Free Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense by Brett Battles, Robert Gregory Browne, Melissa F. Miller, J. Carson Black, Michael Wallace, M A Comley, Carol Davis Luce Page A

the freeway.”
    “Did anything stand out in your memory?” Laura thinking: If she met Bill Smith, she'd remember that.
    Micaela shook her head. “Nuh-uh. The rides weren't that great. It was actually pretty bogus. There was a Tilt-a-Whirl,” she added helpfully.
    “You didn't see Bill Smith?”
    Micaela looked at her bright pink nails, rubbed at a spot. “No. At least I don't think I did. I guess he might have seen me .” She added, “Lindsay might remember more, but I don't know how to get in touch with her.”
    She explained that Lindsay and her mom had moved away not long after she herself was kidnapped. “Her dad was in the Air Force, so they didn't stay in any place very long.”
    “I wanted to ask you about the girl who was killed. Can you remember anything more about that night? Where you were?”
    She shook her head.
    Once more, Laura asked about cross streets, whether they had gone north, west, east, or south.
    “I wish I could help, but I just don't remember.”
    “Did you ever talk to her?”
    “We only talked once or twice. He kept us in different rooms. We talked through the wall one time when Bill was gone. If he heard us, he would have killed us.” Matter-of-fact. As if a man killing two girls for talking was an everyday occurrence.
    “Did she tell you her name?” Laura asked.
    Micaela knitted her brows together, staring at the wall beyond Laura. “I think her name was Lily.”
    “Anything else you can remember? About her family, where she was from?”
    But Micaela couldn't remember anything else. Frustrated, Laura thanked her, and Micaela walked her out.
    As they reached the front door, Laura saw Nina Brashear coming down the stairs.
    “Is everything all right?” Nina said.
    “Fine,” Laura replied. “I had a couple more questions for Micaela.”
    “She wanted to know about the carnival we went to,” Micaela said.
    “The carnival?” Nina Brashear looked at Laura. “You think that Bill Smith might have worked there?”
    “It's something to look into.”
    Micaela said, “I've got to go get ready for work. Is there anything else?”
    “You go ahead, Mickey,” Nina Brashear said.
    “Where does she work?” Laura asked as Micaela headed up the stairs.
    “A Baby Gap at the mall. It's a good summer job.” She looked vaguely embarrassed. “After she gets her GED, she'll be going to Stanford.”
    “Does she know what she wants to do?”
    “No, not really. She's so young, and being dragged around all over the place…” She stopped herself. “It affected a lot of things. She's very mature in some ways, and in others, I think she was left behind.”
    “Hard to adjust,” Laura said.
    “Yes, it's been hard. For all of us. I want to apologize for Colin, the way he acted yesterday.”
    “No problem. I know this is difficult.”
    “You have no idea. You spend all this time praying for something like this, even though you've given up hope. And then your dream comes true…” She waved her hand helplessly. “And it just doesn't … It's as hard for her as it is for us. Harder. I can't even think about what she went through.” She stopped abruptly. “You probably don't want to hear this. Our problems are minimal compared to what happened to that other family. Have you had any luck finding out who killed that other little girl?”
    “Not yet. But we're not giving up.”
    “I'm so glad of that. Not everybody can be as lucky as we were.”
    As Laura stepped out onto the front step, she had a thought. “Do you give voice lessons—" She stopped, uncertain how to continue. She'd been about to say “Do you give voice lessons to anybody?” But she didn't want to say that.
    Nina Brashear studied her intently. “Are you a singer?”
    “I sang in high school. In the choir.” A thousand years ago, she'd played Maria in West Side Story .
    “Let me look at my schedule and I'll call you. I'm sure we can work something out.”
    Laura scribbled her home phone number on one of her cards