Free Serial Bride by Ann Voss Peterson Page B

drywalled wall. She rounded the corner andspotted another exit sign, glowing like a beacon. Slipping into the stairwell, she raced down the steps to the lobby level.
    The light music of human voices greeted her. She pushed through the door and sprinted to the lobby.
    â€œWhere have you been?”
    She spun around and spotted Bryce. Worry knit his brow. Worry for her.
    She held up her hands in front of her. “I’m fine.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œSomeone followed me. Down the stairs.”
    He grasped her upper arms. His grip strong, solid. Holding her in front of him, he searched her eyes. “Did you get a look at him?”
    â€œNot really. It was dark, but…”
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œIt wasn’t Louis Ingersoll. The man I saw was bigger. Not as tall as you, but broad. Strong.”
    â€œAnd he chased you?”
    She nodded. She didn’t want to think about it. The desperate fear. The sudden sense that this was the man who’d taken Diana. “I lost him on a floor that was closed for remodeling.” She glanced down at her hands, the knees of her jeans. She hadn’t realized until now that she was covered in dust and grit.
    â€œWhy didn’t you stay in the ICU?”
    What? She tilted her head and stared, as if lookingat him from a slightly different angle would enable her to understand. “You called the nurses’ station. You told me to meet you down here.”
    He opened his mouth, a stricken look on his face. “I didn’t.”
    â€œThen who did?”
    â€œWalker?” a gruff voice said from behind them.
    Sylvie and Bryce both jumped. Stepping out of Bryce’s grip, Sylvie turned and looked into Detective Perreth’s bulldog face.
    Bryce stepped toward him. “About time you checked your voice mail.”
    â€œVoice mail?”
    â€œI left you half a dozen messages. You didn’t get the calls?”
    â€œI haven’t had time to check my phone.”
    â€œThen why are you here?”
    Perreth’s eyes shifted to Sylvie. “I need you to come with me.”
    Bryce stepped between her and Perreth. “For another bullying session like the one you subjected her to earlier? You can’t still think she had something to do with her sister’s disappearance.”
    Perreth grunted. “It’s not that.”
    â€œWhat is it then?” Sylvie’s voice rose shrill in her ears. Worry descended heavy on her chest.
    â€œCome with me and we’ll discuss it.”
    â€œYou don’t expect her to go with you withoutknowing what she’s getting into, do you? I won’t allow it.”
    Again Bryce was standing up for her, protecting her. Coming off her experience in the stairwell, she wasn’t inclined to tell him to back off. But even though she was scared of what Perreth might say, what he might want, she had to know. “I’ll go.”
    Bryce frowned and gave his head an abrupt shake. “Not until he tells us why.”
    â€œUs? There is no ‘us.’ I’ll go.”
    Perreth’s bushy brows hung low. He squared his broad shoulders as if preparing for a fight. “Not here, Walker.”
    â€œAs her attorney, I can’t recommend it.”
    She opened her mouth, about to remind him he wasn’t her attorney, about to demand they leave at once, when Perreth cut her off.
    â€œFine. Whatever you want.” The detective swung his focus to Sylvie. His gaze looked so flat, so dispassionate, it made her shiver. “We need you to identify a body.”

Chapter Nine
    The trip to the city-county building seemed to take an eternity. Sylvie twisted her hands together in her lap and stared out the window of Detective Perreth’s car, willing him to move faster. Every stoplight turned red in front of them. Crowds of revelers decked out in red Wisconsin Badgers gear spilled out of the bars and over the sidewalks, stopping traffic. And even when the street