The Silent Wife (Will Trent #10) - Karin Slaughter Page 0,167
in. “I couldn’t find Tommi online. Not in our database or social media. I asked my mother to do some digging around.”
“Speaking to Humphrey is a priority.”
Sara bit her lip so she would not tell Amanda that everything couldn’t be a priority. “I’ll call her again.”
“Do that.”
Sara gave into an eye-roll as she stepped out into the hallway. She leaned her back against the wall. She closed her eyes. She was vibrating with exhaustion. She was incapable of summoning her inner medical student, who had thrived on back-to-back shifts.
Her phone vibrated with a new alert. Sara had to blink her eyes several times to get them to focus. She swiped through her messages. Agents asking for reports. Gary requesting time off to take his cat to the vet. The state’s attorney wanted to schedule prep on a case that was about to go to trial. Brock had texted to make sure Sara had found everything she needed at the U-Store. The thought of responding to any of them felt overwhelming. Only guilt made her reply to Brock—
Got everything. Really helpful. Will return key soon. Thks.
Sara figured she might as well get her mother out of the way. A phone call felt like a burden. She texted in the formal style that Cathy demanded—
Hey, Mama. Did Tessie ask you to find Tommi Humphrey’s phone number or location for me? Her mother’s information would work, too. It’s for a very important case. We really need to speak with her as soon as possible. I love you. S.
Sara slid her phone into her pocket. She did not expect a quick response from her mother. Cathy’s phone was probably sitting on the kitchen counter, hooked up to the charger, which is where she usually left it when she was inside the house.
Of its own accord, Sara’s hand reached back into her pocket. The phone came out. Her thumb swiped up. She was like an addict. Hours had passed since her last hit. She could no longer resist the temptation.
She opened the Find My app.
Instead of Lena’s address, the map showed an actual pin.
Will had made himself visible to her again. He was inside the building. Sara almost wept with relief. She held the phone to her chest even as she berated herself for being so desperate.
At that very moment, the stair door banged open. Will stepped aside, letting Faith stomp down the hall ahead of him. Sara’s first thought was that Faith looked worse than Sara felt. Her shoulders were bowed. She was gripping her purse to her chest like a football. Her usual air of cheerful disgruntlement had been replaced by a crushing anguish.
She took a left into the briefing room, telling Sara, “Fuck my job.”
Will looked as haunted as Faith. Instead of speaking to Sara, he shook his head.
She followed him inside.
Amanda asked, “Well?”
“Well, this.” Faith hurled her purse at one of the desks. The contents spilled onto the floor. She paced a few steps toward the window. Her hands went into her hair. Everyone but Will was stunned. Faith never acted out. Sara had always thought of her as unflappable.
She looked to Will, but he had knelt down to gather Faith’s things back into her purse.
Amanda told him, “Speak.”
Will set the purse upright on the desk. He said, “We called Callie Zanger from the car outside her office building.”
He carefully relayed Faith’s phone conversation with the lawyer. Will had always been uncomfortable leading briefings. Now, his voice had turned monotone, almost rote. Sara sat down in the front row. Will was directing his words toward Faith, though she clearly already knew the details. Sara realized that he was watching his partner, ready to step in if she needed him.
He continued, “Zanger sat at the bar with Faith. I was at a table about ten feet away.”
Sara heard a roughness enter his tone. He was just as bruised by Callie Zanger’s story. He laid it all out in painful detail. The abduction. The woman’s certainty that her ex-husband was the man who had harmed her, who had raped her, who had left her for dead.
As Will spoke, he worried his thumb over his wounded knuckle. Fresh blood slid down his fingers. By the time he had finished telling them what Callie Zanger thought was the truth of her abduction, the carpet beneath his hand was stained with dots of blood.
Will said, “Zanger is sure it was her husband. We didn’t tell her any different.”