Free Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender by Maya Banks, Sylvia Day, Karin Tabke Page A

into town in silence, passing through the smaller communities, many of which had been homes to the women victimized by the Big Thicket Killer.
    When they finally pulled up outside the station, it was well past dark. Truitt was starving and he had a date with a case of beer.
    They got out of Rick ’s truck and Truitt stared up the steps to the entrance.
    “Shit,” he muttered.
    “Come on. Let’s get it over with,” Rick said sharply. “It’s been a hell of a day.”
    They walked through the door and Rick waved when the dispatcher cheerfully greeted them.
    “Hey guys, Bull’s in his office. He’s been waiting for you.”
    “Bull seems a bit eager to shove Jessie down our throats,” Truitt said in a terse voice.
    Rick’s lips tightened but he didn’t say anything as they walked down the long hallway to Bull’s office on the end. Bull was behind his desk up to his nose in paperwork. When he heard Rick and Truitt he looked up and then put down his pen.
    “Have you made an arrest?” Rick bit out.
    “Yeah, I have.”
    Truitt’s lips curled up into a snarl. “Okay, so why did we need to be here? You couldn’t have said this over the phone?”
    Bull leveled a stare at him. “Jessie didn’t do it. She was telling the truth.”
    Rick went still. Truitt’s heart started to pound harder.
    “Okay, wait,” Rick began. “You made an arrest. Just yesterday she was all but convicted in your eyes. What changed?”
    “Have a seat. You’ll need to see this.”
    Bull swung around and aimed a remote at the television monitor a few feet away as Rick and Truitt lowered themselves into chairs.
    As they watched the news story that all but painted Jessie as a convicted killer, Truitt’s fingers curled into tight fists.
    “What the hell was that?” Rick demanded. “Where the fuck did they get their information? Who’s the goddamn leak?”
    “I don’t know,” Bull said. “Chief ’s pissed. Hell, we’re all pissed. Nobody here likes to see the goddamn news blabbing shit before we’re ready.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Truitt swore. “So she didn’t do it and now that doesn’t matter because everyone will think she did.”
    Bull held up his hand. “We’re doing damage control. We have a confession. The chief is going to handle the press conference himself to say that an arrest has been made, charges will be filed, and that Miss Callahan was instrumental in the department’s discovery of the true killer.”
    “Too little too late,” Truitt said bitterly. “Who the hell did it?”
    “Jessie’s alibi about being at the grocery store checked out. She told the truth about being at the pub no more than ten minutes. Not to say she couldn’t have killed Ms. Powell in that time, but there was a lot of blood at the scene and there’s no way she could have cleaned up and gone to the grocery store so quickly. When we started to question other employees, one of the stories waffled. When we pressed the bartender, she folded in about thirty seconds. She was a sobbing mess inside of five minutes and couldn’t confess fast enough.”
    “Then why the hell was that information leaked?” Truitt demanded. “Son of a bitch. Nothing had been decided for sure. We aren’t a bunch of fucking amateurs. You don’t go to the press ever, but you damn sure don’t go around telling people who you think killed someone.”
    “I want to know just as badly as you do,” Bull said with a scowl. “It compromises my investigation.”
    “Has anyone informed Jessie that she’s no longer a suspect?” Rick cut in.
    Bull paused before turning his gaze to Rick. “I thought maybe you two would want to do the honors. Up to you though. I wanted to tell you first. I got a confession just an hour ago and I called you as soon as I was done.”
    Truitt thrust his fingers into his short hair. Jessie probably wouldn’t ever give them the time of day again, but she deserved to know she was off the hook.
    “Thanks, Bull. Appreciate it,” Truitt