She was thoughtful for a moment. “I’m in a position I can’t get out of. As long as I work in the medical field, I’m always going to be here. I’m always going to have to make the call whether I involve you in a patient’s life, and the minute I involve you one of two things is going to happen. I guess three, really.”

He knew exactly what those things were. “She gets away. He gets her. Or she goes back to him and he still gets her. He might not kill her, but her life won’t be what it could have been. She won’t have the opportunities she should have. She’ll live in fear. You will always have to make that decision, but I want you to know that I will always back you up. I have to follow the law, but I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

Her arm wound around his waist. “Thank you. That makes it easier. Cops in the city, they care, but they don’t have the time to follow up more than once. There are too many people they have to deal with. You and I could make a difference if we tried. If I can get people to trust me.”

He smoothed a hand down her back. “They will. It takes time, but you can make a huge difference here. I know that things change fast in the outside world, but we’re isolated, and it’s worse in the outlying areas of the parish. Seeing a woman running that clinic might teach our girls there’s something more out there than marriage.”

She sat up, not bothering with pulling the sheet with her. Her breasts were bare, her hair around her shoulders. She looked like a woman who’d been well loved. She also looked like a woman who wasn’t sure what to say next. Lila bit her bottom lip and stared down at him.

“Whatever you’re going to say, say it.” Was this when she told him she’d figured out she needed the city?

“Did you know Noelle scored crazy high on her PSATs?”

He relaxed back. “Hell, yeah. She had great scores. I have no idea where she got her smarts. Let me tell you, her mother and I weren’t that great in school. Noelle was definitely the best thing we ever did.”

It didn’t hurt so much to think about Monica now. She was a fond memory tempered by wistful regret that she wasn’t still here. The accident hadn’t been her fault. She’d been a good mom to Noelle. She simply hadn’t enjoyed being a cop’s wife, and she definitely hadn’t wanted to live in Papillon.

“You know how incredible that is? She’s got a lot of options, Armie.”