Free Unleashed by Jami Alden Page B

where they think he’s going to come up with two thousand more dollars a month, I have no idea.”
    Melody’s harsh laugh momentarily jolted Caroline from her dark thoughts. Patrick and Melody weren’t having an easy time of it lately either, which was part of why Caroline hadn’t wanted to bother them. Last year Patrick had been found liable in a medical malpractice suit where a patient had been misdiagnosed and subsequently died in surgery. His malpractice insurance paid out the settlement, but now his already sky high insurance premiums threatened to drive his practice into bankruptcy.
    “But I can still pay you for the work you’re doing on our closets,” Melody said, with a reassuring pat on Caroline’s leg.
    “Mel, don’t worry about it.” Despite her skyrocketing legal costs, and decline in business Caroline’s bank balance was very healthy. But Melody had hired her, Caroline suspected, out of sympathy since her business had completely dried up.
    It seemed most people weren’t keen on having a suspected murderer in their homes, organizing their stuff. Go figure.
    “You have to finish,” Melody said emphatically. “Oh, and I had a great idea—I want you to think about a special way to display Patrick’s lab coat from when we first met.”
    Caroline nodded, inwardly cringing. Unlike Caroline, who liked to purge her closet every season, Melody attached sentimental value to nearly every piece of clothing, making it incredibly difficult for Caroline to design a clean, uncluttered system without it being overwhelmed. She’d managed to get Melody to cull both her and Patrick’s closet, at least a little bit. But Melody was inexplicably attached to an ancient physician’s coat from St. Luke’s hospital.
    “I can’t possibly toss that,” Melody insisted. “It’s where Patrick and I met. It represents the foundation of our marriage.”
    Personally Caroline couldn’t see how a swath of white polycotton with a red machine embroidered crest over the left breast pocket could take on such importance, but the customer—especially her only customer—was always right. “I’ll think of something, I promise.”
    But right then her mind was far from functional organization systems. Right then she was wondering how the hell she was going to get herself out of that mess. Despite Mel’s loyalty and reassurance, Caroline knew that when it came down to it, she was on her own.
    She thought of Danny Taggart, the cold look in his eyes as he’d turned down her request for help. She had no doubt he was investigating James’s connection to his mother on his own, and wondered if he’d found anything. Caroline had pored over every page of that date book twice and had come up empty.
    But Caroline knew Danny wouldn’t stop until he found out the truth about what happened to his mother after she disappeared.
    Once upon a time he would have fought just as hard for Caroline. But he turned his back, left her to fend for herself just like before. Shame on her for hoping it could be different.
     
    “We’ve got a problem,” Moreno’s voice froze Danny’s gloved hand as he was reaching for the middle drawer of James Medford’s bureau.
    “Yeah, what’s that?” he asked, resuming his search, sliding open the drawer to reveal rows of neatly folded and stacked boxer shorts, separated by color and pattern. “Caroline’s headed up the front steps.”
    “She’s an hour early,” Danny protested. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me her car was on the move?”
    “Cause she’s not in her car,” Moreno snapped. “A woman driving a blue Porsche dropped her off at the curb. Better get moving. Her key is in the door.”
    Fuck . He did a quick mental run-through of the house’s layout, trying to come up with the best escape route, something that would go unnoticed by the neighbors. That ruled out the bedroom windows, which were clearly visible from the neighbor’s backyard. The neighbor who just happened to be outside