‘Just keep walking,’ Travis says softly. ‘Don’t give him anything.’
When they meet the station box officer, Travis does the explanatory talking. They return to the station box, where the officer rolls the metal door to allow them exit. Now they’re in the branching corridor. Emma finds it easier to move forward with Travis’s arm around her.
In the lobby area, she makes him stop so she can rest against the wall and lean over. She puts her hands on her knees and waits for her vision to clear. Concentrates on the victory of getting the information. Tries not to think about the things Simon said, the way she responded.
Tries not to think about how there are only five doors between Simon Gutmunsson and the outside world.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
There is no Francks, just Travis in the bureau Fairmont, and he has remembered to get her backpack from the jail admission desk, throwing it in the back as she clambers into the passenger seat. He’s shaking almost as much as she is, gets the car started but guns it too hard pulling away from the curb.
Emma is numb. She works to settle her shaking by clenching and unclenching her fists. ‘I thought you were in Ohio.’
‘I just got back.’ Travis scans traffic, looking like he wants to ram something. ‘I called Carter, he said you gave Francks the slip at the airport. I figured this was the place you might be.’
‘Carter kicked me off the case.’
‘I heard. I told him it was dumb. Don’t know if that was the response he wanted, but I guess that’s too bad.’ He takes the intersection at Forbes Avenue too fast, exhales, eases off the accelerator. He’s a good driver.
‘Simon gave me the rest of the information we need to catch the College Killer.’
‘I’m glad you got something. Carter’s pretty pissed.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Emma feels her eyes getting wet. ‘I’m sorry you had to deal with Carter, and I’m sorry you had to go in there and pull me out …’
‘Hey, any day I get to hold a gun to Simon Gutmunsson’s head is a good day.’ Travis snorts. They’re coming up to Fourth, and a red light. He slows the car to a stop, glances at her. ‘He got you pretty good, huh?’
‘Yeah.’ Emma feels her breath trembling in and out. ‘Yeah, he did. He watched the videotape.’
‘I know.’ Travis pauses. ‘I figured that, too.’
‘He’s known about it all this time.’ She swallows, looks out the window. How to ask this? ‘You were at the bust in Columbus. You never saw … You never watched—’
‘No. No.’ When she looks back, Travis is shaking his head, eyes doggedly forward to the red light. ‘I heard your deposition, Emma – I heard it in your own words. I reviewed the evidence photos. I never want to … see it.’ His jaw clenches, his expression sickened. ‘No.’
‘Simon just …’ Her skin feels very thin, almost transparent. ‘He kept … talking about the things that happened in the basement, and I—’
‘You got overwhelmed,’ Travis says quietly.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s okay,’ he says. ‘Emma …’ He looks as if he’s about to say more, but then he shakes his head. ‘Come ’ere.’
He reaches out with his non-driving arm, drags her into a sideways hug. Emma leans into his warmth as much as she can in the confines of the car. She tries not to cry, and mostly succeeds.
The light changes to green. The car behind them honks.
‘Okay,’ Travis says, easing them apart, putting the car in gear. ‘Let’s get to headquarters and put that info of yours to urgent use.’
They drive forward.
It takes more than four hours, once they reach the Pittsburgh Public Safety building and Emma gives her report, for the combined investigative team – detectives from the Pittsburgh PD, and agents from Quantico and the local field office – to pull the information they need out of vital records, and begin putting it all together.
During that time, Emma reconciles Carter to the idea of her continued involvement in the case. Both Kristin and Travis weigh in. There’s a lot of fast talking, and a lot of huffing from Carter, but Emma hopes that one dumb thing cancels out another dumb thing, and that she and Carter will be able to maintain eye contact again soon.
It helps that the intelligence she got from Simon is crucial; Carter quickly becomes too busy to huff. As more news emerges, the tone in the bullpen changes, snowballs. Every officer on the floor is aware that they now have enough information to give them a window – they’re close. They have a chance for a collar. The general atmosphere is buzzing with the feeling ofwe can catch this guy. Emma senses the baying energy of a disparate group of people who’ve learned to hunt as a pack.
Kristin orders Chinese food, and she and Emma sit on chairs in the glassed-in deposition room, watching men rush around, listening to the phones ring. As the likelihood of finding Linda increases, Emma’s anxiety ramps and she finds it hard to concentrate. Butshe changes her shirt, makes herself eat, and drinks water from the cooler while Kristin expresses her indignation about Emma’s almost-removal from the case. Emma refrains from talking about the fun and games with Simon. But that conversation is going to have to happen soon. She’s gotten to know Kristin better while they’ve been sharing a room: Kristin is eccentric, but she’s a good person. She’s also valuable as a conduit to her brother. But it’s as if Kristin’s still connected to Simon in a tangible way, as if the membrane between them is porous. It makes Emma nervous.
