“I don’t . . . feel brave.”
“You are. You’re much braver than anyone I know.”
Rye let out another of those long, shuddering breaths, but didn’t otherwise respond. And because Jake didn’t know what else to say or how else to proceed, he lifted his eyes to the two women sitting on the other side of the room. He swallowed and nodded to Pamela, who was closer. He only hoped Rachel’s assessment of Pamela’s character had been right.
“Rye, have you met Pamela?” Without looking up, Rye shook his head, which was the answer Jake had expected. Jake continued. “Pamela is from the county sheriff’s department, and she’s really nice. Would it be okay with you if she sat here and talked with us?”
This time, Rye did look up and across the room. Pamela offered him a kind smile and a little wave.
“Hi, Rye. Nice to meet you,” she said, and Jake almost breathed a sigh of relief at the softness and kindness of her tone. Even if Rye couldn’t talk to her, at leastshe probably wouldn’t make him more upset than he already was. “I’d love to ask you a few questions, if you’re up for it.”
Rye bit his lip and screwed his eyes shut, then seemed to force a nod before burying his head in his knees once more.
“Pamela, come sit here with us. I think that helps. Right, Rye?”
At Rye’s nod again, Pamela came over and lowered herself down to sit facing Jake and Rye. Rachel stayed where she was.
And very gently, Pamela started talking. She told Rye who she was and mentioned that she’d seen an entire massive pod of short-beaked common dolphins when she’d gone whale watching last year. He’d looked up again, his eyes a bit wide, when she’d mentioned there were hundreds of dolphins in the pod and that they’d been swimming right alongside the boat.
The difference between her and Roscoe was like night and day, and Jake was hopeful. Until she changed the subject, that was.
“I know it’s hard to think about and talk about, Rye,” she started, her tone still careful and kind, “but I’d really like to ask you a few questions so we can figure out what happened when you disappeared and where you’ve been all this time. If someone did this to you, we want to find them so we can put them in jail and make sure they never hurt anyone ever again.”
The curiosity that had been in Rye’s eyes while she’d been talking about dolphins and whale watching tightened into fear and uncertainty. And yet, even as he visibly shrunk back against the wall a little more, Rye nodded.
Jake inhaled a sharp breath and tried to ignore the heaviness that settled on his chest.He’s not ready.The words repeated several times in his head in quick succession.He’s not ready. He’s not ready. He’s not ready.And Rye almost seemed to be fighting against himself as well, his breathing forced into an unnaturally steady rhythm and his jaw tight as he kept his eyes on Pamela.
“We can stop at any time, okay?”
Rye nodded, but Jake saw his fingers tighten around his legs.
“Do you remember the day you disappeared, Rye?”
Another nod, though Rye closed his eyes.
“Do you remember how old you were?”
Rye’s breath seemed to catch, and he nodded again. He buried his head against his knees but released his legs long enough to lift up eight fingers.
“That’s right, Rye,” Pamela said, and she blinked and glanced at Jake, her gentle smile faltering for a second. “I want to ask you a more difficult question now. But it’s okay to say no... Rye, do you remember what happened that day?”
This time, Rye nodded just once, but it was immediate and strong and... awful. Because he also started shaking again. And Jake noticed his shoespressing into the carpet as though he were trying to push himself back against the wall harder.
“I’m so sorry to have to ask these questions, Rye. I know they’re hard. Can you tell me anything about it? About what happened?” With obvious reluctance, Pamela added, “Did someone take you that day, Rye?”
Jake’s heart hurt as he watched Rye struggle to find an answer, first nodding and then shaking his head and then reaching up to cover his head with both hands.
And Jake couldn’t not react. He couldn’t sit there and do nothing. So he scooted closer to Rye by a few inches and softly murmured, “It’s okay, Rye. It’s okay.” Then he lifted his hand and set it lightly on Rye’s upper back, as he had several times now. When he rubbed gently, Rye let out a quiet sob. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe now.”
He could feel each of Rye’s shaky breaths, each uncertain tremble, each shudder, and it hurt his heart. Again.
“I think we should be done now, Jake,” Pamela suggested, her voice low, and Jake couldn’t agree more.
He nodded and rubbed Rye’s back again. “Did you hear that, Rye? All done for today, okay? You did great. You did great.”
Quietly, Pamela got up and moved away, and then she and Rachel left the room, promising to be back with Rye’s mom in a few minutes, after they spoke to Wayne and Roscoe.
Then the room was silent again, except for the low hum and click of the ceiling fan.
