“Not your fault, man, even if it was him, and we don’t know that it was. You’re just a civilian here, walking through the park with a woman who was your priority. He didn’t do anything overtly wrong to give you any reason to approach him. I appreciate you coming out to tell me. I’ll get some guys here to collect evidence, and we'll get the camera footage and check if his description matches the victim’s.
“Does her description match?” I pressed.
“I can’t say,” he hedged, pissing me off.
“Quint, he was waiting here with a direct view of Jenna’s car, his face disguised. He was watching for her.”
“Doesn’t mean he was our guy, or even if he was, that he was looking for anyone specific.” He was too damn calm and controlled.
“That’s bullshit,” I snapped. “You’d be okay taking that chance if it was Corrie? You’d be okay with a friend holding back on you?”
“Don’t go there with Corrie,” he said, his voice dangerously low. Finally, some fucking emotion. “Even if telling you wouldn’t put our entire investigation at risk by siccing your ass on apotential—potentialbeing the key word—suspect, the honest truth is that I don’t know enough yet to answer your question. The only thing I could say with certainty is that this guy is a sick motherfucker.” He paused, eyeing me critically. “Is it like that with you and Jenna?”
“Yes.”
He let out a slow sigh and dragged a hand through his hair, his professional mask cracking, the gravity of the situation etched into every line of his face. “She’s a good one. Smart too. She won’t take unnecessary risks. Make sure she knows not to come back here alone.”
Fear flashed through me. “She won’t be here alone, that’s for sure.”
“A word of advice?”
“Always.”
“Don’t underestimate her. She’s stronger than you think.”
I nodded. “I know she is.” No doubt he was thinking about the time Corrie had escaped from potential murderers, a remarkable feat for anyone, and even more impressive that Corrie did it blind.
“Make sure she knows you know that. It’s just as important as protecting her.”
“Thanks, man. You’ll let me know anything you can?”
“I will,” Quint said as we shook hands, his grip steady and his gaze unwavering.
I left feeling even more unsettled than before I spoke to him. It was up to me to protect Jenna, and I would not fail her.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jenna
My head pounded in synchrony with the hammers. I leaned against a shelf, taking a quick break after restocking my thousandth book of the day. “Why couldn’t we just keep the plastic? It was good enough, and it was quiet,” I complained to Izzy.
“So we could hear this for the next few weeks? No way.”
Izzy wasn’t wrong. I was appreciative that the facilities manager had taken one look at the flimsy plastic barriers and gone to bat for us, insisting on actual floor-to-ceiling temporary walls around the construction area to keep the noise and mess to a minimum and to hide the construction and tools from curious children. It would even have a door that locked, and apparently it would only be like this for a day or two, then the walls would muffle most of the noise.
It was just a rough day for it. I was a wreck after Liam left last night, and when I’d finally fallen asleep, he called. I was glad to hear from him, but his obvious nerves set me even more on edge.When I eventually fell back to sleep, I had a nightmare, and I’d been up since then. I’d tried to burn off some nervous energy at the gym, but I was too antsy, so I’d cut it short. Then I’d walked into this mess at work, with the construction crew banging away nonstop while we were busy cleaning up everything they’d shoved out of the way.
I grunted in response, and Izzy narrowed her eyes at me. “Why do you look like they’re hammering in your head?”
“It feels like they are,” I grumbled. “I barely slept last night, and I feel like garbage.”
“Want to go to Joe’s for coffee? I can cover things here for a few minutes.”
“Yes! You’re an angel. Thank you!”
Coffee would make everything better. Despite my exhaustion, I needed to pull it together so we could meet with the workers and review the plans with them. I wanted everything done well, of course, but especially the two critical safety features: the entrance and the windows. The zigzag entrance with its staggered walls was designed to block some of the noise and light and give it a sense of being closed off, but for safety, there was no door, and therefore no way to lock anyone in or out. And the twelve small windows were to be spread out along the bottom half of the two interior walls. Their small size, circular shape, and dark tint would enhance the space theme and maintain the ambiance of the room, and most importantly, they would allow full visibility into every nook and cranny of the sensory room from the main children’s area, significantly reducing the likelihood of anything inappropriate or dangerous happening inside.
I needed to meet with the workers to stress the importance of that and tell them I wanted to be consulted if anything changed from the original plans.