Read Online Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline - Free Book Online Page B

The blood. His fixed stare. She went into a stall.
    “Ms. Greco?” the trooper asked, and Angus turned to her, his gaze sympathetic.
    “Natalie, you want to stop now?”
    “I’m okay,” she said, but Angus was frowning.
    “Wait a minute.” He turned to the troopers. “What difference does it make what happened after Buford attacked her? You just got her statement to support the charges against him. The ADA has plenty to make his case.”
    Nat considered this, listening. He was right. They didn’t need the information, and she didn’t want to tell them what Ron Saunders had said, especially not in an official statement. His last words belonged to his wife.
    Trooper Milroy said, “Mr. Holt, we need to have a complete statement if we want to avoid putting her through this twice. If our statement is complete, there’s no need for prison officials to speak with you, or the D.A.” He faced Nat. “Ms. Greco, it’s for your benefit.”
    “I still don’t see the relevance, legally.” Angus shook his head, adamant. “She went and got help. She told the C.O. where I was. Buford was kicking the crap out of me until he got there. This woman saved my life.”
    “I did?” Nat asked, surprised. She hadn’t thought of it like that. She hadn’t had the time to think of it at all. “You almost got killed trying to save mine. I was returning the favor.”
    “Ms. Greco, we do need to finish here.” Trooper Milroy cleared his throat, testy.
    “You’re finished!” Angus said, but Nat waved him off. She had made a decision.
    “Trooper Milroy, ask away. Let’s get this done.”
    “Okay, what happened after you found the C.O.?”
    “I told him where Angus was, and he ran off. Then I saw that there was an inmate and another C.O. lying on the floor of this room. It was very bloody.”
    “What room?” the trooper asked, his head down as he wrote. The wide brim obscured his features.
    “I don’t know. I just hit doors until one opened. I noticed that the C.O. on the floor wasn’t dead. I know CPR, so I tried to save him but I couldn’t.”
    “You administered CPR?” the trooper asked.
    Angus looked at her in surprise. “You did that, Natalie? That’s amazing.”
    “Not really. It didn’t work. I used my scarf to stop the flow of blood…but it didn’t work. Nothing I did worked.” There was nothing you could have done . “Then I left and went to see if Angus was okay. There was an explosion but the C.O. got us out. And that’s it, my statement.” Nat sipped from her water bottle, forgetting it was empty. She wasn’t a good liar, and Milroy eyed her hard.
    “That’s all?”
    “Yes,” Nat answered firmly, and the trooper nodded, closing his steno pad.

     

    The Beetle’s engine thrummed and its tires rumbled against the frozen asphalt. Nat and Angus rode back through the countryside, with neither talking much. She didn’t tell Angus what Ron Saunders said before he died, because it wasn’t his business, either. She watched the Wyeth trees and bay horses whiz by. It seemed impossible that such beauty could exist fewer than five miles from such carnage. She couldn’t ever explain what had happened to anyone who hadn’t lived it, much less to Hank. She realized with a start that he didn’t know where she was. He’d gone out of town today, to a job site with Paul. She reached into her purse and retrieved her cell phone.
    “Do you mind if I make a call?” she asked, and Angus shook his head.
    “Not at all. Tell him I said hi.”
    Nat smiled and pressed her speed dial for Hank’s cell, but she got his voicemail, so she said, “It’s me. Call when you get a chance, on my cell. But don’t worry, I’m fine.” She snapped the phone closed.
    “Good move. Voicemail isn’t appropriate for major felonies.”
    Nat half-smiled. “Agree.”
    “I hope we’re not on the news. I didn’t give any interviews, and nobody asked me about you.” Angus shook his head. “I’m so sorry this