VD-49

Chapter 2: Last Seen

Turned out that Hailee Philander was a high school student. Which meant that Jude and Damian had to wait for the school bell to ring before they could talk to her.

"Why don't we just go inside and ask to talk to her? You're the sheriff here."

Jude shrugged. "There's only a few minutes left anyway." Damian had left it at that.

The school bell rang, a high-pitched sound that reminded Jude of his younger days. Those were good days. The main hallway's door opened and kids streamed out of the school building. Jude felt stupid. How was he going to find one girl in this chaos? He randomly grabbed a boy's arm. The boy jerked away and was about to run when he saw who it was. Jude recognized him immediately.

"Hi, Sheriff," he greeted Jude. It was Lucas Bergman. His mother, Olivia, owned the restaurant only a few blocks away from Jude's apartment.

"Hey, Lucas. You don't perhaps know anyone named Hailee Philander?"

Lucas opened his mouth to reply but the voice that spoke up wasn't his. "I'm Hailee Philander. Can I help you with anything?"

Jude and Damian turned around to see a girl of sixteen years, maybe seventeen, standing behind them. Jude's first thought was that Hailee's tan was fake. No one could have such tanned skin in Fiore without getting it sprayed on.

"Yeah, we need to talk to you about a girl named Rhonwen Smith. Do you mind?"

"No. What do you want to know?"

"Rhonwen's missing-" Damian was cut off by an exclamation emanating from behind Hailee.

"What?!" A girl hurried closer to us. "Rhonwen's missing? But-how? When? What happened?" Jude held up a hand to slow the torrent of questions.

"We want to find out what happened and we want to find her. That's why we're here. Now," he turned to Hailee. "When was the last time you saw Rhonwen?"

Hailee shrugged and picked at her nails. "Dunno. Yesterday, I guess."

Irritation flared in Jude but he pressed it down. "Be more specific. Her life could be at stake." Hailee gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Fine. I saw her yesterday, standing near the Fiorewoods." She frowned suddenly and shot a glance at the girl next to her. The girl, Jude still didn't know what her name was, bit her nails. "Don't tell me she actually went into the woods?"

The girl's head snapped up and she glared at Hailee. Jude interrupted before a fight could begin. "Yes, it would seem that she went into the woods. She's been missing ever since." It was Hailee's turn to bite her nails.

"I didn't think- I never thought-" she stuttered. The girl shoved Hailee roughly, making the girl stumble.

"That's right, Hailee," the girl hissed. "That's the bloody problem. You never seem to think. Now, look what you've done."

"It's not my damn fault, Stella, that she was actually stupid enough to go in there."

"You were the one who bullied her so much that she thought the only solution was running away!"

Hailee sneered. "It's not my fault losers like you don't belong anywhere."
Stella surged forward- either to attack Hailee or run away, Jude didn't know- but Damian grabbed her arm before she could do anything further.

"Woah...we're all a bit on edge. It doesn't mean we should start hurting people."

Stella thrashed against his girp. "You don't understand! It's because of her that Rhonnie's missing!"

Hailee flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away. "She's not missing, Stella. Not forever, anyway. But who can blame her for wanting some attention, though?"

"You b-" She was cut off by Damian who cleared his throat. Only when Hailee was long gone, did Stella finally relax against Damian's grip.

"Are you all right?" Damian asked.

She shook off his hand and shrugged off her backpack before hugging her elbows to her body. "I'm fine."

"We're going to ask you a couple questions, if that's okay with you? I have a feeling you'll be able to answer them better than Hailee did."

She raised her one shoulder in a half-shrug.

"First off, what's your name?"
"Stella Myers."

"When did you last see Rhonwen?"

"Yesterday after school."
"Did she say anything to you that you think we should know about?"

Stella paused. "She-" She glanced at Jude and Damian in uncertainty. Damian gestured for her to continue. "She had said to me that she was scared of something. That she didn't want to stay here anymore and that she loved me. She told me that she wasn't coming back."

Damian and Jude glanced at each other.

"Where does her father live?" Jude asked.

"On a farm, down Bryson road. It's on the outskirts of town."

Damian nodded. "Thank you, Stella." Both of them turned to get back to the truck but stopped when Stella spoke up.

"You're going to find her, right? After Bronwyn's death-" she choked back a sob. "You have to find her."

Damian put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting rub. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

That's why Jude had brought Damian with him. He was a good people-person in a way that Jude could never be.