Free Until Dark by Mariah Stewart Page A

that she noticed the message light was blinking.
    Adam was the only person who knew she was here. Had he called her room after she’d fallen asleep to leave some smart-mouthed message for her to find when she returned? She wouldn’t put it past him.
    She lifted the receiver and pushed the button to retrieve the message.
    “Hi,” a male voice greeted her cheerfully.
    Definitely not Adam.
    “Heard you were in town and, well, I just couldn’t resist giving you a ring. It’s sure been a long time, hasn’t it? Sorry we won’t be able to get together just yet—you know, places to go, people to see. But you can expect to hear from me again. I will be in touch. You can bet your life on it.”
    Kendra frowned and hung up the phone. Obviously the call had been intended for someone else and had been mistakenly directed to her room. She called the desk and requested a six-fifteen wake-up call, ordered coffee to be delivered at six-thirty, then, remembering the message, said, “Oh, by the way. There was a message on my phone that should have gone to another room.”
    “Which other room?” the desk clerk asked.
    “I don’t know which other room. A man left a message that was clearly intended for someone else. I have no idea who he was or whose room he thought he had reached, but the message wasn’t for me.”
    “Hold on, please.”
    Kendra yawned, sorry she’d even brought it up. She rested the phone between her cheek and her shoulder while she turned down the bed, then sat at the edge of the mattress, wanting nothing more than to fall straight back onto the pillow and return to sleep.
    “Ms. Smith, there’s no record of an incoming call being placed to your room.”
    “How is that possible? I just listened to the message. . . .”
    “The call must have been made from inside the hotel.”
    “Oh.” Kendra’s tired brain pondered momentarily, then gave up. “Well, in that case, I suppose the two parties could have already met up. Thanks.”
    Kendra turned off all but the small light in the bathroom, then dropped into bed, grateful to stretch out her legs. The call forgotten, she was sound asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Chapter
Five
    “How many do we have?” Kendra looked across the conference table in the State Police Barracks at Lieutenant Al Barker, who’d been instrumental in providing copies of the most up-to-the-minute details of the investigation into the death of Karen Meyer. “How many witnesses actually saw the suspect?”
    “Well, there were seven people who stepped forward, but only two actually gave what appears to be a credible account.” Barker leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Caucasian male, approximately six feet tall, early to mid-twenties. Dark hair, dark glasses, dark clothing, dark van. Nothing that we didn’t already have from the priors.”
    “I’ll need to speak with them individually,” a frustrated Kendra told him, wondering what had happened to Adam’s directive that no one speak with the witnesses. Lieutenant Barker apparently thought it applied to everyone except him.
    “We’re having a list typed up for you and will bring in whomever you need.” Barker paused, then added, “We’d like to run that sketch of yours in tomorrow morning’s paper.”
    “If it holds up against the witnesses, it’s yours.”
    Adam entered the room accompanied by a tall, leggy woman with ice blue eyes and dark hair neatly pulled back from her face and clipped at the nape of her neck.
    “You must be Miranda Cahill.” Kendra smiled.
    “Since we’ve never met, I’m going out on a limb here and guess that you know my sister.” The woman extended her hand to Kendra.
    “I know that you and Portia are identical twins, so it sounds silly to even comment on how alike you are, but it is amazing. Even your voices are similar. The two of you must have had some good times when you were younger.”
    “Actually, we’re mirror-image twins. And yes, we did