Free The Wrong Man: A Novel of Suspense by Kate White Page A

and slowly let out a ragged breath.
    Even with the ride from Detective Todd, she was running about ten minutes late when she reached the airport, and the security line seemed to snake forever. She desperately wanted to call Baby and fill her in, but she had to put all her energy and attention into reaching the gate in time.
    It wasn’t until the plane was in the air that she finally sank farther back into her seat and allowed a little of the tension to seep from her body. But she knew she couldn’t fully let go. There were still so many unknowns, an ugly nest of them, and her emotions seemed all bunched up, too. If it turned out X had indeed killed Healy, his dark shadow would loom even larger in her life.
    How stupid she’d been to say yes to that dinner, to say yes to the crazy lust that had left her weak in the knees. She grimaced at the memory of her foolishness. And how ironic in the end, she thought. X had suggested that the night would have to be one with no strings attached, but since then there’d been nothing but strings. No matter what she did, she couldn’t untangle herself from them.
    Once Kit was finally in Key West and ensconced in her hotel room, she called Baby, who’d already left two worried messages.
    “This is perfectly mind-boggling,” Baby said after Kit poured out the story. “Why would this fellow Matt Healy takethe risk of trailing a criminal, especially when he had a security person at his disposal?”
    “There’s still a chance he was in Miami purely on business. And his death was just a horrible accident.”
    “Can’t you ask that security chief you spoke to whether Healy was supposed to be in Florida?”
    “The police will get in touch with Ithaka, and it wouldn’t be smart for me to interfere. Besides, I want to distance myself from this whole nightmare as much as possible.”
    “Good point.”
    “Baby, one thing I can’t ignore. This story is bound to end up in the New York papers, at least in the tabloids. There’s a chance it might even mention me and the firm. I’m really sorry.”
    “Oh don’t worry about that, dear. As my mother used to say, ‘Bad breath is better than no breath at all.’”
    Kit managed to laugh, despite how agitated she still felt.
    “You’re back tomorrow, right?” Baby asked.
    “Yes. I’m going to check out Avery’s aunt’s house first thing in the morning and then be on a plane early. The sooner I launch my butt out of this state, the better. Plus, I’m meeting that doctor at seven tomorrow night.”
    “I’ll probably still be here when you arrive, so I’ll see you then. But call if you need to vent beforehand.”
    “Will do,” Kit said, more than grateful for having Baby in her corner.
    Good restaurants supposedly were everywhere in Key West, but she had no interest in venturing beyond the hotel dining room. She knew there was little chance X could have discovered her whereabouts, but in her mind he seemed ready to emerge from behind every corner, just as he had in the shop in Islamorada. For a moment she flashed back on what Baby had suggested the other day, that she step back, determine the warningsigns she might have missed, and then freaking learn from them. But though she’d pressed herself, she’d had no luck summoning any warning signs about X. Yes, he’d been a little mysterious at moments, but that had hardly hinted at a sinister side. In so many ways he had seemed the kind of man she’d been searching for.
    She took a book with her to dinner and ordered a glass of white wine along with a small pot of moules marinière.
    She’d done what she had to do to put this all behind her. Relax, she told herself. But the mussels tasted as if they’d been barnacled to the hull of a freighter for the past year and she couldn’t enjoy them. She returned to her room still hungry and fretful, and woke the next morning in the same state.
    The taxi ride to the aunt’s home took only a few minutes. The house was enchanting from the