❁
A few days later, JJ was called into the police station. Apparently, the guy who worked at the Thai restaurant had seen another suspicious person in the alley that day, one that he didn't recognize. The person had sauntered into the alley without a care in the world, peered around at the dumpster casually, and exited with his fingers tapping on a cell phone. Video cameras from the pet store and the Thai restaurant proved that the person—the man—had arrived on scene just before Lizzy walked into the alley. The cameras followed the man as he strutted back down the alley, trailing after Lizzy. He emerged from the alley a few moments later with an arm slung around a girl with frizzy hair—Lizzy. Her feet had been dragging on the pavement, her head lolled onto the man's shoulder.
Unfortunately, the cameras were unable to capture this man's face. When the police questioned the guy from the Thai restaurant about why he didn't report to the police right away, he simply shrugged and told them that he thought it was his girlfriend who decided to snort some coke or something in the alley. To him, the drugs explained the differences in her behavior—from when she walked the alley, alert and alive, to her almost lifeless exit.
The police were able to roughly sketch what the guy remembered that day and they wanted JJ to examine the sketch to see if he knew the man who had taken Lizzy.
JJ entered the police station with clammy palms. He had been relieved to hear the progress in Lizzy's case but finding out had also made the situation all that more real. Before, anything could have happened to hear. Maybe she had decided to run away, leaving her family and best friends behind. But now, she had truly been kidnapped. Some sick soul smacked her head and dragged her from the alley and into his car, which, unfortunately, hadn't been on the tape.
A police officer escorted JJ to one of the investigators who had a copy of the sketch in front of him. JJ sat down in front of his desk, avoiding eye contact with investigator whose gaze seemed to bore into him mercilessly. He was a chubby man with a talent of making even the most innocent people squirm, an ex-cop who found he enjoyed solving mysteries more than arresting criminals.
"Jordan Hale. I'm Wallace Lincoln, one of the investigators in Elizabeth Conner's case." Wallace held out a hand for JJ to shake and JJ complied. His pudgy hand seemed to squeeze him, threaten him, warn him—if he didn't tell Wallace everything he knew, there was bound to be some sort of punishment. His mind plucked a jail scene from his imagination, dressed in orange, stuck in a cramped cell with other criminals staring at him as though he were a piece of meat they couldn't wait to devour. JJ shook the idea out of his head. He was already going to tell the investigator everything he knew so there was nothing to worry about.
"Jordan?" Wallace asked, snapping JJ out of his trance. Wallace had clearly asked him a question that JJ hadn't heard.
"Yes?" His soft voice held a tremor as he stared into the investigator's penetrating gaze.
"How are you holding up? I heard you were very close to Miss Conner."
JJ shrugged. "As close as we could be, considering that we'd never met."
"How did you two know each other again?"
JJ had already gone over this story and he didn't feel like doing it again. "Do I have to?"
"I'm just making sure you remembered every single detail. It's important for our files."
JJ delved into his story with Lizzy again. He was so used to keeping her a secret that every time her name flowed from his lips, a strange, indescribable feeling squeezed his lungs until his voice grew scratchy and his eyes stung with tears.
Wallace pretended not to notice JJ's pain. "Here we have the text messages between yourself and Lizzy. Do you think you can tell us when exactly the alleged kidnapper began texting her and not you?"
JJ pointed to the last text he had ever sent her: Fuck, I'm grounded for two weeks because I got a D in English and I got in a fight with Asher this morning. That means no phone for two weeks. I'm sorry, Liz.
He remembered that day with clarity. His shouts at Asher, which led to a few punches and a sprinkling of blood. His mother scolding them. An email from his English teacher about his falling grade. More scolding. Her hand, palm up, asking for his phone. Reluctantly handing it over. Ultimately dooming Lizzy.
"That one?" Wallace clarified. JJ nodded before sinking back into his seat. "Thank you for your cooperation," Wallace added as an afterthought. He marked the text and focused his attention on the sketch.
"Now, we have this sketch of a possible subject. I need you to tell me if he looks familiar to you, if he goes to your school, if you've seen him around the grocery store. Hell, even if it's the smallest inkling, I need you to tell us. It could be very important and key to finding Elizabeth." He flipped the sketch around to face JJ.
The first thing JJ noticed about it was the eyes, oval and menacing. He studied the facial structure, the swooping hair. Notes about the sheet said that he was believed to have brown hair and tanned skin. JJ knew him from somewhere; he just couldn't put his finger on it.
He turned back to Wallace, who motioned for him to take as long as he liked. The person's name was on the tip of his tongue, dangling on the edge, but it vanished before JJ could speak it aloud. JJ knew him. But who was he?
