Chapter 14 #2
She tapped the screen of her smartphone where it sat in her dashboard holder. Caller ID showed CareFull Home Health. “This is Victoria.”
“Victoria?” Racquelle’s voice came over the line. Was it Victoria’s imagination, or did her boss sound stressed? “The police are here, asking for you.”
Had she heard that correctly? “I’m sorry, the police are there?”
“Yes. A Detective McCully and other officers. He says he wants to talk to you immediately.”
Could they have the autopsy results? Perhaps they’d found something to indicate she was right, and Detective McCully wanted to apologize in person.
Not likely, given his pride, but he must at least want to share the findings with her or ask more questions about the evidence she had tried to convey before.
“Okay. Please tell them I’m on my way.” Victoria ended the call with Racquelle, then contacted her next patient to let him know she would have to push his appointment due to an emergency.
The police asking to see a person seemed to qualify as an emergency.
It was certainly a request she couldn’t deny.
As she pulled into a stall at CareFull, her gaze caught on Cillian’s jeep. At least he’d driven a more sensible vehicle today. Safer, as well.
Though why his safety should concern her as much as it did, she wouldn’t ponder. Nor would she allow the tickle in her belly to progress any further.
She checked her reflection in the visor mirror.
Oh, honestly. What was she doing? It didn’t matter what Cillian thought of how she looked.
She smacked the visor back up to the ceiling with a little too much force and stepped out into the cold air. Briskly walking into the small lobby, she immediately spotted Detective McCully and two uniformed officers, a woman and a man.
And Cillian.
A smile upturned her lips despite her intention to appear unaffected by his presence.
But he didn’t smile in return. His black eyebrows dipped low as his gaze landed on her. Perhaps the news from the autopsy had disturbed him.
She wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the details herself. But if it would help find Thomas’s killer, she could handle it.
She stopped several feet from Racquelle, who stood facing the detective and his colleagues. “Detective McCully. I understand you wanted to see me?”
“We got the autopsy results.”
Relief eased some of the tension squeezing the tendons near her sternum. So that was why he wanted to speak with her. “Did it show evidence that someone…killed Mr. Briscoe?”
“Yes, it did.” McCully’s expression was as unfriendly as ever.
“How so?”
“I won’t discuss the details here.” He glanced at Cillian and Racquelle before returning his foreboding attention to Victoria. “I’m going to have to take you in for questioning.”
The words slipped through her ears as if from somewhere far off or from a dream. She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
“What?” Cillian stepped toward the detective. “You can’t do that.”
The detective straightened, still falling far short of Cillian’s height. “I wear the badge. I can definitely do that.”
“On what grounds?”
“She’s a person of interest in this investigation.”
A person of interest? Wasn’t that what the police said on TV? This couldn’t be real.
“That’s crazy. You know she was the one trying to convince you from the beginning he was murdered. Why would she do that if she’d killed him?”
If she’d killed him. Cillian’s words rang in her ears, echoing as if caught in a chamber her mind didn’t want to acknowledge or absorb.
“Look, buddy, you’d better back up, or we can take you in, too. On a different charge.” The detective’s threatening tone and the sudden movement of the other officers pulled Victoria out of her shock.
She blinked in time to see Cillian standing in the detective’s personal space with an aggressive stare.
“I’m going with her either way, buddy.”
Alarm rushed through her, awakening her senses and mind at the same time.
“Cillian, don’t.” She took hold of his arm, every muscle in it clenched and rock hard.
“It’s fine. Of course, I’ll go with them.
” She dug for some semblance of a smile as she looked at the detective.
“I’m relieved the truth has come out so that Thomas can have justice.
And I understand you need to eliminate every possible suspect to find his killer.
I want to facilitate that in any way that I can. ”
“You don’t have to talk to them without a lawyer.” Cillian’s breath dropped down to brush against her neck, his deep voice edged with anger. But not at her. He aimed his fury at McCully for her sake. He wanted to protect her.
No one had ever done that—behaved as if she was worthy of protection. No one except, perhaps, Cillian. He’d proclaimed sixteen years ago that he would free her from the father he said didn’t deserve her.
The unease beginning to surface in Victoria’s nervous system yearned for her to slide her grip down a little farther and find a safe home in Cillian’s strong hand.
But the Lord would be her strength.
The reminder that must have come from the Holy Spirit within her made her release the hold and look up at Cillian. “I don’t need a lawyer. I have nothing to hide.”
He glared past her at McCully. “If she’s only coming in for questioning, why can’t she drive herself?”
“She’s a flight risk.” Defiance edged McCully’s response. He landed his attention on her, real anger instead of annoyance reflected in his gaze. This argument was not helping her situation. “I won’t cuff you if you agree to come along peacefully.”
Handcuff her? She hid a swallow and kept her features calm. “I’ll come peacefully. I always cooperate with the police.”
“Victoria, you don’t have to go along with this. McCully here is overstepping his authority.” The flash in Cillian’s eyes said he still didn’t intend to let her go with them.
“Cillian, it’s okay. I don’t mind.” She gave him a small smile and tried to signal with her eyes that he should stay put.
He seemed to take the hint, clenching his hands into fists at his sides as he let the detective lead her away.
She walked from the building with the detective, her pulse accelerating with each step toward the police car that waited in the parking lot.
Waited to take her away. Someone guided her into the back seat.
She stared at the dirty glass barrier between her and the two officers in the front.
Cold shock started to creep through her system.
The weak link in her resolve replayed her last words to Cillian with emphatic denial. This was far from okay.