by Karen Fenech
Dee was breathing hard by the time she reached Faith who was hovering in the doorway. Faith thought Dee’s panting was more from exasperation with Tommy than from the mild exertion of making her way to her front door.
Faith held up a hand in a slow wave. Dee watched her son’s retreating back for a moment, then snatched Faith’s hand and pulled her into the house.
“The rest of the kids won’t be home from school for a couple hours,” Dee said. “Hector’s having a whiskey. I’m going to join him. You look like you could use one, too.” As Dee towed Faith to the back of the house she shouted, “Hector, Faith’s here. Pour one more.”
When Faith entered the kitchen, Hector placed three tumblers with two fingers of whiskey in each on the long, scarred center island. He tossed one back quickly but it did nothing to restore the color that had drained from his face. His complexion, beneath the mustache and day’s growth of beard, was ashen.
He sank down onto one of the stools behind him. He clasped his hands together in a tight grip as if he were attempting to hold onto something that was in danger of slipping through his fingers. “What are we going to do, querida?”
Dee turned to Faith and said quietly, “Tommy’s been suspended.” Dee reached out and placed her plump fingers atop Hector’s. “We’ll get him to open up, Hector. We’ll fix this.”
Hector lowered his gaze and shook his head slowly. “The parents of the boy whose tooth he knocked out are threatening to call the police and file assault charges. He is young. He does not know he will be throwing away his chance for a good future if he has a police record. And he needs that scholarship. He cannot lose it.”
“The other boy hit Tommy as well,” Faith pointed out, recalling Tommy’s shiner.
“The boy is saying he hit Tommy back in self-defense. That Tommy jumped him,” Dee said. “The second boy is backing up what the first boy said.” Dee’s grip on Hector’s hand went white as she held him tighter. “I wish I knew what started it all. Tommy is not violent. He would never deliberately hurt anyone.”
“Tommy didn’t say what started the fight?” Faith asked.
Dee shook her head. “Not a word. He refuses to talk about it.” Dee’s eyes lit. “Faith, you can ask him. He doesn’t see you as an authority figure. Right now me and Hector are the enemy. He thinks of you as an older sister. He might tell you why he struck the other boy.”
Faith nodded slowly. “I’ll help in any way I can. Of course I’ll speak with Tommy.”
“He’ll open up to you,” Dee said. “I know he will.”
“I’ll do my best.” Faith glanced to Dee and then to Hector. “If the parents do decide to involve the police, you know I’ll be right there with Tommy.”
Dee reached across the space that separated them and squeezed Faith’s hand.
Hector cleared his throat then said, his voice hoarse, “Thank you, Faith.”
There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for these people. “Sorry to dump something else on you, but I went to Chet’s to deliver the weekly order. He refused it.”
Dee’s brow wrinkled. “Why? It’s been the same order for years. He wants something different?”
Faith shook her head. “He didn’t want me delivering it.” Dee’s confusion visibly deepened and Faith elaborated ending with, “He told me that as long as I’m associating with you, he won’t do business with you.”
Hector rose off the seat. “Why that son of a—”
In the time Faith had known Hector, she’d rarely seen him in a temper. His cheeks that had only an instant before been chalk white were now red with anger. Dee’s face also suffused with red. Faith said, “I placed the arrangements in the shop refrigerator.”
“Fine.” Dee’s spine straightened. “He can take his business elsewhere.”
Faith said, “You should not have to lose his business. This is not about your business. He struck out at you because of me, because of the Gaines case. He is on Wade County’s Chamber of Commerce and may be able to influence other business owners. The last thing I want is to cause you, Hector, and the kids harm. I don’t want your businesses to take a hit.”
Hector’s eyes darkened. “We have taken hits before.”
“I don’t want you to take a hit now because of me. The Gaines case isn’t your fight.” Faith looked to Dee and Hector. “I’m not going to back away from it. I came by not only to tell you why you’re going to find today’s delivery back at the shop, but also to let you know that I won’t be helping out there. I won’t be coming by there at all.”
