Protector - Laurel Dewey [30]
Jane was caught off guard. “What?”
“The scar on your forehead.”
Jane readjusted herself in her seat nervously. She could feel the prying eyes of Weyler, Martha and Chris behind her. “It’s just a scar.”
“How’d you get it?”
“I got it . . . in the line of duty.”
“That must have hurt really bad.”
“You’re a real detail-oriented person, aren’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You see small things in a big picture.”
“I guess so.”
Jane felt uneasy and took another drag. “What’s your bear’s name?” she said pointing to the stuffed animal.
“I don’t know. Martha gave it to me. I’m supposed to talk to it and tell it secrets.”
“Really?” Jane wanted to roll her eyes but restrained herself. “You doing that?”
“No. Why would I tell a stuffed animal secrets? It’s not real.”
Jane could feel a slight smile forming on her face but did her best to hide it. She looked over to the monitor. A sentence scrolled across the screen in capital letters: ASK HER WHAT SHE SAW! Jane knew the message was from Chris. “So, you got something you want to talk about?”
Emily sat for a moment, composing her thoughts. “That lady yesterday with the gun. I saw what you did and I heard what you said to her.”
Jane turned her head to the side and spoke, directing her response to Martha without Emily realizing it. “Yeah, well, you were not supposed to be up there.”
Martha turned to Weyler. “Was that comment directed at me?”
Weyler, eyes focused on Emily, ignored Martha. Emily leaned forward a bit. “Well, I was there. Were you scared?”
“No.”
“How did you know what to say to her?”
“I just told her the truth.” Jane took another nervous puff on her cigarette.
Emily leaned forward. “But you knew how to save her?”
“From doing something stupid? Yeah. Look, if you wanted to talk about that Mexican woman, you could have chatted up anybody around here!” Out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw the frantic typing of Chris transferring another message: ENGAGE HER, DAMMIT!!! Jane slammed her hand against the monitor and pushed it away so the screen faced the wall.
“What the hell is she doing?” Chris yelled.
“She knows what she’s doing,” Weyler said, keeping his eyes forward.
Emily sat back, sizing up Jane. “I can’t talk to just anyone,” Emily said softly. “Most people lie. My mommy lies and so does my daddy. My best friend moved away and they wouldn’t tell me why. And when I ask them if they love each other, they say they do, but I know they’re lying.”
“Yeah, well, if everybody told the truth, there would be no secrets. And I can’t imagine a world with no secrets, can you?”
Chris pressed his forehead against the two-way mirror. “Is she seriously trying to kill my case?”
Emily leaned forward. “You know stuff, don’t you?” Emily questioned. “Important stuff?”
“Yeah, they call me an encyclopedia of knowledge here at Headquarters.”
“If I ask you a question, will you tell me the truth?”
Jane took a hard drag on her cigarette. “If I know the answer, yeah, sure.”
Emily leaned her body against the table, resting her elbows on the edge. She hesitated and then spoke. “Are my mommy and daddy dead?”
Jane looked Emily straight in the eye. “Yes,” she said quietly.
Emily’s eyebrows arched upward ever so slightly. Her body tightened as her eyes traced the top of the table.
Martha turned to Weyler in a rage. “My God! How could she do that? The child is not ready to hear that! Didn’t you advise Detective Perry of this? Pull her out of there!”
“Let’s see where it goes,” Weyler instructed. Jane carefully watched Emily’s every move. “I’m sorry, kid,” she said in earnest.
Emily looked up at Jane, eyes wide. “Who’s gonna make my lunch?” Jane was caught off guard. She searched for something to say. “Somebody will make your lunch and your breakfast and your dinner and you will be okay.”
Emily looked off to the side. She seemed to go into a daze. Jane sat back, waiting and hoping that whatever was buried within Emily would stay buried. As the child zoned out, her breathing became slightly heavier and her eyes stayed fixed on her reflection in the