Patchworked Hearts {SAMPLE}

Chapter 29

"Well," Helen mused, staring at the closed door of the interrogation room from her seat behind the cold metal table, "this seems to be going poorly."

Addy, who was settled next to Helen with her arms crossed over her chest and a ferocious scowl on her face, harrumphed loudly. "I don't believe this!" she snapped, throwing her hands in the air and flying up from her chair. She began to pace the length of the small room, her eyes lit with a fire so bright that Helen wondered if they would be spending the rest of their day in a holding cell, rather than an interrogation room. "We come here out of the goodness of our hearts, tell them we have crucial evidence, and what do they do? They throw us in tiny, closed-off room like we're . . . we're . . .!" She floundered, spinning to face Helen with fury and exasperation written all over her face.

"Suspects?" Helen filled in, her voice surprisingly steady. She had a feeling the only reason she was calm was because she was still reeling from the fact that shed driven somewhere without Patterson, but she certainly wasn't going to complain.

"Exactly!" Addy nodded furiously, apparently not sharing in Helen's sense of peace. "The absolute nerve of these people! If someone doesn't come in here within the next thirty seconds, then they'll have a reason to lock me up!"

Helen smothered a snort. "I don't think threatening to harm an individual while inside a police station is a good idea, just saying."

"Ms. Fischer is right."

Both women whipped towards the door, finding it swung open, with a familiar man hovering in the doorway. "Ms. Fischer," he nodded towards Helen, before turning his attention to Addy. "Ms. McKenna."

"Random stranger," Addy greeted frostily, staring at the newcomer with narrowed eyes.

Shaking her head at her friend's antics, Helen stood and reached out a hand. "Detective Buckley."

Buckley stepped forward and shook her hand with a small smile. "Nice to see you again, ma'am."

She dipped her head politely. "Same to you. Thank you for meeting with us."

"'Thank you'?" Addy screeched from her spot behind Helen. "They locked us—!" her harsh words were cut off with a pained gasp when Helen blindly reached back and elbowed her in the stomach with a hissed order to, "Behave!"

Addy grumbled but stayed silent.

Buckley's dark eyes were lit with amusement. "I apologize if you felt that you were treated poorly; it's pretty standard for us to speak with informants in rooms such as this one, since we don't have many other options for privacy."

"It's fine," Helen blurted before Addy could speak up again. "No worries."

"Excellent. Shall we all sit down and have a talk?" He gestured towards the table, and Helen slid into the chair she'd just vacated, Addy plopping down next to her after a moment like a petulant child.

Buckley took the seat across from the pair, propping his elbows on the table and leaning forward to eye the duo imploringly. "I was told that you had evidence pertaining to Ms. Olson's case?"

Sharing a Here goes nothing glance with Addy, Helen pushed the folder on the table closer to him. "This isn't so much about Dahlia's case as it is about Evan Paul, though I'm hoping it'll help lead you to her."

Buckley raised a single eyebrow as he took the folder and removed the thick stack of documents. "And how did you come by this?"

Addy threw her shoulders back and raised her chin defiantly. "Dahlia gave it to Isaiah before she went missing."