by Karen Fenech
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Hey, Ryan.”
It was Zach calling. Ryan was slumped in the front seat of his truck where’d he’d been watching Faith’s house all night. The dawn sun peeked through the clouds and glinted off the hood. He squinted in the light as he put his cell phone on speaker.
“Zach.”
As with Mitch, Zach Corrigan was like a brother to Ryan. Ryan, Zach, and Gage Broderick had all grown up largely in the Turner household with the Turner’s sons Mitch and Ben. The only one of them who hadn’t been an early part of the Turner family was John Burke, but he was part of the family now.
“Want to let you know we’re all coming down next weekend.”
Next Friday was the court date to determine custody of Jeremy. Win or lose, they’d be there for him. Ryan’s throat thickened at the support of his family. “It will be great to see everyone.” Ryan had heard that Zach had met and fallen in love with an amazing woman. Due to Tina’s demands, Ryan had missed the previous Thanksgiving with the Turners, and missed meeting her. Zach operated a private military operations organization. When the family had flown out for Jeremy’s birth, Zach had been away on a mission. “I’m looking forward to meeting your lady.”
“Yeah. It’s time you met Allison.”
Ryan heard the love in Zach’s voice when he said her name. Heard it, was thrilled for his brother, and felt an ache thinking of his own situation with Faith.
“Mitch said Tina’s still being Tina and hasn’t let you see Jeremy,” Zach said.
Ryan knew Zach had no love for Tina. Zach had tolerated her and been civil to her because of Ryan and had never treated her with anything but respect, but Zach had never liked her. “No, she hasn’t.”
Zach grunted. “I won’t be sorry to see her in the rearview.”
Zach tended to be blunt, a quality Ryan appreciated. “You and me both. All I want is Jeremy.”
“By the time we come out there, you’ll have everything sorted about Jeremy.”
Ryan’s jaw tensed. “I won’t lose my son, Zach.”
“Not going to happen,” Zach said fiercely. “Mitch told me about the stunt Tina tried to pull with the restraining order. She’s blowing smoke there and the court will know that.”
“I’m not taking any chances. I’m going along with her until the court date. Playing it her way.”
“What about that politician?”
“Too bad it didn’t work out. She’d be happier with him.”
Zach’s anger reached across the distance. “So she thinks. She’s not the kind of person to be happy with anyone. She’s not happy with herself.”
That was the truth.
“You’ve got trouble out your way with the Gaines trial coming up,” Zach went on. “I’ve been reading about it in the papers. Seeing it on the tube. Faith’s got trouble. She okay?”
Zach had met Faith when Ryan had taken her home to Blake for a visit. “She was assaulted last night.” Ryan told Zach what had happened.
“How bad is she hurt?”
“The guy worked her over.” Again Ryan fought back anger thinking about that asshole with his hands on her. “I’m worried this may be a vigilante crime. The media is stirring things up, blaming Faith as much as Gaines for Sharon Fahey’s murder.”
“You looking at anybody?” Zach asked, his voice tense.
“We’ve got one guy. We’re bringing him in for questioning.”
“That where you are now? At the station?”
“No. I’ve been parked in Faith’s driveway all night.”
“In her driveway, not in her house,” Zach said quietly.
“Yeah.”
The lights had been on in her living room all night. Needing to check on her but not wanting to disturb her if she’d fallen asleep with the lights on, Ryan had gone to her window rather than knocked on her door. He’d seen her moving carefully, trying to find a comfortable position on the couch. She’d still been dressed in the torn clothing and Ryan figured she hadn’t felt up to climbing the stairs to change into something else.
“Does Faith know you and Tina are calling it quits for good?” Zach asked.
“She knows we’ve ended it. She’s not sure about it being for good. After what happened, my going back to Tina, I can’t blame Faith for doubting things are over for good this time.” Ryan paused feeling the pain of that. “She’s closed off to me. She’s hurt. I get that. I hurt her. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.”