“You can’t do that.”
“It’s best, Dee.” To mollify Dee, Faith added, “At least for a little while. You need to distance yourself from me for now.”
“We didn’t leave our homeland only to be bullied here.” Dee jutted out her chin. “I won’t let Chet have that kind of power over us.”
Faith agreed with Dee on that level but it angered her that she could be used as a weapon against Dee. “Only for a little while,” Faith repeated.
Dee shook her head. “We do not bow down to the ‘Chets’ of this world.”
Faith could see there was no use in pressing the point further. Dee’s mind was set.
Faith checked her watch. She needed to get back to her office. She needed to stop by the hospital to tell James that Fahey’s bail had been denied. But first she’d track down Tommy.
Faith slid her untouched drink across the counter to Dee and placed the keys to the flower shop beside the glass. “I’ll call you after I’ve spoken with Tommy.”
CHAPTER NINE
James had been asleep when Faith stopped by the hospital the day before. She’d left him a note letting him know the outcome of the Fahey bail hearing, then gone in search of Tommy. She’d gotten a list of his favorite haunts from Dee, but wherever Tommy had gone, she hadn’t been able to find him.
It was seven a.m now on Wednesday. Dee and Hector kept early hours at the flower shop and the service station and would have left for work. Tommy usually drove his four sisters to elementary school on the way to school himself. Faith was counting on catching him before he left the house with the girls. After driving them he may decide to stay out for the entire day and like yesterday, she may not be able to find him at all.
Plopping her half-drunk coffee on the kitchen counter, Faith left the house. At the Delgado’s, she pressed the doorbell. When that failed to produce Tommy, Faith used her key. “Tommy? Girls? It’s Faith.” The house was quiet. No squeals of laughter or sounds of breakfast being eaten came from the kitchen. Were they all still asleep? She called out again loudly as she climbed the narrow wooden steps to the second story. “Tommy? Girls?”
Tommy appeared at the head of the stairs and peered down at her. His thick curly hair fell across his forehead, mussed from being in bed and from the hand he was pushing through it. His eyes, heavy from sleep, sharpened on her. “Faith, what are you doing here?”
“I’m going to ask you the same question. You’re not dressed. Where are your sisters?”
“Gone. Papa drove them. I’m grounded. Can’t leave the house or use the car.”
“I’d like to talk with you. Can we talk?”
Tommy tensed but dropped down onto the wall-to-wall yellow carpeting. His neck and shoulder muscles bunched tight.
Faith draped her overcoat on the bannister then smoothed her skirt beneath her and sat on the landing. “Your parents are worried, Tommy.” Tommy didn’t answer and Faith tried again. “You’re not alone in this. We want to help. You have a lot of people who love you. Me included.”
Tommy leaned his head back against the mint green wall and looked away from her.
To regain his attention, Faith reached out and tapped his bare ankle, visible beneath the cuff of loose-fitting blue pajama bottoms. “Tell me what happened yesterday.”
Tommy’s features tightened.
“Tommy?” Nothing. “You were in a fight with two boys. What was that about?” No response. “It’s not like you t
o fight. You must have been provoked. What did they do to you?” Silence. “Have the police spoken with you? I’m a lawyer, remember? If the police have contacted you, I can help.”
The silence went on, punctuated only by the ticking of the wall clock. Tommy was closed up tight. Faith was afraid if she pushed him, she’d drive him away and right now, she was the only hope Dee and Hector had of reaching him. Though she wanted answers, she thought the best thing to do was to give him some space.
“I’m going to leave now but I’ll be back,” Faith said. She paused but Tommy didn’t speak. She got to her feet and stood over him. “You can trust me.” More ticking from the clock. She crouched and hugged him. Quietly she said, “I love you.”
Tommy’s arms wound around her. “Love you, too.”
Faith felt the tremor of fear that shook his body and tightened her hold. “It’s going to be all right. I promise.”
Tommy released her.
