Free Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner

to do with me anymore. Will he leave me?
    Will I miss him?
    â€œDo you remember the promise I made to you, our first night together in New Orleans?” he asks abruptly.
    I don’t. It must show on my face.
    â€œOnce upon a time, you said your home was wherever I was,” he says.
    The words mean nothing to me.
    â€œOnce upon a time, you said my love made you strong.”
    I have no answer.
    â€œAnd once upon a time, you said as long as we were together, it would be enough.”
    I don’t know what to say; he’s telling me stories from someone else’s life.
    He seems to know as much. His shoulders come down. He regards me expressionlessly. “We made a deal that night. Anytime you thought you smelled smoke, you’d reach for my hand. Do you smell smoke, Nicky?”
    I frown at him. For the first time, his words sound familiar, as if I should know what he’s talking about. Slowly, I shake my head.
    â€œDid you smell smoke last night?”
    I have to think about it. “After the crash,” I murmur.
    He doesn’t say anything. Just a muscle flinches in his jaw. A sign that he’s heard. A sign that he hurts.
    â€œI died once before,” I hear myself say.
    My husband is not surprised by this news.
    â€œThere are only so many times a woman can come back from the dead.”
    â€œWe’re going to get through this,” Thomas says evenly.
    My turn to smile. Because I might have forgotten his name, but I still know when he’s lying to me.
    Vero, I think.
    Then I reach out and take my husband’s hand.

Chapter 8
    H OW GOES THE battle?” Tessa asked.
    On the other end of the phone, Wyatt contemplated his girlfriend’s lighthearted question and promptly sighed heavily. “Long morning,” he admitted. “Long, strange morning. But the good news is, I think we should get a puppy.”
    â€œWhat?”
    He could already picture her, sitting up straighter, blue eyes blinking in bewilderment.
    â€œA cute yellow Lab,” Wyatt continued. “One that will wag its tail and cover you with kisses every time you come home. That would be perfect.”
    â€œPerfect for whom? Dogs have to be fed, you know. As well as taken outside, exercised regularly. And Sophie and I are never home.”
    â€œMrs. Ennis would help.”
    â€œMrs. Ennis is seventy years old—”
    â€œAnd still the toughest broad I know. In fact, if things don’t work out between us, I might just set my cap for her.”
    He could practically feel Tessa rolling her eyes. Which was exactly what he needed. A break from the pressure of a case that might not even be a case. And yet he was sure it was a case. At least a motor vehicle accident.
    â€œSo why a puppy?” Tessa was asking him.
    â€œBecause a puppy makes everything better. Just ask Sophie.”
    â€œLow blow.”
    â€œOf course, I reserve the right to present the puppy. We both know I need the brownie points.”
    â€œYou’ve been giving this some thought,” Tessa said.
    â€œSpent the morning with a search dog,” Wyatt volunteered. “Which might have gone better if we’d been searching for a real person, versus some brain-damaged woman’s mental delusion.” He couldn’t help himself; he sighed again.
    â€œDay going that well?”
    â€œYeah, which means, sadly, I’ll never make dinner. Now that we’ve eliminated the ghosts, we have a real crime scene to analyze and auto accident to reconstruct.”
    â€œCatch me up; what do you know thus far?”
    Over the phone, Wyatt could hear Tessa shifting her position, most likely getting more comfortable in her black leather desk chair. She wasn’t just asking a question; she was interested in the answer. Which was one of the things Wyatt liked best about dating a fellow investigator. Tessa didn’t just inquire about his day; she was more than happy to review it with him. And