“You still love her.”
“With everything I am,” Ryan said softly.
The statement hung between them. Faith’s front door opened. Ryan straightened in the seat and peered at her. When she emerged from the front door, fully dressed, he blew out a harsh breath. She was going out, likely to work, instead of taking a day for herself. He could see the wound on her head and the purple bruises on her neck even from this distance.
“Ryan? You still there?” Zach said.
“Faith’s coming out.”
“That a good idea? From what you said, sounds like she should be taking it easy.”
“I’m going to tell her that. Later, Zach.” Ryan ended the call.
She’d changed clothes. She was wearing black pants and a black coat, a different coat than she’d had on yesterday that had been stained with blood. The dark clothing brought home just how pale she was.
Ryan got out of the vehicle. As he closed the distance between them, he said, “You should be in bed resting.”
She jerked back. “What are you doing back here?”
“I never left.”
“You’ve been here all night?”
“Yup.”
She didn’t ask why. Even if last night’s conversation at the hospital hadn’t happened, Ryan figured she knew why.
She wasn’t moving any better this morning than she had been last night. If anything, she was worse, taking a careful unsteady step off the stoop. She was obviously feeling the pounding she’d taken.
He was at her side before she took another step and wound his arm around her. Despite the cold that had her breath fogging, perspiration broke out on her brow. She was panting.
Squinting up at him, Faith said, “You plan on following me to work?”
Ryan brought her more firmly against him to keep her on her feet. She tensed but he didn’t loosen his hold, afraid if he did, she would fall. “I’ll take you if that’s where you’re going. I’d rather take you back inside. Better yet back to the hospital.”
“The world doesn’t stop turning because I could use a day off. I have clients depending on me.” She said the words between audible breaths.
“Being tough isn’t always the best way to be.”
Faith gave him an annoyed look. It was a look he recognized from when they’d disagreed in the past. Those disagreements had usually ended up with them laughing and then making love. Ryan smoothed a small line that appeared between her brows and said gently, “I miss that look.”
Recognition lit in her eyes. He could see she was remembering those times too.
She looked away from him. Redirecting the conversation she asked quietly, “Any word on the man who attacked me?”
“We’ll talk on the drive.”
He could see that she didn’t like the idea of accepting another ride from him, of being in close proximity to him, but she wanted to hear what he had to say and he wasn’t above pressing his advantage to ensure her safety.
She took her phone from her coat pocket and canceled a cab. Ryan helped her into the passenger seat then took his place behind the steering wheel. “Your office?”
“No. I need to be in court this morning.” She asked, “About the man who attacked me?”
Ryan started the engine, turned up the heat and backed out of her driveway. “Galbraith is bringing Chet Dooley in for questioning. So far, he’s the only one we’re looking at.”
Faith took a flash drive from her coat. “Here’s the list you asked me for.”
&nbs
p; He placed it in the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “Until we get this guy, I’m putting a man on you. He’ll be your shadow while you’re out of the house. At night a patrol car will be parked in front of your place.”
“Okay.” She spoke in barely a whisper, then clasped her gloved hands in front of her. “Did anyone find my briefcase?”
Her voice was thread thin. Her face now gray. The gash on her head had darkened and a bruise had formed on her cheek. Her body drew in on itself, sagging, as if she could no longer support her own weight. If the man who’d hurt her was in front of him now, Ryan would surely kill him. Watching her carefully for any sign that he should turn the car around and head back to her house, or drive her to the hospital, Ryan said, “Galbraith has it.”
“I need to pick it up before we go to court.”
“We’ll do that.”
She nodded. Her hair was up off her neck in a twist thing that went with her professional image. He wanted to reach out and stroke the strands, find out if they were as silky as he remembered, or if his mind had been playing cruel tricks on him since the last time he’d touched her.
