The Fort (Aric Davis)

the fort that we built, just screwing around with Scott’s air rifle, when Luke saw Molly walking in the woods. We all looked where he was pointing, and we saw Molly walking with a guy right behind her. They were super close together. When they got closer, we could see that he had a gun.”
    “Where is this fort?”
    “In the middle of three pines. We built it out of some old deck wood. My dad’s putting in a patio.”
    “All right. Will my officers have trouble finding it?”
    “No,” said Luke. “They shouldn’t.”
    “I’ll get some paper in a minute, and you can try and draw me a map. What direction were you facing when you saw her?”
    “South,” said Scott. “They came from the south, and then walked west. We lost sight of them in the trees up there. They were moving pretty quickly, and we were all pretty freaked out about being seen.”
    “And that would have been closest to your house, Scott?” Dr. Martinez asked with a smile.
    “Sort of, kind of between the different ways that Tim and I would walk home.”
    “And that was the last you saw of them?”
    “Yes,” said Scott, and Tim and Luke nodded. “Then it started raining and that was it. They were gone.” Van Endel turned off the record button. “All right, thanks, guys. That’ll get us a good enough start on the search. I’m going to need to speak to you all again once your parents get here, and some of that might get stressful as we go over the finer details, especially if we don’t have anyone in custody yet, but I want you to know that I really appreciate how brave you guys have been so far, and we’ll be back soon.”

    Tim was sitting alone in an interrogation room when his mom burst in and nearly bowled him over in an enthusiastic embrace. Then she pushed him away and inspected him for damage. Finding none, she said, “What happened? I want every detail. Have they been nice to you? They told us one of the detectives had to interview you before we were here, and if he did anything wrong, I want to know about it.” Tim smiled at her, and then at his dad, who had entered the room behind her. “It’s fine, you guys. Detective Van Endel has been really nice, and there’s a doctor lady too, she—”
    “I knew it!” Tammy said. “I knew that’s who they were going to have talking to them. We are going to watch that tape, Stanley. They’re crazy if they think I’m not calling my lawyer the second we get out of here.”
    “Tammy,” said Stan. “Calm down. Tim is doing fine. Let’s see what the detective has to say, and we’ll go from there. Does that sound good, Tim?”
    “That sounds fine, and, Mom, Dad’s right. Detective Van Endel and Dr. Martinez were really nice. We were the ones who called them , remember. They have to ask us questions. They only talked to us so that they had a better chance of helping Molly and catching the guy who kidnapped her. I just hope she’s OK. Do they know anything yet?”
    “Not that we know of,” said Stan. “But that’s what everyone is hoping, that she gets home safe and sound. She got darn lucky you guys built that fort. You’ve never spent so much time in the woods before. I’m just glad that guy didn’t see you. If he did, it could have been really bad.”
    “Yeah,” said Tim, trying to keep his composure. Get it together. If this was Van Endel, he’d know you were lying about something. “I’m just hopeful, if he did see us, that all he saw was some dumb old tree fort.”
    The door opened, and Van Endel walked in with the doctor. Van Endel shook hands with Tim’s parents, then said, “This is Dr. Martinez. She’s a children’s therapist who assists us when we need to talk to children who have been through some sort of trauma.”
    She shook all of their hands, one after the other, even Tim’s, and then sat next to the detective. “I know Tim’s not hurt physically, and that all three of the boys seem to be doing fine,” she said. “I’m just here to make sure everyone is doing as well as they say they are.”
    “We’re glad to have you, Dr. Martinez,” said Tammy, but all of a sudden, Tim wasn’t sure he was glad at all. Was she really here for him, or for Van Endel? Was he worried they were going to lie, or convinced that they already had been?
    “I’m going to be recording everything we say,” said Van Endel. “Just in case any of this gets used in court, we’ll have an early template to work with.” He laid a tape recorder on the table and