What Burns Within by Sandra Ruttan

to question her.
“I need you both to stop and think. Think back to when you first came in. Was there anyone you noticed watching you? Anyone who seemed a little unusual, out of place?”
“You mean like they were more interested in the kids?” Gabby Fry pushed her hair back from her face.
“Exactly. Did you see anyone?”
Gabby shook her head.
“Ms. Anderson?”
She collapsed onto the bench behind her. “How could we miss it? There was some monster here, and we didn’t even see them.”
Tain counted to ten and mustered all the patience he could. “Ms. Anderson, these people don’t have horns and green skin.” He knelt in front of her. Gabby sat down beside Joanne and put an arm around her shoulders. “They don’t have a scarlet letter on their forehead.”
“They should! How can we let these people out of our prisons without giving any warning to the public? She’s just an innocent little girl.”
Tain sighed. Joanne’s body shook with sobs as she buried her face on her friend’s shoulder. It almost looked comical, the taller, dark-haired woman leaning against the wiry redhead with the freckled face and cool composure.
“I’m going to need to talk to all the children who were here with your group.”
Gabby blinked. “Uh, okay. You’ll want to talk to Luke Driscoll. He’s the tall one with the blond hair and glasses. Luke’s in charge.”
     
The girl tossed her hair over her shoulders, eyes wide. “You should do something about him. He’s such a perv. He stands too close, you know what I mean? And he likes to look over our shoulders.”
“Yeah, and he told us we should wear these shirts too,” the other girl chimed in.
“Uh, aren’t they your work shirts?” Ashlyn asked.
“Yeah, but I mean, look at them. It’s like there may as well be a sign on here saying look at my boobs.”
Ashlyn put her hand over her mouth, her elbow resting against the table in front of her. She pretended to be invested in rubbing her cheek.
“Seriously, he’s creepy. You should do something.”
“Ladies, have you talked to your parents about this?”
The teenagers recoiled. She doubted they could have looked more shocked if she’d just sprouted horns.
“Right. I’m not saying there’s nothing to it, but my priority is to find a missing girl. Comprende? Did either of you see anything out of the ordinary?”
The girls looked at each other. The one who had been leading the charge against Mr. Radcliff ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair. “No. Nothing odd, nothing unusual.”
“What about this church group? Did they just show up?”
“They come every month. Regular booking,” the brunette said.
“Did anyone ask about them?”
Both girls shook their heads.
“And who would have known they were coming?”
“Well, anyone who works the front desk would know. It was in the book.” The blonde, whose name was Stacey, leaned back against her chair, arms folded over her offensive work shirt, fingers tapping against her own arm. “Or anyone who comes here regularly on a Sunday night, I guess.”
“Can you think of some regulars who come in on Sunday nights?”
The girls glanced at each other again, and the brunette, the follower, shrugged.
“Shouldn’t you, you know, have a warrant or something?” the blonde said. All serious, like she’d just had her first original thought.
Ashlyn tried to keep her mouth from curling into a frown as she counted to ten in her head. These girls were driving her mad. Under any other circumstances it would have been comical to see Tain handle them. As it was, she could barely stomach their self-centered bull. “I only need a warrant if I suspect someone is hiding evidence from me. Do you have some information about this crime in your head that I should get a subpoena for?”
The girls giggled, the brunette, Chloe, blushing. “I just don’t want to get in trouble with my boss.”
“I assure you, it won’t be a problem.” Ashlyn slid a pad of notepaper across the