Free A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter Page B

Perry.'
    He smiled, and for just a second he seemed like a regular human being. 'When I was a kid, I had posters all over my walls. I was a Ramblin' Wreck,' he said, citing one of Georgia Tech's many school mottos. 'I was going to show them all.'
    'Why didn't you go?' Lena asked, thinking she would embarrass him.
    'Oh, I got accepted,' Richard said, waiting for her to be impressed. 'But my mother had just died and…'
    He let his voice trail off. 'Oh, well. Nothing I can do about that now.' He pointed his finger at Lena. 'I learned a lot from your sister. She was a very good teacher. She was a role model for me.'
    Lena let his compliment hang in the air between them. She did not want to talk about Sibyl with Richard.
    'Oh, God.' Richard sat up quickly. 'There's Jill.'
    Rosen stood at the door, looking around for Lena.
    The woman seemed lost, and Lena was debating whether to say something to her when Richard tossed one of his girlie waves.
    Jill Rosen smiled weakly, walking toward them.
    Richard stood, saying, 'Oh, honey,' as he took both of Rosen's hands.
    'Brian's coming in from Washington,' she told him.
    'They're going to try to get him on the next flight out.'
    Richard frowned, offering, 'If there's anything I can do for you or Brian…'
    'Thank you,' Rosen said, but she was looking at Lena.
    Lena told Richard, 'I'll see you later.'
    Richard raised his eyebrows but bowed out gracefully, offering a final, 'Anything you need,' to Jill Rosen.
    Rosen gave a tight smile of thanks as he left. She asked Lena, 'Is Chief Tolliver here yet?'
    'Not yet.'
    Rosen stared at her, probably trying to ascertain if Lena had held up her side of the bargain. Lena had, actually. She was sober. The two drinks she had grabbed at her apartment after telling Rosen about her son were hardly enough to make her drunk.
    Lena said, 'He had some things to deal with first.'
    'Do you mean the girl?' Rosen asked, and Lena guessed she'd heard the news about Tessa Linton at least twenty times walking from the counseling center to the library.
    Lena explained, 'I didn't want to tell you.'
    The woman's tone was clipped. 'Of course you didn't.'
    'No, not because of that,' Lena said. 'We're not even sure if it has anything to do with Andy. I didn't want you to think-'
    'It was her blood on the note?'
    'That came after,' Lena said. 'They just had it and…'
    Tears welled into Rosen's eyes. She rested her hands on the table as though she needed help standing up.
    Lena said, 'I could leave you alone if you wanted,' hoping like hell the woman would take her up on the offer.
    'No,' Rosen said, blowing her nose again. She did not offer an explanation as to why she wanted to keep Lena around.
    They both stood there, staring aimlessly at the people in the library. Lena realized she was rubbing the scars on her hands and forced herself to stop. She said, 'I'm really sorry about your son. I know what it's like to lose someone.'
    Rosen nodded, still looking away. 'After the first time' she indicated her arm, and Lena took it that she meant Andy's earlier suicide attempt 'he was getting better. We'd gotten his medication balanced.
    He seemed like he was doing better.' She smiled. 'We'd just bought him a car.'
    Lena asked, 'He was enrolled in school here?'
    'Richard told you, I suppose,' she said, but there was no bitterness to her tone. 'We took him out this last quarter so he could concentrate on getting better.
    He was helping his father at the lab, doing some things around the clinic for me.' She smiled, remembering.
    'Thursdays he had art lessons. He was very good.'
    Lena wished she had her notebook so she could write down this information, but there was really no reason for her to do so. As Jeffrey had pointed out, Lena was not a cop. She was just Chuck's security gofer, and barely that.
    Rosen asked, 'What will Chief Tolliver want from me?'
    'Probably a list of your son's friends, where he hung out.' Lena took a wild guess, unable to stop herself from thinking like a