"Be careful back there," Heather shouted. Lissa called something in reply, which Heather couldn't hear.
She knelt down, looking through the camera's viewfinder, seeing the image in the frame take shape. The sun, behind her, was approaching the level of the tallest trees. Heather felt a jittery jumping in her stomach and a quiver in her fingers, the way she always did when she knew she was going to get exactly what she wanted. She took a few seconds to measure the light again and adjust the exposure. Then, ready at last, she squeezed the shutter, then again, and again, hearing the motorized whir as the film advanced each time.
"Mommy!" Lissa shouted from behind the barn. "Come look at this!"
"In a minute, sweetheart," Heather called back.
"Look, look, look," Lissa cried. She came running from behind the barn.
"Lissa, Mommy's busy now. What is it?"
"Look what I found. Isn't it pretty?"
Heather looked away from the camera long enough to notice Lissa holding a gold bracelet. "Where did you find that, sweetheart?"
"Behind the barn."
Heather frowned. "Didn't I tell you not to pick things up? People things?"
"Well, yes, but this is different," Lissa argued.
"How is it different?"
"It's not dangerous or anything. It's just a bracelet."
"Yes, and it's a bracelet that belongs to somebody else, who's probably going to come looking for it," Heather said. "Now put it back where you found it."
"You mean I can't keep it?"
Heather sighed. It was always this way with Lissa and jewelry. "No, you can't keep it. It belongs to someone else. Put it back right now."
"I don't think they'd want it anymore," Lissa complained. "It's all dirty."
"Well, then, why do you want it?"
Lissa didn't have an immediate answer. She thought about it. "I could clean it up," she said.
"And so could the person who owns it. Now no more arguing. Put it back."
Lissa gave up fighting and walked away unhappily, back toward the rear of the barn. Relieved, Heather turned her attention back to her camera. She looked through the viewfinder again.
Perfect.
Behind the barn, Lissa reluctantly put the bracelet back where she found it, which was in a muddy patch near the edge of the field. It didn't really seem fair, though. She didn't believe that anyone would be coming back for it.
"But Mommy said so," Lissa murmured to herself.
After putting it back, Lissa continued exploring. She already had a successful collection, including several interesting rocks and pretty blue flowers, all of which were stuffed in her coat pockets. She wasn't aware of time passing. It seemed only an instant later that she looked up and realized the sun had dipped below the trees.
Just then, she heard her mother calling. "Lissa, come on, it's time to go!"
For once, Lissa didn't need to be told twice. She started running out of the field toward the barn again. As she did, she had to pass right by the puddle, where the bracelet was.
"Lissa!" her mother called again.
Lissa thought about it. She really wanted that bracelet, and it was pretty careless of whoever owned it to leave it here. Besides, she could keep it and clean it up, and if the owner ever wanted it, she would be keeping it safe and sound. And she still thought maybe the person had simply thrown it away.
Mommy just didn't understand. She didn't like jewelry anyway.
Quickly, Lissa bent down, grabbed the bracelet, and crammed it deep into her pocket. "I'm coming," she called, and ran for the front of the barn.
PART TWO
8
Bird Finch paced the shadows of the studio, lifting his stilt-like legs over the cables stretched across the floor. No one talked to him. They had all learned long ago that Bird never said a word in the last few minutes before a live broadcast. He was too high. His emotions were churning. He was psyching himself up.
Tonight the ratings would be sky-high again.
After three weeks of courting them since Rachel's disappearance, he had landed the first live interview with Graeme and Emily Stoner. For the first time, they were ready to talk about losing their girl. And they wouldn't be alone. Joining them on the set was another grieving family, Mike and Barbara McGrath, who had spent more than a year searching fruitlessly for their daughter Kerry. Two families would sit down with him, purge their emotions, and send the police a message.
There's a killer stalking the north shore and snatching teenagers off the street.
Find him.
Bird stopped and crossed his arms. On the brightly lit set, Graeme and Emily Stoner sat in comfortable chairs while two makeup artists fluttered around them, dabbing at their faces. He saw the McGraths walk up to the Stoners and watched the two families exchange awkward greetings.
"Two minutes," a voice on an overhead speaker announced.
Bird emerged out of the darkness of the studio and crossed the set with the grace of a large cat. He stood like a black tower over his guests, who stared up at him from their four chairs. He smiled at them, revealing paper-white teeth against his black skin. He grabbed each of their hands in turn in a crushing handshake.
"I want to thank all of you for joining me tonight," he told them in a sober, rumbling voice, which he reserved for victims. "I can only imagine how hard this is for each of you. But it's so very important that the rest of the people in this state hear your story. And, God willing, maybe your voices can reach out to your girls, or to whoever stole them away from you."
"That's very kind of you, Mr. Finch," Barbara McGrath said.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stoner, I will do everything I can to put you at ease," he said. "I don't want you thinking about the camera. Just talk to me. Tell me your story."
Bird squeezed his tall body into his usual chair. He rubbed one hand back over his shaved scalp and glanced at his suit to make sure his pockets, handkerchief, and cuffs were in place. He cleared his throat and draped one bent arm over the left side of the chair.
He gave his guests a last sympathetic smile. The red light went on.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Bird said. "I'm Jay Finch, and tonight I bring you a very special interview with two families from Duluth, Minnesota. These four people only met for the first time tonight, but they share a bond that brings them closer together as each day passes."
The camera backed up to reveal the Stoners and McGraths sitting across from Bird on the set.
"Fifteen months ago, Kerry McGrath, the daughter of Mike and Barbara McGrath, disappeared off the streets of Duluth. Three weeks ago tonight, Rachel Deese, daughter of Emily Stoner and stepdaughter of her husband, Graeme, suffered the same terrible fate. Two teenage girls who went to the same school and lived only a few miles apart. Both missing persons. We all pray for their safety, and we all fear for their lives."
Bird's voice hardened. "The police will not tell you these crimes are related. They say simply that both investigations are continuing, although they release no evidence to suggest they are any closer to solving these awful mysteries. Meanwhile, the families of Duluth face another night of uneasy sleep. Each time one of their girls goes off to school, they wonder if she will return home safely. Each time their daughter leaves them to visit a friend, they call to make sure she arrived on time. This is what fear does. This is the price of not knowing. Because everyone in Duluth is whispering the same question: What happened?"
Bird focused his eyes into the camera, as if he were standing in the living room of every viewer.
"What happened? Is there a serial killer stalking the young women of Duluth? Is someone else in danger? Will a year pass this time between crimes, or has the killer's patience been exhausted? Is he back on the street tonight, cruising in a lonely vehicle, slowing down at each person he passes?"