Page 47 of The White Picket Fence

“Nope. He served his full sentence. He has an aging grandmother and gave his address as her home, but she says he’s never been there. That she would not have welcomed him into her house. Her neighbors corroborated this, saying that they’d seen no one entering or exiting in the past six months other than the Meals on Wheels delivery person and her home health-care nurse. Both women. No men have been seen around her house.”

“He could have snuck in.”

“Possibly, but he’s not there now. The grandmother claims not to have known he’d finished serving his sentence. She was a little forgetful, but she was firm on that point. There was no evidence of anyone else having been in the house, and she allowed us to search. I think she was afraid Hale had broken in and really was living upstairs. She’s confined to the lower floor of her house now. The upper level hadn’t been disturbed in quite some time.”

“When did your detectives search her house?” Tino asked.

“We went last night, after I met with you and Charlotte. I searched the place myself, Tino. I wanted to be sure for you.”

Tino reached across the console and gripped Vito’s arm. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do.” He drew a breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you were having nightmares?”

Tino shrugged. “I figured everyone did. Don’t you?”

“Sometimes, but it’s usually only the most intense cases. Children, mostly. Or if someone was brutally killed. Those are hard images to wipe.” Vito sighed. “Sophie said she’d hit me if she were allowed to exert herself. She’s known for a while that your job was wearing on you. She said she tried to tell me, but it never sunk in, I guess.”

But of course Sophie had known. He and Sophie had been close ever since she’d entered Vito’s life.

“She said it was wearing on me?”

“She actually said it was sucking out your soul.”

Tino chuckled. That sounded more like Sophie. “It’s not bad all the time, but I hear their stories and I feel so impotent. At least you can catch the bastards who hurt the people I’ve talked to.”

“Because you tell us who to look for. Tino, your work is beyond important. But if it’s sucking out your soul, you should stop.”

“I’ve considered it from time to time, but never seriously. It’s become more like a...calling, I suppose. Not just a job.”

“I feel the same way about my job,” Vito admitted. “Have you seen a therapist?”

“Yes. It’s been a few years, but he helped. If it gets bad again, I’ll go back.”

“Do me a favor and go soon. Don’t wait until it gets bad. It’s just like with a wound. You gotta stay ahead of the pain.”

Tino’s eyes widened in surprise at the knowing in Vito’s voice. “You?”

Vito’s smile was wry. “Yes, me. I’d come home from work too tense, and it was impacting Sophie and the kids. So I talked to a therapist. For them, at first, but then I did it for me. It helped so much that I kept it up. I see mine every month like clockwork.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, clearly uncomfortable talking about his therapy. “So...you and Charlotte?”

Tino blushed like a teenager. “I hope so.”

“Did she tell you why she left?”

“Yeah. I can’t say that I totally understood, but it wasn’t to hurt me. I am positive of that. We’re going to try. Maybe see what happens.”

“It’s always been her, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Tino said simply.

“Which is why you’ve been alone all this time.”

“Pretty much.”

“Is that why you broke off your engagement all those years ago?”

“Actually, she broke it off with me. She realized that I wasn’t fully committed and that we’d be better friends.”

“Did she know about Charlotte?”

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