“I don’t know.”
“Well, there’s no harm in trying. If you decide you can’t manage it, then we’ll just bring you back to bed.”
“Hmm.” Micah sat back, closing her eyes and thinking about it. She expected that closing her eyes would make her fall back asleep and she wouldn’t need to make the decision, but sleep did not immediately come this time. She thought about how soothing a warm bath would be. Taking the pressure off of her sore joints, easing the flu-like muscle aches. And she could get a look at her body to see how badly she was bruised. So far, she hadn’t had a chance to see how much damage there was. She felt like a wimp for being so disabled by a simple fist-fight. She would never again be able to watch a TV show or movie where the protagonist was in a huge fight and then just went on with his business as usual. Hollywood had lied to her.
“Okay,” she finally agreed. “You can run a bath and I’ll try.”
“That’s a girl. You wait here while I get it ready, and then I’ll help you in there, or Dad will.”
Cole had been put through the paces already. A man of his age shouldn’t have to be carrying around a fully-grown woman who had two working feet. She was taller than he was. Not heavier, granted, but he still shouldn’t have to lug her around like she was a child.
“Just call me. I can get in by myself.”
“I’ll help you. You don’t want to waste all of your strength getting into the bathroom and then not be able to get into the tub.”
Micah sighed and waited for her mother to get it ready.
❋
Marianna shook Micah gently to wake her back up again. “We’ll get you moving in a minute here,” she said. “You’ve got a couple of ripped nails, and I just want to get them tidied up first, or you’re going to snag them on your clothes when you try to undress or get dressed again after.”
Micah blinked. She pulled her hand away from Marianna and close to her face to examine the damage. It wasn’t like she had a manicure or false nails to worry about. She kept her nails neat and short so that they didn’t bother her when she was typing or drawing and, other than keeping them clean and hangnail-free, was not concerned about what they looked like. She didn’t bite them or have other bad nail-care habits.
“It will be fine,” Marianna said. “I’ll just give them a quick clip and smooth them with an emery board.”
Micah turned her hand, examining her fingertips, the torn nails, and the matter under her nails. She didn’t give her hand back to Marianna right away.
“You need to put the clippings in a bag.”
“What?” Marianna looked at her with a frown, clearly wondering what weird OCD behavior this was. She had always thought Micah odd in her personal care. Having to save her fingernail clippings just confirmed how odd she was.
“There are plastic zip-bags in the kitchen. The right-hand counter, second drawer down. You need to save all of the clippings. Especially this one.” She indicated the torn nail. Looking at the other hand, she found a couple of torn ones on that side as well. Her body had hurt so much after the assault that she hadn’t stopped to take stock of such things. “And these ones. The damaged ones especially. But all of them. Cut them as short as you can.”
“They’re already short enough,” Marianna objected. “You should leave a little bit of white above the tips of your fingers…”
“No. Not this time. I will the rest of the time, but this time, please cut them as short as you can.”
Marianna shook her head, but she left the room and went to the kitchen. Micah heard her open and close a few drawers before finding the bags. Marianna returned and, without a word, clipped Micah’s nails as short as she could, saving all of the clippings in the bag. She zipped the top and raised her eyebrows at Micah.
“And where would you like these?”
“Just leave them on the side table. I’ll take care of them later.”
Marianna did so without comment. Micah wondered if she was having visions of a file cabinet in Micah’s office with all of her fingernails neatly cataloged in date order. She couldn’t help smiling at the image.
Marianna smoothed the rough edges of the nails that had been torn, carefully checking them to make sure they wouldn’t snag on Micah’s clothes.
“There. That’s got it. I’ve put a set of your jammies in the bathroom. And undies. I’ll help you in there and you can have a nice warm bath.”
Micah slid her feet off the bed and leaned on Marianna all the way to the bathroom, where her mother sat her down on the closed toilet lid.
“Now, if you need any help, you call me,” she instructed. “I don’t want you falling down. If it’s too slippery or you’re too weak, you call me and I’ll help you. No need to be modest about it. Okay?”
Micah breathed out, waiting for the vertigo to recede a little more. “Okay, Mom. Promise.”
“I’ll be close by. If I hear you fall, I’m coming in.”
“Okay. And Mom…?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. Both of you. You’ve been so good to me.”
Marianna smiled and nodded. Then she left, shutting the bathroom door behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Micah did manage to get herself into the bathtub, and it was as wonderful as she had hoped it would be. She lay in the warm water, nearly weightless, and closed her eyes, imagining herself in a sensory deprivation tank.
But even though she enjoyed the bath, she couldn’t help thinking about the attack. Her mind was more awake than it had been all day, and she worried at the problem, trying to figure out who would want to hurt her, and if she had been targeted as Cole seemed to think. Otherwise, why would anyone come into her house and then leave without taking anything? And come back to beat her up? If the police hadn’t been by at just that time to make sure everything was quiet, he could have beaten her to death; she had no doubt. Even with the beating she had sustained in those brief minutes, she would not have been able to get into the house without help. She would have frozen to death outside.
