“Did he see you?” Espinoza asked.
“No. But I knew that once he walked over my way, he would. So, I bolted. Ran till I couldn’t hear him and climbed the tree.”
“You lost him then?”
“Kind of. He was right below me in the copse but never looked up. I overheard him make a call asking for someone to come help him find me, but that’s the last I heard of them. I tweaked my ankle climbing the tree and couldn’t get down. And even if I could’ve, I was too scared I’d run into them again.”
“Why were you in the park so late?”
A look of chagrin crossed her face. “I was lost. Like hopelessly so.”
“Why didn’t you call for help?” Espinoza asked.
“My phone had died earlier. Otherwise, I would’ve GPSed my way out. I felt so bad leaving Officer Adams there. If I could’ve called for an ambulance—”
“Don’t beat yourself up about that,” Detective Flanigan said. “There’s nothing you could have done.”
She nodded. “Have you found my purse? I’m not sure if I left it where I was hiding or dropped it when I ran.”
Cole shared a glance with the detectives.
“No.” Flanigan shook his head. “And that creates another problem.”
“What?” Holly asked, glancing between the three of them.
“What was in your purse?”
“My phone, ID, a credit card, and some cash.”
It took her a second, but she got there. “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think…”
“Yes. We do think,” Flanigan said. He made silent eye contact with Cole and waved an EMT over. “Can you give her a once-over please?”
The EMTs helped Holly to the ambulance several feet away and started their evaluation. From where he stood, Cole saw them drape a blanket around her and secure an ice pack to her ankle. They handed her some kind of snack, which she devoured in seconds.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Flanigan turned to his partner. “They know who she is.”
Espinoza nodded. “And probably where she lives.”
Cole piped up. “She’s from out of state. That might slow them down a little.”
“We can’t take that chance. She’s the best thing we’ve got in this case. Let’s take her downtown, see if she can pick Cruz out of a photomontage, get her written statement, and go from there.”
Cole was just along for the ride, shadowing the detectives. This wasn’t his investigation, and he was exhausted from his overnight shift.
“I’m gonna bug out,” he told them. “Had a long night, and there’s nothing I can do now.”
“All right. Great job finding an eyewitness.” Flanigan slapped him on the back. “That’ll look good on the report.”
Cole drove home and fell into bed. A few hours later, his phone woke him again.
“What now?” he answered.
“Our LT wants to talk to you,” Espinoza said in greeting.
“Yours? Any idea what about?” The lieutenant for the detectives had no real jurisdiction over him. But he wanted to make a good impression, so he couldn’t really say no.
“The witness’s hotel key card was also in her purse. When uniforms drove her back and escorted her up, the room had been tossed.”
