And so, she readied herself for the staring contest she was about to have with Agent Layton.
NINE
Manny paced the halls of the police station, deep in thought. Agent Layton had finished with Maureen Allen hours ago, and she’d been shown back to one of the holding cells. He hadn’t gone to see her since then and really didn’t have any other reason to still be at the station, but for some reason, he hadn’t been able to head for home. Or maybe it was that he didn’t want to. He was tired, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to that woman than he had first suspected. Before their interview got interrupted, he was sure she was going to tell him something important.
It was well after midnight, and he was alone in the station save for Collins, who had drawn the overnight split since they had someone in holding. He decided to get to work digging into the background of Tom Lowes. The FBI had taken what was left of the vomit sample after the county lab had completed the basic genetic testing, proving it didn’t come from anyone in the family. This weakened the case against either Tom or his wife being the actual killer, but it raised a whole new set of questions. Getting more information on the couple just might shake loose a possible suspect for him to focus on, while Layton had his people run the DNA through their database.
Manny found his way back to his desk and started looking over the Lowes family’s phone records for the second time that day. He’d requested the last year’s worth but so far, only the last four months had been delivered. Several numbers came up frequently, though they all had a reasonable explanation: several of Kristin’s clients, Tom’s office, and Kristin’s brother’s cell phone. There were no other numbers called in that time that raised any red flags for him.
The financials on the family hadn’t come back yet. Manny had hoped they would have arrived that afternoon, but the county had indicated that the complete reports from the brokerage were still being put together. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were stonewalling him and favoring the Feds. It was purely his inner pessimist talking. At least, he hoped so.
“Benny, you might want to get over here!”
The shout from the holding area shook him out of his thoughts. Without hesitation, he erupted from his desk and rushed toward the sound. As he rounded the corner leading to the cells, he nearly ran straight through Collins, who was standing at the hall’s entrance.
“She’s freaking out,” whispered Collins in a hoarse tone. “She fell asleep a little while ago, but now she’s tossing and turning all over the bunk and babbling some gibberish. I wouldn’t have called, but I don’t much feel like getting chewed out if she gets hurt on our watch.”
“All right, Jack, thanks,” Manny said, patting Collins on the shoulder. “Why don’t you give me a minute?”
Collins hesitated.
“I’ll call you if there’s anything I can’t handle,” he insisted.
Collins nodded, though it seemed with no great relish, and retreated around the corner. Manny turned his eyes back toward the hallway and edged toward the cell that held Maureen. He peered through the bars and was met with a strange, unsettling sight.
Maureen lay on the cot along the wall, facing the ceiling. Her back was arched, and her head snapped back and forth on the flat pillow. She was talking in her sleep. Collins had called it gibberish but, though he did not understand the words, Manny could detect language in the patterns of the syllables that came from her lips. The tone was unsettling, almost otherworldly. As he looked on, her movements seemed to take on a dance between two forces. Where at first she seemed to move in time with some unknown force, now it appeared as if she were struggling against it, wanting to move left but being dragged to the right. Her voice began to reach a crescendo, and Manny could clearly make out the final word she uttered before her eyes snapped open. She thrust herself upright and sprang away from the cot, her back crashing into the bars with a loud clatter. She snapped around and locked eyes with him. Though it was brief, he caught a wild, terrified look, like a cornered animal, before she shrank away to the opposite end of the cell and sat, hugging her knees and staring at the floor.
“Collins!” he called out over his shoulder, masking his disconcertment as best as he could. “I need you back here. Bring the keys to the cell!”
The other officer appeared moments later, keys jingling in his hand. He was composed as he stepped around the corner, but his mask of calm dropped away instantly when his eyes fell upon the slouching figure in the corner that was their prisoner. He turned to Manny, his raised eyebrows and slacked jaw asking what they were supposed to do now.
“Open the cell door, Jack,” Manny said as calmly as he could. “Then take a few steps back and let me speak with her alone before we decide what to do.” He hoped it wasn’t showing how upset he was at what he had just witnessed.
Collins nodded, clearly unable to find any words. He stepped forward and turned the key in the lock. The snap of the lock was the only other sound in the air apart from Maureen’s breath coming in gasps. Manny pushed the door open slowly and looked back at Collins, jerking his head in the direction of the hallway entrance. Collins nodded at him again and backed up a dozen or so paces, far enough so that he could not be seen by anyone from inside the holding cell.
She didn’t look at him as he slowly walked the five steps needed to put himself in front of her. Manny squatted
