The Daunting Disappearance of Evie Stone

Chapter 6: Up in The Air

August 21, 2019
Kent County Police Department
7:30 pm

50 hours since Evie's Disappearance

Laney, Steven, and her mother walk past the police department, heading in their separate directions. Two of the three boys are leaving at the same time, their faces grim and their body language stiff and nervous. This is odd to Laney because they seem so relaxed when she saw them before. She looks behind them to find the third boy deeper within the station, the one wearing a suit, sitting in an interrogation room, the door wide open so he can watch his counterparts walk free. He, however, is handcuffed to the table he's sitting at, his face expressionless. Laney watches as a female officer enters the room, closing the door behind her.

"Ethan. We know you have information. We know you were at the park at 6 pm on August 19th when Evie was there. We can make a deal, let you out, no bail, no jail time, in exchange for who or what you saw there." The officer sits across from him, her breathing calm, her foot slowly tapping the floor. Her adrenaline is pumping through her veins, but she was trained to hide her emotions.

Ethan weighs his options, his face pulling into a frown before saying. "Evie stone was with a girl." He raises his eyebrows, feigning shock. The cop leans back into her seat, folding one of her legs on top of the other, jotting a quick phrase into a notebook. "Like, a friend?" Ethan hesitates for effect before asking "Would you kiss one of your friends?" He smirks, leaning nonchalantly back into his chair as if he enjoyed the show. The cop sighs before saying "No." she pauses and asks "Do you know this girl?" Ethan smiles nodding his head towards Jordan Silverstein and replies "Aleanor Silverstein. Daughter of Jordan Silverstein. Are we done here?" The cop holds a hand up, eyeing Ethan. "Not quite" she answers. She gets up from her seat, leaving the room, and joins Jordan at the table.

Evie's Flashback

August 17, 2018
Seattle Tacoma International Airport
2:30 pm

A year and 1 day before Evie's Disappearance

Evie is sitting in a row of seats, alone. Her headphones are buried in her ears as she listens to songs on Spotify, checking and rechecking her Instagram to see if anyone has added likes to her recent post about flying to Paris. Laney left her to watch their bags while she bought them some pizza and went to the bathroom. She sees a flash of blonde hair walking past her and glances up to see if it's Laney, it's not. Instead, she sees a tall girl, only a few inches shorter than Evie maybe five-eleven? She was elegant and beautiful and she walked with purpose. Evie's seen her before, she's sure of it. Her eyes stay locked on the girl as she chooses a seat 2 down from Evie. Lost in thought trying to place where she's seen the girl before, she meets her gaze, smiling. She mouths something, and Evie continues to stare, her eyes furrowing in confusion because she can't hear her over the music. The girl motions to her left ear, and Evie taps pause and the airport noise floods back into her ears. The girl says "Hi Evie. I'm Alie. We were in science together in eighth grade? I think you also spend a lot of time at the park near my house." She laughs a light buttery laugh and eases into her seat. "Going anywhere fun?" She asks as Evie just stares back at her. Evie blinks out of her daze and replies energetically "My sister is taking me to Paris for my birthday!" Alie gapes at her in surprise. "No way! My aunt is having her-" She cups her hand over her mouth protectively to whisper "third" before continuing "wedding in Paris. My mom and dad flew before me, so I'm by myself. I wanted to wait till school was over before flying up to meet them. We can totally sit next to each other!!!" Alie smiles at Evie, who just smirks back before thinking aloud "Aren't there assigned seats?" Alie rolls her eyes, huffing "No silly, there's just an order to who boards first." She smiles, leaning back, and pulls out a thick book.

August 21, 2019
Kent County Police Department
8:00 pm

The female cop sits across from Jordan Silverstein, whose daughter is on speakerphone. "Alie" he sighs "Why didn't you tell me that you were one of the last people to see Evie before she disappeared?" Her voice crackles before she replies "I didn't even know she was missing until a few minutes ago. Why didn't you tell me she was missing?" He grunts in disapproval and says "I didn't realize that you were closer than just peers. I didn't even know she was your friend let alone... a girlfriend." The cop mouths Did you know she was gay? He shakes his head and mouths back we would support her all the way. I'm not sure why she chose to hide it. The cop asks her "Why did you hide the fact that you guys were together?" To which her father adds "You know your Aunt Polly is bisexual and that Jamie is gay. You also know that your mother and I will support you 100%." Alie sighs into the phone saying "It's more complicated than that. Evie cannot come out to her mother. It would destroy her more than her father's death did. She also thought that Laney would abandon her and she would be left alone with a disappointed and irritated mother. She would be the only one to take it out on, so Evie made me promise not to tell anyone." The cop pauses and asks her "Can you explain to me why you didn't know that Evie was missing? If she was your girlfriend why wouldn't she be texting you or calling you?" Silence hangs on the other end as Alie composes herself before replying "Evie and I got into a fight that night. She said she needed space, so I gave it to her." The cop sighs and says "Can you come in tomorrow morning, around 9 am? We have a few more questions that are better asked in person." She looks at Mr. SIlverstein who is hanging up the phone and adds "you too, and bring Laney, she needs to hear this." The Private investigator nods and says"What about Rebecca Stone? Do we want her there?" "No," she says "let's see how Laney wants to approach this, rather than make the situation worse." Mr. Silverstein agrees and she continues "Have a nice night, Mr. Silverstein. See you tomorrow." She leaves the table walking back to the room to finish Ethan's interrogation involving other cases. Mr. Silverstein nods his goodbye and heads out the door.