Faith retrieved her coat from the railing. “Call me.”
Tommy kept his head down and didn’t offer any assurance that he would. It was hard for Faith to turn away and leave him but again she didn’t think crowding him would get him to open up. If anything, it might only push him deeper inside himself.
Faith locked up behind herself. Back in the car, she called Dee.
“I spoke with Tommy,” she said, “and it really was me doing all the talking. I didn’t get anywhere with him.”
Dee exhaled loudly. “I’ve never known Tommy to be so stubborn.”
Faith recalled his fear, how he’d clung to her. “I’m not giving up. I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
By the time Faith raised her head from her desk, she was the only one left in the public defender’s office. A glance at her watch showed the work day had ended hours ago. The window beyond her tiny cubicle showed a dark and gloomy night sky.
She’d spent the day again going over the police reports, photographs, and forensic test results from the Fahey homicide. Despite what she’d told Irwin, she needed stronger arguments to refute the evidence against James. She was looking for evidence that she may need to have suppressed. Likewise with James’s criminal record. But while James had been arrested on several occasions, none of the crimes were violent. Faith had made note of that. His non-violent history worked in their favor and called into question why a non-violent criminal would suddenly become violent. No, she would not attempt to suppress his record. Given the prejudice against James Gaines in Wade and the fact that his life had been threatened here, she’d prepared a brief for a change of venue. Too late for the judge to receive it tonight. She placed the brief in an envelope and left it in the admin’s out box to be delivered to the judge first thing in the morning.
Faith took her keys from her briefcase. It was heavy, weighted with the work she would resume when she got home. In addition to the Gaines case, she had work for other clients to catch up on that had taken a backseat since she’d taken on the Gaines case.
She locked the office and left the building. Her overcoat had been warm enough this morning but now she shivered in the brisk night air. Her car was the only one on the lot, parked beneath a light that was out. Strangely, the light above her car wasn’t the only one out tonight. All of the lights around her car were out. If not for the sliver of moonlight, the lot would be in total darkness. As it was, she had to squint to see her feet.
She reached the front of her car and hit the key fob to unlock the doors. Something struck her from behind. The blow hit between her shoulder blades, knocking her off her feet.
Faith cried out and fell hard onto her hands and knees. Glass from the broken bulbs that had been knocked out of the lot lights above her car cut into her palms. She dropped her briefcase and it slid across the asphalt, under the front of the car. Her keys flew out of her hand and bounced off of a front tire. A second strike drove her head into the car’s bumper. Pain shot through her skull.
Faith tried to scream but didn’t have enough breath to do more than moan. Blood trickled from her hairline, dripping into one eye.
Her assailant was still behind her. He pulled her up by the hair. His gloved hands brushed her nape. He yanked her head back, stretching her neck all the way and then jerking harder when her neck could move no further. He straddled her. Was he going to rape her? Snap her neck?
Blinking blood from her eyes, Faith struck back at him but positioned as she was, any blows she landed lacked power.
“Bitch,” he said in a harsh guttural tone. “Fucking bitch.”
Faith could hear his rage. He tightened his hold on her head, and she reached a new level of pain.
He grabbed her by the throat, fingers squeezing, cutting off her air. Her instinct was to try to dislodge his grip, but she fought that instinct and stretched her arm out, straining, straining her reach. Her fingertips brushed the tire and then her keys, but not close enough to grab them. Tears mixed with the blood dripping down her face as her arm threatened to come out of its socket. Then her keys were in her hand.
Her assailant used the hand that wasn’t around her neck to hook her around the waist. He picked her up. He was putting her inside her car. Once he had her there, he could take her anywhere. Faith’s vision dulled from lack of air. Frantically, she began pressing the buttons on her car key. The car alarm shrieked. The car lights lit up the night.
Faith’s assailant swore then dropped her. She landed facedown in the back of the car in the footwell. With his hand no longer pressed against her windpipe, she gasped for air. He brought what felt like his fist down on her back with brutal force. Then he was gone.
