He’d never heard even a hint of gossip about Bobby Petrie being violent. “Like I said, I’ll see if I can talk to her.”

She sat back. “You won’t do anything at all.”

He wasn’t sure what to tell her and that made his gut churn. He didn’t want to be on opposite sides from her. “I’ll do all I can do, but you need to understand the way things work around here.”

“Apparently things work to protect men. It’s a whole lot like the rest of the world.” She stood up.

He followed her as she started out of the office. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here. I’ll do what I can, but you know as well as I do that if I can’t get her to admit what’s happening or actively see it happening, my hands are tied. I know this must have brought back bad memories for you, but we have to deal with what’s happening in the here and now.”

She kept walking, not turning back his way. “It will continue. She’s already had one miscarriage from falling down the stairs.”

He hadn’t heard anything about her having a miscarriage. “I’ll ask her about it.”

“And she’ll lie. And then one day she won’t survive whatever fall she takes. Her clumsiness will lead to something she can’t come back from. Who do I need to talk to in order to make a formal notification of my suspicions?” She’d stopped at the reception desk, turning on her heels, her jaw set in a stubborn line.

“I told you, I hear you and I’ll look into it.” He didn’t want to be on the other side, but he also couldn’t change the way he did things to please her. And honestly, she wasn’t listening to a word he said.

“I want it in writing. I want it on paper that you knew on this date.”

It would normally set him on edge, but he’d done an Internet search the night before. What she’d been through would have broken most people. He was willing to give her an enormous amount of leeway. “Lila, this is not what happened to you. I will do everything I can to make you feel safe, but you have to understand that I also have to follow protocol.”

Her eyes flared slightly. “What happened to me?”

“I understand the impulse to see your friend in this,” he admitted. “You went through something terrible and it hasn’t been long.” The door swung open and he could see Noelle wheeling in, her backpack in her lap. “Let’s go back to my office and talk about this. I’m not discounting your expertise.”