Page 75 of The Grave Artist (Sanchez & Heron #2)
Carmen decided that Damon Garr did not look like a man who had just been rescued from a shallow grave.
Oh, the clothes were torn and dusty, the face was streaked with mud from where sweat met dirt. But the eyes. There was something eerily—and troublingly—despondent about them. As if he hadn’t been rescued at all, but had died in the ground. And what they’d pulled out was simply a sorrowful ghost.
Human remains . . .
He was sitting in the back of Grange’s HSI truck. A medical team had checked him out, given him some oxygen and doused cuts on his arms and neck with antibiotics. In a half hour he’d be processed in Central Booking and begin his journey along the road of incarceration.
She heard his voice through the partly lowered window.
“Agent Sanchez?”
She stopped and walked over to him.
“Where is she?” He was looking around.
“Lauren?”
“Yes.”
The woman in question happened to be sitting in the back of a nearby cruiser, but Garr couldn’t see her. A fact that he clearly found extremely distressing.
Sensing an opportunity, Carmen said, “Does this mean you’re willing to waive your rights and talk to me, Damon?”
He seemed to debate whether he should give what would be an incriminating statement in exchange for one simple fact—how far away from him was the woman he’d grown obsessed with?
After a long moment, self-preservation won out. “No,” he whispered.
“Do you want more water?”
He shook his head and sorrow veiled his face once more.
Carmen left him and walked to the CHP vehicle where Lauren Brock sat. She was still cuffed, but the back door was open.
Heron stood beside her.
Carmen crouched down. “Hey.”
Lauren’s eyes were on the horizon.
“I’ll get you her number,” Carmen said quietly. “The therapist. I’ll make sure you can get access to her, okay?”
Lauren nodded. “She helped your sister?”
“After our father died, she took it hard. Real hard. I got her into grief counseling.”
For some reason, that phrase elicited a blink of surprise.
Carmen added, “The doctor’s the best. And she can set you up with addiction counseling too.”
Lauren’s head lowered. “Anthony was paying for rehab. I can’t afford to—”
“A certain percentage of her clients are pro bono,” Carmen cut in. “I checked, and she has an opening.”
“I guess I should ask ...” Lauren cast a glance toward the arroyo grave.
“About what?” Heron asked.
“I mean, what I did there. With him.”
Carmen looked over the forbidding landscape. “You know, Lauren, in this line of work, it’s all about facts. My world revolves around them. The gears only grind with the grease of facts.”
Lauren seemed confused.
Carmen explained. “I’m known for my labored metaphors.”
“She is,” Heron agreed.
“But sometimes you see the results and you don’t know what facts led there,” Carmen went on.
“Maybe there are five or six different sets of facts that could all fit. And our job is to find out which is the right one.” She gave Lauren a thoughtful look.
“Dr. Heron and I work with someone named Declan and one of his favorite expressions—”
“Still rather say ‘its’ favorite expressions,” Heron cut in. Always reluctant to personify hard drives and software.
Carmen couldn’t resist a chuckle. “A favorite expression is, ‘It’s logical.’ That’s essential to Declan. Logic. And I think the most logical thing is for you to be honest about everything that happened.” She drove the point home. “That means everything . Leave nothing out.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’ll be charged with abduction, battery, assault and attempted murder.
But there are extenuating circumstances.
You’ve never committed any violent crimes before this, although you’ve certainly been the victim of one.
In this case, the person you assaulted murdered your brother, but in the end you decided against killing him.
Those aren’t legal defenses, but the prosecutor can take that into account.
I’ll talk to them. I’m going to recommend a suspended sentence or probation and counseling for you.
” She narrowed her eyes. “If they go for it, you’ll have to stay clean. ”
“I have been. For months. And that’ll continue. I promise.”
If nothing else, the threat of decades behind bars should provide Lauren with all the incentive she needed to stay on the path to recovery.
Heron added, “Every day you’re free and Garr’s in prison is a victory. Take strength in that and your brother’s faith in you.”
Lauren’s eyes welled. “You think I have a shot? In court?”
“Oh, yeah.” Heron gestured toward Carmen. “If she vouches for you, it’ll go a long way.” He hesitated a beat before adding, “I know from personal experience.”
Carmen cut him a quick glance. Of course, he’d been speaking of the time she’d put her reputation on the line for him, though that was not for Lauren to know.
“Thank you,” Lauren whispered.
Carmen nodded, stood and started back to her Suburban, accompanied by Heron.
The cases against Damon Garr and Lauren Brock had been closed.
And yet one more remained.