No Way Out by Fern Michaels (great books for teens .TXT) 📗

“As long as you and Mitch do the laundry.” Colleen laughed. “Have a good day, Vivian.”

“You both do the same.” Vivian caught up with Mitchel in the hall.

“What’s come over her?” Judith referred to Vivian’s mood.

“I told you, she seems to be on her own path of rehabilitation. Frankly, I don’t know, and I don’t care, as long as she stays that way,” Colleen said.

“I’m sure everyone around her does.”

“Mom, I’ll be right back. I want to speak to Officer Pedone.” Colleen walked in his direction.

“Thank you for coming today. It was comforting to see you.”

“I’m glad it worked out for everyone,” Pedone said.

Colleen looked up at him. “About that dinner.”

Pedone thought she was going to change her mind.

“Would Saturday night be too soon?”

“Not at all. What time?” His serious face turned into a big grin.

“Six?” Colleen knew Jackson would be with his father for an overnight, so she didn’t have to think about asking Jeanne and Frank to babysit. Not that they would mind, but she hoped that this was the first date of many, and she wanted to save up her favors.

“Perfect. I’ll pick you up in an unmarked car.” He laughed.

Vivian and Mitchel spoke for a few minutes, then Vivian went on her way. Mitchel headed to the shop, where a new, clean uniform awaited.

Vivian got in her car and checked the gas level. Enough to get her there and back. She put the car in drive and proceeded to the outlet shops. Cranking up the radio, she started singing along with Linda Ronstadt, as she belted out “When Will I Be Loved.”

Vivian found the shop where she had nicked the scarf for half of what it was worth. She confidently sauntered in and pulled another floral scarf from the rack. The price tag said $38.00.

She walked up to the counter and plunked down $40.00. As the cashier was putting the scarf in a bag, Vivian pulled out another twenty and slipped it on the counter where the clerk wouldn’t see it right away. The clerk handed her the bag without noticing the extra money sitting there. Vivian walked out of the store with a spring in her step. Mitchel isn’t the only one who can experience redemption. She smiled to herself. If the math added up, the store was ahead of the game, and Vivian was happier for it.

While everyone was at the hearing, Ellie was typing away on her computer. She was able to pull up traffic cams of the neighborhood where the incident had occurred and was examining the videos. She halted when she spotted someone looking exactly like Rick dashing across Seventh Avenue. The time stamp was 12:35 A.M. She looked at the police report again—12:45. Ten minutes. She had lain on the cold cement stairs bleeding nearly to death for at least ten minutes. She could have died. She almost died. She was now completely convinced that her vague recollection was true. The only question was, had Rick pushed her? But even if he hadn’t, leaving her crumpled and bleeding at the bottom of the steps instead of calling 911 should be criminal. So, if she had the opportunity, she would assume it was assault and report it as such.

She picked up her burner phone and called Kara.

“Wow. Two calls in one week?” Kara laughed as she answered the phone. “They let you out of the box?”

“Very funny,” she scoffed. “Are you sitting down?”

“Should I be?” Kara asked.

“Yes. Please.”

“What’s up?”

“I remember some of what happened that night.” She took a very deep inhale. “I fell down a set of steps outside a brownstone in the Village.”

Kara caught her breath. “You remember that? You fell?”

“That’s the only thing that’s a little hazy. I’ve had two nightmares since Rick got in touch with Christian.”

“Darn it. I shouldn’t have told you,” Kara said, concern evident in her voice.

“No. It’s a good thing you did. It triggered my memory. The first nightmare was me falling backward into a dark hole. The second one included Rick. He was standing over me, watching me fall. I reached out for him, and he did not keep me from falling.”

“Holy smoke.” Kara was stunned.

“When I woke up from the nightmare, I did a deep dive into some archives, one being a newspaper’s. When I saw the article, I thought it might be me they were writing about because it said, ‘Identity of the woman not yet known.’ ”

Kara interrupted. “That’s because they thought it was a mugging and it was an ongoing investigation.”

“Maybe, but the police report didn’t have my name either. It said the victim was taken to Lenox Health. That’s where I was when I woke up.”

“When the police questioned you, you couldn’t remember anything, so they had no leads.”

“Yeah, well, I also went through the traffic-cam footage from that night.”

“You can do that?” Kara wasn’t sure if she was impressed or shocked.

“Yes, but I’m not supposed to. And right now I don’t care if I hacked into their system. I needed to find out for myself.”

“I didn’t realize they kept that footage for such a long time.” Kara was intrigued.

“It’s digital, so it doesn’t require a lot of storage space, the way it did when they used videotapes. They’ve found that keeping archives for seven years has helped solve some cold cases.”

“You sound like you work for CSI or something.” Kara was amazed. “But why would Rick steal your purse?”

“I’m pretty sure he grabbed the strap as I was falling backward.”

“So, he didn’t push you on purpose?” Kara asked.

“I can’t really be sure. But he definitely left me there. And I could have died—would have if someone hadn’t found me and called nine-one-one. So he might as well have pushed me. Obviously, he could not have cared less if I lived or died. What does that tell you?”

“It tells me that he’s scum,” Kara answered, without hesitation.

“Kara, I need to find out where he is, just in case he’s looking to finish the job,