before he laughed softly in her ear, his chuckle dying. He paused. “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise,” he whispered, his breath hot against her skin before leaning back. Charlie’s voice now. “It’s true, after all, isn’t it?” He paused once more as his body shifted. “We won’t be seeing each other again, you know that, right?”
“What?” The word was mostly breath.
He pointed out to the field where Reed was coming up to bat. Her stomach rolled, chest squeezing tightly. “He won’t turn out like me,” he murmured almost as if speaking to himself.
Whatever sharp object was at Josie’s side was suddenly removed and Charlie was opening her palm, placing the item into it. “I’m rooting for you, Josie,” he said, “just like I was when I watched you climb through that window eight years ago.” And then he was walking away quickly into the grove of trees beyond. In less than ten seconds, he was gone.
She turned around fully, her heart thundering, panic sluicing through her veins. She opened her palm, gasping out a breath of shock at what she saw. It was the same toy she’d used to free herself from that warehouse room. I’m rooting for you, Josie. She blinked, her thumb pressing the button underneath the figure. It collapsed and straightened.
Collapsed and straightened.
Collapsed and straightened.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
“Yo, Cope, officer from District Three is on line one,” the officer answering phones called to him as he walked by, on his way to the break room to warm up his cold coffee.
He frowned as he turned back toward his desk. “Thanks.” He set his mug down amidst the piles of paperwork, connecting line one. “Detective Copeland.”
“Detective Copeland, this is Officer Leone from District Three. We have Josie Stratton here with us.”
Zach sat up stock straight in his chair. “Josie Stratton is being given protection at her home in Oxford.”
“Ah, yeah. I’m going to put Ms. Stratton on the line. She’ll need to fill you in. The entire District Three is on the lookout for the suspect. I put out a citywide call right before I dialed your number.”
Suspect?
Zach’s head felt hot. What the fuck is going on? “Zach?” Josie’s voice.
“Are you okay?” he barked, more harshly than he’d meant.
“Yes. I’m fine. Now. Now I’m fine.” She told him about Charles Hartsman impersonating her lawyer, luring her to the park where Reed was playing baseball. She told him how he’d apparently taken Rain’s purse and then sedated her somehow when she returned for it. How he’d come up behind Josie and made it seem as if he had a weapon pressed against her side, the things he’d said, and how he’d quickly disappeared.
“Holy fuck!” Zach yelled, coming to his feet. “Okay.” He attempted a deep breath. Josie was all right. She was okay. He could hear that she was. He wouldn’t entertain what-if scenarios right then. He would not. Though despite his assertion to himself, a deep tremble moved down his spine. Charles Hartsman could have killed her. Right there in broad daylight as she’d stood at a fence watching her little boy on a baseball field.
But he hadn’t. He hadn’t. Why the fuck hadn’t he?
“I’m sorry, Zach,” she whispered. “I should have known it wasn’t Mr. Hornsby. I should have known. I was just so . . . God, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. You’re okay. Everyone’s okay.” He forced his muscles to relax. “You said he quoted something?” he asked, in reference to what Charles had mentioned when she’d asked about Reagan.
“Yes.” She paused as if trying to remember the exact words. “At least it sounded like a quote. The dark night will end and the sun will rise,” she said. “Or something very similar.”
“Okay,” Zach said, sitting back down and opening a browser. “Hold on.” He typed in the phrase she’d just said, and a similar quote by Victor Hugo immediately came up. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. “Good job, Josie. Now, listen, the officers are going to drive you back home and then you stay put, okay? Promise me.”
“I promise you.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
There was an uncomfortable pause. There were so many things he longed to tell her. He wanted to shake her and then take her in his arms, never let her go. But he couldn’t do that, and now was not the time for talk. “Call you later.” Zach hung up the phone and stared at the