Page 55 of Always My Love

ChapterSeventeen

Listening to Nick’s story earlier that morning put all of her worries and fears into perspective. She couldn’t imagine seeing the things he had and not somehow breaking.

He was a lot stronger than most people in town knew. No wonder he didn’t like talking about his time in the army. He’d witnessed so much blood and pain.

They ate a quick breakfast at his place and then headed to the police station. They would meet his dad at the hardware store afterwards.

It was strange walking into a police station. Her entire life she’d avoided cops, had been taught to fear them. She felt like she was a lamb walking into a lion’s den the moment she stepped inside.

Nick took her hand and led her past the front desk area as he threw out a casual greeting to the woman sitting behind the desk.

A long hallway led back to a large room filled with cops, about ten of them. Some were sipping coffee, others talking on the phone or working on computers. All of them stopped and glanced up to greet Nick when he walked in.

“This is my desk.” He motioned to a desk in the middle of the four rows of desks.

“Sit.” He nodded towards the chair beside it as he took the seat behind the computer.

While they waited for his computer to boot up, she took several deep breaths and told herself she was being stupid for being afraid now. She knew every single cop in the room. She had served them drinks, chatted with them, laughed with them.

Even now, a lot of them greeted her or smiled in her direction. There was nothing to fear. Nothing.

“Okay,” Nick said, turning the screen a little. “These are the three that you circled.” He showed her the screen with images of three different men.

None of them were Fred. She shook her head. “No, none of those are him.”

Nick nodded. “Okay, let’s broaden our search.” He typed for a few moments while she thought about the news that he’d given her the night before.

She hadn’t killed her mother. In fact, her mother had been long gone when she’d tiptoed into the bedroom and mixed the rat poison with the white powder in the small bags. If anything, Fred was the one responsible for her mother’s death.

Nick finished typing and then turned his screen once more and showed her a new row of images. Her heart skipped and then sank.

“No, none of these are him either.” She sighed.

“Tell me about his tattoos,” Nick asked. He typed while she told him about a few tattoos Fred had on his arms and hands.

This search narrowed it to one image. It wasn’t Fred.

“Where in Atlanta was he?” Nick asked.

She shrugged. “He worked at Iron Works Construction out of Atlanta.”

Nick typed. “There isn’t a company called Iron Works Construction near Atlanta. Never has been.” He sighed and leaned back. Then his phone buzzed. “My dad is at the hardware store.”

She shrugged. “We tried.”

“I work tomorrow. I’ll have plenty of time to run a deeper search.” He took her hand in his. “For now, let’s just get your shower fixed.”

She nodded and they headed back out of the station after talking briefly with Tom, who also promised her that he’d spend some time in his workday to help with the search.

Nick’s dad greeted them in the tile row of the hardware store.

“Morning.” Sean smiled at her. “How are you holding up?”

“Good. Thanks for agreeing to help out today.” She felt slightly embarrassed for some reason. She’d never formally met the father of the man she was sleeping with, though technically she had known his parents for well over a year. She’d enjoyed chatting with them on several occasions.

“Well, I’ve got some good news for you,” Sean said to her. “Steven here, who owns the hardware store, has graciously offered you the same tiles you chose a few days earlier at half the price to help out.”

“Really?” She gasped. “Thank you.” She turned to the older man, who smiled and nodded at her.