“She doesn’t keep in touch with her family. She said they were ‘toxic’ and she hasn’t spoken to any of them since she left for college ten years ago.”
“Did she say anything about them, though?” Josie asked. “Are both parents still alive? Does she have siblings?”
“Her parents are divorced, she said. I guess they’re still alive. I’m pretty sure she has one brother and one sister but I’m not a hundred percent certain.”
“Who did she celebrate holidays with?” Josie asked.
“A friend from college,” Mettner said. “Before we met. Her name is Grace Power. I met her once. I could find her contact information for you. She lives in Lewisburg.”
“What about other friends?” Noah asked. “Local friends?”
Mettner crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s got a couple of friends she went to college with that she goes out for drinks with now and then—oh, and a secretary who works at city hall—but that’s it.”
“Ex-boyfriends?” Josie asked.
“She didn’t talk about that.”
Josie and Noah looked at one another. Ex-partners were usually a topic of conversation between people who were committed to one another, especially if they were planning a future, as Mettner had said.
Noah asked, “Did you tell her about your ex-girlfriends?”
“Well, yeah, not that there’s much to tell.”
“You never asked her why she wouldn’t talk about hers?” Josie said.
“I didn’t want to know,” Mettner said.
“You ever have a serious relationship before?” Noah asked him.
Mettner shrugged. “No. I mean, I never even felt like I was in love before I met Amber. I dated, sure, but nothing ever felt like… this.”
In the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles, Josie saw fresh tears glisten in his eyes. Amber had been hired by the mayor’s office as the press liaison for the police department. It would be easy enough for Josie’s team to contact human resources and find out who she had listed as her emergency contact. She didn’t want to bring it up in front of Mettner, not here and now, but there was a good chance they’d have to contact Amber’s next of kin in order to identify her body.
Noah said, “Assuming that Amber came here to meet someone or that someone brought her here—the person who left the message on her windshield—do you have any idea who that person could be?”
Slowly, Mettner shook his head. “No, none. If I did, I would have gone right to that person to see if they knew where she was.”
“You didn’t find anything on her phone?” Noah asked.
“Noah,” Josie admonished. “We can’t use anything he found on her phone. He broke into her house to access it!”
“You’re really not going to ask him?” Noah said.
“If we follow a lead as a result of something that Mettner found after illegally entering Amber’s home, it will become a nightmare in court. Either it will be inadmissible or it will cause issues during trial or on appeal.” She threw up her hands, making a noise of exasperation in her throat. “What is going on with all of you today? You know the rules just as well as I do! If someone lured Amber here or brought her here, hurt her, and left her in those rocks to die, then I want to catch that person and make sure he goes away for as long as possible. That means we have to do things by the book.”
“That’s rich,” said Mettner. “Coming from someone who was suspended twice for not doing things by the book.”
“Hey,” Noah said. “Watch it.”
Josie put a hand up. “It’s fine. That’s fair. But Mett—I’m trying to learn from those instances. I want to get this right.”
“There was nothing on the phone,” he said.
Before Josie could say another word, they were interrupted by the sounds of more vehicles pulling into the gravel lot. Two vans from the local television news station, WYEP, pulled up beside the ambulances. Out hopped cameramen, a couple of producers, and two reporters.
“Shit,” Josie said.
“Yeah,” said Noah. “We don’t need this. Mett, get back in your car. Don’t get out again.”
A young male reporter, barely out of college, ran toward them, his phone held out like an offering, but Josie knew he was merely recording any conversation they might have. “Detective Quinn, it’s you! Detective Quinn! Is it true that a woman drowned in the river?”
Josie put her hands up and motioned for them to step back. “I need you guys behind the ambulances, please.”
“But we heard on the police scanner that the marine unit was called out. Was there some issue with the dam? A dam employee? Who would be out in the river this late at night?”
“Please,” Noah chimed in, walking toward the reporter and his crew, backing them up a few steps at a time. “We need to keep this area clear. Emergency personnel are responding to a situation.”
The reporter scoffed. “A situation? Really? That’s all you’re going to give me? I got more from the scanner. Fine. Don’t give me anything, but I’ll just be calling your press liaison. I have her cell phone number. I’m sure she’ll love being woken in the middle of the night.”
Josie had some choice words for the kid but she held back. Noah jogged over to a marked unit and asked one of the uniformed officers to keep the reporters behind the ambulances.
“At least tell me if it’s a rescue mission or a recovery mission,” the reporter went on.
Josie heard rustling behind her, then footsteps. “Quinn! Fraley!” barked Chief Chitwood.
Josie and Noah turned to see the Chief standing at the top of the steps leading to the riverbank. Although he towered over them, he was so thin that his large brown jacket seemed to swallow him up. A dark knit hat covered his balding scalp. He waved a gloved hand, beckoning them over. Mettner stepped out of his SUV but the Chief snapped, “Don’t even think about it.” Turning back in the direction of Josie and Noah, he said, “Come on, you two. I don’t have all night.”
They were halfway down the steps, trailing behind him, following the beam of his flashlight when Noah asked, “What did you find?”
“A dead woman,” Chitwood said over his shoulder, his tone solemn.
Josie had known logically that this news was forthcoming, but still, it felt like an uppercut to her stomach. “Oh, Amber,” she said.
Chitwood pulled up short and shone the light into both of their faces momentarily. “Not Amber,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” Josie asked.
“The woman we just pulled from the river is not Amber,” Chitwood told them.
“But we saw her,” Noah said. “Her hair…” He looked at Josie. “Did you see her face?”
“No,” Josie admitted. “I didn’t. I just assumed it was her.”
“Well, it’s not,” said Chitwood. He turned and trudged onward.
“If that’s not Amber, where the hell is she?” said Noah.
Nine
Amber’s feet scrabble against the rock-strewn ground, trying to gain purchase, trying to keep her scalp from being torn. Fear seizes her, her body stiff and paralyzed in its clutches. She blinks rapidly, trying to bring anything but darkness into focus. How can he see a thing? Then it occurs to her that he doesn’t need to see their surroundings. He is so familiar with them, he can navigate in the dark.