going on right now. She doesn't need to have to deal with this on top of it.”
After hanging up, she leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. She concentrated as hard as she could but nothing came. When she opened her eyes minutes later, she found Ben's gaze on her. Shrugging and giving him a half hearted smirk, she turned back to Summers.
“Work with Wooldridge and Matthews,” she instructed. “They should be able to provide a DNA sample for you to compare these to. I also want it run through the system. Someone's been standing here watching the house, even if it wasn't the stalker.”
He nodded as he slid the last one into the envelope before sealing it.
Rilynne and Ben stood in place after he left instead of going inside. He seemed to be studying her face, trying to get a read on what she was thinking without asking her.
“You don't want to tell her.” He said minutes later. It wasn't a question.
Rilynne shook her head, not needing to think about it. “There's nothing she can tell us that we can't learn ourselves. Besides, I don't want to give her another reason to blame herself. She's doing enough of that as it is.”
Ben nodded without arguing. He reached out to take her hand before leading her to the front door.
When they walked in, they found Lori sitting on the couch, staring out the window with Kim's favorite teddy bear in her arms. She didn't even notice they were there until Rilynne sat down next to her.
“She's going to be so scared without Mr. Fuzzy,” she said, squeezing the bear tightly. “She can't sleep without him at night. He keeps her safe from the dark. She says he scares the monsters away so they don't go in her room.”
“She'll be glad to see him when she gets back,” Rilynne said. She felt helpless. She didn't even know how to ease her own mind, let alone her friends.
Rilynne put her arm around Lori and sat with her in silence, watching the others in the room. Jerkins was sitting with the equipment he had set up on the table, sound asleep in his chair. He was still in the clothes he was wearing the day before, as was Lori.
When her eyes shifted to the kitchen, she found Ben talking with Joe, each working on a large cup of coffee. The scene actually shocked her. Though they had been more tolerant of each other over the last several months, this was the first time she had ever seen them appear almost friendly.
“I've tried to search my memory for anything that stands out as odd, hoping that I had seen someone watching us but didn't give it any thought at the time,” Lori said. “My head isn't working, though. I can't even remember little things like what the newspaper article I read the other morning was about. If I can't recall something so mundane, how am I supposed to remember anything important?”
For the average person, not remembering something from a newspaper article wouldn't be anything to fret over. She knew why it was troubling Lori, though. Lori had a photographic memory and a genius level IQ. There was no question as to why she would be worrying over something so small. Rilynne didn't see reason to give it any thought, though. Lori was always very observant of her surroundings, especially when Kim was with her. If she had seen anyone, she wouldn't have overlooked it.
“The only things in my head right now are the numbers,” Lori continued. “According to a recent study, 46 percent of abducted children are sexually abused, 31 percent are physically abused, 40 percent are killed, and 4 percent are never found. Of the children killed, 76 percent are killed within the first three hours and 89 percent are killed in the first twenty-four.”
Lori always rattled off statistics when she was concerned or nervous. Rilynne knew all she could do was sit back and wait for her to calm. Short of telling Lori what she had seen, there wasn't anything she could say to convince her Kim wasn't part
After hanging up, she leaned against the tree and closed her eyes. She concentrated as hard as she could but nothing came. When she opened her eyes minutes later, she found Ben's gaze on her. Shrugging and giving him a half hearted smirk, she turned back to Summers.
“Work with Wooldridge and Matthews,” she instructed. “They should be able to provide a DNA sample for you to compare these to. I also want it run through the system. Someone's been standing here watching the house, even if it wasn't the stalker.”
He nodded as he slid the last one into the envelope before sealing it.
Rilynne and Ben stood in place after he left instead of going inside. He seemed to be studying her face, trying to get a read on what she was thinking without asking her.
“You don't want to tell her.” He said minutes later. It wasn't a question.
Rilynne shook her head, not needing to think about it. “There's nothing she can tell us that we can't learn ourselves. Besides, I don't want to give her another reason to blame herself. She's doing enough of that as it is.”
Ben nodded without arguing. He reached out to take her hand before leading her to the front door.
When they walked in, they found Lori sitting on the couch, staring out the window with Kim's favorite teddy bear in her arms. She didn't even notice they were there until Rilynne sat down next to her.
“She's going to be so scared without Mr. Fuzzy,” she said, squeezing the bear tightly. “She can't sleep without him at night. He keeps her safe from the dark. She says he scares the monsters away so they don't go in her room.”
“She'll be glad to see him when she gets back,” Rilynne said. She felt helpless. She didn't even know how to ease her own mind, let alone her friends.
Rilynne put her arm around Lori and sat with her in silence, watching the others in the room. Jerkins was sitting with the equipment he had set up on the table, sound asleep in his chair. He was still in the clothes he was wearing the day before, as was Lori.
When her eyes shifted to the kitchen, she found Ben talking with Joe, each working on a large cup of coffee. The scene actually shocked her. Though they had been more tolerant of each other over the last several months, this was the first time she had ever seen them appear almost friendly.
“I've tried to search my memory for anything that stands out as odd, hoping that I had seen someone watching us but didn't give it any thought at the time,” Lori said. “My head isn't working, though. I can't even remember little things like what the newspaper article I read the other morning was about. If I can't recall something so mundane, how am I supposed to remember anything important?”
For the average person, not remembering something from a newspaper article wouldn't be anything to fret over. She knew why it was troubling Lori, though. Lori had a photographic memory and a genius level IQ. There was no question as to why she would be worrying over something so small. Rilynne didn't see reason to give it any thought, though. Lori was always very observant of her surroundings, especially when Kim was with her. If she had seen anyone, she wouldn't have overlooked it.
“The only things in my head right now are the numbers,” Lori continued. “According to a recent study, 46 percent of abducted children are sexually abused, 31 percent are physically abused, 40 percent are killed, and 4 percent are never found. Of the children killed, 76 percent are killed within the first three hours and 89 percent are killed in the first twenty-four.”
Lori always rattled off statistics when she was concerned or nervous. Rilynne knew all she could do was sit back and wait for her to calm. Short of telling Lori what she had seen, there wasn't anything she could say to convince her Kim wasn't part
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