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forward, but Dad speaks first. His words halt me.
    “Lucy. It’s good to see you’re safe and sound!” Dad moves to put his hands on her shoulders and kiss her cheek. She looks scared, pressing more into Jake’s side.
    Jake answers, nudging her. “She was stuck in my elevator this whole time. I really need to get that damn thing fixed!” Her smile at the nudge quickly disappears and she looks down again.
    Dad doesn’t respond, just moves so I can see his look of warning. His back to Killaney and Jeff. I nod before he’s turned enough to not block their view of me anymore.
    I move forward, ignoring Jake and Lucy. “Looks like you were right, Killaney…the wife always does show up in these cases…” I try for a light-hearted laugh, but I know I fall far short of this. I nod to Jeff, who stands.
    Killaney stays seated though, looking from me to Lucy behind me. “Mrs. Traeger? Do you mind answering a few questions?”
    I don’t turn to see Lucy’s face, and I don’t wait for her to respond. “Thought you weren’t technically on duty, Detective?”
    He turns his eyes to me again. “You’re right.” He smiles. “I can come back tomorrow if you’d prefer something more formal, Max.”
    I shake my head and lift my hands open in front of me. I sit down at the table to face Killaney. He has a clear view of Lucy now, my back is still to her. I don’t trust keeping my anger in check if I look at her. I can picture her look of fear and how her body tried to shrivel seeing me.
    I watch Jeff’s face. He stays standing, but doesn’t move away from the table.

Chapter 10 HER
    I shake in Jake’s hold. Thankfully, Max moves away. I can’t see his face. I can see that his body is tense, filled with anger still. But for some reason he’s pretending to be calm. So is Ron. He’s still standing close to us and looking so calm.
    This only makes me shake more. I can feel Jakes hand gripping harder. I steal a glance up at him, but he doesn’t look away from the short man at the table.
    Jake leads me to sit at the table, he takes a seat right next to me. I’m glad that he stays close. Max is to our right, the detective to our left.
    “Mrs. Traeger, I’m Detective Killaney…a friend of Jeff’s.” The man nods up towards Jeff, who’s standing a little ways down the table. “Your husband and Jeff called me to check up on you…after they found your purse…they thought something might’ve happened to you…?”
    I look at Jake. I know I shouldn’t. I can tell by his look, staring straight at this detective, not turning to me, he only nods a little. I quickly look back. “I…I’m sorry that I had everyone so worried.”
    Jake thankfully speaks up, “Her purse and phone were stolen. Lucy didn’t have any money to get home…so she walked to my place. To find me.” I can see that he glances at Max. I don’t follow his eyes. I can’t. “She was stuck in my elevator for hours before I got there.”
    I don’t say anything. That was a partial lie, a partial truth. I’m not a good liar. I won’t be able to lie to Max if he questions me. I don’t know what I was thinking…stupid!
    “That must’ve been some ordeal, Mrs. Traeger…?” Killaney leans forward. I only nod. I notice that his breath has alcohol and notice the empty glasses and nearly empty bottle on the table.
    For some reason, this makes me angry. While he was so worried about me, Max sat around here drinking?!
    I stand up, grabbing the glasses angrily as I do; they clink together loudly. I head into the kitchen, walking by Ron as I do. I ignore his stern look.
    I make noise putting the glasses in the sink loudly. I return, but don’t sit down again. I stand away from everyone, with my arms crossed. “If you don’t mind…it’s been a long day…”
    I don’t know where this is coming from. How I’m able to stand, let alone come across as upset with everyone. It’s like I’m watching myself from afar. I can see that I want to get this over