Read Online Deep Night by Kathy Clark - Free Book Online

your wife recovers? I’m sure you’re going to spend a lot of time at the hospital.”
    “Uh…yeah, I guess that would be a good idea.” He pulled out his phone. “Her grandmother lives a few blocks from here.”
    “Call her, and I’ll wait here until she arrives,” Julie volunteered, then turned to the girl. “Come on, let’s get some things packed for your trip to Grandma’s. But first, let’s throw out that ice cream and get you cleaned up.”
    The dad frowned, but nodded. As he dialed the phone, his gaze never left the little girl.
    “We’re taking her to Denver Health,” Sara told him. “Just check in with the emergency room clerk.” She looked over at Julie, who gave her a nod. Sara knew Julie would make sure the little girl was safe before she left. This was likely a case for Family Services, but they would need a solid reason. Maybe once they were alone, the girl would confide in Julie. Sara was pretty sure she had been on the verge of admitting something until her father came into earshot.
    Sara picked up their kit and hurried out to the ambulance. Chris was waiting impatiently at the back. He gave her a curious look, but she whispered a quick, “I’ll tell you later. Are you riding in the back?”
    Chris nodded, and Sara waited until he had climbed inside before she firmly shut the back doors. She then climbed into the cab and started the engine. It wasn’t like her to slough off on her duties with a patient, but she and Chris had been working together long enough for him to know it had to be something important.
    She flipped on the lights and siren, called in that she was transporting, and drove into the night.
    By the time they got the woman transferred to a hospital bed, filled the doctor in on what they knew…which wasn’t much…and returned to the bus barn to clean up the ambulance, their shift was over. The sun was sending streaks of light between the buildings and sparkling off the glass towers of downtown as they drove away from the hospital and headed to the apartment.
    Now that they shared an apartment, it made sense that they carpool. Once back at the building, Chris parked in the underground garage. He took his workout gear from the backseat.
    “Going to the gym?” he asked when Sara didn’t get her bag.
    “Nah, I’m too tired. I’m going to take a hot shower and hit the sack,” she told him. The truth of it was that she couldn’t get that little girl out of her mind. The dad had arrived at the hospital about ten minutes after the ambulance. Sara called Julie, who assured her the little girl’s grandmother seemed to be genuinely concerned when she arrived, and that she had taken the girl. But the girl hadn’t confided anything, even when Julie, who had picked up on Sara’s suspicions, asked very leading questions.
    “
I did everything but come right out and ask her if he was abusing her, but she had completely shut down
,” Julie had reported.
    “My guess is that he woke the little girl up, abused her, then gave her ice cream as a treat. The mom caught him, they fought and she fell…or was pushed down the stairs,” Sara responded, angry and frustrated that unless the wife or the girl talked, the father would get away with it.
    “And you’re probably one hundred percent correct,” Julie agreed. “But there wasn’t any proof.
I checked her out when she was changing clothes, and I didn’t see any bruises or marks of any kind on her arms and legs.
”
    But Sara knew that wasn’t where the marks would be. Men like the girl’s father knew what to do so there would be no outward signs. All the scars were out of sight. Julie knew that, too, but she could do only so much without any evidence.
    Chris hesitated. He knew something was bothering Sara, but she waved him away. “I’ll be fine. I’m just exhausted.”
    He looped his gym bag’s strap over his shoulder and headed out of the garage to the street. The gym was less than a block away, so it was a short