Part 17 (1/2)
He frowned. ”Give it to me.”
”Answer the question,” she said slowly.
”I don't know.”
”You don't know if you want to be with me?”
Paul looked down at his feet, nodded.
”Say it.”
He looked over his shoulder.
”Say it,” she repeated.
”I don't know if I want to be with you.”
”Because I was raped.”
”Maybe. Maybe because of other stuff.”
”Bulls.h.i.+t,” she shouted. ”We were at the f.u.c.king Ritz three weeks ago and you were talking about marriage. Now you're not sure you want to be with me? Because someone attacked me? What-you think it was my fault?”
He didn't answer. He just kept his hand extended for the phone.
”f.u.c.k you, Paul. f.u.c.k. You.”
”Can I have my phone?”
”Sure. Here's your d.a.m.n phone.” She turned and pitched it as far as she could. She heard it land-the crunch of breaking gla.s.s, the skidding of pieces as it shattered against the wall of mailboxes.
Then she turned around and marched to her apartment. Her hand shook as she pushed the door open, reached back to grab her suitcase. Paul was already out the door.
All she saw was his back, his hands pressed into his pockets as he made his way down the stairs and out onto the street.
Furious, she dragged her bag inside, slammed the door. She thought of how far she'd thrown that phone. Her father would have been proud.
She tried to smile, looked around the empty apartment.
Then, buckling to her knees, she sobbed.
Chapter 19.
Jamie hadn't even gotten Scanlan into an interview room before IA stepped in. It was like he had some homing device that alerted Daddy and his cronies whenever he was in trouble. Jamie had insisted she be part of the interview, but they'd denied her request.
So she'd done the only thing she could think to do. She called Captain Jules, roused him from bed, and been told to cool her heels. Then she and Hailey sat outside the interview room for more than an hour, waiting. She called her house but Tony didn't answer. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he was out. h.e.l.l, maybe he was gone. Maybe he was... No, she wouldn't let herself think that. He wouldn't. She prayed he wouldn't.
Hailey and Jamie took turns getting coffee, talking, and half-dozing in their chairs, neither willing to leave until the interview was over.
Something had to come of this. She was p.i.s.sed off that someone showed up to save Scanlan's hide, again. She'd like to hang him from his d.a.m.n toenails instead. But that might have been premature, too.
Nearly forty-five minutes into the wait, Jamie realized she had voicemails. She thought about Tony, fretting. She'd forgotten about him. Left him at home. He said he'd be fine. Both messages were from Tim. Though he was still in prison and mentioned his concern about whether he'd get bail in the appeal, his messages were about Devlin's murder. He had heard that they had a new lead and he wanted to know if she could share it. No doubt he was hoping that they'd found something definitive that pointed to someone else as her killer. Truth was they hadn't. Not unless something panned out with Scanlan. Nothing unexpected had turned up in the search of Tim's house and car. They'd found some clothes with Devlin's blood on them, but Tim had already explained that he had carried her out of the building after she was dead.
When Jamie had called Goldman, the attorney had a.s.sured Jamie that they had enough reasonable doubt to get Tim released from prison. The appeal wouldn't fail again, especially with the other suspects that were emerging. Though skeptical, Jamie hoped Goldman could make it happen. She didn't want to see Tim, but she didn't like the idea of him sitting in that jail either.
When Scanlan finally emerged from the interview room flanked by the two IA investigators, he looked relieved, which was not how Jamie wanted him to look.
Both women stood.
Daniels waved them into the conference room. ”Let's talk in here.”
Jamie eyed Scanlan.
”Wait for us out here, Scott.”
”Sure,” he said.
Jamie followed Daniels into the conference room, stood against the wall.
Daniels motioned to a chair.
Hailey sat. Jamie stood.
The other IA officer sat, too.
Daniels looked at Jamie. ”You don't have enough on him.”
”I've got a photograph,” she returned. ”What were you hoping for? A confession?”
He shook his head. ”You've got a picture that shows Scanlan dropping her off at the station. And not even that. The image shows a car with something hanging in the rearview mirror that is similar to the thing hanging in Scanlan's rearview mirror. That's it.”
”Did you ask Scanlan if he dropped her off?”Daniels nodded.
”And?” Hailey asked.
”He says he did. But he didn't get out of the car with her.”
Jamie clenched her jaw. ”We need a blood test for DNA comparison to the scene. He could make this easier and just submit to the tests.”
He shook his head. ”I don't think he will.”
”You're protecting him,” Hailey said.
”I'm doing my job,” he responded. He sat back in his chair. ”We'll continue the investigation from our department,” he added, sounding like the perfect bureaucrat.