you were going to show up.”
Tomasetti flips out his identification, holds it up for Justin to see. “Why is that?”
Justin gives him a dismissive once-over. “When something bad happens around here, the cops come calling. I’m their go-to man.”
“When a girl goes missing, the boyfriend is usually one of the first people the police talk to,” Goddard tells him.
“That’s your problem,” Justin says.
Tomasetti never takes his eyes from the teen. “Stop acting like a dip-shit and answer the sheriff’s question.”
“I ain’t seen her in a couple days.” He shrugs a little too casually, as if a missing girl is of no great concern, girlfriend or not. “I heard she was missing, though.”
“You don’t seem too worried,” Tomasetti says.
“I figured she left.”
“Why would you think that?”
Justin rolls his eyes. “Anyone under eighteen with a brain is thinking about leaving this fuckin’ dump. Besides, she hates those Bible-thumping freaks.”
“You mean the Amish?” I ask.
He gives me his full attention. Curiosity flickers in his eyes. He’s wondering who I am and why I’m here. I tug out my identification and show it to him.
“Yeah, man, the Amish. They treat her like shit, and she was sick of all their self-righteous crap.”
“She told you that?” I ask.
“All the time. They’re always judging her, telling her what she can and can’t do. She has no freedom and can’t do shit without one of them pointing their holier-than-thou fingers.” That he’s speaking of her in the present tense doesn’t elude me. “I’m glad she finally got out. Good for her.”
“How close are you?” I ask.
“We’re friends. You know, tight.”
“Since you’re so tight, Justin, did it bother you that she left without saying good-bye?” I ask.
The kid surprises me by looking down, and I realize the question hit a raw spot he doesn’t want us to see. “It’s a free country. I always told her if she got the chance, she should take it.” He laughs. “I figured I’d be the one to go first.”
“Did she mention a destination?” Tomasetti asks.
He thinks about that a moment. “We used to talk about Florida. She hates the cold. Never even seen the ocean. But I can’t see her just picking up and going with no apartment. No job.”
“Her parents are worried,” I tell him.
“They shoulda treated her better,” he shoots back.
“We think she could be in trouble,” Goddard says.
His eyes narrow on the sheriff. “You mean like someone . . . hurting her?”
“That’s exactly what we mean.” Tomasetti stares hard at him. “Do you know anything about that?”
“What? You think I did something to her?”
“You ever lose your temper with her?” Tomasetti asks, pressing him. “Ever hit her?”
Trina Treece heaves her frame up off the sofa with the grace of a gymnast. “What kind of question is that?”
“The kind he has to answer.” But Tomasetti doesn’t take his eyes off the boy.
Justin holds his gaze. “I never touched her.”
“Did you buy her a cell phone?” Goddard asks.
“Her parents wouldn’t do it, so I did. Last I heard, that wasn’t against the law.”
“She use it?” I ask.
“Sure. We talk all the time.”
“When’s the last time you heard from her?” Tomasetti asks.
“I dunno. A couple days ago.”
“Have you tried to contact her in the last twenty-four hours?”
Justin nods. “Goes straight to voice mail.”
“Didn’t that seem strange?” Goddard asks. “Or worry you?”
“Hey, she’s like that. Independent, you know?” The teenager shrugs. “I figured she’d call me when she got to where she was going.”
Tomasetti pulls out his note pad. “What’s the number?”
Justin rattles it off from memory and Tomasetti writes it down.
“You got your cell on you?” he asks.
“Sure, I—” The kid’s eyes narrow. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to take it.” Tomasetti holds out his hand. “Give it to me.”
The kid wants to refuse. I see it in his face and in the way he can’t quite make himself reach into his pocket to get it out. But he must see something in Tomasetti’s eyes, because after a moment, he produces the phone. “That cost me plenty.”
“We’re just going to take a look, see if it will help us with a time line.” He removes an evidence bag from his pocket and the boy drops the phone into it. “You’ll get it back.”
Justin doesn’t believe him, and looks away. “What ever.”
“You know, Justin, it would have been helpful if you’d come to us when she first went missing,” Goddard says.
“So that’s what you’re calling it?” Treece looks from Goddard to me to Tomasetti. “She’s missing?”
“Her parents just filed a missing-person report,” I tell him.
“I figured she was fine,” the boy says. “How was I supposed to know?”
“You could have tried using that thing between your ears,” Tomasetti tells him.
The teenager gives him a “Fuck you” look.
“Does she have any other friends she might have taken off with?” Goddard asks.
Justin shakes his head. “Most of her friends are Amish.”
“Did she have transportation?” I ask.
Another shake. “Not that I know of. She couldn’t afford a car.” He chuckles. “I let her drive mine once and she took out old man Heath’s mailbox.”
“So you just assumed she’d walked somewhere?” Tomasetti asks.
“Or took the bus.” His voice turns belligerent. “Look, we’re friends, but I ain’t her fuckin’ keeper.”
“How did you meet her?” I ask.
“She was walking along the road. It was raining, so I stopped and asked her if she wanted a ride. She got in.” He lifts a shoulder, lets it drop. “I offered her a cigarette and she smoked it.” He smiles. “It was funny, because she was wearing that old-lady dress—you know, the Amish getup. We hit it off.”
“Are you involved in a relationship with her?” Tomasetti asks.
“Well . . . we’re friends . . . mostly.”
Tomasetti sighs. “Are you sleeping with her, Justin?”
To his credit, the kid blushes. “I guess. I mean, we did it a few times. But we weren’t like boyfriend and girlfriend or anything like that. I’m not ready to get tied down, so I set the boundary right off the bat.”
Silence falls and all of us stand there, caught up in our own thoughts. The two little girls watch the scene from the kitchen, eating chips from a bag. Tomasetti’s trying not to look at them, but he’s not quite managing.
I look at Justin. “If you wanted to get out of Buck Creek so badly, why didn’t you go with her?” I ask.
He laughs. “I don’t think my probation officer would appreciate that.”
A few minutes later, Tomasetti and I are sitting in the Tahoe, waiting for Goddard to start rolling. Tomasetti is staring out the window, brooding and preoccupied. I’m trying to find the right words, when he beats me to the punch.
“What the hell are people doing to their kids, Kate?”
It’s not the kind of statement I’m accustomed to hearing from him. He’s more apt to spout off some politically incorrect joke than a serious philosophical question, and it takes me a moment to find my feet. “Not everyone treats