"I—I know him," JJ said aloud. Then, he realized the sketch looked a lot like himself and he shoved it away. "Is this a joke?" he asked, a hysterical laugh bubbling from his stomach.
Wallace's eyebrows knit together as if he had no idea what JJ was talking about.
"It's me! That guy described me. You know what? Screw all of you. I would never hurt her so I can't believe you think I'm a damn suspect. All I've ever done is try to help you and find her."
JJ stormed out of the police station, angry tears pricking his eyes. No matter what he did or how much he helped, he was still painted as a suspect. Meanwhile, her real kidnapper was probably hurting her, bringing her closer and closer to death. He imagined her being pushed toward the edge of the cliff, rocks tumbling to the abyss beneath her feet. One more push and she'd plummet to her doom.
If she hadn't already.
❁
JJ's rage still wrapped around him as he slammed the front door to his house. He resisted the urge to punch something—the wall, a pillow, one of his mom's ceramic dishes. He fumed straight into the kitchen and was surprised to see Teagan, Mateo, and Reece sipping coffee at the counter.
"What're you guys doing here?" he asked, forcing his anger to simmer.
Mateo clapped JJ on the shoulder like they were old pals. "We heard about you going to the station and we wanted to know how it went. We're here for you, dude."
JJ slumped into a chair with a loud, exasperated sigh. He loved the support, but he really just wanted to scream at someone or punch something; he really just desired to be alone. "Well, it sucked."
"Is she—" Reece was about to ask before JJ cut in with a fervent shake of his head.
"No. They wanted me to look at some sketch and confirm a few details for them."
"Like what?" Teagan asked curiously. She had always written murder mystery novels, but she never wanted to be in one, especially when it involved her best friend.
"Like what was the last text I sent her, how did we meet, all those little things," JJ responded.
"And what about the sketch? Did you recognize it at all?" Teagan sipped her steaming coffee.
JJ despised the sketch, but he didn't want to lie to Lizzy's friends. "I recognized it. And then I realized it looked almost exactly like me."
Teagan, Mateo, and Reece all exchanged unreadable looks like they had some inside joke that JJ wasn't included on. They conversed silently with their eyes for a few minutes, clearly arguing about something, and then Teagan spoke what they were all thinking: "What did you do to her, JJ?"
JJ's mouth fell open in shock. Did they really think that after all he's done for her, everything that he's been through, all the pain he's been through, he'd hurt her? "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
Reece blushed and stared at his mug. "You got to admit, everything's a bit too coincidental, JJ."
JJ looked around for his mother for support but discovered that she had left upon his arrival. "What the hell do you mean?"
"You're the stranger who texted her in the first place. The sketch looks exactly like you. You brought her to Illinois—"
"That wasn't me!" JJ exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "That was my impersonator, pretending to be me!"
"But how do we know?" Teagan demanded. "It's all under the same number, the same phone. You could be lying right now, and we wouldn't know."
"It all points to you. I'm sorry, JJ," Mateo said.
JJ smacked his head in frustration. Gone was Mateo's support and gone was any possibility of their working together for Lizzy's benefit. "Leave." JJ scowled and pointed to the door.
Mateo now gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I hope we're wrong about you."
They all left, and JJ couldn't wait to say the words I told you so when Lizzy was found.
After his encounter with Lizzy's friends, JJ climbed into his car and sped to the beach of Lake Michigan. He cranked the radio as loud as it could go, music blasting his eardrums and drowning out his worries. With windows open, the wind whipped his hair around like grasses by the sea. When the blue expanse crept into view, JJ inhaled the fresh and fishy scent, already feeling better and more at ease.
He parked his car and waded into the beach, the cool water nipping at his toes. The sand shifted underneath his feet and tickled them with its soft sensation. JJ closed his eyes and breathed the air. Finally, he was alone. With his thoughts and the never-ending white-capped waves.
The sun dipped into the lake in the horizon like a scoop of ice cream into chocolate sauce. Splashes of orange and pink blinded JJ until it disappeared, leaving behind only small remnants of color in the clouds. Waves crashed onto his legs, the warm air caressing his sinewy forearms.
Free. The ideology swam up to him and stroked him with its smooth scaly skin like a fish. Free. He felt so free.
He hoped someday he and Lizzy could experience this together.
❁
A/N:
Another chapter!!! I hope you're feeling the tension... we're getting so close to the end (50 total chapters)!!! If you have any questions, just let me know and I'll answer as best I can! I'm almost on Christmas break, and I'm hoping to write a lot then! I can't wait to start new novels and stories for you all to read! I'm also going to try to write a few that I will eventually query and hopefully publish! Thanks for all of your support <3
- Payton