“The team should be here soon. Is she okay to answer a few questions?”
I start to protest, but Jessica lifts her head and peers up at him. “Y-yeah.”
“You don’t have to do this now,” I tell her softly, but she stubbornly shakes her head.
“It’s fine. I can do this.”
Reluctantly, I let her pull away, but I refuse to let go of her hand. My fingers interlock with her icy ones, holding tight.
“You said the man was still here when you came home?” Nico pulls out his notepad and pen. “Did you recognize him?”
A shudder rocks Jessica’s body, her throat bobbing before she answers.
“I— Yes. I came home after dinner at my parents’ house. At first, I didn’t even notice that it was dark. Not until I stepped out of my car. Ma-Matthew…” She clears her throat, and I squeeze her hand reassuringly. “Matthew installed an automatic porch light for me. It’s been nice not to have to scramble through the dark, but I didn’t think too much of it until I got to the door and realized it was open.”
She sucks in a sharp breath, her body going stiff.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I whisper, skimming my thumb over the back of her hand softly. “You don’t?—”
“Then I started to push the door open, when he pulled it from the other side.”
So close. He was so fucking close to her.
“He?” Nico asks steadily, and I want to punch him in the face. “Did you recognize him?”
Jessica shakes her head. “He wore a mask.”
“How do you know they’re a him, then?”
These are standard questions, I know that, but it doesn’t help me control this rage at him for questioning her this way. “If she said they’re a him?—”
Nico shoots me a glare, but screw this.
“It’s Damien.” I state the absolute damn truth. “We all know it. We all saw the message on the wall.”
“I don’t remember asking you a question,” Nico grits out.
“This is personal, Rivera. We both know the statistics; ex-boyfriends are usually the ones behind crimes like this. For fuck’s sake, he slashed her tires just the other day! You were there.”
“I can’t arrest a man on a statistic, Williams. I need facts.”
I open my mouth, but Jessica’s fingers dig into mine.
“D-do you really think…?” Jessica’s lips part in surprise, but I can see it when the realization hits her. “He was tall. Maybe a head taller than me? Broad shoulders. He wore dark clothes witha hood pulled over his head. But I’m pretty sure it’s a man. He pushed me…”
Her gaze darts to the stairs, and I clench my jaw tight.
The fucker pushed her.
Down the stairs.
Sure, there are only a few steps, but still, if she’d have fallen wrong, she could have easily hit her head on the edge. He could have killed her.
“What happened then?”
“He ran.”
“You probably surprised him.” Nico tenses his jaw as he taps his pen on the pad, his brain working. “Do you know anyone who could’ve done something like this?”
