Free Gone Too Far by Suzanne Brockmann Page B

that he wasn’t reminded of it, too.
    Oh, God.
    “Well, I don’t know how you could be so sure,” she said, dragging her attention back to the situation at hand. “I went in there, Lieutenant, and saw her. Was she wearing some kind of jewelry or . . . ?”
    “No,” Sam said. He was emotionally wiped, and it sounded in his voice. “But she had on this pair of boots I bought for her last year. It’s Mary Lou.”
    “I have a sister,” Alyssa reminded him. “She’s about my height and weight. Back when we lived together, she borrowed my clothing all the time. What does Mary Lou’s sister Janine look like, Lieutenant?”
    Sam looked at the mirror again, and his gaze was suddenly sharp. “A lot like Mary Lou,” he said, and he didn’t sound quite so tired anymore. “Holy Jesus. Where’s my brain been?”
    “We don’t know that it’s not Mary Lou who’s been killed,” Alyssa warned him. “There are two women missing. There’s a fifty percent chance that it is your wife who’s dead.”
    “Ex-wife,” Sam said. “She signed those papers I was coming here to pick up—they were right on the kitchen counter.” He turned to Manuel Conseco. “Are we doing some kind of positive ID thing with Mary Lou’s dental records?”
    “It’s standard procedure, yes.”
    “And have we established yet when the death took place?” Alyssa asked.
    “We’re working on that, as well,” Conseco told her.
    “I want a call with that information, as soon as possible,” Alyssa ordered. “And I want absolutely nothing about this case leaked to the media—is that understood?”
    “I believe I am familiar with how to do my job, ma’am,” Conseco said dryly.
    Guilty as charged. “My apologies, Mr. Conseco,” Alyssa said. “This one’s particularly important. Max Bhagat will be coming down himself tomorrow.”
    Sam glanced at the mirror again at that, but then quickly turned his attention back to Conseco. “Am I done here?”
    “Yes,” Alyssa answered for him. “Thank you very much, Lieutenant. You’ve been very patient. If there are any other questions, we’ll be in touch.”
    Sam looked over at the mirror again as he swept his hat off the table, and she knew there were plenty of questions unasked—but they were questions he wanted to ask her .
    “Can I give you a lift somewhere?” she added. She might as well get this over with, otherwise he’d simply show up later tonight at her hotel. And Lord knows, she wanted to keep this man far from her hotel room.
    “Yes,” he said. “Thank you.”
    She stood up, and one of Conseco’s assistants led her out of the observation room and back to the lobby.
    Where Sam’s friend Noah Gaines was still waiting.
    He rose to his feet when he saw her.
    “Well, I’m impressed,” Alyssa said.
    He was a good-looking man, almost as tall as Sam and nearly as muscular, with broad shoulders that filled out his business suit very nicely. He had light brown eyes behind glasses, that, at first glance, made him look as if he might be playing at being a scholar, like a football linebacker who was attempting to prove to the world that he had a brain.
    At second glance, and after exchanging a few sentences with the man, it was obvious that he was a scholar who simply took very good care of one very nice body.
    It was a very nice body that had a wedding ring on the left hand.
    “We were in there a long time,” Alyssa continued. “I’m surprised you’re still here.”
    “Is he all right?”
    “He’s not being held,” she told him. “But until we can establish that he was miles away from here at the time of Mary Lou’s death, he’ll be considered a suspect, which doesn’t make him very happy. I’m doing what I can to make sure that doesn’t take any longer than it has to.”
    “He’s lucky to have you as a friend,” Noah said. It was obvious that he was curious about her.
    “How long have you known Sam?” Alyssa asked. He wasn’t the only one who was