Page 36 of Vanishing Point
Work made him feel important, powerful. It was when he felt weak, small and useless that he took to using his fists to make her feel the same.
Thomas stepped out the door and closed it behind him. She heard him lock it with his key. Then she made sure the security system was on.
She didn’t think she’d be going back to sleep, so she settled herself on the couch and turned on the TV. She must have dozedoff eventually, though, because she was jerked awake by the text message notification on her phone.
She looked at the screen, thinking the text would be from Thomas. But it was from an unknown number instead.
Count your days.
Chapter Ten
Thomas arrived at the station and found Copeland in their office. His expression was grim, but there was a light in his eyes. Because after months of nothing, and just having toacceptthat they couldn’t prove Allen Scott had killed his wife, they had a glimmer of hope.
A woman was accusing Scott of battery.
It wasn’t his poor dead wife, whose death had been ruled a suicide, but it was something. A chance to dig deeper once again. And Scott behind bars, as long as their victim didn’t bolt.
“Deputy Clarion’s with the victim at the hospital. Scott’s in holding. Which one you want?”
Thomas considered either option. It all felt a little too…closenow. Like he’d see Vi in the victim, and her ex-husband in the assaulter. He didn’t like either eventuality, but he knew which one would allow him to be at least somewhat in control. “Probably best if I handle the victim.”
Copeland nodded, and then got him up to speed on the police report from the deputies. They had a quick discussion about strategy, about what questions they wanted asked of both parties, and what steps they’d take after questioning.
“You going to be okay with this?” Copeland asked, eyeing Thomas like he didn’t quite trust him, right before they split up.
“It’s not the case.” Or at least it wasn’tonlythe case. “I don’t like leaving Vi alone with all her stuff going on. I’ve got the nightshift driving by the house every once in a while, but with Clarion at the hospital, they’re short-staffed.”
“But this can’t wait,” Copeland said.
“No, it can’t. Which is why I’m here.”
Copeland nodded as if that was good enough for him, and then they split up. Thomas drove to the hospital armed with the police report the deputies had taken, additional information from Copeland, and the usual mix of dread and anticipation.
He would not like the answers he got tonight, but answers would lead to justice. Justice for a woman like Vi, and a woman who hadn’t been lucky enough to survive an awful man.
Deputy Clarion stood outside the victim’s hospital room. They exchanged greetings.
“Was it your call?” Thomas asked.
Clarion nodded. “Neighbor called it in. Scott was gone by the time we got there, and she was in rough shape, but she named Scott. Gave us his address and everything.”
“Good.” There was more he wanted to say, likeLet’s get this SOB, but with Clarion’s body cam no doubt rolling, Thomas kept it to himself.
When he entered the hospital room, after he knocked and the victim gave him the go-ahead, Christine Smith looked at him through a swollen eye. She sat in a hospital bed, her face an array of stitches, bandages and loud bruises. She had one arm in a cast, and thanks to the doctor’s report, he knew she had three cracked ribs, a bruised kidney and a fractured ankle.
“Ma’am. My name is Detective Thomas Hart, and I’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight, if you’re up for it.” She’d told the doctor and the deputy she was, but Thomas wanted to make sure.
“I’ve answered a lot of questions already,” she said. But she clasped her hands in her lap and didn’t send him away.
“I know, and I know how frustrating that can be.”
“What about traumatizing?” she demanded with a snap.
“That too,” he agreed, and tried not to think of what Vi would have gone through. Answering these questions, only to have the interviewer not believe her. Only to have everyrightstep thwarted, all because her ex had worn a badge.
“But you still have to ask them,” the woman said on a long sigh.
“I’m afraid so. And I’d like to record your answers, if you’re okay with that.”
