Every Friday at 6 p.m. my daughter called me without fail, and the one week my phone stayed silent I drove to her house and heard a sound from upstairs that turned our quiet Tennessee life into something I still can’t fully talk about

find her,” he said. “Can you keep listening?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I could.

The interview lasted another twenty minutes. Amelia described hiding in her closet, hearing footsteps, hearing her father say they needed to clean up, hearing the woman mention a storage unit. When it ended, Dr. Reed spoke briefly with Carter and then I was allowed continue reading …