Page 85 of Full House

Her lips quirked sheepishly as she raised her skirt. She saw a trace of a smile and the slight shake of Nate’s head. “What? Your car is spotless. Not even one scrap of paper lying around.”

“Before I let you guys go, there is one question I’d like to ask you, Ms. Lee,” the officer said after jotting down the number. At her nod, he continued. “Did you get a look at the driver of the hit-and-run?”

“Everything happened so fast, I didn’t think to look.” She turned to Nate. “Did you see the person?”

Nate shook his head. “I tried right after it happened, but with the glare from the sun on the guy’s windshield, I couldn’t see anything.”

Victoria nodded, remembering him looking in the rearview mirror right after the crash.

The officer tucked his notebook back in his pocket. “Okay, someone will be in touch.” He gave them a small smile while tipping his head their direction before turning and walking away.

They went straight home, and Nate disappeared into his office. She’d made them some lunch and was just pulling the garlic bread out of the oven when he strolled into the kitchen.

“Something smells good,” he said, taking the hot tray from her and setting it on the counter.

“Well it’s not the Four Seasons, but I figured I couldn’t mess up spaghetti too badly.”

They sat at the table eating quietly after that, Nate lost in thought. The silence was killing her. She gave him until the middle of their meal to brood before saying anything. “I’m sorry about your car.” She reached over placing a hand atop his.

He flipped their hands, entwining their fingers. “It’s just a car, sweetheart. It will be good as new in a couple of weeks.”

After a few minutes, when he didn’t volunteer more, she tried again. “You don’t think it was an accident, do you.”

His chest swelled as he took a deep breath. He let it out slowly before he said, “No.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to reason it out, but it’s not adding up.”

Bingo. The reason for his silence. “Maybe if you talked it out, it would help.”

He was silent a moment, but it wasn’t the same kind of silence as earlier, more like he was collecting his thoughts. She waited him out.

“I think my biggest question is, why did the guy speed off?”

Victoria shrugged. “Could be a number of reasons. Maybe his license was suspended. Maybe he doesn’t have insurance. Hell, maybe he was just scared because he hit such an expensive car.”

“That’s why I’m questioning it.”

“I don’t understand.” And she didn’t. “Why would you rule those things out?”

“It was a rental.”

“What?” Why was this the first she was hearing of this?

“The car had a Hertz license plate frame. The guy couldn’t have rented it with a suspended license. And even if he didn’t have insurance, the rental company does.”

Victoria had another idea. “What if he was drunk driving?”

Nate shook his head. “With the way that guy maneuvered in and out of traffic as we chased him, there’s no fucking way he was drunk.”

She thought a minute. “Then the only other thing I can think of is maybe the guy was a criminal. Had a warrant out for his arrest or had a gun in the car. Something like that.”

“The odds of that just seem too high for it to be plausible.”

Victoria sighed. “Leading you to think this wasn’t a random accident.”

Nate finished her thought. “And if it wasn’t random, then that means the police have the wrong guy. And Smith is so adamant it’s Chrissy, he couldn’t even be bothered to take the fucking police report of the accident.”

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