The Missing Half

Jenna has found several police reports about McLean online. He was arrested multiple times for crimes against women, like battery and sexual assault. Each time, he pled down to misdemeanor charges.

A couple of days later, Nic hears back from Wyler. On Friday, she and Jenna go to the Grand Rapids Police Station to talk with him. Wyler tells them that he is no longer the lead detective on the case—as a cold case, as it got turned over to someone else. From the start, Nic is annoyed and rude to him, bothered by the fact that he is so uninterested in the case. When they ask if they ever had any leads in Kasey’s case, he tells them that none of the suspects were “viable,” sparking Nic’s anger.

Wyler explains that they never looked into McLean because he didn’t fit the “profile” of the person they were looking for. Most of his charges were against ex-girlfriends, and they were reactions to circumstances, not planned out or plotted like Kasey’s kidnapping. He also had an alibi, as he was staying with his friend that night. Nic responds to Wyler’s explanation with anger, insisting that he didn’t do enough to look into McLean. In response, Wyler apologizes but tells them that he has to go to a briefing and dismisses them.

As they leave the station, Jenna tells Nic that she needs to learn how to remain calm so that they can get more information in the future, and Nic agrees. They also agree that they should talk to the new detective on the case and, despite Wyler’s story, look further into McLean.

The next day, Jenna and Nic go to Mesquite Barbecue. They assume Steve no longer works there but plan to talk to some of the employees to see if anyone knows them.

When the waiter, Matty, comes to their table, Nic starts to order a glass of wine but decides against it, getting water instead. Jenna orders a steak. When Nic hesitates, looking at the menu, Jenna tells Matty that she’ll take a steak as well and insists that she will pay the bill.

As they wait for their food, they plan the best way to get information. However, Nic then spots a sign on the wall that says, “Employee of the Year: Steve McLean” (80). Shocked, they ask Matty if Steve still works there, and Matty points him out behind the bar.

Nic and Jenna decide not to talk to Steve while he’s working. Throughout dinner, all Nic can think about is that she could be in the room with the person who killed her sister. The thought makes her extremely uncomfortable, as if Steve is constantly watching her and tormenting her.

After their meal, Nic and Jenna sit in Jenna’s truck. They decide to wait until Steve gets off work. They debate talking to him in the parking lot, but Nic suggests they follow him home.

As they wait, Nic talks about Kasey. She remembers how the media reduced her to a photograph, constantly showing it and talking about how pretty or smart she was. While it was true, it bothered Nic that she became more of a symbol than a real person. Then, as the months went by, they learned about two boys she had sex with and a time that she stole nail polish. After that, various podcasters and media outlets speculated about what she could’ve done to get herself kidnapped. The memory angers Nic, especially since Kasey only stole the nail polish for her; however, talking about it with Jenna makes her feel “lighter.”

Jenna tells Nic about Jules’s disappearance. At first, no one talked about Jules. She was 24 and a bartender, and the picture the media used made her look rough and impoverished. Once Kasey went missing, they talked about Jules more but always in relation to Kasey’s case.

Jenna asks Nic what she would do if she found the person who kidnapped Kasey. Nic thinks about it, then admits that she isn’t sure. Jenna insists that she would “shoot him in the head” (86). Before they can talk about it further, Steve comes out of the restaurant.

Nic and Jenna follow Steve as he turns into a pub. They decide to follow him inside to talk to him. They find him sitting at a table, and he immediately recognizes them from the restaurant. He invites them to join him for a drink.

They start by talking casually, asking him about the restaurant and how long he’s worked there. Jenna then brings up Jules, but he acts like he doesn’t know her until Jenna mentions her disappearance. He insists that he doesn’t remember her from the restaurant, but he remembers the news about her.

Nic then says Kasey’s name, which he immediately recognizes. To Nic’s surprise, he starts talking about Lauren. Lauren used to talk about Kasey all the time, complaining about her. Steve refers to them as “frenemies.”

Despite Nic’s insistence that he must be wrong, she can tell that he is not lying. He goes on to tell them that he remembers seeing Kasey in the parking lot one day arguing with someone. He makes comments about how it was a “shame” she was crying because it made her less beautiful. At the end of their conversation, he says that Nic looks a lot like Kasey, implying that he knows Nic is her sister—even though they never told him that.

The comment enrages Nic. She demands to know what he did to Kasey, but he only laughs in response. Jenna tries to calm her down, but Nic ignores her. She spits in Steve’s face, and he gets extremely angry. Jenna drags Nic out of the bar.

In the car, Jenna yells at Nic for getting so angry and responding the way she did. She points out that they did not accomplish anything and will now get no more information from Steve. After Nic calms down, she feels embarrassed by how she acted. Jenna drops Nic off at home, but before she leaves, Nic points out that Steve goaded her intentionally. Despite Wyler’s insistence that Steve is reactive and spontaneous, their conversation proves that he can also be calculated.

