The Witness Read Online Free PDF

She started to read.
    He picked up the soda she had brought him but didn’t open it. Her words had stayed steady, but there was a fine tremor in her hands making the pages flutter just a bit. Sleep was going to be hard for her in the weeks to come, her mind having to process the images enough times to wash out the emotions attached to the event.
    What gave you the courage to go see, Amy? to make that awful effort to confirm that none of your friends were still alive before you left them there? You’re shaking, but you had the courage to stay and check and to know before you bolted. You did something even cops struggle to do .
    She set the statement on the table. “It’s okay as is. Where do I sign?”
    “Initial the corner of all the pages, then sign and date the last page.”
    She reached for his pen.
    He accepted the signed document. “I’ll have a copy for you tomorrow.”
    “Thanks.” She rubbed her eyes. “Now what?”
    “We get him off the streets. Tomorrow we’ll work on how to make your testimony safe for you to give.” He initialed her statement, checked his watch, and recorded the time. He looked at her and didn’t have a solution to offer that could make things better for her tonight. She would be alone with the memories of this day and her own past that she hadn’t shared yet, and that worried him in a quiet way, how very alone she was in this. “Sleep with the television on tonight and don’t set the alarm.” He repacked his briefcase.
    “I’ll take that advice and also leave the Do Not Disturb sign on the door so housekeeping doesn’t come by.” She rose. “Thanks for dinner.”
    “I wish it had been under different circumstances.” He hesitated but let what he wanted to say be left unsaid. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Amy.”
    He wondered if she thought of that as a promise or a threat, knowing how much had not been said tonight, but she merely nodded. She followed him to the door. He waited in the hall until he heard both locks click in place.
    Amanda Griffin: former army and now in her forties. That timing probably put her in at least one war. One very bad relationship in her past. He wouldn’t guess which experience she found worse. Luke dug his car keys out of his pocket. He wasn’t going to let the signs of another coming tragedy slip past him. He wasn’t even sure who would be dead in the encounter: Amanda or the guy she ran from. The lady was civilian and yet not, running scared but with purpose. She might be ducking the collision, but when it came—and it eventually would—
    Luke unlocked his car. Amanda Griffin struck him as a survivor. Tomorrow he’d get the details from her or start searching them out on his own. Trouble was here. He was inclined to stand in its way.

Chapter Three
    “YOU’RE FAR AWAY this morning.”
    Luke turned at his sister’s touch and accepted the glass of orange juice she offered. “Yes, I suppose I am.” Breakfast was a tradition on her birthday since evening meals tended to always be interrupted, but normally he was the one fixing it. The message on his machine last night had suggested he just plan to come over if there was time or they could try for another morning. He should have suggested another morning for all the good he was today.
    Susan forked out two more waffles to add to the pile. “I don’t mean to pry, but what time did you get in last night?”
    “About 3 a.m.”
    “It was a rough day.”
    “Yes. I’ll tell you about it on a day not your birthday.” He rubbed her shoulder and reached around her for the basket of muffins. She was a small woman, his sister, largely sheltered from the job he held and what he saw, but he knew she was equal to the task of absorbing about anything when he did need to talk about one of the rougher days.
    “You’ll catch the guy?”
    “We’ll catch the guy.” He crossed to the stairs. “Come on down, you two. I can hear the school bus rolling this way.”
    His nephew appeared first.