He did not reach out to her. He kept his hand at his side. He was as far from her now as the day he’d left her. She’d made it plain last night that she didn’t want him in her life. No, that wasn’t accurate. She couldn’t have him in her life. That distinction leveled him. He wanted her. Yeah, he wanted her. But him wanting her was only hurting her. He’d told himself he would do whatever it took, anything and everything to have her back with him. But not if that anything meant hurting her.
His cell phone rang bringing him out of his thoughts. It was the precinct. He put the call on speaker. “Crosby.”
“Chief, it’s Galbraith.”
“You have Chet Dooley there yet?”
“We can clear, Dooley,” Galbraith said. “He was in Wade County General when Miss Winston was attacked. In the operating room having kidney stones removed.”
Fuck. They’d just lost their only suspect.
* * *
After a brief stop to retrieve her briefcase from Galbraith, Ryan escorted Faith into the courtroom and left her with the uniformed officer assigned to dog her every step. With Chet Dooley cleared, Ryan had no other leads. Galbraith had come back with the report from the crime scene team. They’d found nothing. The lenses of the security cameras had been sprayed with black paint, recording nothing. Ryan didn’t believe it was a coincidence that the cameras had been disabled right before Faith’s attack. It was another indicator that Faith’s attack had not been random. Someone had planned for the security cameras and the lot lights. As Ryan had expected, the canvass was a bust. All of which left them nowhere.
The thought of whoever had hurt Faith still walking around had a fire burning in Ryan’s gut. He had Faith’s list, but he also wanted to speak with Dee. She may have observed something or someone unusual around Faith.
At Dee’s house, Ryan rang the bell. Hector opened the door.
“Ryan.” Hector stepped back. “Come in.”
Hector’s expression was grim. Had he and Dee already heard about Faith’s attack? “Querida,” Hector said. “Ryan is here to speak to us.”
An instant later, Dee entered the hall. She was holding a dish rag with both hands, her fingers bunched around the fabric.
“Ryan. I can’t say we weren’t expecting you,” Dee said.
“Then you heard.”
“We received a call from Tommy’s principal. He told us that the parents of one of the boys would be pressing charges against Tommy.”
Ryan frowned. “Tommy?”
“No matter what the other boys are saying, it wasn’t Tommy’s fault.” Dee’s voice was tight. “Tommy has never been the type to get into fights at school. He isn’t talking, but I know my son. He wouldn’t hurt anyone without reason.”
“Tommy was in a fight?”
“You don’t know?” Hector asked.
Ryan shook his head. “I’m not here about Tommy.”
Hector cast a look at Dee. “We believed—”
Dee cut her husband off. “If not Tommy, then why are you here?”
The hostility Ryan had grown accustomed to since he’d left Faith was back in Dee’s manner, her stance, her voice. Her round face pulled taut. “It’s about Faith.”
Dee’s eyes narrowed. Lines at her mouth and eyes puckered. “What about her?”
“Faith was assaulted last night.”
Dee gasped. “How is she? What happened? Where is she? How badly is she hurt?” Dee’s voice cracked. “I have to go to her.”
Ryan was grateful for her response. “At the moment she’s at the courthouse. I just left her there.”
Hector rubbed Dee’s back gently. “I’ll stay here. Make sure Tommy doesn’t go out.”
Ryan wondered briefly why Tommy, who Ryan had never known to give his parents any trouble, was fighting at school and was now under house arrest. But he dismissed the thought and asked the question that had brought him here. “Dee, we haven’t got the guy who assaulted Faith. I’ve asked her for a list of professional and business acquaintances. You’re her closest friend. Do you know of anyone who might want to hurt her?”
Before Dee could reply, Tommy charged into the room. His eyes were wild. The boy was visibly shaking.
“It’s my fault,” Tommy cried out. “I should have said something. I didn’t think they’d go through with it and go after Faith. It’s my fault she’s hurt!” Tommy’s eyes filled with tears that began to stream down his face.
Ryan eyed Tommy. “What do you know about Faith’s attack, Tommy?”
