phone, and took several deep breaths to try to calm my racing heart. I quickly punched her number on the phone and it only rang twice before she picked it up.
“Wilson.”
“Um, hi. Detective Wilson, this is Maddie Thomas. I’m just returning your call?” Her brisk greeting had caught me off guard and I realized that I probably sounded like an idiot.
“Oh Hi, Maddie,” her tone instantly warmed. “Thanks for calling me back. How are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” I winced as I realized how much I was repeating ‘I’m okay’ to people lately.
A silenced passed between us before she spoke again. “Did you give any thought to that card Detective Bradley gave you?”
I stared at my fingernails for a moment before sighing. “I did. And I will probably call. My friend also gave me some support group information.”
“Good,” she replied, sounding pleased. “Support groups can be just as beneficial as independent counseling. Try at least one of them, okay?”
I nodded, but I realized she couldn’t see me. “Okay.”
Seemingly satisfied she continued. “That’s not the main reason I was calling, though. I wanted to let you know that the DNA results came back from the semen and blood samples we collected.”
My heart pounded and I set my mug on the coffee table in front of me.
“He’s not in the system, Maddie, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find him.”
A stifled whimper fell out of my mouth, and I let my head fall back on the couch.
“Maddie, please don’t give up. We still have the sketch you gave us and we are looking for him. Once we find him we will be able to match his DNA to the samples we have. We are doing our best, okay?”
“Yeah,” I whispered into the phone. “Thanks Detective.”
“You need me, you call me. Day or night, Maddie.”
“I will.”
We ended the call and I just stared at the phone for a few minutes. I was so sure that they’d find him once the DNA came through, but now it felt hopeless.
I sat frozen on the couch for some time, just going over the conversation again. The front door opened and I jumped as Amanda walked in, her face flushed and her skin glistening with sweat. She smiled at me before stopping and trying to gauge my expression.
The bathroom door opened at that moment and Matthew stepped out wearing just boxer shorts. He took in the air between us and immediately walked into the living room.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Detective just called with the DNA result.” They both looked at me expectantly. “The DNA doesn’t match anyone in their system.”
“Damn it,” Matthew cursed, running his hand over his shaved head. “They’ll catch him another way.
Amanda nodded in agreement as she downed the rest of the water she had in her bottle.
I took in a deep breath and gave them a feeble smile. “Yeah, I know. I was just hoping it was now.”
Chapter Six
That night, my mom and brother dragged me out to dinner at the local steakhouse. Sydney came with us, but Amanda declined, saying she had to go take care of her mom.
We sat at the restaurant laughing at some of the stories Matthew was telling us about his life oversees. He was careful not to include anything bad in his tales, always telling ones that would almost make it seem like he was on vacation. My brother, the protector.
“And when he woke up he had the worst sunburn on his ass! He couldn’t sit for almost a week!”
The table roared with laughter as Matthew retold another one of the pranks that was played amongst his unit.
When the laughter died out my mom looked at her oldest with a smile on her lips. “I can’t believe my son was involved in half of these. And here I thought you were all grown up and mature.”
Matthew grinned broadly. “Involved? I came up with a lot of them! You have to pass the time somehow, Ma.”
I scoffed and threw a piece of bread at him. “Mom, you didn’t see half the stuff he pulled when we were kids. You remember when Mr. Samuels’ white
“Wilson.”
“Um, hi. Detective Wilson, this is Maddie Thomas. I’m just returning your call?” Her brisk greeting had caught me off guard and I realized that I probably sounded like an idiot.
“Oh Hi, Maddie,” her tone instantly warmed. “Thanks for calling me back. How are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” I winced as I realized how much I was repeating ‘I’m okay’ to people lately.
A silenced passed between us before she spoke again. “Did you give any thought to that card Detective Bradley gave you?”
I stared at my fingernails for a moment before sighing. “I did. And I will probably call. My friend also gave me some support group information.”
“Good,” she replied, sounding pleased. “Support groups can be just as beneficial as independent counseling. Try at least one of them, okay?”
I nodded, but I realized she couldn’t see me. “Okay.”
Seemingly satisfied she continued. “That’s not the main reason I was calling, though. I wanted to let you know that the DNA results came back from the semen and blood samples we collected.”
My heart pounded and I set my mug on the coffee table in front of me.
“He’s not in the system, Maddie, but that doesn’t mean we won’t find him.”
A stifled whimper fell out of my mouth, and I let my head fall back on the couch.
“Maddie, please don’t give up. We still have the sketch you gave us and we are looking for him. Once we find him we will be able to match his DNA to the samples we have. We are doing our best, okay?”
“Yeah,” I whispered into the phone. “Thanks Detective.”
“You need me, you call me. Day or night, Maddie.”
“I will.”
We ended the call and I just stared at the phone for a few minutes. I was so sure that they’d find him once the DNA came through, but now it felt hopeless.
I sat frozen on the couch for some time, just going over the conversation again. The front door opened and I jumped as Amanda walked in, her face flushed and her skin glistening with sweat. She smiled at me before stopping and trying to gauge my expression.
The bathroom door opened at that moment and Matthew stepped out wearing just boxer shorts. He took in the air between us and immediately walked into the living room.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Detective just called with the DNA result.” They both looked at me expectantly. “The DNA doesn’t match anyone in their system.”
“Damn it,” Matthew cursed, running his hand over his shaved head. “They’ll catch him another way.
Amanda nodded in agreement as she downed the rest of the water she had in her bottle.
I took in a deep breath and gave them a feeble smile. “Yeah, I know. I was just hoping it was now.”
Chapter Six
That night, my mom and brother dragged me out to dinner at the local steakhouse. Sydney came with us, but Amanda declined, saying she had to go take care of her mom.
We sat at the restaurant laughing at some of the stories Matthew was telling us about his life oversees. He was careful not to include anything bad in his tales, always telling ones that would almost make it seem like he was on vacation. My brother, the protector.
“And when he woke up he had the worst sunburn on his ass! He couldn’t sit for almost a week!”
The table roared with laughter as Matthew retold another one of the pranks that was played amongst his unit.
When the laughter died out my mom looked at her oldest with a smile on her lips. “I can’t believe my son was involved in half of these. And here I thought you were all grown up and mature.”
Matthew grinned broadly. “Involved? I came up with a lot of them! You have to pass the time somehow, Ma.”
I scoffed and threw a piece of bread at him. “Mom, you didn’t see half the stuff he pulled when we were kids. You remember when Mr. Samuels’ white
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