The Last Straw (The Jigsaw Files #4) - Sharon Sala Page 0,37
forgot what he was doing. She so rarely exhibited any kind of emotion, and seeing that look on her face made him wonder how she’d look making love.
Then the moment he thought it, it shocked him. That had no place in their relationship. It was business or nothing, and he didn’t want to lose her. So he reached for the salt shaker, salted his burger, then took another bite.
Wyrick had finished her fries and was still sipping on her drink, waiting for Charlie to finish, when she caught movement from the corner of her eye. She glanced over, then stilled.
There was a little girl coming straight for her with a look of awe on her face, and she knew why. The child was frail, and thin, and as bald as Wyrick, and she was about the same age as Wyrick had been when UT took her away from her mother.
The little girl stopped at the table, looked up at Wyrick’s head.
Wyrick leaned over. “It’s okay if you want to feel it,” Wyrick whispered.
The little girl smiled, then slid her hand across the soft, smooth skin and began rubbing it.
In turn, Wyrick reached for the little girl, laid her hand on her head and closed her eyes.
Immediately, she saw the child’s sickness—the cancer cells in her blood and in her bones, the tumor in her brain, and then the beating heart in the frail little body it was trying to keep alive.
She didn’t think about consequences. She just focused on what was wrong, and with all of the healing energy she could gather, started working to make it all right.
The parents were dealing with a toddler who’d made a mess, and when they suddenly realized their daughter wasn’t at the table, they began to panic. Then the mother saw her across the room, and saw what she was doing, and quietly sat as her eyes filled with tears, letting the moment between Wyrick and her child play out.
Charlie had a lump in his throat, and couldn’t have spoken if he’d had to. He’d never seen this tender, gentle side of Wyrick, and it struck him to the core. They didn’t know the moment was being filmed by the child’s father, along with a roomful of diners.
And then all of a sudden the little girl let go, and when she did, Wyrick drew back.
“What’s your name?” the child asked.
Wyrick leaned down again and whispered in her ear.
“My name is Jade.”
“I’m Bethie. You’re just like me,” she said.
“No. I think you’re much prettier,” Wyrick said.
And then the mother appeared and took her daughter by the hand.
“We’re so sorry Bethie bothered you. Our baby made a mess and we didn’t realize she’d left the table.”
“On the contrary,” Wyrick said and winked at Bethie. “This might just be the single best thing that has ever happened to me.”
The little girl giggled, and then they were gone.
Wyrick was suddenly aware that she’d let down her guard in public, and now she wouldn’t look at Charlie, or anyone else. But when he laid down some money and stood, the silence of the room wrapped around her like a hug as they left.
Even after they were in the car and back on the beltway, she had nothing to say. She was suddenly so tired, and a little sad, so she leaned back and closed her eyes.
Charlie felt her withdrawal and honored it, knowing something beyond the obvious about that child had triggered her in a very deep way.
By the time they reached the office, Wyrick was all business again and went straight to her desk.
“I’m going to see if I can find blueprints for the property.”
“If you can, send all of it to me. I’ll compare the specs. If there are any secret rooms or passages, they should show up in the blueprints from the renovation.”
Wyrick went to work, while Charlie went to his office.
* * *
The whole time Barrett Taylor was being arraigned, he had a bad feeling about the outcome. His lawyer, Marsh Fielding, had filled him in earlier about Jade Wyrick’s video, and that Jeremiah Raver wasn’t answering his phone. All Barrett kept thinking was, if he’d done what he’d come here to do, none of this would be happening. His failure had caused a landslide.
After the charges were read, he pled not guilty. But despite the lawyer’s pleas on his behalf, the district attorney’s claims that the evidence against Taylor, coupled with his priors and the charges filed, made him a flight risk.