“So, what’s going on?” My dad asked with a serious tone.
I cleared my throat, unsure if I should be airing out her life’s secrets. “I’m just feeling pretty bad about how I misjudged Shiloh.”
“How so?” my dad asked.
“Her brother…he recently committed suicide, and I wish I could go back and be a better friend to her from the beginning,” I said with a deep sigh.
My dad’s brows rose in shock, and I heard Ded suck in a breath.
“What?” My dad demanded. “Wait, last night?”
I stumbled my words out, now completely confused as well.
“What do you mean last night? She said it happened two weeks ago.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry. We got a domestic call last night when I was on my shift, and it was to Shiloh’s house.”
“What?” I almost shouted. “What do you mean ‘a domestic call’? What happened?”
Shit. Was she lying all along? Something happened last night, didn’t it? Dammit. I knew I should have trusted my gut instinct.
“Nothing. I mean, we showed up, and the house was empty except for her dad. I only knew it was her house because I had to ask the guy if there was anyone else living there. He said he had a daughter named Shiloh, but she wasn’t home. I honestly didn’t put the pieces together until just now. I didn’t realize that was her house…Jesus Christ. What a shit show.”
“I’m confused. What was the problem?”
“Well, the call was from a neighbor saying he heard a girl screaming for help,” my dad explained, giving me a grave look.
My stomach dropped to the floor, and I had to put my hand out to brace myself on a stack of boxes.
“Oh shit. So, wait. She wasn’t there though, right?”
“No, no. The house was empty except for her dad. We searched it. No signs of a struggle or anything. We put in a note to follow up on the house, make sure the daughter, Shiloh, was okay. Then last night I came home, and she was here so I figured everything was fine and it was a false alarm. Minus her being sick in the middle of the night, of course.”
We fell into silence and my mind raced with images of what could have happened at her house to have her screaming for help. Assuming it was her that was there.
“What time was the call at?”
My dad blew out a breath, looking up to the ceiling in thought. “Uh, gosh, maybe 4:30. Why?”
She didn’t show up until almost ten o’clock last night. What had happened in those nearly six hours since the call?
“Well, she was upset when she got here, like, she’d been crying so she’d had an allergic reaction. And she asked to take a shower. Which was weird, but I didn’t really think anything of it until…” I trailed off, my stomach filling with nerves. “It was strange, right? So, I asked her what was going on, like, if she got into a fight with her boyfriend or…worse. You know?” My dad nodded and I continued. “But she said that it was a migraine. That it had caused her to be in so much pain that she was crying and that showering helped her eyes and head feel better.”
“Do you think that her boyfriend could have hurt her?”
I thought for a moment before shrugging. “I honestly don’t really know anything about him except that he looks older. Like several years older than us. Maybe in college,” I speculated.
My dad nodded in thought, and I waited for him to say something. When he didn’t, I pressed him for more details.
“Was there anything about the house that made you think something might be going on there.”
My dad clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “I mean, it’s not somewhere I would ever want my kid to be living.”
“Why not?”
“Her bedroom window was boarded shut like it had been broken…Jesus, I shouldn’t tell you this stuff, Enoch. This is a complete breach of her privacy and my duty of confidentiality.”
I shook my head. “No, you know I won’t say anything. I just…I’m worried. Dad, she’s got scars, like cigarette burns on her body. And, with you mentioning this whole incident, it really makes me concerned that she’s not safe. Even Sebastian seemed concerned when he found out she was still living at home.”
