Kiss and Tell(7)

“Perfect.” Her mom’s Botox-smooth face broke into a creaseless smile. “The lawyers said that without any evidence proving what the pill was, it’s unlikely anyone will press charges. But we can always stop the questioning at any point and return with a lawyer if we feel the need.”

Tenley nodded. She knew her mom would have preferred to have a lawyer with them now, but Lanson’s team was in court this afternoon, and the whole family wanted this over with. The sooner the better.

“Remember,” her mom added as they crossed the parking lot. “Don’t be afraid to bring up Caitlin’s death. A little pity never hurt anybody.” She paused outside the door to tug up Tenley’s skirt. “Neither did a little skin.”

“Hello!” Her mom threw open the door as if they were arriving at a party instead of a police station. “Tenley Reed is—”

“Three minutes late,” a woman barked. Or at least Tenley thought it was a woman. With her broad face, frizzy hair, and standard-issue cop uniform, it was hard to be sure. Tenley read her name tag. Officer Funley. Doubtful. “Come with me.”

Tenley’s leg was aching, but she refused to limp as Officer Funley led them through the police station and down a long, winding set of stairs to a small, windowless room in the basement. “Our questioning room is full,” the officer explained. “But this will be fine for our purposes.” Harsh fluorescent lights bore down on Tenley as she took a seat next to her mom. Officer Funley glared in the direction of her mom’s skirt, which was riding up to a nearly indecent level. Her mom’s win-over-the-cop plan was clearly off to a great start.

“Thanks for seeing us, Officer,” her mom chirped. She leaned forward in her seat, allowing Officer Funley a front-row view of her ample cleavage. Tenley shot her a warning look, but she didn’t seem to notice. “I’m Trudy Reed, Tenley’s mom, and I just want to start by thanking you for your honorable, brave service to our beloved town.” She curled her lips down in a serious expression. “I’m so sorry if this little episode has caused any inconvenience in your busy day, but as you’ll soon see, this is all just a big misunderstand—”

“I’ll have to ask that you let your daughter do the talking, Mrs. Reed,” Officer Funley interjected.

Trudy snapped her mouth shut, looking miffed. Before Tenley could mouth a warning at her, her mom’s phone rang from inside her oversize purse. Officer Funley let out an irritated cough.

“Sorry about that!” Her mom fumbled through her bag. “Let me just find… where is that… ah, got it.” The ringing cut out.

“If we’re all done receiving personal calls, we can get started.” Office Funley went over to a computer in the back of the room. “Tenley, please start by stating your full name and birth date.” As she spoke, she logged on to the computer and opened a new file. Tenley watched as she titled it Reed, Tenley. Seeing her name on the screen made Tenley’s stomach twist. How had she ended up here, with a police file of her own? The more the darer toyed with her life, the less she recognized it.

“Thank you,” Funley said once Tenley had choked out her information. “Now, please state for the record what occurred in the video played at Winslow Academy’s assembly yesterday.”

“I just wanted to help Jessie out—”

Before Tenley could continue with her story, her mom’s phone rang again. “Sorry, sorry,” Trudy trilled. “I guess I’m popular this afternoon!” Officer Funley’s face hardened as her mom dug into her bag once again. “Let me just… here we go.…” The ringing stopped. “I’ll turn it on vibrate,” she said graciously.

“How kind of you,” Officer Funley grunted. She turned back to Tenley. “Please proceed.”

Tenley had just opened her mouth to launch back into her story when a loud buzzing penetrated the room.

“Oh, just answer it!” Officer Funley snapped.

Trudy extracted her phone from her purse. “Hello? Yes. Uh-huh. I see.” Across the room, Officer Funley coughed pointedly. “Can you hold on for a second?” Trudy asked. “It’s about Guinness,” she whispered to Tenley. “I should—”

“Go take it. I’ll be fine. Really.” Tenley gave her mom a pointed look. They’d practiced her story at least fifteen times. There was no messing this up.

“Okay. But just shout if you need me.” Trudy already had the phone pressed back to her ear as she slipped out of the room.

“Now,” Officer Funley said wearily. “Let’s try this again.”

