“Yup.” He scooted closer, taking her in his arms again. “There’s a lot to deal with right now, a lot to figure out, but have faith in me, Josie,” he whispered. “Please.”
She leaned into him, snuggling closer. She did have faith in him, she did. She just wasn’t sure if she had faith in herself. Not when it came to love.
CHAPTER FORTY
Zach closed the bedroom door quietly behind him and stepped into the living room before answering his phone. “Hey Jimmy.”
“Yo. How is she?”
“All right. Sleeping.”
“Good, I’m sure she needs it.”
“Yeah.” Zach sat down on the couch, running his hand down his face, comforted by the fact that his partner recognized Josie’s bravery, but also her vulnerability. They would all work together to keep her safe, work their asses off not only for the women who’d lost their lives at the hands of Charles Hartsman, but for the woman who’d survived him.
“Listen, I’ve been up since dawn thinking about all of this, and I can’t seem to get that social worker off my mind.”
Zach frowned. “Janelle Gilbert? Why?”
“The way she acted when we spoke with her . . . the way she shouldered the blame for what happened to Charles Hartsman.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Yeah. I probably would. But what I’ve been asking myself, is what would she be willing to do for some kind of absolution?”
Zach frowned. “I don’t follow.”
“She just seemed off to me, Cope.” He paused. Zach couldn’t disagree with Jimmy. She’d seemed highly emotional about the case even close to two decades later. He’d written it off to guilt, nerves. A high level of empathy. But, hell, in her job, Janelle Gilbert had to carry a hundred tragic stories around with her. Same as him. Same as Jimmy. You either learned to carry that weight, or you crumbled under it.
“Anyway, I looked into her a little and found out that her sister is a lawyer.”
“Okay.”
“She specializes in adoptions.”
Zach’s stomach knotted. “What are you thinking?” But he was sure he already knew.
“We need to interview her again. Without Josie. Meet me at her office in an hour?”
He glanced unconsciously toward the bedroom where Josie slept peacefully. Safe in his presence, behind his locked door, his alarm system. He’d have to make a call, get a couple of uniforms to his place to sit with her while he was gone. A couple of the best guys he knew. He’d only be gone a short time. Hell, this might be a dead end. It probably was. Still, they needed to explore it further.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be there.”
Zach didn’t get up right away, but he sat there in the quiet of his apartment, his mind going back to the night before. He was worried about her, worried that she hadn’t spoken about what they’d all discovered, though the tears were a step in the right direction. He thought back to their sex, the desperate nature of it, her assertion that she didn’t know how to have a healthy relationship. Zach blew out a breath, his heart heavy. She had so much strength, and yet so little trust in herself in some ways. But who could blame her? She was still trying to figure out how her new reality merged with her old ideas of self. And of course, she had issues regarding sex. She might always be damaged in that way. It might rarely come out. It might come out often. If he was going to be with Josie, he had to know that. He had to accept that.
With a heavy sigh, Zach stood, heading for the shower. This had to take a back seat. For now.
**********
“We apologize for the inconvenience, Ms. Gilbert, but we have some follow-up questions that can’t wait.”
“I wish you’d called, Detectives. I was in an important meeting.” Her short heels clicked on the floor as she led them back to the office they’d sat in the afternoon before.
They took the same seats in front of her desk, Zach aware of the empty third seat where Josie had sat.
Janelle sunk down into her chair, gazing expectantly at them and for the first time, Zach got a good look at her. She looked ten years older than she’d appeared the day before, dark circles beneath her eyes, her face puffy as though she’d been crying. That sixth detective sense thrummed through him, the belief that they were about to get information that would catapult their investigation further. Usually that feeling brought with it a sense of excitement, but right then, it also held a note of dread. Because what this woman might know would have to do with Josie Stratton’s son, and that meant it had to do with the heart of the woman he loved.
Jimmy sat forward. Janelle Gilbert’s hands trembled where they rested on her desk. She pulled them back, hiding them in her lap. “You seem nervous, Ms. Gilbert.”