Page 51 of The Quiet Witness

He pinched his nose in exasperation. “I don’t want to repeat yesterday, okay? I’m asking you to please get in the car.”

“What good will it do?”

“Depends on how you view what we will see.”

Maybe she was done seeing. What would he show her? A body? A trafficker about to be murdered?

“It carries some good.” He added, focusing on her with a look that almost seemed… hopeful.

“Some good?” She grimaced. Suspicious. His version of good… could be wildly different from her own.

“The good, and the bad.” He glanced at her. “And the ugly… all mixed in one.”

She pushed off the couch. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see once we get there.”

What a wealth of information. She sighed through her nose. But she bent down to pick up her shoes. Reached up to take a jacket off the hook.

Seeing was believing after all.

***

After what seemed like two hours on the road, Lucien clicked off the engine in front of a large building. It lay secluded in the back of the city of Bozeman, if the brown plaque with the golden lettering was to be believed. Three stories tall, it rose equal in height to the pine trees surrounding it at the back.

The parking lot was huge, cars scattered throughout. But there were no people milling around, the place looked… deserted.

Lucien shut his car door and, not even checking to see if she followed, strode ahead to step up the sand-brown steps to the awaiting building.

Kate squinted at the green plaque hanging from the arched entryway. Guiding Hands Women’s shelter

A women’s shelter? What in the ever loving fuck…

Kate caught up quickly, right in time to catch the door Lucien held open for her.

Setting her feet over the threshold was like entering into another world. Warmth brushed against her cheeks, drifting gently from the heating vents that lined the high ceilings.

Whirling around, she took in the beige walls broken up by bright pastel colors. Green and the softest of purple. And then there was… a huge pink, fluffy couch. Kate stared at it. Boy did it look inviting to park her butt on it with the lead still weighing down her legs. That is until she saw the quote plastered to the wall above it, which read. ‘Never allow a struggle to turn your sky into a ceiling. You must believe there’s always a way.’

Oh, the irony.

“Oh, Lucien! It has been a while, so good to see you!”

Kate whirled around, foot catching mid-air as an older woman flung herself into Lucien’s arms. He caught her, returning the hug briefly before taking her hands in his. His lips turned up, eyes lighting up in a genuine smile. “Likewise my friend! How has everything been? Last I heard Emilia was able to get back on her feet again?”

Slowly it dawned on Kate. He had told Denise and Clara he had met her in the shelter. It hadn’t been an entire lie. Showing that it was as they said, the best lies were mixed with selective pieces of the truth.

The woman prattled on. “You heard that right! She and her delightful girl Debbie moved into a house a couple of blocks from here. She’s doing so well! And as always, I’ve been keeping tabs on her.”

Lucien nodded. “Of course you have! Nothing wrong with a little help.”

The woman continued into a flurry of words, waving her hands around with each of them. She was… so different from Lucien. Talkative to say the least. And the warmth, it practically radiated from her mother-like posture.

But, probably also not the best person to talk to about Lucien’s occupation. She had yet to come across someone who didn’t hold the man in great esteem.

She heard the woman scoff accusingly at Lucien. “You’ve forgotten your manners, young man.” Easily eating up the distance between them, she took Kate’s hands in hers without hesitation. “Who might you be, love? Oef, such freezing hands, let me help you warm them up.”

The woman in front of her didn’t even reach up to her shoulders, but by her fierce blue eyes and the way she carried herself it was plain to see she was not one to mess with.