Something the girl in the snow would never do.
She held back tears. Her nose began to run and she sniffled. “Do you have a tissue?”
“I’ll do you better than that.” He opened his console, drew out a folded square of plaid fabric, and handed it to her. “Keep it. I buy ’em by the dozen this time of year.”
Headlights slashed across the night; a vehicle pulled up alongside them, on her side. A police car, she realized. Not campus police; Tranquility Bluffs cops.
Without a word, Officer Clark climbed out of the car and went around to meet the other cop.
“Randall Clark, Fredericks Campus Police.”
“Detective Troy Furst, TBPD. Who’s that?”
“Girl who found the victim. Student here on campus.”
“Name?”
“Sienna Scott.”
“Where’s the victim?”
“Up ahead, just to the left of the building.”
Officer Clark sounded different now, she thought. Tense. On edge.
“Who else is here?”
“You’re the first.”
“You left the victim unattended?”
“The kid was freezing, brought her around to let her warm up. I just got her situated.”
He sounded defensive. The other cop, disapproving.
“If you’re going to leave the car running, put her in the back. That’s protocol one-oh-one.”
“It’s warmer in the front, I was just—”
“She’ll be fine in the back.”
Sienna decided she didn’t like the city cop. Officer Clark was just being nice to her, and he was being such a jerk to him.
“Get this one squared away, meet me by the victim.”
Officer Clark mumbled something under his breath that Sienna couldn’t make out.
The other cop stopped, looked back. “Clark? You got a name?”
“What?” He sounded flustered.
“The victim’s.”
“Madison Robie.”
Officer Clark opened the rear passenger door, reached in and pushed something out of the way, then helped her out of the front seat and into the rear one.
“I’ll be back soon. Okay?”
She nodded. But as he walked away, he locked the car.
The sound of all four doors’ levers simultaneously snapping into place reverberated through her like a gunshot. Sienna grasped for the door handle and yanked.
Nothing.
She slid across the seat and grasped the other door handle and got the same result.
She was locked in!
Heart thundering, she searched for a way to lower the window, but there was none. With a cry, she grabbed the metal divider between the front and back seat, poking her fingers through the spaces and tugging. It didn’t budge.
Calm down, Sienna. He said he’d be right back.
But why’d he lock her in?
She struggled to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her breathing. On being calm.
Instead, the image of the girl in the snow filled her head. The girl in the white coat, so much like hers. Stained red.
Sienna looked down at herself. Her coat, stained red. Her hands, too.
Hysteria rose up in her. Her breath came in short, shallow gasps. She pounded the window with her fists, the last vestige of her rational self giving way to something stronger. Primal. Like a caged animal fighting for its life.
“Somebody help!” Her head swam; she saw stars. “Let … me … out!”
Headlights pinned her from behind. She swung around at the same time the door flew open. She scrambled to get out, her foot catching on a bag of gear protruding from under the seat.
Ice-cold hands cupped her cheeks. “Ms. Scott! It’s me, Officer Clark.”
“You locked me in!”
A door slammed. Another figure, she saw. Then another car, this one with flashing lights, the blue bouncing wildly off the snow.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to frighten—”
“Officer Clark? Chief Thompson, TBPD. Step aside.”
The chief laid his hands gently on her shoulders. “Take a deep breath, Sienna. Good girl. Just breathe. That’s right.”
Confused and frightened, she struggled to do as he said.
“I don’t know if you remember me,” he went on, “but I’m a friend of your father’s. Chief Fred Thompson.”
A friend of her dad’s? She thought of him and a knot of tears lodged in her throat. “I want my dad.”
“I’ve called him.” His voice was strong but soothing. “He’s going to meet you at the police station. See that cruiser there, that’s one of my guys. I’m going to have him drive you there.”
She nodded, blinking against tears. “Yes, please.”
He waved the other officer over. “Phelps, I need you to take Ms. Scott down to the station. Make her comfortable until her dad arrives. And look, let her ride up front with you. She’s had a tough night.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Thirty minutes later
The Tranquility Bluffs Police Department was located in old downtown, a block off Main and on the corner of State and Elm. Sienna had hardly even noticed the redbrick and austere building, before, let alone been inside.
She sat on a wooden chair in the small waiting room. They’d taken her coat and gloves into evidence, then offered her a small, scratchy blanket. She’d wrapped it around herself as tightly as possible, but she was still cold. So cold she trembled and her teeth chattered.
“Sienna!” Her dad burst into the police department, rushing to her side. “Sweetheart, are you all right?”
She nodded and he squatted in front of her. Gathering her ice-cold hands in his, he began rubbing them. “My God, you’re shaking like a leaf. Where’s your coat?”
“They t … t … took it.”
He frowned. “What in God’s name for?”
“Evi … d … ence.”
“Evidence? This is ridiculous. I’m taking you home.”
“But they said—”
“Never mind what they said. We’re leaving.”
He helped her to her feet. With his arm securely around her, they started for the door.
“Sir?” the desk officer called, jumping to her feet. “Excuse me? Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m taking my daughter home.”
“Mr. Scott, Chief Thompson’s orders were explicit: keep her here until he had a chance to interview her.”
“It’s Dr. Scott, and why the hell does he need to interview her?”
The woman looked flustered. “Dr. Scott, my apologies, but obviously, they need to question her about what transpired tonight.”
“What happened tonight had nothing to do with my daughter. Obviously.”
One of the uniformed officers working a desk stepped in. “I’m sorry, Dr. Scott, protocol—”
“I don’t give a damn about your protocol. You tell Thompson—”
“Dad, it’s okay—”
“The hell it is.” He nudged her toward the door. “Tell Thompson if he wants to interview my daughter, he can come to the house to do it. He knows where I live.”