Dalton and I are back at the station. He starts the fire, and I sit in front of it, on the caribou blankets, with my notebook and Val's papers.
Dalton starts to sit with me and then rises with a grunt. "Better find something to do or I'll be reading over your shoulder."
"I don't mind if it's you."
He sits beside me again, and I shift up against him, and we read in silence until we've finished. I turn the last page and then sit there for at least a minute before I say, "They could be lying, right?"
Dalton doesn't answer. After a few moments, I say, "I want to think they're making it all up. And they could be making some of it up. Exaggerating. They probably are."
"Yeah."
I lay my hand on the notes. "This doesn't mean Nicole did this to herself. I can't imagine anyone doing that." I twist to look at him. "I hate even considering it. I know how you operate up here. If a woman comes to you and says she was sexually assaulted, you start from a position of presuming she's telling the truth."
"Of course."
"That's not how it works down south. We try to treat all crimes the same, but a woman claiming assault often bears the burden of proof. Do you know how many times I raged because Diana wasn't believed when she accused her ex of abusing her, stalking her? And then it turned out--"
"Yeah. And you can stop beating yourself up over that."
"I didn't say--"
"You hate that you defended her. You hate even more that she sets a bad example for women who do have crazy exes. But half the women here are running from an abusive partner. You know how many others have turned out to be lying? None."
"I know."
"And not to defend Diana--she's a bitch, always going to be a bitch--but Graham was still abusive. They may have staged the last beating for your benefit, but what about the ones that made her leave him? He beat her. He stalked her. She just kept going back, and I don't understand that, but I've read enough to know it happens."
He taps the pages. "Whatever this means, don't think of it as blaming the victim. You believed her until you had reason to reconsider. Innoce
nt until proven suspicious."
"You're right."
"Usually am." He gets to his feet. "Now you need to talk to Nicole. Sort this shit out."
NINETEEN
Dalton takes his spot with the militia guard on Beth's porch. I go inside. Diana is there, and she pauses, as if expecting to give a report, but I just nod and thank her. She leaves, and I walk into the living room where Nicole stands by the front window, looking out at Dalton.
I clear my throat. She steps back, but only half turns, still watching him.
"Why doesn't he come in?" she asks.
"Do you want him to?"
She smiles. "I guess not." She moves to sit on the futon. "Diana says you two are an item. At first, I thought she was kidding. I figured you and Will ... Well, that makes more sense. You and Will."
I take a seat.
"If he wants to come in...," she says.
"If Eric wants to do anything, he does it. He's fine there."
"Eric. I don't think I even knew his first name. He's just Sheriff Dalton. Or 'yes, sir.'" She smiles again, and it's clear she senses a chill in my greeting, and she's trying to coax a smile, but the silence drags until she's fidgeting.
"I told you that I knew why you came to Rockton," I say. "Eric gave me the official story. Which was not untrue. Your father got mixed up with a cartel and took the family into witness protection after your mother died. He later committed suicide, but that didn't stop the cartel from coming after you and ultimately killing your brother."
"Right..."