Free The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell Page B

want to assure you, we’re doing everything we can to find your daughter. Because of his ties to your family, and because the case involves the Livingston Parish School District, Sheriff Ardoin will be our coordinator. He’s your go-to guy for anything you need. Anything at all.”
    Louisiana’s unique Napoleonic Code gives him a lot of authoritative power, so putting Jay in charge makes perfect sense.
    As the state investigator provides precise instructions for Jay, they turn to exclude the rest of us from the conversation. Beside us, the large television continues to show intermittent coverage of the search.
    â€œIt sounds as if no one has found a single clue,” the CNN journalist says on TV. With her brash style, she’s known for stirring up trouble and making a story bigger than it should be. In this situation, we’re grateful for the international coverage. “No green field trip T-shirt, no green hair bow,” she continues. “No witnesses. No signs of the angelic Sarah Broussard. This sweet, innocent preacher’s daughter simply vanished with the fog. One minute she was in a popular café, laughing and playing rock-scissors-paper with her best friend. The next she was gone. The only clue we have is the black backpack she left behind in the restroom. That tells us that something happened. She didn’t just get lost.”
    The reporter cuts to a tourist who is visiting the States for holiday. “You say you have a piece of information that could help solve the case?”
    This gets our attention. Preacher taps Jay’s back. We all watch the screen.
    â€œYes.” The woman speaks with a heavy accent. “I have try to call police but they do not take me for serious. Maybe we try this.”
    â€œWe’re all committed to finding Sarah Broussard. Anything we can do,” the reporter says. “What information do you have?”
    â€œWell, I look through my photograph from café, and I find one. Time-stamped 1:47. It show a woman leave café with another person who you see in costume. What if Sarah Broussard in that costume?”
    The television screen fills with an image. In it, a young woman is shown to be walking through the restaurant. Maybe in her early twenties, at most. There is nothing eye-catching about her. She has plain brown shoulder-length hair, not too dark, not too light. She’s about five foot five, and she’s neither too thin nor obese. I’d guess a size eight, maybe a ten. She doesn’t look stressed or anxious. In fact, her expression reveals no emotion at all. Everything about her is ordinary. The only odd thing about her is that she is holding the hand of a shorter person who wears a mask, the rubbery kind that completely covers the hair and face. This tops a long black robe of sorts, one that easily could have been pulled over Sarah’s clothes to disguise her completely. As the reporter continues, we tune in to every word.
    Jay makes a phone call directly to CNN. “I want to speak to your guest,” he says. “Have her call my cell phone. And can you please put me on the air?” Within seconds, he has stepped outside to find a CNN correspondent who immediately puts him through with a live feed. From the lobby, we watch Jay on TV.
    â€œI encourage anyone who was in this area Friday, October 29, to contact the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Department,” he says. “If anyone has photographs or video, we want to see them. Tips? We want to hear them. If anyone knows the woman in the photograph you just aired, we want to speak to them.” The screen divides to post a toll-free number.
    As Jay continues to answer questions, the trooper pulls Beth and Preacher to the side for a private conversation. Raelynn and I collapse into two leather chairs perched near the sofa where Ellie is sound asleep. I stare at the photo on-screen.
    â€œWhy would Sarah put on a costume and leave with some