Page 2 of Crash
“What’s going on?” she asked.
The police officer placed his hands on his belt and waited for a beat before responding.
“Can I help you?”
“I work—worked here…I was coming by to get my belongings.”
His expression shifted from disinterest to curiosity at her response.
“What’s your name?” He pulled out a notepad from his breast pocket, clicked his pen, and poised it as if to take notes. When she didn’t immediately answer, he glanced up at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Um…Quynh Le. Can I go inside? I’ll be really quick.” She gestured with her empty cardboard box as if that would convince him.
“You can’t enter the premises. This building is a crime scene.”
Her head reared back in surprise.
“Did something happen here?”
Was someone hurt after I left last night?
She was usually the last person to leave, but the night before, Jared had still been in his office when she left.
“I can’t discuss the details.”
The main doors creaked open just as she was about to ask more questions. She watched in horror as someone wheeled a gurney out with a black body bag.
The blood drained from her face as she stared in shock. Her ears rang as her attention focused on the obviously dead body being wheeled into the ambulance.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
She snapped back to attention when a hand gripped her upper arm.
“I’m f-fine,” she lied as the earth tilted beneath her feet.
“You should sit down.” He guided her to the curb and gently pushed her to sit.
With her butt firmly on the curb, she inhaled deeply as the dizziness subsided. A dozen different scenarios flitted through her mind. The officer stood beside her as she caught her bearings. When she glanced up, she realized he was studying her.
“What do you do for work?”
“I’m a nurse practitioner for the clinic.”
“Why do you need to get your things?”
“I-I got an email late last night from Jared that I was terminated.” A flush crawled up her neck, and her cheeks heated with embarrassment.
The officer paused before tucking his notepad away into his breast pocket.
“Can you show me the email, please, miss?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, sure.” She fumbled to grab her cell phone tucked in her back pocket. Her hands were trembling, and it took several attempts before she could unlock her phone and pull up the email.
“Here.”
The officer grabbed her phone out of her hands. She bit down on her lip and tucked her hands between herthighs to stop them from trembling. A prickle of unease rolled down her spine. She forced herself to remain still as his eyes scanned the email. Voices trickled into her awareness as she waited with bated breath. Her eyes roamed the mill of people bustling around the building. A quick glance around confirmed she was the subject of several people’s attention. The noises from the crime scene on the otherwise quiet street amplified her anxiety. The officer’s face furrowed in concentration when he reached the bottom of the email. She didn’t want to focus on how embarrassing it was to have your most shameful moment shared so candidly.
After a tense moment, he finally looked up from her phone and requested a copy of the email. At her nod, he typed on her phone. She assumed he forwarded the email to his own as evidence.