Why would anyone want to hurt or kill her?
For years Micah had helped the police and other agencies to identify some of the world’s most violent criminals. EvPro had never made any secret of which cases they had been involved in, putting up pictures and links to every case that was public. And Micah’s profile was right there on the website as their forensic artist.
She wasn’t hard to find if someone had her name and town. Even if her address wasn’t listed, someone only had to ask around the right places.
Any number of criminals could have an interest in avenging themselves on the woman who had given their faces to the police. She’d never thought to hide her identity.
There was a tap on the door. “You still okay in there, sweetie?”
“I’m good, Mom.”
“Okay.”
Marianna went away again. The water was starting to cool, so Micah turned the hot water faucet on and let it warm up again. She could stay there all night long, until she was wrinkled beyond recognition…
Of course, her body was already nearly unrecognizable. Her skin was mottled with bruises of every description, some light, some dark, all different sizes.
She knew that she would be turning a rainbow of colors over the next few weeks. They would darken for the first few days, and then start to heal and lighten up, to pretty green and yellow shades. They weren’t just on her body, but on her face and limbs as well. She was lucky that neither of her eyes was swollen shut, but they were dark, raccoon-like hollows. A good thing she didn’t normally wear makeup, because she certainly wouldn’t be able to touch her face for some time. She had a fat lip. Cole had used suture tape to pull together a few gashes in her skin. Her attacker must have been wearing a ring or two under the gloves and, even covered, they had snagged her skin or burst it open.
Micah needed to get to the office. Even if it were just for a few minutes. Once they saw the shape she was in, no one would object to her miss
ing a few days. She needed to talk to Chastity. She would need to get permission to log in to the company servers remotely, which she normally wasn’t supposed to do. But they would understand and be happy to have her still working even if she couldn’t be at the office.
She could take long baths and naps and work for an hour or two at a time throughout the day. She might not put in the number of hours that she normally would, but it would help her to keep up and stay on top of the urgent cases. Long-cold cases could wait until she had recovered a little.
Micah closed her eyes and, despite her resolution not to fall asleep in the tub, she woke up shivering some time later, the water and her skin cooling quickly. She drained some of the water and again filled it with hot water, resolving that it would be the last refill. Then she would get up and get into bed.
❋
She should have known that Cole and Marianna would object to her going into the office the next day. They had slept over, even though Micah didn’t have a spare bedroom or even a pull-out couch. Marianna had slept on the bed beside Micah. Cole had slept on the couch. Not particularly comfortable for either one of them, Micah suspected, since she had been very restless and had wakened Marianna numerous times. It was like being a child with the flu again, having to wake her mother every time she threw up to make sure she knew about it. Why that had been important, Micah wasn’t sure. She should have just let her mother sleep. But that wasn’t an option when Marianna was lying in bed beside her and Micah was used to being able to flop around with the whole bed to herself.
“You can’t go in looking like this,” Marianna insisted. “You need to stay home for a few days before you even consider going into the office. You don’t have the strength and your body needs to heal. You can’t just push through something like this.”
“I agree with your mother,” Cole said, sounding like it was the last thing he wanted to do. “You need your rest. Work can wait. No one is going to expect you to go in looking like that.”
“Well, they’re not going to know that I look like that unless I go in. Then they’ll tell me to go home and won’t be getting after me to come back right away.”
Marianna rolled her eyes dramatically. “Take a picture of yourself and message it in. You kids do that all the time. You don’t need to go in.”
“I have some things I need to do. People I need to talk to and see. Just for a few minutes, and then I can come back home.”
“It’s not a good idea,” Marianna insisted. “And you can’t drive yourself. You can’t get behind the wheel like that.”
“Good thing I have a couple of people who are able to drive visiting me, then,” Micah said dryly.
“There’s no need for you to be sarcastic. You know it’s not a good idea, Micah. Listen to us.”
“It will just be for a few minutes. You can go with me. Wait in the car. Make sure that I am only a few minutes. But I need to go.”
“Why? What’s so important?”
“I just need to,” Micah said, not wanting to discuss the details with them. “It won’t take long.”
“Don’t harass the girl,” Cole put in. “You know how she gets when you try to tell her what to do.”
Micah had an unfortunate reputation for being stubborn. She wasn’t quite sure where it came from. Her parents were far more stubborn than she was. She only dug in her heels in self-defense.
But maybe that reputation would help her to get what she wanted. Marianna wouldn’t want to fight with her all day about something that meant so little.
Marianna shook her head, still rolling her eyes. “You know this is not a good idea.”
“I know, Mom.”
“If you’re going to do it, you need to make sure you have something to eat this morning. Some good hearty oatmeal to give you the strength you need. One of us will drive you and you can’t stay for a long time. You have to promise me that it will be less than an hour.”
“Yes, Mom. It will be less than an hour.”
“And oatmeal?”
“I hate oatmeal. I’ll eat something else. A whole-grain cereal that isn’t all ground up into unidentifiable mush.”
