Missing

Chapter 3

Beatrice
I waited anxiously for the police to arrive. I couldn't bring myself to eat or do anything that normal people would do. I just paced back and forth in the small living area that barely qualified as a living room and looked out the window from time to time. I finally saw a patrol car pull up to the trailer. A tall brunette man got out and walked up the front steps to the door. I opened the door before he could knock.
"Hello, ma'am."
"Hello, Officer."
"Officer Brian Gomez. I understand that you filed a missing persons report for your daughter Andrea Bishop."
"Yes, sir."
"When did you last see Andrea?"
I already answered this but I understood that he was just doing his job.
"Friday night."
"When did you realize that she was missing?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
"Why didn't you report this sooner?"
"I thought that she was staying with one of her friends. I asked pretty much everyone she knows and no one has seen her since Friday night. I was hoping that she would just come home so it wouldn't be necessary to report it."
He nodded.
"I have to ask. Where were you from Friday night to yesterday afternoon?"
"I was at work. I work in labor and delivery at South Medical so I have long shifts. I didn't come home until almost 2 PM."
"When did you leave for your shift?"
"A little after 7 PM."
"Was Andrea still at home at that time?"
"Yes. She was here with her boyfriend Josh. She was getting ready to go to a party at her friend Tony's house."
"Can I get the full name for both of those people?"
I could tell that he wanted to say suspects.
"Yes, sir. That's Joshua Lee Cooke and Antonio David Salazar."
He jotted the names down and looked at me.
"What time did she leave?"
"I don't know. I got ready for work and left before she did. I only know that she said that she was planning to leave around 7:30."
"If you had already left, how do you know that she went to the party?"
"She sent me a simple text saying that she made it. Her friends said that she stayed until around 11:45 and got in an Uber to go home."
"And no one else was at home to check on her? A parent? A neighbor?"
"No. We're the only ones who live here. She's seventeen but she's responsible enough to stay home by herself. She would've gone to sleep and waited here for me. It's how we've been doing it for years."
He nodded.
"Do you mind showing me to her bedroom?"
"Not at all."
I led him to the room that was on the left at the end of the small hallway. He opened the door and searched the room for any evidence. It felt awkward to watch him, so I let him do his job. Eventually, he came out of the room with Andrea's laptop, her favorite purse with her wallet inside, her hairbrush, and her diary. He searched the rest of the house but didn't find anything else that could be evidence. He said that he would keep in touch if he found anything. I thanked him and opened the door for him. He took the carefully handled evidence bags of Andrea's things, got in the car, and drove off.