Page 55 of Swerve
“What about the vehicle?” Knox asks.
“Still working on that. We’ve got an APB out for the Range Rover. Chief Parker would like the two of you to come to the station and answer a few more questions.”
Knox blows out a short breath, and says the only thing there is to say, “We’ll head over now.”
~
THEY’RE ON THE Beltway driving toward downtown before either of them speaks.
Strangely, they both start to say something at the same time.
“I should have . . .”
“How could we . . .”
They glance at each other, and Knox can see the horror of what they witnessed in her eyes. “I want to believe we could have prevented that,” he says, his gaze now on the highway before them.
“But how?” she asks quietly. “Why did she lie to us?”
“She didn’t think he could be capable of what we’d told her.”
“But he is. And now he’s back out there. What if he’s already killed my sister and Grace?” She barely manages to choke out the last words, before her head is in her hands, and he can hear her quiet crying.
Without giving himself time to correct the impulse, he reaches out and puts a hand on her arm. “You can’t think that. We don’t have any reason to believe it at this point. The only way to get through this is to take each piece of information we have and follow it through to the best of our ability. Trusting only what’s immediately in front of you is how you get to the next critical clue. Think of what we knew yesterday and what we know now. We have somewhere to go.”
She presses her lips together, and he senses her struggling to bring her emotions under control. She nods once, her right elbow on the Jeep door, her hand running through her hair.
When they reach the station, Knox pulls into the parking spot it is his habit to park in. He’s just getting ready to suggest she wait there for him when a text dings on his phone. It’s the captain.
Bring the Benson girl in with you.
He doesn’t bother texting her back, because an order is an order.
He looks at Emory and says, “The captain wants to speak with you too.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.” She opens her door and slides out, then waits for him to walk around.
He leads the way inside the building, holding the door for her and then making his way to the captain’s office. The door is closed. He raps once; opens it at her terse, “Come in.”
He steps aside and waves Emory through before him.
“You must be Emory Benson,” Chief Parker stands from the chair behind her desk, sticks out her hand.
“Yes,” Emory says, shaking hands with her and keeping her gaze locked with the captain’s. Knox takes note of the fact that she isn’t intimidated.
Chief Parker looks at Knox, any residue of pleasantness leaving her expression. “You’re on leave,” she says matter-of-factly.
“Yes,” he agrees.
“Would you like to tell me how you ended up in the middle of an investigation you were relieved from?”
“I hired him as a private detective,” Emory answers before he can.
The captain’s gaze swings to her. “I think Detective Helmer can answer that question.”
“I didn’t expect what happened tonight to happen, Captain,” he says.
“I should hope not. But you have defied an order in continuing to work on this case.”
