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Chapter Twenty-One
The police station/jail was an old, stone building across the river from the grocery store and Lucy’s Pizza. It had been built in the early 1900s as the jail, at the time far enough out of the main square that the townsfolk didn’t object. Laurel had been in it on a guided tour when she was a child. It had obviously been somewhat updated because Officer Jenkins was working on a nice computer and she’d caught a glimpse of the dispatcher’s desk and it looked modern as well. The station had been expanded a number of years before but the architecture was in keeping with the original building.
After Officer Jenkins had greeted them, he took Laurel back to his desk, one of several in a large central room. Zack stayed in the waiting area near the entrance, saying he didn’t want to get in the way.
Half an hour later, the policeman showed her the preliminary sketch. “That’s him,” Laurel said, looking at the sketch. “That’s the man with the gun.” She couldn’t believe how close Officer Jenkins had come to what the man looked like. She’d thought she didn’t remember much, but as Detective Winters had promised, the officer had been able to elicit details she hadn’t even realized she knew. The process was fascinating, or would have been if she hadn’t still been freaked out. But in a weird way, going through and picking pictures of noses, mouths, facial shapes and more had settled her nerves to a degree she wouldn’t have believed.
She just wished Zack hadn’t looked as if he wanted to rip someone’s throat out ever since he’d seen those bullet holes in her door. The robbers, for sure. But he hadn’t seemed too happy with her, either.
“What about this one?” Jenkins asked, showing her his completed sketch of the second man.
“I think his face was thinner and his eyes weren’t that big, but it still looks a lot like him. At least…I think it does.”
He made a few changes and showed the sketch to her again. “How about now?”
“Yes. That’s him.”
“If you think of anything else, please call. Here’s my direct number,” Officer Jenkins said.
When they were finished Officer Jenkins called Zack in to look at the sketches on the chance he recognized one or both of the suspects. He looked at the sketches closely but shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen either of them. Something tells me they wouldn’t have hung around the airport.”
“If you see them, or remember anything, be sure to call,” Jenkins said.
“We will. Does she need a police report to file on her insurance?” Zack asked.
“Insurance?” Laurel asked. “I don’t remember—”
“Travis said you have renter’s insurance. At least, you told him and Harlan that you did.”
“Oh, that’s right. I do have it. I’d forgotten.”
“We’ll send you a report, probably later tonight. Email okay? We can get you a hard copy later. Your insurance people will want that at some point. And when the CSI finish with the crime scene, you’ll want to go back and record what’s missing.”
Everything of value, probably. Travis had called earlier and asked if she and the kids wanted to spend the night at his and Tobi’s house. She’d accepted gratefully, but intended to get Zack to take her back to her apartment after she put the kids to bed. She wanted her car and to see the damage to her apartment and what was missing now that she was calmer.
She said as much to Zack on the way to Travis’s.
He shot her a glance she couldn’t read and said, “I’ll take you tomorrow. CSI is still at your apartment. Remember, Officer Jenkins said you could go back after they’re finished and who knows what time that will be.”
Why was he acting so…weird? “Zack, are you angry with me?”
He stopped in front of Travis’s house and parked on the street. “Of course not,” he said, turning toward her. “Why would you think I was?”
“Because you’re acting like you are.”
“I’m not mad.” He pulled her across the console and kissed her in a way he never had before. With an intensity and…longing she’d never before felt. “When I saw those bullet holes it really brought it home to me.”
“Brought what home to you?”
“That you might have been killed. You, Cody and Katrina. It scared the hell out of me.”
Laurel put a hand to his cheek. “I know. It happened so fast I hardly had time to be scared. Until afterward. But I’m fine. The kids are fine.”
He started to say something but then he shook his head.
“What?” she asked.
“It can wait.”
