It’s been a long time.
I don’t know what tomorrow is going to look like. I don’t know if it will be awkward, easy, or somewhere in between.
But for the first time in a while, I’m actually… excited.
Chapter 10
Nathan
A call comes in while I’m sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at my hands like they might tell me something.
It takes me a second to realize who’s calling.
Seattle Police Department.
They don’t call much. Not anymore. Not since it became clear they weren’t going to be the ones to fix this.
I stopped believing in them. I just stopped waiting. That’s why I hired someone else.
But at this point, I’ll take anything I can get.
“Do we have something?” I ask the second I answer.
“We might,” Detective Barnett says. And because I’ve spoken to him enough now, because I’ve learned the difference between his voices, I know that means he’s trying not to let himself believe it yet. “Your PI sent us a lead… a man we’ve been quietly tracking for a bit. I didn’t want to say anything until we could confirm a few things.”
I don’t move.
He continues, “And I got confirmation this morning that this man was there that day. He was working. On-site.”
Something in me locks up.
“He’s got a history,” Barnett says. “Violence. Assault. Abuse. The kind of pattern you don’t like seeing attached to anyone who’s anywhere near… this.”
“So what happens now?” I ask.
“We’re bringing him in for a lineup. I want you here for it.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
I close my eyes. “If I recognize him?”
“Then we’re not guessing anymore.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then we keep going. Like we have been.”
There’s a pause. “I’ll be there,” I say.
The station feels the same as it always does. Too clean. Too controlled. Like everything bad that’s ever happened here has been scrubbed down and filed away.
Barnett meets me inside. He doesn’t ask how I am. I don’t offer. We’ve both learned some questions don’t need answers.
“I’ve got everything set up,” he says as we walk.
He leads me into a room with a table, three chairs, and a large pane of glass that takes up most of one wall.
