Free The Innocent by Harlan Coben

don't have to answer. I've seen you with her. And her with you."
    "So you know then."
    She sighed. "Give me the plate number again."
    He did. This time Cingle wrote it down.
    "Shouldn't take more than an hour. I'll call you on your cell."
    "Thanks." He started for the door.
    "Matt?"
    He turned back toward her.
    "I've had some experience in stuff like this."
    "I'm sure."
    "Opening this door." Cingle held up the slip of paper with the license plate. "It's kinda like trying to break up a fight. Once you jump in, you don't know what could happen."
    "Gee, Cingle, that's pretty subtle."
    She spread her arms. "Subtlety ended for me the day I hit puberty."
    "Just do this for me, okay?"
    "I will."
    "Thank you."
    "But"- she put up her index finger-"should you feel the need to take it further, I want you to promise to let me help."
    "I won't take it further," he said, and the look on her face told him all he needed to know about how much she believed him.
     
    Matt was just entering his old hometown of Livingston when his cell phone rang again. It was Jamie Suh, Olivia's assistant, finally calling back. "Sorry, Matt, I can't find a hotel contact."
    "How can that be?" he snapped without thinking.
    There was too long a pause.
    He tried to backtrack. "I mean, doesn't she usually leave one? Suppose there was an emergency."
    "She has her cell phone."
    He didn't know what to say.
    "And most of the time," Jamie went on, "I book the hotel for her."
    "You didn't this time?"
    "No." Then she hurriedly added: "But that's not unusual or anything. Olivia does it herself sometimes too."
    He didn't know what to make of that. "Have you heard from her today?"
    "She called in this morning."
    "Did she say where she was going to be?"
    There was another pause. Matt knew that his behavior would be considered beyond the scope of normal husbandly curiosity, but he figured it was worth the risk.
    "She just said she had some meetings. Nothing specific."
    "Okay, if she calls back-"
    "I'll tell her you're looking for her."
    Then Jamie hung up.
    Another memory struck him. He and Olivia had a huge fight, one of those no-holds-barred verbal brawls where you know you're wrong and you just keep pushing. She ran out in tears and didn't call for two days. Two full days. He would call, she wouldn't answer. He searched, but he couldn't find her. It punched a huge hole in his heart. That was what he remembered right now. The idea that she would never come back to him hurt so much he could barely breathe.
    The home inspector was just finishing up when he arrived at the house. Nine years ago Matt walked out of jail after serving four years for killing a man. Now, incredible as it might seem, he was on the verge of buying a home, sharing it with the woman he loved, raising a child.
    He shook his head.
    The house was part of a suburban tract built in 1965. Like most of Livingston, the area used to be a farm. All the houses were pretty much the same, but if that discouraged Olivia, she hid it pretty well. She'd stared at the house with a nearly religious fervor and whispered, "It's perfect." Her enthusiasm had swept away any doubts he'd had about moving back.
    Matt stood on what would soon be his front yard and tried to imagine himself living here. It felt odd. He didn't belong here anymore. He had known that until, well, until Olivia. Now he was back.
    Behind him a police cruiser pulled up. Two men got out. The first one was in uniform. He was young and in shape. He gave Matt the cop squint. The second man was in plainclothes.
    "Hey, Matt," the man in the brown suit called out. "Long time, no see."
    It had been a long time, since Livingston High at least, but he recognized Lance Banner right away.
    "Hi, Lance."
    Both men slammed their doors closed as if they'd coordinated the move. The uniform crossed his arms and remained silent. Lance moved toward Matt.
    "You know," Lance said, "I live on this street."
    "That a fact."
    "It is."
    Matt said nothing.
    "I'm a detective on the force