With a frown, I push the thought away.
TROUBLE
PUSHING OPEN THE DOOR to the Sheriff’s office, I stalk inside. Rita, the station secretary, glances up at my approach.
“Hey there, Dr. Trayce. How ya’ doing today?” She sticks the pen she was using behind her ear and leans back in her seat.
“Good. How’s Leon?”
“Still grumpy, but better. I had to threaten him with a bat yesterday to keep him from pouring salt on his food. He doesn’t sprinkle just a little, he uses damn near a spoonful. Stubborn man doesn’t know when to quit, even if his life depends on it.”
I chuckled. Her husband, Leon, was in a few weeks ago for his annual check-up. His blood pressure was through the roof, which was higher since his last appointment. He’s having a hard time with the knowledge that he’s getting older and having to watch what he eats.
“You keep on him about it. He’ll get used to it eventually.”
“Oh, I plan on it. There’s no way I’m letting that bastard die on me. If anyone goes first, it’ll be me.”
“How about you both stick around for a while?” I suggest, and she laughs. I tip my head behind her. “He in his office?”
“Yep.”
I leave Rita and walk to the back of the small building where JW’s office is. He glances up just as I clear the doorway.
“Shut it,” he grunts.
After closing the door, I take the seat across from his desk.
“Got the report back for Remi.” He eyes me for a moment before adding, “You ain’t gonna like it.”
My gut clenches, but I force the tightness away. “Tell me.”
Leaning back in his chair, he steeples his fingers over his flat stomach. He looks relaxed, but the hard edge to his mouth says otherwise.
“She was raped.”
My fingers bite into the arms of the chair and my face heats as blood speeds through my veins.
“Details,” I demand.
“According to her testimony in the court transcripts, she went to her friend Lynn’s house to get something she left there. No one was supposed to be home, except there was. A Phillip Lancaster. Her friend’s father.”
Raking my hands through my hair, I grip the back of my neck and squeeze, knowing exactly where he’s going.
“If that isn’t bad enough,” he continues, “she caught him raping a twelve-year-old girl, then he raped her in front of the girl.”
I storm out of my chair, fury making it impossible to stay still. I stalk across the room twice before I snatch up a glass filled with water from his desk and hurl it against the wall. My fist is next to crash against the wall. Yanking my hand free, dust and drywall rain to the floor.
JW stays planted in his seat, watchful, but not trying to calm me. He knew what my reaction would be, because there’s no doubt he had the same when he first got the report. My eyes catch on the trash can beside his desk and see the remains of a broken lamp. There’s nothing that can bring on our anger more than a woman or child being abused.
My back stiffens, and I tip my head back, pulling in a deep breath and trying to rein in my temper. There is one difference between my reaction to this news and JW’s. As much as I don’t want to admit it, to me it’s personal. Remi isn’t mine, and I’ve got no right to her, but that doesn’t stop the need to exact vengeance on her behalf.
“You cool?” JW asks mildly.
Tilting my head back down, I shoot him a glare. “For now.”
His jaw tics. “That’s not all.”
“Fuck,” I hiss. “What more could there be?”