Free Trace of Innocence by Erica Orloff Page A

nodded.
    “Lewis?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Do you really think the true killer is after us, or do you think this is Harry Whitaker?”
    “I don’t know. I just regret bringing you into this, Billie.”
    “Lewis…when have you ever known me to listen to anyone anyway? If I didn’t want to be involved, I wouldn’t be.”
    I reached for my portable phone and dialed Joe.
    “I’ve been sitting here waiting for one of you to call,” he said. “You all right?”
    “Yeah. We’re both okay. A little rattled, but okay.”
    “And the DNA?”
    “Not a match.”
    I heard Joe let out a whoop on the other end of the phone and relay the message to C.C.
    “I can’t wait to tell David.”
    I smiled. “Let me sign off. Lewis and I are wiped out.”
    “Okay. Take care. Stay safe.”
    “Thanks.”
    I hung up and looked over at Lewis. He was sound asleep. “Poor baby,” I whispered. I went and pulled the comforter off my bed and wrapped it around him.
    “Good night, Lewis.” I turned and went to bed and tried to fall asleep. But my mind was cluttered with thoughts of the suicide king killer. I was happy that David Falco was cleared, but now I wondered who really had murdered poor Cammie.

Chapter 11
    T ommy Salami should be grateful he’s a steroidhead. Layers of muscle trapped the bullet before it hit his heart. He was hurt—badly—and he lost a lot of blood, but the doctors said he would be okay.
    The next morning, Lewis went home, and I made a pot of coffee, called the hospital to check on Tommy and made scrambled eggs on toast.
    My phone rang halfway through breakfast and I picked up.
    “Collect call for Billie Quinn from DavidFalco. To accept the charges say yes at the tone.”
    After a moment of shock, I said yes. I wondered, not for the first time, what the phone company thought seeing all those collect calls I received from different prisons.
    “Hello?”
    “Billie?”
    “Yeah. Hi, David. I guess you heard the good news—not a match.”
    “I know. I’m still sort of numb. I’m sorry for calling collect. I got your number from C.C. I begged her for it. I just wanted to thank you. You could have refused to work on my case. You could have decided you didn’t care. I know you took this and made some sacrifices. I heard about your friend.”
    “He’s going to be okay, thank God. Officially, at least for right now, because he, in police parlance, ‘consorts with known felons,’ they’ve tied it to his own background and not your case, which is good for you. I think it’s best if the pure science and DNA clear you rather than muddying up this case with a lot of things we can’t prove. Better to go with what we can prove—which is that your DNA wasn’t on the victim.”
    “I’m glad your friend will be okay.” He hesitated. “Is he your boyfriend?”
    “Um, no. He does some work for my father occasionally. I think Lewis, my boss, was worried after my apartment was broken into. So my dad sent Tommy Salami over to watch me for a few days. I don’t know…maybe it’s all coincidence.”
    “I hope so. I promise when I get out of here and get a job that I’ll buy you a new laptop to replace the one that got stolen—Joe told me.”
    “Don’t worry about it. You just get the hell out of there. I have a desktop computer. I’m okay. I’m still getting e-mail.”
    “You are? Can I write you?”
    “Write me?”
    “An e-mail. When you came here, you said you wanted to read some of my writing. I thought maybe I could send you something.”
    “I’d still like that. My e-mail address is [email protected].”
    “I want you all to know how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me. I can never repay you.”
    “Honestly, I can’t tell you how it felt to look at that film and see that it wasn’t a match.”
    “I told you I was innocent. To prove it now…I’m afraid to believe, but there’s this tiny little bit of me that thinks this nightmare might be over.”
    “C.C. was the one who really