Page 70 of Deprived No More

“Hi, Colton. Thank you for helping us.” She greets him with a handshake, and I silently do the same.

“Why don’t you two come this way?” he offers, extending his arm toward a side office. It’s not quite Law & Order, but the furnishings are meager. A generic metal desk sits in the center of the small space with two metal chairs facing it.

We take our seats, and Kat begins to explain the texts she received over the last few days. As expected, he probes into any potential subjects, and she tells him, as she told me last night, “No, none.”

I’m more astonished today than yesterday and have to interrupt. “Kat, please remind Officer Mills that you had a stalker. And that out of the blue, he arrived in your ER recently, and now suddenly you’re receiving texts again after all of these years.” I know I sound annoyed, but why am I having to bring this to her attention?Unless she’s hiding something.

“Is this true, Kat?” The officer probes.

“Well, yes. But. It’s not him.”

Turning to her, exasperated, I blurt, “How do you know that?”

Sheepishly she turns to me. “Because I saw him yesterday. He didn’t do it.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

Kat

“You did what?” Nick barks.

Uh oh. “I went to see him yesterday. I needed to confront him. Put some things to rest. It’d been a long time coming, and between his showing up in the emergency room, my reaction to him, and then the texts… well, it felt essential. I didn’t really think about it too much. I just decided it was time.”

Looking away from where I’ve been nervously staring at my fingers as they toy with my shirt sleeve, my eyes meet Nick’s, and I silently plead with him not to make a scene. I know I should’ve shared this with him. But I was already overwhelmed telling him about the texts, worried about how he’d react. For god’s sake, I can only handle one earth-shattering piece of news at a time.

Nick shifts in his seat to look directly at me, astonished. I know if we were alone right now, I’d be getting an earful ofyou couldn’t have mentioned this before,orwhat were you thinking going there without me.Thankfully, he keeps his thoughts to himself as we sit in front of Colton.

“Kat, what makes you so certain it wasn’t him?” Colton probes.

Gah, how do I answer this logically?It’s honestly more of a feeling than anything concrete. They’ll think I’m nuts. “He just didn’t. Mark has paraplegia now. His life is spent in and out of rehabilitation centers. I think the only thing he looks forward to is a smoke in the park.” I can see Nick watching me intently from the corner of my eye as if trying to understand. “I went there to tell him what his behavior did to me. How angry I’ve been at all I’ve lost. Maybe I wasn’t thinking clearly. But I just felt I needed to go. So I did.” I try to sound emphatic like I’m a grown woman who shouldn’t be scolded for her choices. But Nick’s right. Even if he hasn’t voiced his opinion. I know what he’s thinking.We’re a team. You should’ve talked to me first.

Nick suddenly curls his strong, warm hand around both of mine, and a tear betrays me. I wanted so much to be strong today. To not let my emotions get the best of me.

“He didn’t say much. He just let me talk. It was as if he knew I needed to.” Pausing, I try to come up with something to explain how sure I am, but nothing comes to mind. How do you explain a feeling like this? Especially when even I don’t understand it. “I can’t tell you why, but I’m sure he didn’t do this.” I share with renewed fortitude. “I’m certain of it.”

Glancing at my husband, a feeling of immediate relief washes over me as he gives my hand a gentle squeeze, and a reassuring smile crosses his face. God, I love this man.

“We’ll still need to investigate,” Colton interrupts.

I instantly feel sick. I know I shouldn’t care about the impact on his life. Yet, the feeling they could take someone who already appears to have little worth living for and accuse him of more.

“Kat. We’ll explain that you brought this situation to us, and we have no reason to suspect him beyond his prior acts. If you’re okay with it, we’ll tell Mark that you don’t think he has anything to do with this but that we are simply doing our job in addressing any possible lead.”

Nodding, I feel comforted by his tone and his understanding. I don’t know why I’m feeling so protective of Mark after all of this time. After all that he put us through. But he seemed so fragile there, all alone in the park. How had this man with a chiseled body and personality larger than life become so despondent and utterly breakable?

“Is there anyone else you suspect?”

My head snaps up to meet Colton’s inquiring gaze as his question brings me back to the here and now. I look to Nick as if he can read my mind. I just don’t want to open this hornet’s nest by bringing up my interactions with Holden. Our personal life is already a mess now because of these texts. How do I risk Nick finally going over the deep end at work by confronting Holden?

“No, but they left a voice message. I don’t know if that could help.” I try to deflect.

“Possibly.”

“I doubt it will help much,” Nick offers. “It sounded distorted like they are using some type of voice-altering technology.”

“Do you have your phone with you?” Colton asks.

“Yes, of course.” Reaching into my bag, I retrieve it and slide it across the desk to him. “I guess you’ll need to keep it?”

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