Tenley went carefully through her story. As she spoke, Officer Funley typed notes into her file. “And you’re sure it was a caffeine pill?” she asked when Tenley finished.

“To the best of my knowledge,” Tenley repeated.

Funley sighed. “So then it’s possible it wasn’t a caffeine pill?”

“I guess anything’s possible,” Tenley said carefully. “To the best of my knowledge it was a caffeine pill; but believe me, the whole thing has haunted me every day since.” That part, at least, was the truth. Tenley looked up, meeting Officer Funley’s eyes. She remembered her mom’s advice. A little pity never hurt anybody.

“And then my best friend, Caitlin, died so soon after,” Tenley continued. “Now it’s like I have no break from my own thoughts.” A surprise tear worked its way down her cheek, and she angrily swiped it away. Pity was one thing, but losing control in front of some random cop? That wasn’t in the playbook. But as Tenley watched Officer Funley shift in her seat, looking supremely uncomfortable at the sight of a tear, an idea crept its way into her mind.

She could use this.

Here she was at the one place in all of Echo Bay that held information about Caitlin’s kidnapper. It was probably right there on that computer—in a file labeled Thomas, Caitlin.

Back when Caitlin was in sixth grade, the police had concluded that a local man named Jack Hudson had been responsible for her kidnapping. But according to Caitlin’s diary, her real kidnapper hadn’t been Jack at all, but a woman. A woman who, as far as Tenley could tell, was now also their darer. What if there was something in that file that could lead Tenley to her?

“I have nightmares every night,” she continued, talking a little faster now. “Just last night I dreamed about Caitlin.” This time, when a fresh tear fell, she didn’t try to hide it.

Officer Funley cleared her throat, looking more and more uncomfortable. Tenley let tears gather in her eyes. They were surprisingly easy to call up, as if they’d been just waiting under the surface all this time. Soon her shoulders were shaking with soft sobs.

“I just miss Caitlin so much,” she blubbered. “S-sometimes I wonder if losing her was a punishment for what I accidentally did to Jessie. Like maybe I deserved it.” Her voice rose to a fever pitch. The tears were coming fast and furious now, rising from the darkest part of her. “I—I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I’ll try to pull myself together so we can finish. May I just have some tissues first?”

“Sure. Of course.” Officer Funley leaped out of her chair, clearly relieved to escape Tenley’s sobs. “I’ll go get some from upstairs.”

Bingo.

Tenley waited for the door to click shut before hurrying over to the computer. She was suddenly grateful for the lack of windows in the room. Funley had left the computer logged on. Thanks to its search feature, it didn’t take long to find the file she was looking for.

There were too many documents to read before Funley got back. She glanced over her shoulder. The door was still firmly shut. Officer Funley had to go all the way upstairs, probably to the bathroom in the very front of the building. Biting down on her lip, she hit Print.

She glanced at the door again as the printer began spitting out the file. On the screen, the computer counted out the pages. Halfway there… Now more than half…

Through the door, she heard her mom wrap up her phone call. “Oh, hello, Officer Funley!” Trudy called out. “Sorry again for the interruption. What are the tissues for?”

Tenley glanced nervously at the screen. Still six pages to go. “Come on,” she whispered. She clicked out of the file, ready to grab the papers and bolt. Out in the hall, two sets of footsteps made their way toward the door.

The printer spit out one more page, then another.

The door handle turned. The door creaked open a crack.

“Are you in there for questioning, Funley?” At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, the door halted in its path.

“Yeah,” Tenley heard Officer Funley reply. At that moment, the printer shuddered, then fell silent. “Shouldn’t be much longer, though.”

Tenley grabbed the papers and dove back into her seat. She’d just jammed the stack into her purse when Officer Funley strode into the room, followed by her mom.

“Thank you,” Tenley said when Funley handed her the tissues. Her heart was hammering wildly as she wiped at her eyes.

“What happened in here?” Trudy huffed. She went over to Tenley and put a protective hand on her shoulder. “In the few minutes I was gone, you managed to reduce my daughter to tears?” She squeezed Tenley’s shoulder, hard. “I will not have that, Officer. We’re leaving. If you’d like to continue this line of questioning, you can do so in the presence of our lawyer!”