Page 6 of Vision of Justice
“I’m not sure there’s much to tell,” she said, retreating in her seat. “I keep to myself, but she did come over with cupcakes when I first moved in. She must be in her late eighties now, widowed, and I think she mentioned two kids who live and work in Boston. She told me about them briefly. One’s a nurse and the other owns a company—construction maybe? I’m not really sure, it was a while ago.”
After what seemed like a dozen more questions, there was a knock on the door. Her shoulders slumped in relief at having a second of reprieve. She turned to glance over her shoulder to where Detective Lambert was filling up the door frame. Unlike the man she’d met yesterday, his face was hard and unreadable with lips pressed into a thin line. “May I have a word?” The detective didn’t wait for a response before slipping back into the hallway. Her interviewer got up and rushed from the room. They’d only been gone a minute or so before the door clicked and Officer Lambert walked in alone.
Instantly, his face softened. “Miss Frost, how are you holding up?”
“You can call me Sasha, and things are all right. Is my interview over, Detective?” The metal chair legs scraped against the floor as she pushed away from the table.
“Gus. We can’t have a one-way first-name basis. Agent Nilsson had to respond to an emergency call.” He rocked back on his heels, the grim expression returning to his face.
“Oh, I hope everything’s okay.” Which was stupid because his expression told her nothing was okay at all.
“Actually, it’s not,” he said, confirming her suspicion. “Someone made a second attempt on Melissa Fletcher’s life.”
Chapter Four
Sasha’s face blanched, going a shade paler than she already was. They’d been notified that three shots had been fired through the fifth-floor window directly into the teenager’s hospital room. The doctors had been ready to discharge her this afternoon, and someone had gone to a lot of trouble in broad daylight to ensure that didn’t happen. The rooftops and adjacent buildings had been searched, but the perpetrator was a ghost. The criminal background check needed to purchase a select-fire AR-15 suggested the weapon was either obtained from an illegal market or someone had gotten their hands on a military model like an M16. Either way, their perpetrator had access to dangerous weapons, and his mind had immediately gone to Sasha, gut twisting with fear.
He wasn’t sure why she’d dominated his thoughts throughout the night. He’d been concerned for a witness’s safety before, but had always been removed enough to trust that the next shift would take care of things. Sasha was different. Even though he wasn’t on duty, he’d driven past her place several times overnight to make sure everything appeared secure.
She was stunning, but it was more than just her physical appearance that drew him to her. He admired her courage in the face of danger, even though it was clear she was terrified by the experience. Surprise had swelled inside him when Sasha told him to be safe before he walked out her door. He could count on one hand the times a civilian had been concerned for his welfare, and it had lightened something inside him to hear those simple words.
She made a small squeaking sound and covered her mouth with her hand. “How is that possible? Are you sure?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” He took a step closer when she swayed on her feet, but quickly regained her balance.
“Oh, my God. Please say she’s okay…” Sasha slowly sank down into the seat, hands braced on either side of the chair.
“She’s physically unharmed.” His fingers tingled to cover her hand with his own, but that would be unprofessional, and right now, he was depending on his deep commitment to the police force so he didn’t do something foolish like develop feelings for a witness.
Sasha shook her head back and forth, her loose curls swaying with the motion. “That’s not typical, is it?”
“It tells us the perpetrator is highly motivated. That maybe he believes she can identify him, or knows a secret that’s worth risking incarceration to try to tie up a loose end.”
“And if Melissa is a loose end, that makes me another one,” she said, pressing her hands to her belly.
“It’s possible.” He wasn’t in the business of lying to people, and the truth was until they discovered the motive for the abduction, Sasha could be in danger. It had been the FBI agent who suggested keeping tabs on her for safety’s sake.
“So what now?” Her face had lost some of its color, but she’d regained her composure and was sitting with her shoulders straight. Whatever the danger, she seemed ready to face it.
He pulled out the chair beside her and sat. “I’m off official duty in an hour. I’ll take you to and from the gallery showing tonight.”
“I’ll be careful. You might be a detective, but you’re also human. If you escort me to the showing, when do you get downtime?” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him with her brows drawn together.
A thread of warmth unraveled in his chest. This woman, who had witnessed a heinous crime less than twenty-four hours ago and whose own life could be at risk, was worried about his work-life balance. It might be a small thing to some, but hell, it touched him on some fundamental level. Others rarely saw beyond his badge, let alone acknowledge he was a person with a life of his own. Her compassion made him want to protect her even more. There weren’t enough Sasha Frosts in the world. He’d only met her yesterday, but everything he’d seen of her personality impressed him. She might be small in stature, but her tenacity, resolve, and empathy were larger than most. “Don’t worry about that.” His lips quirked, unable to hold on to his typical deadpan expression.
“I wish I could take a rain check, but I have to follow through. It would be too late for the gallery to cancel the caterer, notify the attendees.” She shook her head and puffed out a short breath. “That, and going back to an empty house doesn’t hold much appeal at the moment. I think it’s time to get a big, grizzly-looking dog.”
He barked out a laugh. “Any size dog will sound the alarm.” He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and turned the screen toward her. “If someone turns onto my street, Gilligan has something to say about it.”
Her brows lifted, and the corner of her lips tugged into a faint smile. “He doesn’t look like he takes up much space. You probably have enough room for a Skipper, maybe even the professor and Mary Ann.”
A grin split over his face. “My gramma loved the show. Just kind of stuck in my head.”
“My mom, too.” Her voice sobered, and pain flashed in her eyes. Whatever hurt she’d experienced had left its mark. He wanted to be the one to make her smile again, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
“Gilligan might be six pounds, but even Bingo and Max look over their shoulder when I bring him into the station on occasion.” He tucked his phone into his pocket and pushed back the chair. “Photocopies are being made of your statements to Agent Nilsson. I’ll have you sign them, and then we can focus on getting you where you need to be.”
There was something off about the series of events from the location and way the victim was kept to the unexpected hospital attack that put all his senses on high alert. With Agent Nilsson in Boston focusing her team on the abduction, he was concentrating on Sasha—at least for the time being. When Melissa had been kidnapped, everyone had anticipated a ransom note, but it never came, even as the FBI scoured the state. There had to be a reason the perpetrator chose to abduct the daughter of a wealthy CEO, but if it wasn’t for money, they needed to determine why, and fast.