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“It was a big deal,” Mrs.Beckham went on. “She was only fifteen, still a freshman, but she got the lead.”
“You must have been so proud of her.”
Her smile was full of regret. “I was.”
“Was she seeing anyone? Maybe secretly?”
She shook her head. “The cop asked me that. She wasn’t. My Naomi was a good girl.”
But Nathan flinched. Sam briefly met his gaze, but the boy looked away. But not before Sam saw his panic.
Sam hesitated, then decided to try to get Nathan to tell him when his mother wasn’t in the room. “I read the posts her friends wrote on her Facebook page. She seemed to be a popular girl.”
Mrs.Beckham shrugged. “Most of those posts were from kids she knew at school, but few of them were friends. Not when she disappeared, anyway.”
He hadn’t expected that. “What happened?”
She sighed. “Normally the kids would tell each other about the open auditions and they’d go together, but Naomi had done that earlier in the year for Avondale and one of her friends got called back and Naomi didn’t. Naomi was disappointed, of course, but she was happy for her friend. Mostly. She was a teenager, after all.”
“Mixed feelings,” Sam said and Mrs.Beckham nodded.
“But the next time...” She heaved another sigh. “When Naomi disappeared, there was a rumor that she’d gone for another audition and hadn’t told a soul. Her friends were mad. Turned on her. But when she didn’t come home, a few of them felt ashamed, I think. That’s when the posts started, begging her to come home.”
Something she was hiding from her friends. That was new.
“Audition for what?”
“I don’t know. Nobody seemed to know.”
“Did you mention this to Detective McKittrick?”
Mrs.Beckham looked startled. “No. She didn’t ask.”
“Is it okay if I mention it?”
“Dr.Reeves, I’d give my own life to get her back.” Beside her, Nathan closed his eyes, his expression so desolate that it broke Sam’s heart. From the look of the place, it looked like she’d given up living long ago. So much suffering. “If you think it’ll help that detective find out what happened to my baby girl, tell her.” She slumped, clearly fatigued. “I’m really tired. You should probably go.”
“Yes, ma’am. Ma’am, New Horizons offers help to the families of runaways. Counseling. If you’d ever like to come in, I’d help find you someone to talk to. I do sessions with parents, but it doesn’t have to be me.”
Her jaw tightened. “Thank you, but I don’t need it. Please go now.”
“Of course. Thank you for seeing me.” He rose, as did Nathan.
Silently Sam followed Nathan to the front door, but instead of closing it behind Sam, Nathan exited with him and quietly closed the door behind him.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan murmured. “She’s not the same.”
“I know,” Sam said, as comfortingly as he could. “I guess you’re not, either.”
Nathan shook his head. “No.”
He wanted to ask Nathan why he’d looked so panicked when he’d asked if Naomi had been seeing anyone, but he’d care for the boy first.
Sam softened his voice. “Sometimes this kind of loss pulls families apart. Makes the children left behind feel... lost. Abandoned.”
Nathan’s shoulders hunched. “Yeah.”
“We have group therapy for siblings of runaways, too. They miss their brothers and sisters. Some of them hope their siblings come back. Some know in their hearts that they won’t. They’ll understand where you are right now. I’d be happy to find you a group to sit with. You don’t have to say a word if you don’t want to. Just listen. And be.”
