Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 235(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
A friendly nurse wearing a name tag that says Tara greets Jay with a smile. “Detective, you’re back.”
“Yep. Needed to do things the right way. Think we can talk to Miss Wolfe today?”
She nods. “Miss Wolfe doesn’t speak. Her brother comes a few times a week and she’s getting better, but I really don’t think she can tell you anything. So don’t get your hopes up.”
“Never do,” Jay assures her and motions for her to lead the way. “Does she have any other visitors?”
“No, just her brother and the doctors. He’s very devoted to her.”
I step inside the room and shock pulses through me at the sight of the woman with thick blonde hair and when she turns, big blue eyes that are nothing at all like Damien’s dark looks.
Olivia looks me and then Jay, her gaze wary and her expression stiff. She doesn’t say a word, but her body language is speaking loud and clear about her obvious discomfort.
“There’s a call button right here if you need anything,” Tara says before leaving us alone.
“Hi Olivia, I’m Detective DeMarco and this is my partner, Detective Hawkins. We’d like to ask you a few questions about your time at Hope House, if that’s all right?”
Something flares in her blue eyes but it’s difficult to decipher because I haven’t gotten a good read on her yet.
Her gaze snaps to Jay. The change is instant and alarming.
Her breathing accelerates. Her fingers dig into the wheelchair’s armrests, tendons straining against skin. She leans forward, eyes wide and wild, darting between Jay and the door.
Jay shifts his weight. Olivia jerks back, her whole body tenses.
Fuck. She knows something.
I glance at Jay. He looks confused. Meanwhile, Olivia’s silent panic fills the room.
We’ve stumbled into something big here.
I sigh and stand up straight, staring at my partner. “Maybe this is a conversation that only requires us girls?” I’m trying to be subtle, but Jay is frowning and looking around as if I’m not addressing him directly.
“Why?”
“Because,” I say through clenched teeth. “She seems agitated by you. Maybe she’s uncomfortable.”
Jay snorts. “Maybe she’s upset because she’s in a loony bin.”
“Jay. Give us a minute.”
He throws his hands up, clearly annoyed. “Fine. I’ll go see if I can find anything else.”
When he’s gone, I take a seat on the windowsill, so Olivia and I are looking at one another. “Is that better? Can you answer some of my questions now?”
Her expression remains blank. I’ve seen my share of trauma victims, but something about Olivia’s reaction chills me to the bone. I wonder what horrors lie behind those big blue eyes.
“Olivia, I’m here to help you. If someone has hurt you or threatened you, I can help.”
Nothing.
“You and I haven’t met but I’m dating your brother Damien. In fact, we recently got engaged.” I show off the ring in hopes it’ll pull a reaction out of her.
Still nothing.
Dammit. “I’m worried about Damien. He’s in this picture, and so many of these men are now dead. I can’t bear the thought that he might next.” I don’t want to agitate her further, but I need her to understand the stakes here. “Anything you can tell me about that time would be great.”
With a small shake of her head, Olivia turns her gaze back to the ocean beyond her window, effectively dismissing me.
I stop trying. I can’t pressure her. “It was nice to meet you.” I get up and walk out the door toward Jay who’s standing by the exit.
“The all-girl chat session didn’t work as well as you’d hoped?”
“No,” I sigh. “I told her Damien and I are engaged, hoping it would spark something, but she’s not capable of telling us anything.” Still, I know her reaction to Jay wasn’t imagined but I put that thought aside for later scrutiny. “Did your digging unearth anything?”
“Hell no,” he growls. “I asked around about why she was in here and no one will tell me anything. I threatened to get a subpoena for her medical records, and they don’t have them. What the fuck kind of shit is that?” He shakes his head with a laugh. “Makes no sense.”
It doesn’t, actually. “Why would this place not have her medical records when she’s been here for such a long time?”
Jay perks up. “They have the records of her care here inside the facility, which are medical and mental. But she has an outside doctor for other things, but what that means I can’t tell ya because they wouldn’t tell me.”
My mind races with all the doctors a woman in her position might need. “Gynecologist. Internal medicine. Off the top of my head, those are things they might not handle in-house. But the chances of us getting those records without a clear legal reason are slim to fuck no.”
Jay grunts his disapproval. “Fucking red tape.”
I laugh. “I know, those pesky constitutional rights.”