27
Julia parked in front of the Weaverton police station, which was a long rectangle of well-maintained brick with windowed wings on both sides and a flat roof.
The cruisers bearing Courtney passed through a cyclone gate in a fenced-in yard to the right, topped with concertina wire. A sign read Official Vehicles Only.
Julia grabbed her purse and jumped out of the car, trying to ignore the residual ache in her chest. She had no idea when it would go away, but she couldn’t worry about it now.
She hurried to the entrance past uniformed cops flowing in and out, newly aware of their handcuffs, nightsticks, and holstered guns.
She’d looked to the police after Mike’s murder, praying they’d find his killer.
Now she feared their power and its trappings.
They could lock up an innocent woman, and no one could stop them.
Julia entered the station and found herself in a waiting room that was more modern and institutional than the one at Buckley.
It was a square of dingy white drywall lined with bucket seats of blue plastic, all of which were empty.
Official plaques, portraits, and notices hung next to a bulletin board covered with laminated memos and bulletins.
An American flag and the blue Pennsylvania flag flanked a grayed-out window of scratchy bulletproof glass, behind which sat a uniformed cop.
Julia crossed to the window and introduced herself. “My friend Courtney Horan was just arrested. I need to talk to the detective on the case. His name is Kowalski.”
“Take a seat. I’ll let him know you’re here. If she’s in Booking, it will take a while.”
“Okay, thanks.” Julia stepped away from the window and sat down, nervous and preoccupied. She hated to think that Courtney was being fingerprinted like a common criminal, accused of the murder of her own grandmother.
Julia felt shaken to her foundations. This was beyond payback; something else had to be going on. The Buckley police had to be framing Courtney. Julia didn’t know how or why. She felt like the police station was enemy territory.
Julia glanced reflexively at her phone and remembered that Gianluca had called from the pediatrician’s office. She felt guilty, then realized she could catch the end of the visit. She stepped outside, stood a distance from the entrance, and FaceTimed him.
Gianluca popped onto the screen, frowning. “Julia, you missed the call.”
“I’m sorry.” Julia felt taken aback. He didn’t usually anger easily. “You won’t believe this, but—”
“It doesn’t matter, we have a problem here. Leni’s in with the doctor.”
Please God. Julia felt her heart stop. “What is it?”
“She’s fine, but the doctor demanded I step out of the room. He claims they have to examine her for signs of sexual abuse. They suspect me of molesting her.”
“What?” Julia said, shocked. “What are you talking about?”
“I told him she slept in our bed while you were away, then she started bedwetting. I told him she wasn’t sleeping or eating well and about the imaginary friend.” Gianluca reddened, furious. “He said those are typical symptoms of sexual abuse, and with you away, he suspects me.”
“Are you serious?” Julia felt outraged for him. “That’s insane!”
“You should have heard the questions he asked me! The thought turns my stomach.” Gianluca’s lip curled in disgust. “She doesn’t know this doctor.
She’s in there crying. I don’t even want to think what he’s doing to her.
Do you hear her? Listen!” Gianluca held the phone against a closed white door, and Julia’s heart lurched at the sound of Leni wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Oh my God!”
“A pompous ass!” Gianluca’s florid face reappeared. “He’s traumatizing her. He’s putting her through that for nothing, absolutely nothing. I hope he’s pleased with himself. You bring a child in for a routine exam, and they accuse you of the most heinous thing. My parents are beside themselves.”
Julia’s heart sank. She hadn’t known his parents were there. They’d be mortified, too.
“Dr. Isabella never would have made such an absurd accusation. She’d know it’s ridiculous.” Gianluca raked back his hair. “Hold on, the idiot doctor’s calling me. I assume he’s finished torturing our daughter.”
The white door opened, and Gianluca took a sobbing Leni from a young doctor and they started arguing in Italian. Julia couldn’t hear them over Leni’s crying.
“Bravo, dottore! Grazie!” Gianluca said to the doctor, sarcastically. “Julia, he’s letting us go now. Their ridiculous and intrusive examination of our daughter showed no physical evidence of molestation, yet he maintains he has to file a report about his suspicions with the authorities.”
“My God, I’m so sorry.” Julia felt horrified. If she’d been there, it never would have happened.
“They’ll be following up with me. They need to schedule interviews with Leni and me.”
“I don’t believe this!”
“Nor do I, but I need to calm down. I don’t want to upset her more than she already is.” Gianluca started walking, struggled to hold the phone and a weeping Leni. “Also the test results came back showing no urinary tract infection.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“Of course.” Gianluca held the phone in front of Leni, and her little face came onscreen, her eyes puffy and her pink skin mottled.
“Mommy!” Leni smiled and cried at the same time, and Julia choked up, realizing they hadn’t spoken in days.
“I’m so happy to see you, honey!”
“When… are you… coming home?” Leni asked between sobs.
Oh no. Julia’s heart felt torn in half. She wanted to be with Leni, but that would have to wait. Now that Courtney had been arrested, Julia didn’t know when she could leave. She reminded herself that her daughter wasn’t sick and she was in excellent hands.
“Leni, I’ll be home soon.”
“Mommy, are you… okay?” Leni’s lower lip quivered, and her chest heaved in her flowered dress.
“Of course, I’m fine!” Julia put on a grin, but behind her, a fleet of cruisers zoomed from the parking lot, their sirens bursting into ear-splitting sound.
“Mommy!” Leni cried harder, since even a toddler knew sirens meant danger.
“I’m fine, Leni!” Julia shouted over the sirens. “Gianluca, I’m sorry, I’m at the police station.”
“I hear,” Gianluca shot back, coming onscreen. “What are you doing there?”
“Courtney’s been arrested for her grandmother’s murder.”
“What?” Gianluca’s mouth dropped open. “How can that happen?”
“I think the police are—” Julia stopped herself. “I think the police are crazy.”
“They must be! Poor Courtney! How is she feeling?”
“I’m waiting to speak with her. She’s upset, I’m sure.”
“How horrible, after the death of her grandmother.”
Julia could hear Leni crying louder. “You should probably go.”
“I should. Call me later?”
“Of course, yes, goodbye. Love you.”
“Goodbye.”
Leni cried, “Mommy, come home!”
“Love you,” Julia said, but Gianluca had already ended the call. She stood for a moment, trying to absorb everything that was going on. The sirens receded into the distance, and uniformed cops hustled in and out of the station, puffy in their insulated jackets and bulletproof vests.
Suddenly her phone rang, and she didn’t recognize the number, but she picked up. “Hello?”
“Julia, it’s Susan. Is Courtney okay? I can’t believe they arrested her!”
“I can’t, either. I haven’t seen her yet.”
“Why do they think she killed Kay? Have they lost their minds?”
“I know, it’s awful. We got her a good lawyer though.”
“Well done. Listen, I’m calling about the funeral. Everyone is still here, and they will stay if we’re going to hold it. Mel doesn’t want to go forward without Courtney’s permission. I think it should be her decision, too. That’s what Kay would want.”
“I agree. Can we postpone until I speak with her? I’m hoping to within the hour.”
“Yes, I’ll tell him.” Susan clucked. “My Lord, what are the police thinking?”
“I don’t know.” Julia noticed through the window in the door that two men in suits were approaching. “But I’m about to find out.”