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Hesitation, and then she rattled off the number
He keyed it into his phone “Thanks”
“Sure”
He knocked on the , and the officer came around and opened the door, which only opened from the outside Once out, Alex walked around the car and opened Leah’s door She rose, glancing back at the town house one last ti “There was so much blood”
“There was” He watched her closely, wondering what other questions hovered behind those troubled eyes
Her breath hitched “She was stabbed, right?”
“Yes”
For a ht”
He sensed weakness and wanted to push just to see what she’d do Reactions under stress revealed so much “Multiple times Lots of defensive wounds Hands, arms, chest”
She raised her hands to her ain He waited while she wrangled control of her body
“Are you all right?” he asked
“Yes” Her voice was a bare whisper “I’m fine”
“This is your first crime scene The stress and nerves are understandable”
“Yes”
If he hadn’t been looking at her, he’d h
ave aze skittered away for an instant She was lying She’d been at another crime scene somewhere The blood she’d seen inside Deidre’s house hadn’t been the first time she’d encountered destruction The scars Where had they co before?”
“Seen? No No I’ve never found a dead person”
He believed that So the way, she’d been the one who had been found This cri—had rattled not just her but old et an officer to drive you home”
She cleared her throat “No I don’t need help”
Leah Carson didn’t like taking orders, real or iined He couldn’t fault her there He’d never cozied up to direction either
“Okay But one ofin the background, keeping an eye on you, just in case”
“Hovering in the background’” Distaste coated her words
“Is there a problem?”
“No No It’s okay”
He held out his hand “I’ to speak to me”
She took his hand Her scars scraped against his palm “Thanks”
Leah turned and, without another word, moved toward her CR-V For a few beats, she simply sat behind the wheel Finally, she slowly turned on the ignition and pulled away
He knocked on theto alert the officer “Can you follow that CR-V home? She’s my witness and she’s rattled”
The officer looked up He wouldn’t dare argue, but there was defiance “I’ll keep a close eye on her Do you want me to stay outside her house for a while?”
“Maybe an hour See if she goes back out”
“Sure”
The officer settled sunglasses over his eyes and, closing the , followed Leah
Alex stepped back, watching Leah drive carefully down the residential street toward the main road The uniform stayed close behind
“So what did you think of her?” Deke asked His brother moved to his side as the two cars turned the corner
Alex slid his hands into the pockets of his overcoat “She’s rattled as hell”
“Understandable”