“What do you have in the kitchen? I will make it for you.”
“I can cook something myself.”
“No, you can’t. If you are going into the office, you need to conserve your energy.”
“Fine. I have some kasha. There are instructions on the box.”
“Good. You just worry about getting yourself dressed. Then rest until it is ready.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Marianna walked out of the room. “Do you put something on this kasha?” she called back. “Sugar or maple syrup?”
“Maybe some fruit. No sugar.”
Cole followed Marianna out of the room. “You still drink coffee, right?”
“Yes, Dad. There’s coffee.”
“Good thing,” Cole muttered. He was often grumpy in the mornings, and probably more so after sleeping on the couch. Although Micah hadn’t forced him to. He could have gone home and slept in his own bed. He was the one who had said they would stay over. He would feel better after a cup of coffee. Or two or three. Micah wondered how many he had drunk in a day when he had been on the job. She knew that Marianna watched his caffeine intake now.
Micah looked around. She rolled over on the bed so that she could reach the door, and pushed it shut. She didn’t want to put on her usual work attire, but she needed something other than the flowered flannel jammies that Marianna had lain out for her the night before. She sat on the bed and reached for her dresser and managed to get out some yoga pants and a bra and t-shirt. Not that she did yoga, but they were comfy when she was just knocking around the house alone.
She grabbed her purse and slid the plastic bag of fingernails into it. Best to have that out of sight before Marianna had a chance to wonder about what she was doing with it.
By the time the kasha was cooked—a little overcooked, unfortunately—Micah was ready for her foray into work. She ate what she could of the kasha. Marianna had made far too much, and neither she nor Cole wanted any. Marianna put the leftovers into a bowl in the fridge.
“Now you have something to heat up in the microwave for tomorrow’s breakfast. Quick and easy.”
“Thanks.” Micah looked at the two of them. “Now… which one of you is driving?”
“I’ll take you in,” Cole offered.
Marianna looked surprised. “I was going to do that.”
“You still look like you need more sleep. Why don’t you lie down for a while? I’ll take her in.”
“I’m sure I got just as much sleep as you did. I’m perfectly capable of taking her into the office.”
“I’m doing it,” Cole said firmly.
Marianna sighed. “Fine. I supposed I’ll clean up here. Play with the kitten so she gets some exercise. I can find something else to do.”
“Just have a nap, Mom,” Micah advised, not comfortable with the idea of Marianna poking around the house looking for something to do. “Dad’s right. You’ve been so busy taking care of me. You need a rest.”
Marianna shook her head and muttered about how she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and didn’t need to be told what to do. Micah picked up her purse, slipped on a pair of shoes, and nodded to Cole. “I’m ready.”
As they reached the front door, Cole looked back. “Be sure to lock the door after us,” he told Marianna.
“You aren’t going to be that long.”
“Micah has keys and can let us in when we get back. I don’t want you here with the door unlocked.”
He waited until he heard Marianna slide the bolt. Micah walked slowly toward his car. “Do you think she’s in any danger? The burglar got in without a key before.” She frowned at the door, looking back at it. “And so did you, come to think of it.”
“You need better locks and better security.” He didn’t say anything else until they were both in the car, Micah securely buckled in. �
��I don’t think there’s any danger of him returning to finish the job. Not with the police having been here twice already. Too dangerous to make a third attempt. But there’s no point in being sloppy. We need to upgrade your security, make sure that you have an alarm hardwired to a live security center. You can’t afford to take chances.”
Micah thought about it as he drove to the office.
The unsub wouldn’t make a third attempt.
Her mother would be perfectly safe there during the day. They wouldn’t be gone for long.
Chapter Thirty
Micah was anxious after talking about her security, even more focused on her visit to EvPro being a short one. She entered the building, went past the main security desk without anyone stopping her, and headed for the lab. Once there, she looked around for Chastity, hoping to talk to her without anyone else listening in.
Veronica was there as well, but she’d be the one handling the evidence, so that was okay. As long as Kwong and the higher-ups weren’t around to put a stop to Micah using company resources. She motioned to Veronica and Chastity. Both were wide-eyed at her appearance.
“Oh, my goodness,” Veronica said, her mouth dropping wide open. “Aaron said that you reported being mugged, but I never thought… oh, my goodness… you look terrible.”
“It looks worse than it is,” Micah lied. “Listen, I need a favor.”
Veronica couldn’t drag her eyes from Micah’s face. “Oh, my goodness,” she repeated faintly.
Micah unzipped her purse and pulled out the plastic bag. She laid it on the lab bench. “I might have scratched him. Can you retrieve any tissue and run it? Then Chastity can run the profile for me?” She glanced aside at Chastity.
Veronica looked down at the fingernail clippings. “Shouldn’t the police be doing this?”
“Uh… probably. But you know how long it will take them to run it and then they won’t share the information with me. As the victim, I’d be barred from getting any information, even if they decided to give EvPro a contract.”
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