Page 8 of Vanishing Point
“I thought that would go better,” Rosalie said with a scowl.
“I’m not sure why you did,” Thomas replied. “Don’t you help investigate things for women who’ve…” He wanted to choose his words carefully. Both for Rosalie’s sake, and because he didn’t like the idea of using any reckless words on Vi. “Been through it? You should understand how little a victim likes being treated like a child.”
“I wasn’t treating her like a child.”
“You called a cop behind her back and against her will. And clearly gave her no warning after inviting me here.”
“If I gave her warning, she wouldn’t havebeenhere.”
“It doesn’t seem like her being here worked out.”
“I want you to listen to the voicemail,” Rosalie said, clearly undeterred.
“No.” God, he wanted to. He wanted to sweep in and immediately fix this for Vi. Whatever it was. But she’d looked absolutely…betrayed by Rosalie.
He couldn’t add to it. What was more, he knew that in cases like this—whatever the details might be—if the victim didn’t want help, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Hart.”
“If she wants my take, she’ll bring it to me. Otherwise, you need to let this lie.”
“And if it escalates?”
He didn’t have a quick and easy answer for that. Because he wanted details. Names. And it wasn’tjustbecause he’d been in love with Vi a million years ago. He dealt with too many victims of harassment, abuse. He’d seen too many men get away with it.
He was currently in the midst of a case where someone was getting away with it.
He wanted any man that small and vicious to pay.
But it wasn’t up to him. “You’re licensed to carry a gun, and I know you’ve got plenty. Didn’t Audra win some sharpshooting contest not that long ago?”
Rosalie sighed. “We might be tough as nails, Hart, and I know you probably can’t understand this because men are so predictable, but being able to defend yourself doesn’t mean you’ll have the opportunity to.”
He thought of every case he’d failed to solve, every call he’d been able to dojack shitin time to stop something terrible from happening. “Pretty well-versed in that, actually, Rosalie.”
Rosalie looked at him, pleading in her eyes instead of frustration. “Can’t you try to get through to her?”
She was clearly changing tactics. It was beyond obvious. Unfortunately, Thomas was not immune to obvious. “I know you’re worried, but—”
“You don’t have to change her mind,” Rosalie said quickly. “Just…talk to her from like a police perspective, but also like a guy she knows.”
“We don’t know each other, Rosalie. Not really. High school was a long time ago.”
“But you’re the best shot we have of her actually listening to someone. You know as well as I do that burying your head in the sand of a problem asshole doesn’t make the asshole disappear.”
Which was more true than he liked to acknowledge. It wasn’t like his job allowed him atonof faith in humanity, but he tried to maintain some.
And that was how he found himself going up the stairs, and then knocking on the last door on the right, per Rosalie’s instructions.
“Rosalie, you need to give me some space,” the voice on the other side of the door said.
“It’s Thomas.”
A long pause. Maybe she wouldn’t open the door, but he waited.
Eventually the knob turned.
She opened the door but stood in the doorway clearly not wanting to talk to him, clearly not wanting him to have a glimpse inside.
