. "Sorry," she said. "Never seen her before in my life."
Tara started to cry. The woman was lying but there was nothing she could do. The officer thanked her for her time and started to drive away. After getting back to the station, he sat her down at his desk and calmed her down.
"Look, honey. It's a pretty big area around here. Maybe you're thinking of the wrong town."
Tara shook her head.
"Well, we'll get an official investigation going and see if we can find out what happened to your mother, OK?"
Tara wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. But she knew it wouldn't be okay. Deep down in her heart, she could feel her mother was gone. The evil woman who had lied to the officer had killed her mom. A feeling of pure hatred coursed through her veins.
"In the meantime, do you have any relatives you can stay with?"
Tara told the man about her grandmother and he went about looking her up and getting an address and phone number. Within the hour, the police officer was driving her towards her grandmother's house. Every mile they traveled, Tara felt farther from her mother. She wanted to hug her again. She wanted to hear her voice. Knowing she never would again tore her up inside. She would never truly be the same.
Her grandmother took her in with open arms. The officer did his best to explain the situation, though he wasn’t quite sure what it was. "There's an ongoing investigation to find your daughter, ma'am." He said. "If anything turns up you'll be the first to know." She had nodded and watched the officer walk back to his car.
Tara told her grandmother everything she could remember. How the town had turned against them and wanted to hurt her. Of course, she had told the same story to the police but they seemed to think it was merely a story developed by a confused child. Tara knew different. Something awful had happened in Carlisle and justice might not ever prevail.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
"I'm telling you, something was off." Officer Brown stated to his partner. "The little girl was really frightened. I can't believe she would make the whole story up."
"Well," his partner started. "A kid's imagination can really run wild when faced with hard realities. Her mother dumped her in the middle of nowhere and took off. It's been well over a week and no one has seen or heard a thing? It makes no sense."
Officer Brown shrugged but couldn't let the matter go. He remembered the looks on the faces of the people of Carlisle. It had seemed more than mere sorrow. He thought he had seen guilty looks among them. Many had averted their eyes.
"The girl said she was with Sheriff Harrison when he crashed his truck. She told me the people pulled her out and tried to hurt her."
"She was probably scared and not thinking clearly. They were trying to help her and she thought they were trying to hurt her."
"But that woman said she had never seen her before. How could that be if they pulled her from the wreck? Wouldn't she remember that?"
"Maybe she wasn't there."
"Tara was clear she had been."
"I think you're focusing too much on what the little girl said. Her story can't be trusted. Two major traumatic experiences around the same time have her confused. You're overthinking it."
Officer Brown started to wonder if his partner was right. After all, it did make sense. Tara had been through a lot. Her mother was missing and she had nearly died in a car accident. The accident alone would have been enough to mix up her thoughts. But the two experiences together may have impacted her more than Brown thought. Still, he couldn't shake the odd feeling about the town. His gut feeling told him to not let it go.
"Come on, Elton." He said to his partner. "Let's take a drive to Carlisle. At least put my mind at ease."
"Whatever will shut you up," Elton said.
The two of them laughed and headed out for Carlisle. Neither said a word for the entire drive. Brown continued to brood over Tara's story, knowing it had to be more truth than fantasy. He knew his partner did not feel the same.
