Chapter 59

Mom showed me two articles in the newspaper after dinner. The first included an interview with Tracy and Cammy. The headline read, “Local Girls Talk about Safety.”

The article began:

Cammy Michaels, 14, and Tracy Elliot, 13, know what it’s like to be scared. Since last week’s alleged assault in Red Rock, the girls have used their terrifying experience to teach younger children about protecting themselves.

Tracy said in an interview from her home, “When they hear about us getting tied up and threatened, their eyes go wide and some of them start to cry. We want them to imagine what it was like so it won’t happen to them.”

The article went on to name the suspect.

“We still have the tape he used to remind us of what happened,” Cammy said. “I’ll never forget that day.”

I took the whole section to my room to read. Something bothered me, and not just because Cammy had been so mean to me. Something was not right.

An inside page carried an interview with Mr. Ingram and a picture of him. He held a picture of his son and looked sad.

There was nothing in the story about Danny’s accident, but it did call him “troubled.”

The reporter asked Mr. Ingram if he believed his son had hurt the two girls.

“I can’t imagine that, but I have to believe their story,” Mr. Ingram said. “But if you knew my son a few years ago, if you would have seen how hard he worked and how kind he was, you wouldn’t believe he could do this. He was a wonderful student. He was creative and enjoyed sports. He climbed mountains and once won a contest for imitating animal calls. I just hope we get him home before something happens to him.”