doorstep to her in confusion.
Tears filled her eyes as she gulped air and found her voice. “It was a gift from my father. A doll that looked like me. It was the one thing that Lindy knew better than to touch.”
Shep pulled her into his arms and kicked the door closed with a boot heel. He buried one hand in her hair and cradled her back with the other.
She closed her eyes, soaking in the warmth of his body. Only moments before, she’d been ready to send him away. Now, she was never more thankful that he was here for her—just as he’d been last night.
“I’m not going anywhere until I find out who is doing this,” he whispered as he kissed the top of head. “I’m going to find them, Charlie, stop them and make this end. That’s a promise.”
* * *
WHILE CHARLIE FORCED down some of the oatmeal he’d cooked, Shep took care of the doll. It was evidence, so he treated it as such, bagging it carefully for the judge. He’d called WT, concerned that it might be time to call in the police. But the judge had assured him that they couldn’t do any more at this point than what Shep was doing.
“There really hasn’t been a threat against Charlie. I’ll take the doll to the local lab,” the judge had promised. With luck, there would be fingerprints on it or something else about the doll that would put an end to this quickly.
“I feel as if Charlie’s in danger even if a threat hasn’t really been made,” he told the judge when he called again from the sidewalk just outside the apartment. His breath came out in white puffs as he brought the judge up to date on what had been going on. He talked fast, wanting to get back to Charlie as quickly as possible. He’d come out here because he hadn’t wanted her to overhear his conversation.
“I’ve sent someone to pick up the...evidence,” the judge said when Shep finished. “He should be there any minute. Keep me up to date on what is going on.”
“I’m trying not to let Charlie out of my sight, but she’s determined to go to work. You know how she was at boot camp. She hasn’t changed. Are you sure we shouldn’t let the police handle this?”
“Let’s wait and see if we get any prints off the doll. We need something more before we go to the police.”
“I’m just afraid of what that more might be.” Shep waited for the driver of the car the judge had sent to pick up the bagged doll, then ran back upstairs to the apartment. Charlie was standing at the sink, washing out her empty bowl.
“I ate the oatmeal. It was good, thank you,” she said, leaving the bowl to drain. She glanced at him. “Did you—”
“I took care of it. The judge has someone taking it to a lab. Maybe we’ll get lucky and there will be a clear print on it.”
“Even if that was the case,” Charlie said, “destroying my doll isn’t enough to get the person arrested.”
She had a point—just as the judge had said. So far, whoever was behind this hadn’t made a direct threat. “When was the last time you saw the doll?”
“Fifteen years ago, at the house. I kept it on the top shelf near my bed.”
“You didn’t get to take it with you?” The moment the words were out of his mouth, he realized how foolish they were. Of course she hadn’t.
“I was taken straight into foster care with nothing but the clothes on my back. But I did refuse to go until I grabbed my photo album.”
“Then you have no way of knowing what happened to the doll.”
Charlie shook her head. “I forgot all about it until I saw her lying outside my door.”
He thought about who had access to the doll. Charlie had been taken away after her father’s death and Lindy’s. Kat had been in the hospital, but at some point she would have come back for her belongings, right? The house would have been a crime scene until the investigation was over, but then anyone could have come in and taken the doll.
Unless Kat had taken it out of spite.
After seeing what had been done to the doll, it had to have been someone who knew about the haircut Lindy had given Charlie. That certainly narrowed it down. “Did anyone else know about the time Lindy cut your hair?”
She shrugged. “Maybe