18:00
Kingston had come to the hospital about forty-five minutes ago, disgusted enough to burn his cop’s badge. Roman told him Valerie was a crafty one, so he shouldn’t be too hard on himself, but also that he should expect an earful from Lieutenant Davis.
It had taken about fifteen minutes to find Michael. When the bathrooms had all been found empty with him nowhere in sight, Valerie had nearly had a panic attack. She’d thought something had happened to the kid.
Then Roman had found him, staring at nothing in a shadowy staircase, and brought him back. The kid had been weird, but he’d insisted he was fine.
He’d gone back with Kingston, but Valerie had refused to. She was still standing before the door, looking in at Rachel Finely.
Roman watched closely as he spoke on the phone, manni