Fighting pain and nausea, Faith put all she had into crawling across the floor to the car door and pulling it closed. As she fell back to the floor, she pushed another button on her key. The last sound she heard were the doors locking.
CHAPTER TEN
It was late when Ryan entered the station. He’d been with the mayor and city officials all day discussing new safety initiatives for the county prompted by the Gaines shooting.
“How’d it go?” Galbraith asked.
“A lot of talk so far. I thought you’d be gone.”
“Myrna is having a girls’ night in at the house.” Galbraith laughed. “Figured I’d make myself scarce.” Galbraith’s expression became serious. “Don’t know if you’ve heard about Fahey’s bail hearing?”
That was yesterday, but Ryan had not heard. “How’d that go?” Though knowing Faith’s ability, Ryan was sure he already knew.
“Bail denied. Fahey is going to remain our guest a while longer. No reaction from Fahey about that. Not the case with everyone. We’ve been getting calls.”
“What kind of calls?”
“People against the ruling about the bail. Telling us to let Fahey go. We’re making a list of callers.”
“Keep me posted.”
Ryan entered his office. He had a stack of paper on his desk. He picked up the one on top of the pile but instead of reading it, just held it, his mind on what Galbraith had told him. The Gaines case was gaining steam. The support for Fahey was escalating. Ryan didn’t like that Faith was in the middle of it all.
Rapid footsteps drew Ryan’s attention. Galbraith charged into Ryan’s office.
“Call just came in,” Galbraith said. “A woman was assaulted at the government building. Ryan, it’s Miss Winston.”
Ryan’s heart rate felt as if it tripled. “How bad?”
Galbraith shook his head. “Don’t know. The uniform who found her called for an ambulance. She’s being taken to Wade County General now.”
At Wade Hospital, Ryan flashed his badge at the nurse behind a desk in the ER. “A woman was brought in here a few minutes ago. Faith Winston.”
“She’s in the back. But you can’t see her yet. The doctor—”
Ryan took off at a run. In the corridor he heard voices coming from behind small cubicles partitioned with blue curtains. The curtain was closed on only one cubicle. When he heard Fai
th’s voice, weak but distinct, he closed his eyes and swallowed hard the fear that had been clawing at him.
A cop was leaning back against the slate gray walls, hands shoved deep in his pockets. Madsen, a new man on the force.
“Chief.” Madsen pushed off the wall and straightened at Ryan’s approach.
Ryan gave Madsen his full attention. “What can you tell me about what happened to Miss Winston? How badly is she hurt?”
Madsen yanked his hands from his pockets. “Can’t tell you much. I was driving by on routine patrol near the government building. Heard an alarm. Turned out it was a car alarm. Car lights were flashing. I went for a closer look and found Miss Winston locked inside her car. Unconscious. There was blood on her. It was obvious that she’d been assaulted.”
Thinking of someone hurting Faith made Ryan want to hurt that someone.
“I called EMTs,” Madsen went on. “She started coming around and was able to unlock her car so we didn’t need to break in to get her.”
“What did Faith tell you about the assault?”
“Not much other than she was jumped near her car. Looks like a robbery, but her briefcase with a wallet inside was still at the scene so maybe not. She got her car alarm going so maybe the guy got scared and ran off without grabbing her case.” The cop shrugged. “That’s all I got. The EMTs took over and I figured I’d have to wait for the doc to finish with her before I could get any details.”
“I’ll speak with her.”
Madsen nodded. “Chief, when I got a look at her, I realized that she’s the Faith Winston who’s been in the news this week about the Gaines case.”
Ryan didn’t respond to that but alarm bells had started ringing in his head when Madsen had said that Faith’s wallet hadn’t been taken. Didn’t sound like a mugging. Didn’t sound random. He couldn’t discount that her attack may have stemmed from her representing Gaines.
The curtain opened. A doctor emerged from the long hall that led to patient cubicles. She pushed frizzy hair that formed a cloud around her head back from her face.
