A Reason for Hope by Kristin von Kreisler

Author:Kristin von Kreisler [von Kreisler, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2021-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 37

At nearly seven in the evening, almost everyone in the office had gone home. Sitting on her denim bed, Hope was watching Will with her usual I-am-about-to-collapse-from-hunger expression. Her pleading eyes warned him, I am malnourished! I might faint!

“Okay, girl. In a minute,” Will said as he piled folders into his battered messenger bag. He picked up his phone to check his voicemail one last time, and, of course, Abbey Greenwood had not gotten back to him. He’d left her as many messages as were allowed without seeming like a stalker. Finally, unwilling to grovel on his hands and knees for a return call, in the last few days he’d stopped phoning.

He’d like to think she was on vacation, but he knew better. As a prosecutor, he was familiar with the effort required to corral recalcitrant witnesses, though Abbey had been more obstinate than most. As humiliating as trying her one more time might be, he could not give up. Expecting her answering machine again, he punched her number into his phone.

“Hello?” A woman’s slightly reedy voice.

Though it was what he’d hoped to hear, she caught him off guard. “This is . . . um . . . Will Armstrong in the prosecutor’s office.” But of course, she knows that from the caller ID.

Her thunderous sigh made it quite plain that she was not pleased to hear from him—again.

“Yes? ”

“Last week, when you talked with our detective, Sandy Johnson, did she tell you we have another of Nick Payne’s victims?”

“Yes.”

“We might file charges against him. Could I meet with you to discuss it?”

“No.”

The door slammed in Will’s face was abrupt enough to break his nose. Her one-syllable responses didn’t give him much to work with. “May I ask why?”

“I’ve decided I don’t want to get involved.”

“Because you’re afraid?”

“Because these last months have been hell. Only lately have I felt like maybe I can get my life together someday. I refuse to go back and revisit the trauma. If I faced Nick Payne in a courtroom, psychologically I’d have to start over at square one.”

“We’d be there to help you. We’ve got an assault advocate and a psychologist who could see you through the legal process.”

“Yes, and a defense attorney who could rip me to pieces. No thanks. It’s been nice talking with you.”

Click.

Will’s phone in his hand, hanging by his side, he stared at the files stacked in front of him. His dander was up. Rigid cords stood out on his neck. Damn it!

Hope bounded over to him and pressed against his leg. As he stroked her ears, he thought what a fine line he had to walk with potential witnesses like Abbey Greenwood. He was sensitive to what she’d gone through, and reluctant to push her too hard. Still, he needed her cooperation. The least she could do was talk with him! She wasn’t giving him a chance to explain why her testimony was so important.

He slammed the phone back into its cradle. So there went that. Just as he’d thought he was closing in on Nick, he’d wrangled free.

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