AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The door was opened by a burly man who introduced himself as Deputy Weeks and his older, more weathered partner as Deputy Sims. They wore uniforms and badges that designated them as deputies of the sheriff’s office in a county east of Dallas.
The one who’d delivered her wished her good luck and returned to the car. He and his partner drove away.
Sims asked if she needed anything.
“Water, please.”
He ambled off to get it for her. Weeks said, “They’re not quite ready for you. You can wait in here. Detective Compton said to remind you not to talk to each other about the case.”
The room into which he led her was a spacious living room, furnished with what appeared to be pieces picked at random from thrift stores. No regard had been given to aesthetics.
The only person in the room was Dawn Whitley, who was sitting on a chintz sofa, nervously rocking back and forth against the back cushions, her eyes skittish. When Elle walked in, the other woman looked at her as though she represented rescue.
“Ms. Portman,” she cried out softly.
She was a regular at the group therapy sessions. Everyone had applauded when she arrived without her crutches for the first time. Now, as she left the couch, Elle noticed that she still walked with a slight limp.
She clasped Elle’s hand, squeezing between their palms a tissue she had twisted into a damp wad. “I’m glad to see somebody I recognize. I’m so scared.”
Elle gently turned her toward the couch and walked her back to it. They sat down side by side. “Are you all right?”
The other woman shook her head. “I can’t stop shaking.” She held out her hand to show Elle the tremor.
Elle was curious to know what form the death threat she’d received had taken, but, before she could ask, Sims returned with her requested water. He scooted aside a stack of outdated magazines on the end table near Elle and set the bottle down. She thanked him. He said, “You bet,” and left the room.
Deputy Weeks positioned a straight chair beneath the wide arched opening separating the room from the central hallway and sat down. He took out his phone and began idly scrolling through it, but Elle got the impression that he’d been posted to watch them and make certain they heeded the order not to talk to each other.
Elle took a moment to get her bearings. The room had a high ceiling made of stamped tin. Thick drapes had been tightly drawn over all the windows. Four mismatched chairs surrounded a game table. On it were a checkerboard, a Monopoly game, a box of dominoes, and several decks of cards. In one corner was a television, which had a large screen but looked generations old. The bookcase was stuffed with paperbacks, their pages yellowed, their covers curled at the corners.
People had been made to pass idle time here.
Dawn leaned sideways toward her. Speaking in an undertone out of the side of her mouth, she said, “Did you meet with the detectives yesterday?”
Elle responded with a slight nod.
“I’m sure they cautioned you, the same as they did me, about the danger we’re in. Can you believe Shauna Calloway announced our names?”
Actually, Elle could, but she didn’t say so.
“She must be really two-faced. She’d been so nice to me. And why would she put her own boyfriend’s life in danger?”
Elle made a motion with her shoulder that could have been interpreted any number of ways. To avoid further mention of Calder, she whispered, “We shouldn’t be talking, remember.”
“I know, I know, but aren’t you afraid?”
Deputy Weeks, who’d been staring into his phone, raised his head and looked over at them, Dawn’s frantic whispers having come to his attention. Elle looked guilty by association. “Ladies,” he said.
“I was just asking Ms. Portman if she knew where the restroom is,” Dawn said.
“Down the hall and on the right. Do you need it?”
“Not right now. I just wanted to know where it is when I do. Sometimes my leg slows me down.”
“Let me know,” he said, and went back to his phone.
After that, Dawn fell silent but continued to twist the tissue. She flinched at every sound. The death threat must have been credible for her to be this frightened and for Compton and Perkins to have been so swift to respond.
Without any warning of his approach, Perkins appeared in the archway. “You made it here okay?”
