She was being framed. That was all she could cling to. Trish had found out she was sleeping with Ryan and had accused her of somehow causing his death.
The fact that this was even being allowed was terrifying. Cassie wondered whether there was corruption at work. In this close-knit community, Trish might have a connection within the police department. If that was the case, who knew how far her influence reached, and would Cassie be able to get beyond it to plead her case?
“In here, please, love.”
The kind constable had stopped calling her “ma’am” after the third pack of Kleenex had been opened. Now she seemed to have adopted a motherly concern for Cassie, but the fact she cared only made Cassie cry all the harder as she was shepherded into the tiny prison cell.
The door clanged behind her and she was alone, locked into this cramped, chilly space that stank of chemical cleaner, with a sour undertone of old vomit.
She hadn’t taken her meds last night—she’d been too distraught to think about it after escaping from Ryan’s threats. That was probably why she’d had the nightmare and sleepwalked. Now here she was, locked in a police cell without them, for who knew how long. Would she be able to cope?
Cassie doubted it. Her mind felt as if it was on overload, with red alarm buzzers sounding on all sides. Her ability for logical thought had shut down completely. The hysterical crying had made her nauseous, and in fact, she spent some time dry retching over the metal toilet pan that was wedged in the tiny space behind the Spartan bed.
Then she collapsed on her knees next to the bed and buried her face in the coarse blue blanket.
She lay there, her sobs gradually lessening, until she slipped off the bed onto the hard linoleum floor.
*
Constable Aria Chandra peered worriedly through the bars.
The pretty redhead had suffered a bout of hysterics so severe that the constable had been on the point of calling the precinct’s doctor, as she’d thought a tranquilizer should be administered.
Now she’d finally calmed down, but she was on the floor. The girl should at least be on the bed.
Reading through the charge sheet, Chandra learned she’d been arrested at home. She had appeared sober and not under the influence of any drugs, although she’d grown hysterical upon being arrested and had attempted to resist the officers.
Chandra sighed. This girl looked pretty, and fragile, and harmless; and it wouldn’t do her any good to be lying on the floor. When the detectives came back later in the morning, she’d be taken for questioning. She needed some rest.
“Watch me, will you?” she asked her shift partner, a junior sergeant.
She made some warm, sweet tea in a paper cup and headed into the cell, with the sergeant standing by outside the locked door.
Chandra put the cup down on the shelf.
“Come on, love. Get up. You’ll have a better rest on the bed. That floor’s too cold for you to be spending time there.”
She helped the girl up, thinking she was in a right state and wondering if she should give the doctor a call after all. She was shivering and shaking and she started crying again.
“It’s a setup,” she kept repeating.
“Love, you need to get some rest. Here’s your tea.”
She placed the cup in the girl’s hand, noticing she felt icy cold, and held it steady while she drank. She’d been crying so much she needed fluids. When Chandra was sure she was able to hold it on her own, she let go.
Once the tea was finished, she helped her onto the bed and pulled the blanket over her. Then she left, hoping that she would calm down and be able to get some sleep.
An hour later, she returned to check up on Cassie, bringing her another cup of tea. She was still in two minds about whether to call the police doctor, because although the girl had finally stopped crying, she was shaking violently.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, as some of the tea splashed onto the floor.
“It’s all right. Try to be calm. Remember, nobody’s out to get you. They just have to follow the processes.”
Returning to the front desk, Chandra saw that Parker had returned to work.
There was no need to ask him if he’d had any sleep, because he’d obviously spent the interim at the gym. His hair was still wet from the shower and he was carrying his gym bag over his shoulder.
“Good workout?” she asked.
“The best. Keeps me sane.” He grinned at her.
“Are you going to question the girl now? Don’t be hard on her. She’s very nervous.”
Parker frowned.
“Chandra, she doesn’t deserve special treatment. She’s a murderer. We’re going to put on the table now what she’s done, and I’ll be very surprised if she doesn’t cave in immediately and give us a full confession.”
“She says she didn’t do it. She told me so; she kept repeating it.”
“All the evidence points to the fact that she did. If she says differently, she’s a liar.”
“A liar?” Chandra asked. “You really think so?”
Chandra wished she had more experience. She’d only been with this unit a year and was still in training to be a detective. She didn’t have any proof that the auburn-haired girl wasn’t lying, only a gut feeling, and what use was a gut feeling when you were still a trainee?
Parker sighed heavily and leaned his arms on the front desk.
Speaking in a low voice he said, “This is personal for me, you see. Ryan Ellis was my friend. We knew each other from gym. We even trained together when my shifts allowed.”
“That so?” Chandra asked. She wasn’t very surprised, because in the town there was only one police station, and
