Fuck, she’s banged up. Even with the blood and dirt finally washed away from her golden brown skin, it is clear as day that piece of shit had definitely tried to kill Claudia. Her head and her right hand are bandaged, and her left foot all the way up to her calf. There are scrapes and scratches all over her and her left eye is already starting to swell up.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” A fat tear runs down her cheek. I want to wipe it away, but my hands. “My brother. Miles. Did they find him?” Her words are a little slurred, but loud enough for me to make them out.
“Haven’t heard anything yet, but as soon as I see the sheriff I’ll find out for you.”
“They killed him.” More fat tears.
“Shhh.” I slide closer, pissed for some reason that I can’t touch her. I barely know her. I don’tknowher at all. “It’s gonna be okay. You’re safe now.”
“I ran. I just left him.”
“Claudia. Look at me.” She listens, turning her head the little bit that she can. Her hazel eye, the one that isn’t swelling shut, is big and bloodshot, but is the most beautiful eye I am pretty sure I’ve ever seen. “I’m gonna stay here with you until we find out where your brother is. Okay? I’m not going anywhere.”
She glares at me and then squints a little. “What’s your name again?”
“Shep. Shep Olsen.”
Her eyes close. “Thank you, Shep. For shooting that guy. I—I can’t repeat what he said to me.”
“You don’t have to. Not to me. Save it for the cops when you’re ready. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Just try and sleep,” I say.
“I don’t think I can.”
“Well I’m gonna sit here with you anyway.”
“’Kay.”
I think she might be able to hold out, but either the drugs or the exhaustion take over. I watch her sleep for over two hours. Miss Fern comes back with more coffee and Eartha comes to check on Claudia’s vitals and mine. I can’t stop shaking. Caffeine and shock don’t mix. She says I’ll be fine, but I should probably switch to water. I just want Claudia to be okay. I want them to find her fucking brother. Alive and well.
A while later, I hear my name.
“Shep.” I look up and see Jerry standing in the hallway with Dr. Spring. He nods toward me and then toward the exit. “Let’s go for a walk.”
I stand, look at Claudia one more time, then follow Jerry out and down the hall. Across town to the sheriff’s station.
Two
“Ican’t saywe’re gonna make this quick,” Jerry says as he holds the station door open for me.
“I’m not in a hurry.”
“Come on this way.” I follow Jerry through two sets of heavy steel doors with mesh enforced pocket windows, down a short hallway past two more doors into what looks like the interrogation room. The last time I'd set foot in the sheriff’s station, I’d been there to tell Will that his wife had lost her phone and she'd call him as soon as she got home. The last time, I wasn't covered in someone else’s blood.
“Do I need a lawyer?” I ask when he closes the door behind me.
“Do you want one?”
“No. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You let me know if you change your mind.”
In walks one of the sheriff’s deputies with a small digital camera. A young guy with white blond hair and huge eyes. I’d never seen him before.