“I’m at Hellen’s. She’s out of town - again. I mean, where the hell does she keep getting off to? And without her jeep! Anyway, I reached out to ask if I could crash here, she sent me an image of where she hides the key, so I let myself in. And I’m laying low here.”
“Are you alone?” Everly asked.
“Yes.”
“You need to call Barron and tell him where you are.”
“No, I don’t. I’m here because Barron lied to me, and then claimed me, letting me think we were working things out, but I heard him talking to Brandt and he told Brandt it was all a lie and he only did it because he knew eventually I’d run.”
“I… no, that can’t be right. Are you sure that’s what you heard?”
“I know what I heard, mother!”
“Maybe there’s a reason for it. Did you ask?”
“No. And I’m not going to. I left while they were still laughing about making a fool out of me. I’m going to stay here for a little while, then I’m thinking I’ll go back to Atlanta.”
“I thought your boss sent you home for a while.”
Emmalyn hesitated for a few seconds. “How do you know that?”
“I just do, Emmalyn. Come home. Come stay here where at least you’re not alone. Dad won’t let anyone in this house you don’t want in this house.”
“I’ll whip his ass if he comes over here,” Bam shouted in the background.
“I just really want to be alone, Mom.”
Everly sat quietly, listening to her daughter breathe on the other end of the line. “He hurt you.”
“His words hurt me. I need to regroup, but I’ll be fine.”
“Come be fine at home.”
“Maybe in a day or two. Right now I don’t want company. Besides I have a roast in the Crockpot and it’s got at least six hours before I can eat it.”
“Why did your boss send you home?”
“Because I helped solve a case.”
“So it’s a reward?” Everly asked a little too brightly on purpose.
“No.”
“Care to elaborate?” Everly asked sharply.
“You’re just going to overreact.”
“Like you did?”
“I didn’t.”
“And neither will I.”
Emmalyn sighed. “The man I profiled kidnapped women and kept them in cages, like zoo animals. When the agents went in to arrest him, he’d booby-trapped the house so it would go up in flames. He got away, the women all died. He blames me.”
“Your boss blames you?”
“No, the man I profiled. The man I turned the agents’ attention to.”