“Chief, you have to stop them!” Tommy said. “You can’t let them go after her again!”
Ryan placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Who, Tommy? Who?”
“The guys at school. The two I had the fight with.” Tommy swallowed repeatedly. “We were all in Mrs. Fahey’s homeroom class. They were calling Faith all kinds of dirty names and saying how they were going to make sure she didn’t get Mrs. Fahey’s killer off. I should have said something. I didn’t want to upset Faith by having her know I was fighting because of her and I thought I stopped them. I should have known that they were going to hurt her anyway.”
Ryan’s anger ignited. “Names, Tommy. I want names.”
Dee went to her son and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tommy leaned against his mother as he wiped his damp eyes and nodded.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ryan left Dee’s house. He called Galbraith about the boys Tommy had named, asked Galbraith to have them picked up and brought to the station, and to ask their parents to come along. He also asked Galbraith to check for priors though any juvenile records may be sealed. If so, at the moment, Ryan didn’t have cause to request access if records were sealed.
Tommy had told Ryan that his two classmates had planned to strike Faith together. Ryan’s jaw tightened at the thought of two boys hurting her. But Faith had said one man assaulted her. Sounded like the plan changed and one of the boys had attacked Faith on his own. When Ryan arrived at the station, Galbraith informed him that the boys, Cal Willis and Kevin Anders, and their parents had arrived. Galbraith had placed each boy in a separate interview room then went on to add that he hadn’t dug up any juvie records on either.
Galbraith accompanied Ryan and a couple of minutes later, Ryan eyed Cal Willis. His face was bruised. His mouth and jaw swollen, presumably from his fight with Tommy. Six feet tall and though lean, the boy was all muscle. Not so much a boy, but a man, clearly with a man’s strength who may have used that strength against Faith. Ryan worked to control his anger that this may be the man who’d hurt Faith.
His tone hard, Ryan said, “I’m Chief Crosby.”
A man sat with Cal Willis, his father according to Galbraith. Willis Sr. had blunt features that were currently pulled taut in confusion. It was the middle of a work day and he wore a blue coverall from a local service station with a label stitched over the shirt’s breast po
cket that read, ‘Vic’.
“Victor Willis,” the man said. “What is this all about? Why do you want to speak to my son?”
Ryan gave Cal Willis a level look. “Faith Winston was assaulted last night.”
Fear filled Cal’s eyes. “I—I didn’t have anything to do with that, I swear!”
Cal was lisping and missing a front tooth, Ryan saw.
Victor Willis faced his son. “Why would you say that? Why would the police think you had anything to do with that?”
Cal’s eyes widened in panic. “I d-don’t know.”
Ryan glared at Cal. “You said you wanted to keep Miss Winston from getting Mrs. Fahey’s killer off.”
Victor Willis sucked in a breath. He closed his eyes. “Cal, what did you do?”
Tears filled Cal’s eyes and he began shaking his head from side to side like a pendulum. “I didn’t hurt her. I swear I didn’t hurt her!” Cal’s words tumbled out one on top of the other. “Sure. Yeah. I said some stuff at school, but I didn’t touch her. I didn’t do anything to her. I didn’t go near her. I swear!”
Victor opened his eyes and faced his son again. “At school? That what you and Tommy Delgado fought about? That why you got suspended?”
Tears rolled down Cal’s now ghost-white cheeks. “I said some things. I had a fight with Tommy but that’s it. I never went near Miss Winston.” Cal put his elbows on the table and grasped his dark blond hair with both hands. “I didn’t hurt her.” His voice trailed off. “I did not go near her.”
Cal’s denial seemed too genuine to be manufactured. Still, Ryan needed to be sure. “Where were you last night?”
“I–I was out.”
“Where?”
Cal cast a quick look at his father then away. “I can’t say.”
Victor Willis set his teeth. “You’d better say.”
Cal swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed hard. “I was with Becky.”
Victor shook his head. “Are you doing everything you can to piss away your future?”
