They Just Don't Know You

Chapter 18

Perrie's POV

Sunday, September 29

"You're an important witness here, Perrie. Take your time."

Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain is still resting his forearms on the kitchen island. His sleeves are rolled up, and his watch reads 9:15. Ellie has been missing for almost 10 hours. It's not that much time, but it feels like forever when you start imagining all the things that could happen to a person while the rest of the world is sleeping. 

I'm sitting on the stool beside him. There are only a couple of feet between us, which doesn't feel like enough. Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain's eyes are still on me, cold and flat. He said witness, not suspect, but that isn't how he's looking at me. "That's it," I say. "That's everything I remember."

"So the Thirlwall twins can corroborate your story right up until you dropped them off at their house?"

Jesus. Corroborate your story. My stomach tightens. I should've took Ellie home first. Everything would look a lot different. "Yeah," I say. 

What the hell must Jade be thinking right now? Does she even know?

Who am I kidding? This is Echo Ridge. Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain has been at our house for more than an hour. Everyone knows. 

"Alright," Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain says. "Let's go back a little while, before last night. Did you notice anything unusual about Ellie in the past few weeks? Anything that concerned or surprised you?"

I slide my eyes towards Leigh. She's leaning against the counter, but stiffly, like she's a mannequin somebody propped there. "I don't really know Ellie," I say. "I don't see her much."

"She's here a lot though, isn't she?" Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain asks. 

It feels like he's after something, but I don't know what. Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain's eyes drop from my face to my knee, and I realise it's jiggling nervously. I press a fist on to my leg to stop the movement. "Yeah, but not to hang out with me."

"She thought you were cute, for some reason," Leigh says abruptly.

What the hell? Echo Ridge's straighter than straight, top cheerleader who was dating the top jock? Surely not. My throat closes, and I couldn't answer even if I knew what to say.

Everyone turns towards Leigh. "She's been saying that for a while," she continues. Her voice is low, but every word is perfectly clear and precise. "Last weekend, when she was sleeping over, I woke up and she wasn't in the room. I waited for like, 20 minutes before I fell asleep again, but she didn't come back. I thought maybe she was visiting you. Especially since she broke up with Alex a couple of days later."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut as all the heads in the room swivel to me. Jesus Christ, why would Leigh say something like that? She has to know how it would make me look. Even more suspicious than I already do. "She wasn't," I manage to say. 

"Perrie doesn't have a girlfriend," my mother says quickly. In the space of half an hour she's aged a year: her cheeks are hollow, her hair's straggling out of its neat bun, and there's a deep line etched between her brows. I know she's been traveling down the same memory lane that I have. "She's not like...she's always spent more time with her friends rather than chasing after girls."

She's not like Jonnie. That's what she was about to say. 

Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain's eyes bore into mine. "If there was anything going on with you and Ellie, Perrie, now is the time to mention it. Doesn't mean you're in trouble." His jaw twitches, betraying the lie. "Just another piece of this puzzle we're trying to figure out."

"There wasn't," I say, meeting Leigh's cool stare. She edges closer to John. He's been silent all this time, arms folded, an expression of deep concern on his face. "The only time I ever see Ellie is when she's with Leigh. Except..." A thought hits me, and I look at Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain again. He's fully alert, leaning forward. "I did see her a few days ago. I was in the car with Kamille," I add hastily. "We saw Ellie downtown, talking with Jordan Stephens."

Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain blinks. Frowns. Whatever he was expecting me to say, that wasn't it. "Jordan Stephens?"

"Yeah. He was painting over the graffiti on Armstrong's Auto Repair, and Ellie walked up to him. They were talking sort of...intensely. You asked about anything unusual, and that was, um, unusual." Even as the words spill out of me, I know how they sound. 

Like someone with something to hide who's trying to deflect attention.

"Interesting," Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain nods. "Jordan Stephens was in the drunk tank last night, and in fact..." he glances at his watch, "...is most likely still there. Thank you for the information, though. We'll be sure to follow up with him." He sits back and crosses his arms. He's wearing a shirt, and nicely pressed pants. I realise he was probably getting ready for church when all this happened. "Is there anything else you think would be good for us to know?"

My phone sits heavy in my pocket. It hasn't been buzzing, which means Kamille probably isn't even awake yet. The last text I have was the one Jonnie sent before I entered the House of Horrors to pick up the twins. 

In town for a few hours. Don't freak out. 

Why was he here? Why was my brother here, again, when a girl goes missing?

If I showed that text to Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain now, everything would change. Leigh would stop shooting daggers at me. Officer Oxlade-Chamberlain wouldn't keep asking the same questions a dozen different ways. His suspicion would shift away from me, and go back to where it's been ever since Caitlin died. To Jonnie.

I swallow hard and keep my phone where it is. "No. There's nothing."