How horrible it must have been for Robert to arrive at the accident and recognize the driver. Then to have to tell Ben.
She pulled her gaze away from Melanie’s image and forced herself to focus on the other photographs. There were multiple images of each view from different angles. When Amy saw the photo of the backseat with nothing but an empty car seat base, acute sadness filled her. What a terrible discovery for Robert to make.
What a terrible loss of life.
Amy’s eyes burned and her throat itched. She blinked and cleared her throat. “So, what type of evidence did you gather?”
For the next thirty minutes, Rudy showed her pictures of skid marks, boot prints, and tire tracks. Then he showed her close-up photos of the dents and dark blue paint scrapings they’d taken from Melanie’s red car. In one photo, he pointed out the dent pattern in the metal of Melanie’s car, caused by a grill guard.
“What’s a grill guard?” It should have been self-explanatory, but Amy couldn’t visualize it.
He leaned over to her computer and did a quick Internet search. When the results popped up, Rudy clicked on an image. “It looked something like this. It didn’t cover the whole front of the vehicle, just the grill.”
Amy studied the picture where the guard covered the radiator area of a truck, leaving the headlights exposed. She tried to picture it on the front of a blue Suburban, but she wasn’t sure she knew what a Suburban even looked like. She knew it was an SUV, but didn’t all SUVs look the same?
“We sent all the evidence to the state crime lab because we don’t have the high-tech equipment here to process any of it. They identified the paint as Atlantic Blue Metallic, used specifically on 1996 Chevrolet Suburbans. We couldn’t get a single fingerprint off the car that didn’t belong to Melanie or Ben, suggesting whoever hit her and took the baby, either wore gloves or was especially careful. The sad thing is, if Melanie had gotten medical attention right away, she might have survived.”
A fist tightened around Amy’s heart, and she blinked away more tears. How could anyone leave someone to die?
Considering what a close-knit community this was, and how many relatives Ben had in Providence, Melanie’s death and Cassey’s disappearance must have shaken the entire town.
After Rudy returned the file to the records room went back to work, Amy opened a new tab on her computer and did a search for blue Suburbans.As images filled the screen, she clicked back to the picture of a grill guard, mentally putting the two together.
A dark blue Suburban with a grill guard.
The image in Amy’s mind seemed familiar. Like she’d seen such a vehicle before. But she couldn’t for the life of her figure out where.
Out of nowhere, came the unmistakable impression she’d broken down in Providence for a reason.
* * *
Robert walkedout of his office a few minutes after five. “Amy, are you ready to go home?”
Amy nodded. Learning about the accident and viewing the photos and reports had given Amy a headache and left her feeling melancholy. She wanted to lock herself in her room and have a good cry. Her heart ached for Ben and his family, and all the officers who had worked this case.
The feeling she’d broken down in Providence for a reason stuck with her and gave her a sense of urgency she didn’t understand.
When they pulled into the Young’s driveway after picking up Kallie, Amy caught sight of Debbie sunbathing on her front porch in a bikini. It almost appeared as though Debbie expected Robert.
He jumped out of the truck and hurried to open Amy’s door before unbuckling Kallie from her car seat. Robert walked unnecessarily close to Amy as she made her way into the house. At one point, she felt his hand on the small of her back.
It suddenly became crystal clear why Robert insisted he, Jake, and Ben take turns driving her.They’re using me.She gripped the handles of her crutches tighter as heat filled her.
Jake’s words rang in her head.‘Whatever you do, don’t leave me alone with that woman.’ Debbie had no doubt earned Ben and his cousins’ disdain, but that didn’t excuse Robert from taking advantage of her injury.
She waited until they were in the house and Robert had put Kallie down in the family room before she let him have it.
“How dare you?” She accused as she dropped onto the couch.
Robert’s gaze jumped to her, eyes questioning. “What?”
She pointed her finger at him. “Don’t you‘what?’ me. You used me!”
“What are you talking about?” Robert feigned innocence, but his inability to meet her gaze screamedguilty.
“Shame on you for taking advantage of a poor, innocent, injured female.” She bit back a smile. Pretending to be offended was harder than she thought it would be.
He scratched the back of his neck. “When Ben said you needed a boot and crutches, Jake felt bad, and I sort of felt responsible too.”
