“Fine. Let’s go.”
Katie, Jake, and I head out to the patrol car, and Jake hops into the backseat while Katie takes the wheel. As we drive, Jake takes a moment of silence to speak up.
“So, Katie … what’s it like working with Kasper Hill?”
She says nothing to this at first, and for a moment, I’m sure she won’t even dignify his question with an answer. Finally, she speaks.
“He’s a good cop,” she says. “One of the best I’ve ever worked with, aside from you, Sarge.” She smiles at me, such innocence behind the cop charade. She’s young, barely more than a girl, and imagining her under Kasper’s influence is something I have a difficult time getting behind. I know they’ve been sleeping together for over a year now, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that she’s just as afraid of him as the rest of us are.
“You know he’s married, though, don’t you?” Jake asks then, and Katie glares at him from the rear-view mirror.
“Shut up, Denny.”
“I’m just saying.” Jake puts his hands in the air, then shrugs. “I wasn’t sure if you knew that or not, considering how involved with him you seem to be.”
“He wants to leave his wife,” Katie says softly. “He’s been unhappy for years.”
You will be, too, if you end up with him,I think to myself.
“So why hasn’t he?” Jake asks. “Left his wife, I mean.”
“He’s going to.”
“Before or after he kills her?”
Silence falls over the car, and I press my lips together to keep from saying anything at all. I know Jake is being inappropriate, and I should tell him to mind his own, but honestly … I’m curious, too. And the worst part is, he’s right. He’s right about all of it, and I think Katie knows that too.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jake,” Katie says, pursing her lips. This time, however, she doesn’t look at him in the mirror when she speaks. It’s almost as if she can’t face it.
“So, he hasn’t bothered to tell you about all the hospital visits Tara Hill is notorious for?” Jake continues. “I thought it was common knowledge around these parts.”
“She’s clumsy, apparently.” Her words are so quiet I’m unsure if she’s even spoken, and when I look over at her, I can tell she doesn’t believe the words that slip from between her own lips.
“He abuses her, Katie,” someone says, and it takes me a few seconds to realize that the words spoken have come from me. “He hurts her, and it’s only a matter of time before he injures his own daughter, too.”
“He would never hurt Maddy,” Katie whispers, but her voice catches like she’s about to cry, and the father instincts buried deep in my soul make me want to reach out and hug her.
“You’re a good cop, kid,” I say. “Just … be careful getting mixed up in the wrong crowd. It could destroy not only your career but your personal life, as well.”
Katie says nothing to this, but the expression on her face makes me think she already knows all of this. Maybe, just maybe, it will be the push she needs to separate herself from a guy like Kasper Hill.
The rest of the car ride is in awkward silence, and we arrive at the scene a moment later to find an ambulance already there. A far-too-young woman is sitting on the curb while a paramedic kneels next to her, taking her blood pressure.
“What happened here?” I ask, and the woman looks up at me with terrified eyes, but she doesn’t speak.
“The owners of the house called 911 when Jane Doe here broke in,” says one of the paramedics. I recognize her as Julia, one of the medics from a station not far from here. “She didn’t take anything. We think she was just trying to find somewhere to sleep, but the homeowner is obviously rattled, and we can’t seem to get a name. She’s also refusing medical treatment.”
“Hi,” I say, kneeling down in front of the young woman. She doesn’t speak, but her lower lip trembles. Scabs and scars scatter like freckles across her face, and her dark hair is greasy and limp. She’s in far too bad of shape for what I’m assuming is a girl under twenty-five years of age. “I’m Sergeant Burton. Can you tell me your name?”
The girl says nothing, just buries her head into her legs and cries.
“No cops, no cops, no cops.”
“I think she needs to be seen,” Julia says, looking at me. “But we hoped maybe you guys could convince her to ride to the hospital.”
I stay where I am, kneeling in front of the girl, and Katie and Jake flank me. I reach one hand out and rest it on the woman’s arm. She flinches away but doesn’t flee, thankfully.
“Hey, kiddo,” I say softly. “I know you’re scared and confused, but my medic friends here think you should see a doctor to check out those scars, okay? Do you want to ride with me to the hospital?”
