law. He would write up the report anyway and read their own words back to them before asking them to sign it. It was then, sometimes, that their bravado would fail, and he’d catch a glimpse of the terrified woman beneath the angry surface. Many would end up not signing it, and even those who did would quickly change their minds when their husbands were brought in. Those cases went forward, no matter what the woman decided. But later, when a wife wouldn’t testify, little punishment was meted out. Alex came to understand that only those who pressed charges ever became truly free, because the life they were leading was a prison, even if most of them wouldn’t admit it.
Still, there was another way to escape the horror of their lives, though in all his years he’d come across only one who actually did it. He’d interviewed the woman once and she’d taken the usual route of denial and self-blame. But a couple of months later, he’d learned that she’d fled. Not to her family and not to her friends, but somewhere else, a place where even her husband couldn’t find her. Her husband, lost in his fury that his wife had left, had exploded after a long night of drinking and had bloodied an MP. He ended up in Leavenworth, and Alex remembered grinning in satisfaction when he’d heard the news. And when thinking of the man’s wife, he smiled, thinking, Good for you.
Now, as he watched Katie toying with a ring that wasn’t there, he felt his old investigative instincts kick in. There’d been a husband, he thought; her husband was the missing element. Either she was still married or she wasn’t, but he had an undeniable hunch that Katie was still afraid of him.
The sky exploded while she was reaching for a box of crackers. Lightning flashed, and a few seconds later thunder crackled before finally settling into a loud, angry rumble. Josh dashed inside right before the downpour started, clutching his tackle box and fishing reel as he entered the store. His face was red and he was panting like a runner crossing the finish line.
“Hey, Dad.”
Alex looked up. “Catch anything?”
“Just the catfish again. The same one I catch every time.”
“I’ll see you in a little bit for lunch, okay?”
Josh vanished back into the storeroom and Alex heard him padding up the steps to the house.
Outside, the rain came down hard and the wind whipped sheets of water against the glass. Branches bent in the wind, bowing to a higher power. The dark sky flashed bright with lightning, and thunder boomed, loud enough to shake the windows. From across the store, Alex saw Katie flinch, her face a mask of surprise and terror, and he found himself wondering whether it was the same way her husband had once seen her.
The door of the store opened and a man rushed in, trailing water on the old wood flooring. He shook rivulets of rain from his sleeves and nodded at Alex before finally moving toward the grill.
Katie turned back to the shelf that held crackers. He didn’t have a big selection, just Saltines and Ritz, the only two that sold regularly, and she reached for the Ritz.
She selected her usual items as well and carried her basket to the register. When he finished ringing up and bagging her items, Alex tapped the bag he’d put on the counter earlier.
“Don’t forget the vegetables.”
She glanced at the total on the register. “Are you sure you rang them up?”
“Of course.”
“Because the total isn’t any more than it usually is.”
“I gave you the introductory price.”
She frowned, wondering whether to believe him, then finally reached into the bag. She pulled out a tomato and brought it to her nose.
“It smells good.”
“I had some last night. They’re great with a touch of salt, and the cucumbers don’t need anything.”
She nodded but her gaze was focused on the door. The wind was driving rain against it in furious waves. The door creaked open, the water fighting to get inside. The world beyond the glass was blurry.
People lingered in the grill. Alex could hear them mumbling to themselves about waiting for the storm to break.
Katie drew a fortifying breath and reached for her bags.
“Miss Katie!” Kristen cried, sounding almost panicked. She stood, brandishing the picture she’d colored. She’d already torn it from the book. “You almost forgot your picture.”
Katie reached for it, brightening as she examined the picture. Alex noted how—at least for an instant—everything else