“I just wanted to come home.” Jordyn’s eyes fill with tears. She lays her forehead on the bar top. “I don’t know what happened.”

“She came over about thirty minutes ago,” Kevin pipes up from behind the bar. “Said you were out of milk and cereal at the house and was going to eat breakfast here.”

Officer Wilson pauses, waiting for Jordyn’s crying to stop. When it doesn’t she sighs and gets to her feet. “Why don’t you and your grandpa come to the station and we’ll talk more, Jordyn. We could really use your help. There’s a bad person out there who hurt your friends. Anything you can tell us might help us catch him. Okay?” Jordyn peeks up and sniffles and nods.

“Go wash your face, Jordyn,” Thomas says, “then we’ll go down to the station. Okay?”

“But I don’t know anything.” Jordyn wipes her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just tell the truth,” Thomas tells her. “The police will decide whether or not it’s important.”

The three adults watch as Jordyn slouches off to the bathroom. “Jesus,” Kevin says when she’s out of earshot. “What happened to those kids?”

“I’m not sure,” Officer Wilson says, “but there was a hell of a lot of blood. When we got there the Landry girl was being loaded into an ambulance. She looked really, really bad. The other girl emerged a few minutes later covered in blood. They put her in a police car and took her to the hospital, too.”

“Jim Landry runs the Appliance Barn, doesn’t he?” Kevin asks.

“Yeah, the mom works at the elementary school. Nice people,” Thomas says. “This happened at their house?”

“No, down by the old depot,” Officer Wilson says.

“The depot?” Thomas asks in surprise. “What were they doing by the railroad tracks so late at night?”

“A lady walking her dog found the Landry girl and called for help.” Officer Wilson shakes his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Jordyn comes out of the bathroom. Her face is splotchy, eyes red.

“I’ll meet you and Jordyn at the station in an hour,” Officer Wilson says and Jordyn’s eyes fill again with tears.

“I don’t want to—” she begins but Officer Wilson stops her.

“This isn’t a request, Jordyn. Someone messed those girls up pretty bad,” she says and moves toward the exit. “See you soon.”

“Come on, Jordyn,” Thomas says. “You need to get dressed and then we’ll head over to the station. You got things covered here, Kevin?”