I’M PROPPED UP WHEN Detective Kunes enters the room.
“I have to say you look much better than the last time I saw you, Ms. Fleming.”
“I feel better, too.”
“Mr. Hemnway tells me you plan to testify in the case.”
“I want them for all they’ve done.”
He nods. “Our case is strong with your testimony, even if it’s just you.”
“What?”
“Mr. Hemnway hasn’t returned any of our calls. We’ve counted him out.”
Gritting my teeth, I shake my head. “He’s burying his son.”
“I understand that. I sympathize with him. A man isn’t meant to bury his child. It should always be the other way around. But our lawyers can’t build a case around someone who might be a no show.” The detective shakes his head, and expression I can’t quite read upon his face. “We advised him he’d be safest under our protection, but he declined.”
“He said no?”
“No, but I took his silence as answer enough.”
Images of him lying dead in a pool of his own blood fill my head. I hadn’t talked to him in days. Efia kept me posted remotely. I know he’d buried Rolly, so I’d backed off and let him have his solitude. Stupid.
“And if he changed his mind?”
“Then we’d be more than happy to accommodate him. We don’t want this guy to walk.”
“Detective Kunes, I need a day. Twenty-four hours and I’ll do whatever it is you’d like me to do until this thing goes to trial. But I can’t leave him out in the wind right now.”
He sighs. “You think you can get him on board?”
“I will get him on board.”
“Twenty-four hours and not a moment more. You cannot return to your home or that of any of your relatives during this time period.”
“I understand.”
“And you’ll be followed every minute around the clock.”
I grit my teeth. “Okay.”
“Tomorrow you’ll leave to go into custody at eight a.m. sharp.”
“Happily.”
“I’ll inform the officers outside the door.”
“Thank you, Detective Kunes.” He walks away, and I grab the phone off the nightstand. I hit speed dial and wait. The phone rings until it goes to voice mail. My anxiety spikes. Houston will know. I dial up his best friend.
“Quinn?”
“Hey, Houston, I haven’t been able to get a hold of Ollie, and I’m worried.”
“Are you still in the hospital?”
“Yes, for maybe another hour or so.”