Page 90 of Liar's Point

Nicole stood in the middle of the living room, wide-eyed, looking around her apartment like it belonged to someone else. He could see her wheels turning as she tried to envision life on crutches for the next five weeks.

He set her stuff on the counter.

“You want a drink?” he asked.

“God, yes.” She crutched over to the breakfast bar. “But I don’t think alcohol mixes with my pain meds. He said they’re pretty strong.”

She looked up at him. Her makeup was smudged, her hair was a mess, and the perspiration on her forehead told him the brief trip up here had taken a toll.

“You want to call your family?” he asked.

“I will.”

Lucy jumped up onto the counter, and Nicole stroked her fur. “Aw. She knows something’s wrong.”

“We need to talk, Nicole.”

She didn’t look at him. “I know.”

“I interviewed a bunch of witnesses.”

She leaned her crutches against the counter and pulled out a bar stool. Slowly, she lowered herself onto it.

He watched her face, hating that they had to have this conversation right now when she was in pain. But they needed to talk while this was fresh in her mind, and once her meds kicked in, he figured she’d be out.

“Four separate people told me that SUV didn’t just run the light.” He watched her, searching her face for clues. “He veered toward you when you lunged out of the way.”

She closed her eyes and bit her lip, and he got the feeling this wasn’t a surprise.

“Nicole?”

She looked at him.

“Is that how you remember it?”

“It’s kind of fuzzy but... yeah.”

“Did you see the driver?”

She shook her head.

No one had caught the license plate, so all they had to go on at this point was a description of the vehicle, a black Chevy Tahoe with silver rims.

“What do you think that’s about?” he asked.

“What do I think?” She shook her head. “No idea. Maybe someone drunk or high. Maybe someone I arrested who saw me and just, I don’t know, snapped?” She shrugged. “I really have no clue.”

He stared at her, frustration churning inside him. Why was she shrugging this off? She could have easily been killed.

Nicole closed her eyes. “Oh, damn.”

“What?”

“I’m supposed to interview that witness in the morning. Liam Shaunessy.”

“What time?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “He’s coming in at eight a.m. to give us a sworn statement.”

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