VOICELESS | SAMPLE

"So my father came by earlier."

She glanced at me in a way that said she had already put two and two together and sniffed the rose.

"Well, he brought some good news. He found some evidence that clears you."

Her eyes snapped to mine and narrowed, asking silently what he had found for him to suddenly clear her.

I had wondered the exact same thing. I mean, he had scolded me not even an hour earlier for trusting her.

"So, you finally decided to show up," I retorted with annoyance when the door was shut, not caring about the repercussions of my tone or words. "Bravo."

Surprisingly, though, his face twisted in a grimace instead of the usual anger and...was that guilt? "You're right."

I wasn't sure I had heard him right. "What?" I waited for him to respond for barely a second before speaking again. "What...did you just say?"

"You were right." I stood in shock, staring at him in disbelief. "It wasn't her." He didn't meet my eyes.

I retrieved my jaw from the floor and cleared my throat. "And, how do you know this?"

"Is that how she looked at you?" I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to make sense of what he was referring to. His eyes finally met mine. "When you found her, was she that terrified?"

I swallowed the forming lump and answered somewhat hoarsely, "Basically." Something shifted. I couldn't distinguish it, but a kind of unspoken understanding came over us.

"She didn't say anything."

"Because she can't."

"Can't?"

"She can't speak."

He frowned slightly. "But didn't she tell you her name?"

"Yeah, she barely got it out, though. She's tried since and, well, I guess it's safe to say that those were her last words." He went quiet. "The doctor confirmed it," I added, knowing where his thoughts were going.

"That's too bad."

My head whirled at the sincerity in his voice. "And the evidence?"

He waited for a beat before replying, "There's a video."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Someone was following him when he left Granny's the day he was murdered."

"Okaaay," I drawled. "What does that mean? And why are you just suspecting them now?"

"That's the thing. We've had no reason to—until now."

I huffed, knowing we were back to being cryptic, hearing his hard undertone. "So that's it? That's all you're giving me?"

"That's all I can give you. Nothing is concrete."

"I'm on the team."

"I know," he muttered somewhat angrily. "But this is a sensitive case."

He was in a mood. There was no point in arguing. "How does this clear her?"

"You'll just have to trust me on this one."

"And that means...?"

"Make sure she stays out of trouble." He turned to walk back to the entrance of the hospital, pausing to glance over his shoulder. He opened his mouth to say something. The words died before making their way up to his throat. He clammed up, shook his head, and waltzed down the hallway as if nothing had happened.