“Give me a moment, Captain,” I said.

Vance nodded, saluted, and stepped back out of the office, closing the door softly behind him.

I picked up the phone and swiped the screen.

Before I could speak, I heard a sharp, ragged intake of breath.

“Rachel?” Ava’s voice was thick with tears.

She sounded younger than sixteen.

“I am here, Ava,” I said.

“Please don’t hang up,” she sobbed. “Please.”

“I am listening,” I said, keeping my voice level.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped out. “I told them. I told everyone it was a mistake.”

“Who did you tell, Ava?”

“The girls at school,” she said. “They saw the police car at the house on Saturday. Someone’s dad is a deputy, and he told his daughter that I filed a report.”

She let out a shaky breath that rattled through the speaker.

“They’re calling me a psycho,” she cried. “They won’t sit with me. They deleted me from the group chats.”

I leaned back in my leather chair.

The green uniform jacket felt heavy on my shoulders.

“Did you tell them the truth?” I asked.