Page 112 of Steadfast
The paramedic’s eyes widened. “Should I wait for the sheriff?”
But the front door opened and Mrs. Haines waved him in.
I stayed put in the truck, holding Sophie as the other paramedic carried a stretcher inside.
Then the sheriff’s car pulled up. Two men got out and approached us. One of them greeted Sophie by name. “Are either of you hurt?” he asked.
“Not at all. Just shaken up,” I answered for both of us.
“Don’t go anywhere,” they told me.
“We’ll wait right here.”
They went inside, and the sound of Sophie’s father shouting emerged from the open door.
Sophie took a deep breath and let it out. “I’ll have to talk to the sheriff.”
“I know, baby. But there’s no rush.”
“Did you see the seatbelt in the picture I sent you? Do you know what it means?”
My stomach did a swerve. “I think I do.”
The door of Sophie’s house opened again, and the EMTs emerged with their stretcher. The chief was strapped onto it, cursing. When they reached the end of the walkway they turned, and that’s when the chief saw me in the truck with Sophie.
“FUCK!” The man actually tried to roll off the stretcher in my direction, and the two EMTs staggered as the balance of gravity shifted. But they kept him on it.
“Calm down, Chief,” the sheriff said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “I already read you your rights. If you don’t stay put I’m going to add resisting arrest.”
“And you’re getting your ass sued,” Chief Haines hissed. But it’s hard to look threatening when you’re bleeding from an ass cheek on a stretcher.
One of the deputy sheriffs went with the ambulance, and the other one came to take our statement.
“What happened?” the man asked, his pad and pencil ready.
“It’s a long story,” Sophie said, sitting up straighter.
“I’ve got the time. Shall we talk inside the house?”
Sophie turned to take my hand. “He goes where I go.”
“That’s fine.”
We went inside together. Sophie’s mom looked shaken, but she didn’t freak out about my presence. She just watched me with wide eyes as I took a seat in her living room for the first time ever.
“I need to get something from my father’s den,” Sophie said. “The reason he freaked out today is because I found some photographs he’s been hiding.”
“All right,” the sheriff agreed. “Let’s see them.”
* * *
During the next few days, things happened fast for me.
The sheriff’s office called in the Vermont Office of Internal Affairs. Those policemen interviewed Officer Nelligan and then Sophie. We learned that Nelligan had been fired by Chief Haines before the chief had his violent outburst at home.
Sophie’s father was charged with a long list of things, including tampering with evidence and hampering an investigation. He was deemed a flight risk and denied bail.
The criminal case against me was reopened with the help of May’s lawyer friend, though now he had to play catch-up in order to represent me.
