Page 19 of Silverstorm

“I could do with some food,” the second police officer said, plainly ignoring the frown Brady shot him and smiling brightly at the deputy.

“Right,” Brady said ungraciously. “Interview suspended at one-oh-seven pm,” he said into his little recording machine.

The deputy beckoned Aria over, and she stood, her legs threatening to buckle beneath her as she walked across the room.

The other woman grabbed Aria by the arm, almost as if she knew Aria needed the support, and steered her down the corridor. “I’m Deputy Susan Nomad. Jude left me with orders to look out for you. I could see you were just about ready to faint from hunger in there.”

“Thank you” was all Aria had the strength to say in reply.

“Come and sit in my office. I stole us a couple of sandwiches. Then you won’t have to sit there and look at those two…” Susan trailed off with a little cough.

Aria let herself be led down the corridor and around to the right, then up another long corridor and into a large, windowless office.

“I share this office with Jude and our trainee, Lance,” Susan said by way of explanation, waving her hand at the three desks shoved haphazardly into the open-plan office. Susan pulled out an office chair on wheels from beneath one of the desks and let Aria down gently into it, and then scooted her across till she was in front of the desk nearest the door.

“Would you prefer turkey, pesto and salad, or roast beef, lettuce and homemade relish?” Susan asked.

“Turkey please.”

The deputy handed her a wrapped sandwich and a can of soda. “Tuck in,” she suggested.

And Aria did, taking great bites of the delicious sandwich, almost moaning in pleasure, it tasted so good. Susan did the same with her sandwich, taking a seat on the opposite side of the desk, only the sound of chewing breaking the silence.

After she’d devoured half the sandwich, and the growling tiger in her stomach had been reduced to a cat-sized hiss, Aria looked up. So this was where Jude worked.

The words, do you happen to know where Deputy Wilder is, were on the tip of her tongue when the man in question rounded into the office. Aria’s heart rate shot up a few beats when she recognized his handsome face. He looked so good, striding through the door in his uniform, clear gaze fixed on her. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed him, missed his unwavering support, missed the way his eyes always found her wherever she was in the room, and she wanted to reach up and touch him. He returned her gaze, and for a split-second, it felt like they were the only two people in the room.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I was meant to be back an hour ago. Thanks for intervening, Susan. And thanks for lunch,” he added, reaching for the wrapped sandwich on his desk.

“I got you your favorite: meatballs on rye,” she replied through a mouthful.

“Thanks, you’re a star.” Jude pulled up another chair and began to unwrap his sandwich. Then he stopped and fixed Aria with his clear, hazel gaze, reaching over and touching her arm.

“I’m not going to ask how it went, because I know Brady is a—”

Susan coughed, drowning out his derisive remark.

“What? You know he’s a…” Jude replied.

Susan merely raised her eyebrow, as if to remind him to keep his thoughts to himself. Brady was a dick, but he was also a police detective doing his job, and Aria understood that a certain amount of propriety needed to be maintained; otherwise he wouldn’t be able to do that job if his work colleagues undermined him to a suspect in a case. Even if that job was taking him down the wrong pathway, and he was letting his bias against her—unfounded as it may be—direct his investigation. Jude had told her last night that he believed justice would prevail in the end, and she could only hope and pray he was right. She was innocent, and surely Brady would discover that, eventually.

“Anyway, I’m sorry you had to go through that. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help.” His simple touch meant so much to her, reminding her how he’d held her in his arms as she cried for her sister last night. Sudden tears pricked at her eyelids, but she blinked them back. She was not going to cry. What was wrong with her? She didn’t normally cry at the drop of a hat. Could it be hormones? Could she blame the baby for her sudden uncertainty, for the fact that every emotion she had right now seemed to be magnified a hundredfold? She was normally a much stronger person than this. Even when Beau had kicked her out, she’d remained dry-eyed and logical.

Being pregnant was something alien and new to her. She’d never read any books on the topic because she hadn’t planned on getting pregnant, and she didn’t know anyone else who was pregnant. Of course, she’d heard the stories of pregnant women complaining they were being ruled by their hormones, but she had no idea if it was true. Forcing the lump back down her throat, she turned to look at Jude. She didn’t know where he’d been all morning, but if he’d been out near the Doncaster house, he might have heard something.

“Any news on…” She couldn’t bring herself to say Iliana’s name and ducked her head, immediately regretting the question when she saw the shutters come down in his face.

“Sorry.” He shook his head. “You know I’d tell you, if we heard anything. Anything at all.”

“I know. Thank you. It’s just so hard, all this not knowing.” She put her sandwich down on the desk, suddenly no longer hungry. One good thing about the interview this morning was that it’d kept her mind off her sister’s predicament. But now the same questions that’d been circling her head all last night came back with a vengeance. Who had taken Iliana? Why had they taken her? Was she still alive? Was it more than one person, or someone working alone? Jude had agreed with Aria’s summation that it was probably more than one person to be able to take both Iliana and Craig at the same time. By all accounts, Craig was a strong, fit and athletic man who wouldn’t have gone down easily.

And last of all, was it the same person, or people, who’d murdered her father? And if the two were connected, should she be worried about her own safety? She’d raised this question more than once to Brady and his offsider in the interview, but he’d merely pursed his lips and said that, of course, they were looking into every alternative. She could tell by the slant of his eyelids that he wasn’t taking her seriously, however. The last thing she wanted to do was go back into that room with that man who was trying to pin her as suspect number one.

“Can I go home now?” she asked in a small voice. Surely the detective had other people to question, other leads to track down. “I’ve answered all his questions, haven’t I?”

“It sounded like he wanted to continue after lunch,” Susan said quietly, attracting a glare from Jude.

“I’ll take you home in a minute,” Jude replied, shifting his gaze to Aria.

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