Free Tapout (The Submission Fighter Book 3) by Sophia Hampton Page B

images on a computer screen. As she approached him, she attempted to make out the name of the file he clutched in his hand but was unsuccessful.
     
    Without much of a greeting, he guided her back into the interview room and tossed a couple of images at her. She squinted to make out the shapes, but the tattoos came to her as she focused on the color and the design. There were seven pictures in all—most were very similar to what she had drawn earlier in the week. But a couple of them were far from familiar. She sorted those to the side.
     
    Left with three options, she let her mind wander, attempting to regain some kind of recognition. But the day’s events, the flights, the thrill of the stadium kept her mind racing towards other things. Time passed as she sat staring at the spirals etched on the men’s arms. Detective Crighton grew noticeably more agitated with her as he paced, checked his phone, and pretended to make notes on his miniature pad.
     
    Alice let herself grow tired, let the weight of everything fall upon her. It was the only trick she thought she could do. She rested her head in her hand and quickly closed her eyes. Like a flash, she was back there in the alley, in the rain. The man on top of her. Her ring being snatched. She forced her mind to pause the image, to rewind a bit and look harder. And there it was, in the dark. The correct hint of the tattoo that flared out at the spiral.
     
    She forced herself awake and alert. Detective Crighton was too bored to even notice her mental absence. She coughed and then pushed the winning image forward. “It’s this one. I'm sure of it.”
     
    He looked at her incredulously and then nodded as he stood and walked to the two way window. He held up the image to the glass and then returned to his chair. Taking out a pack of cigarettes, he began to bang the box in his hands. “That was the one.”
     
    “I’m sorry?” Alice was unsure what he had meant.
     
    “That was the one. We tracked the call’s lead yesterday morning and got a warrant. We found your ring and one of your ID cards tucked away in the man’s safe. We arrested him, but he claimed he got it in some fighting bet he won a couple months back. But when we checked his records, we noticed his file showed a tattoo description similar to the one you provided.”
     
    “So, why am I here?” Alice’s mind was still stuck on the police actually finding her ring. Nothing else seemed to matter but that.
     
    “We needed you to ID him. You’re done with step one. Now we’re gonna bring you back to his room and see if you recognize him.” Crighton looked down again at his cell phone and then opened the door for Alice to follow through. “They’re ready for us.”
     
    Two doors down, Crighton and Alice slipped in a completely dark room. Two other men sat watching the three people in the room.
     
    Alice whispered, “Can they hear us?” Crighton shook his head, as Alice spoke up further, “But why are there two people? It was just a guy. Isn’t that a girl?” From the back, she could just see the messy, long black ponytail of a young woman. She was chained to the chair in handcuffs right alongside the man. The two sat in silence, neither looking at one another.
     
    “We think she may be an accomplice. We found her near the safe when we were undergoing our search.” Crighton turned his attention back on the other men in the back room. The larger of the two detectives walked out of their room and reappeared almost magically in the interview area. She could hear him clearly asking the two to turn around and face the mirror.
     
    The man turned first. His dark, tired features coming into contact with the harsh industrial lighting of the room. The woman looked as if she resisted turning. Alice could see her dark eye makeup running down the sides of her face and onto her neck.
     
    Alice took three steps back as the breath from her lungs suddenly failed her. She held on to a table for support as