They ran in a moment later, grabbing water on their way to the dining room. Joe and Ginny were the same height and could have been clones, except that Ginny had long curly dark hair and Joe’s was cut very short. They both had dark, inquisitive eyes and a smattering of freckles over their skin. According to the file, they were the same age as Ricky Albright, therefore twelve going on thirteen.

They stopped when they saw Lucy and Nate at the dining table.

“Come sit,” JJ said, entering behind them. He waited until his kids were settled and he sat across from them.

“This is Agent Dunning and Agent Kincaid from the FBI. They have some questions for you, but first I need to tell you something.” He waited until both kids looked at him. “Remember the news report about skeletons that had been found south of Kerrville?”

They nodded.

“Those skeletons were Ricky’s parents and sisters. They were killed three years ago. They didn’t run off to Mexico like we were told, but something bad happened to them.” He looked at his kids as if reading their expressions and nodded. “I know it’s hard to hear this, but you’re both brave. And if you have questions after, you can ask me or your mom anything, okay?”

They nodded.

“Now, these two FBI agents have some questions about the last time you saw Ricky.”

“Is he—?” Joe asked, his voice barely audible.

“They don’t know if Ricky is alive,” JJ said, “but they are doing everything they can to find out if he is and, if so, where he is. He might know something of what happened to his family, or he could be in trouble. Or, to be honest with you both, he might be dead, too. We don’t know.” He looked at them. “You okay?”

Both Joe and Ginny blinked back tears but nodded at their dad.

“I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I expect complete honesty here. This is important.”

“Yes, sir,” Joe said, sitting straight and trying not to cry. Ginny stared at her hands, folded on the table in front of her.

Lucy said, “Let me tell you what we know already, and you can fill in any holes, okay? The police were here a few days after the Albrights disappeared. You said that Ricky had left about six p.m. to go home. It was Friday. Your mom called over to the house and left a message on the answering machine that he was on his way home. You also said you didn’t see him after that, correct?”

They both nodded.

“Did Ricky say anything to you either that day or any other day about his parents leaving town? Was Ricky worried about anything?”

Joe stared at her. “Like what?”