"Never to you, or never to anybody?"
"Never to me. I don't know about anybody else."
Dodge made himself a note to check on that. "What set him off?"
She raised her shoulders, and again Dodge was struck by how delicate her frame was. "We were having an ordinary quarrel, a difference of opinion, and he flew into a rage. I've never seen him like that before." She wet her lips. "But he's been under a lot of pressure lately."
"What kind of pressure?"
"Business. He and his father have been having disagreements. Roger takes them to heart."
"What did you do or say that caused him to slap you?"
"I said something to the effect that his father had more experience and that perhaps in this particular instance Roger should give him the benefit of the doubt."
"You took his old man's side against him."
She lowered her head, addressing the tabletop. "I guess that's how it sounded to Roger."
"Doesn't excuse him from slapping you."
"No."
"Are you going to stay with him?"
She raised her head and looked at him with surprise. "Of course."
Dodge watched her, said nothing.
She licked her lips. "I'm sure this was an isolated incident, Officer. Roger lost his temper. Flew off the handle. It could happen to anybody who's under stress."
He shook his head decisively. "Most people are stressed one way or another. They don't hit. Only somebody with a violent streak does that."
She set the ice pack on the table. The cubes were melting, dripping through the cloth. She stood up. "My cheek feels much better. The ice helped. I'll be all right. Don't let me keep you from your other duties."
Reluctantly Dodge replaced his pad and pen in his pocket and followed her back into the living room. Through the windows, they saw Gonzales pushing down Campton's head, none too gently, and guiding him into the backseat of the patrol car. "Will he be charged with a crime?" she asked.
"He'll be accused of assaulting a police officer," Dodge replied. "Whether or not the charge sticks isn't up to me or to Officer Gonzales." He paused, then added, "You've got a better shot at him. You could file an assault charge. I urge you to."
"I promise to think about it." Because she avoided his eyes when she said that, Dodge figured it was an empty promise. "Thank you for responding so quickly," she said.
"No need to thank me. That's what we're for."
"I know, but thank you anyway." She gave him a tremulous smile, and he knew that, as soon as he left, she'd start crying. She was barely holding it back. "Good night, Officer--" She gave her head a small shake. "I'm sorry."
"Hanley. Dodge Hanley. Good night, Ms. King." He tilted his head toward the police car, where Roger Campton sat fuming in the backseat. "He won't be out before morning at the earliest. We'll be slow to get the paperwork done. But keep the doors locked anyway."
"I will."
He hesitated on the threshold and looked at her for several moments, but he couldn't think of anything to add to what had already been said. He didn't have a valid excuse for sticking around any longer, so he bobbed his head good-bye and turned toward the patrol car.
* * *
"So what I was thinking," Gonzales was saying, "is that we ought to volunteer."
Dodge, who'd been woolgathering, brought his partner into focus. Their shift had ended a half hour earlier. Now they were seated on opposite sides of a booth at Denny's, where they were having breakfast before going home.
"What?"