Page 103 of Is Anyone Listening?
I sat down on the couch in Dorothy's living room as the EMT tended to my cuts.
"Looks like you have some older scratches, too," he commented.
"I was in a car accident two nights ago."
"Not your week, huh?"
"Definitely not," I said.
"How's the pain in your head?"
"Pounding. He slammed me into the wall and onto the floor."
"Did you lose consciousness?"
"No."
"That's good. I want to ask you a few questions," he said, then proceeded to ask me my name, birthdate, address, and where I was staying in Stonecross. After I answered those successfully, and he checked my vision, he said, "I think you're okay, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get checked out at the hospital."
"I'll be okay. I don't want to go to the hospital. I feel better now that I'm sitting down."
"You're definitely going to want to take it easy tonight. And you'll want to put some ice on your eye. It's already starting to swell. You're going to have a shiner tomorrow."
I didn't care about my face right now. I was just happy to be alive. And to be able to tell everyone what Jeff had done.
"I'm going to help my partner with the other victim," the paramedic said as he got to his feet. "Will you be all right here?"
"Yes. And he's not a victim. He's a killer."
The EMT's lips tightened, but he didn't comment before moving down the hall toward the basement stairs. A moment later, Finn returned to my side while the others brought a noticeably wobbly Jeff up the stairs and into the living room, his hands cuffed behind his back.
When he saw me, he said, "She's a liar. You all know she's making up stories. She planted evidence down there. She's trying to come up with a killer for her podcast."
"Shut up," Tom said. "For the love of God, shut the hell up, Jeff."
Tom followed his brother, the EMTs and one of the deputies out the door. I assumed the other deputy and the mayor were still in the basement.
"I'm going to take you to the medical center," Finn told me.
"No. I have to go back to the inn. I have to confront my grandmother."
"Do you really think Ellen and Tom were trafficking women? That sounds like something Jeff made up."
I met Finn's gaze. "He didn't make it up. He told me how he intercepted the women. He knew where the pickup was supposed to be, where they would be expecting a ride from a stranger, and he became that stranger."
"Usually, in trafficking, the women don't go willingly."
"Maybe they didn't know they were being trafficked. But my grandmother will know, and maybe once she realizes what Jeff did and what information he has, she'll finally come clean."
"You should let the deputies talk to her first."
"No way. But you don't have to go with me. I'll go on my own."
I started to stand up and had to pause until a wave of dizziness passed.
"You're not going by yourself," Finn said. "I'll drive you."
"Thank you." As we moved through the front door, I suddenly realized Dorothy was still gone. "Dorothy," I said abruptly. "Jeff said he told her there was an emergency with Cole, and she needed to go talk to him. I don't think she should come back here and find the police here and that stuff in the basement."
