“Hester did what she had to do,” Cannel whispered. “Sometimes… sometimes that’s all we can do.”
I tilted my head and stared at her for a few long seconds, studying the look of terror that was lodged permanently in her eyes.
What was done to you, baby girl?
Cannel swallowed hard and stared at me as if to prove to herself that she could.
The woman intrigued me.
“Let me walk you back to the front door?” I offered.
The area of the parking lot was well lit, but I didn’t want her walking by herself. Not when there were shadows in her eyes that told me that she was terrified.
That terror burrowed deep into my bones, and I wanted nothing more than to draw the woman into my arms and hold her until she wasn’t so scared.
But I knew that would likely scare her even more.
“Thanks.” She hesitated. “But I’m walking to my car. My shift is over.”
I reversed course. “Then let me walk you to your car.”
She looked like she was about to refuse, but then thought better of it. “Sure.”
Together, we walked in silence, her a couple of paces in front of me as she led the way to her vehicle.
I took everything in, starting with the way she had her keys clutched in her hand, a few of the keys poking out from between her fingers, to the way she walked with light steps, as if to hide the sound of her passing.
Obviously, ways that she’d adapted to protect herself just in case.
When we got there, she pressed a button, and the entire thing unlocked, and the security alarm she had on it disarmed.
When she opened her car door, she made sure to place it between the two of us before saying, “Thank you for the walk to my car.”
I winked. “If you ever need another one,” I reached into my pocket and gave her my card. The one that I’d written my personal number on. “Give me a call.”
She looked at the card for long seconds before gingerly taking it into her hand. “I’ll do that.”
She wouldn’t do that.
She was brave and courageous, and she wouldn’t allow herself to need the assistance.
Still, I wondered what had been done to her to make her so wary. Women didn’t get like this—this scared—without reason.
Anger burned hot in my belly as I watched her drop down into her vehicle, lock the doors, and leave the shelter of the parking lot.
I didn’t walk back until I saw the burning red of her taillights pull around the corner of the hospital entrance and disappear.
The walk back to the police-issued vehicle was shorter than the walk away from it, and when I arrived, it was to find Brianna standing there looking miffed.
I studied her as I walked up. She was unaware of my attention, her eyes aimed at the hospital as if she was pissed about something.
I found out what that ‘something’ was when I arrived at her side.
“Thanks for the coffee,” I said as I reached for my cup that was on the passenger side of the car.
Brianna liked to drive, and I liked my eardrums too much to argue with her about who was driving.
Since arriving here and being paired with Brianna, I understood very quickly that I would need to learn to pick my battles. And who drove was one of the ones that I allowed her to win.
“That bitch was something, wasn’t she?” Brianna asked as she fell into her seat.
I went much more gingerly, sore as hell from the workout I’d done that morning to do anything but carefully.
“What do you mean?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“What, you fell for her ‘poor, pitiful me’ act?” she asked, looking disgusted.
I shrugged. “She didn’t appear to be putting on an act.”
“She totally was,” she said. “She wanted me gone and wanted to talk to you alone. What did she say about me when I left?”
I felt a tendril of anger swirl through me. “She didn’t say anything about you when you left. We spoke about Hester, and she was perfectly nice about everything.”
I then went on to explain what I’d found out.
“That seems like she’s an accomplice in murder right there,” Brianna muttered under her breath.
I shot her a look of anger. “She did not help with that murder. She was explaining the intricacies of something that happened on the television. I know the show she was watching, and the episode. I went and did my own research after that episode. If Hester hadn’t asked Cannel, then she wouldn’t have had to look far to find out the answers. The information is readily available all over the internet.”
Brianna said something under her breath, and I suddenly wondered what I saw in her.
Though Brianna was beautiful, she was ugly on the inside with her attitude.
She’d already gotten three partner transfers in her career, because each of those partner’s wives hadn’t been able to stand having their husbands work with her.