The next day, Nic invites Jenna to meet her at the animal shelter. They go into the cat room, and Nic holds Banksy while they talk. Jenna asks if Nic plans on adopting him, but Nic isn’t ready.

Nic and Jenna discuss Steve’s reactions to their sisters’ names. He was indifferent about Jules, which bothers Nic even more than how invested he was in Kasey. They then discuss Kasey’s fight with Lauren. Nic insists that she knew nothing about the fight and that she thought Kasey was still spending a lot of time with Lauren before she disappeared. However, as she thinks about it, she can’t really remember if that’s true or not.

They decide that they need to talk with Lauren, and Nic calls her father to get Lauren’s parents’ phone numbers. She feels guilty talking with her dad, as they rarely see each other; however, she blames him and his grief for creating the distance between them.

After getting Lauren’s address from her parents, they go over to her house. As they arrive, Lauren is getting out of her SUV. She immediately reacts with anger, telling them that they need to go away and that she won’t speak with them again. Nic tries to ask her what happened, but Lauren responds that she is not putting her kids “in any more danger” and goes inside (102).

Nic and Jenna discuss the fact that someone must have threatened Lauren in the last week since they spoke with her. Jenna asks if Nic spoke with anyone about what they’re doing, and she says she told her manager Brad. Jenna says that Brad may be the one threatening Lauren, but Nic is insistent that she trusts him completely.

Jenna suggests that they knock on Lauren’s door and mention Brad’s name. Nic argues, but Jenna points out that only three people know they are looking into the case: Wyler, Steve, and Brad. Nic finally agrees with the plan, hoping that it will prove to Jenna that Brad is innocent.

Nic and Jenna knock for several minutes on the door. Finally, Nic spots Lauren in the window. Lauren tells them that they need to leave. After hesitating, Nic tells her that they want to talk about Brad. After a minute, Lauren opens the door. She asks, “You know about him and Kasey?” (106).

Lauren tells Nic and Jenna that Kasey was having an affair with Brad. She saw them in the parking lot once and confronted Kasey about it. She argued with Kasey about it for several weeks, but Kasey refused to stop it. Lauren ended up getting a new job and spending less and less time with Kasey. Nic asks if they ever fought in the parking lot, but Lauren insists that they didn’t. 

As Lauren tells Nic about the affair—and that Kasey spent several weekends with Brad—Nic realizes that Kasey lied to her about everything. When she pretended she was staying with Lauren near the end of the summer, she was actually with Brad. Nic is hurt that Kasey didn’t trust her with the truth.

Jenna asks Lauren why she never told the police, and Lauren admits that she should have, but she was trying to protect Brad’s marriage and Nic’s family. When they went searching for Kasey one night, Lauren was alone with Brad’s wife Sandy. She told Lauren that Brad was out of town when Kasey went missing, effectively giving Brad an alibi.

When Lauren finishes, Jenna asks what happened to make her afraid to talk about it. She tells them about a potluck that she went to on Friday night. She briefly lost track of her four-year-old daughter, Beth Anne, who was playing with the other children. Then, as they were leaving, Beth Anne said that she had a secret that she was only supposed to tell Lauren: “Stop talking about Kasey Monroe” (112).

Nic thinks back to a night in September, shortly after Kasey went missing. Their house was constantly full of people organizing searches or bringing food. That night, when she came home from work, she went into the kitchen to get a drink; she had started using alcohol more and more frequently without anyone even noticing. Brad came into the kitchen and started asking Nic questions about Kasey and work. Nic was annoyed by his questions, thinking that he was rehashing the same things repeatedly. Sandy then came into the kitchen and interrupted their conversation. Brad got upset, starting to sob, and Sandy took him from the kitchen.

At the time, Nic did not think the interaction was weird. She just thought that Brad was upset about Kasey’s disappearance and trying to be helpful. Now, however, she wonders if he was trying to figure out how much Nic knew about their affair.

Jenna asks Lauren where Beth Anne got her “secret” from. Beth Anne told Lauren that it was a tall man with sunglasses and a hat. Lauren then asks Nic and Jenna to leave. She apologizes for not being able to help them, but she is genuinely afraid to talk about it anymore.

In the car, Jenna insists that Brad was the one who approached Beth Anne. Nic tries to argue but realizes that Jenna is likely right, as Brad has an incentive to hide the affair. She is torn about Brad, as he has done so much for her, but she knows what he did with Kasey was wrong and now wonders what else he is hiding.

Jenna suggests that they go to the police, but Nic is afraid to ruin Brad’s life and reopen the investigation, only to cause her family more trauma. She argues that it could endanger Lauren, and they still haven’t figured out how it all connects to Jules’s case. Jenna relents, agreeing to wait a few days before talking to the police.

As Jenna drops Nic off at home, she warns Nic to be careful. She insists that, despite Nic’s relationship with Brad, he is still dangerous.