Free Promises of Mercy(Montana Promises-Book 1) by Vella Day Page A

Tanya’s family or his own hadn’t healed until the man had been caught.
    “Fine.” Stone turned and faced Amber. “I’ll be right outside.” Without looking back, he strode out.
    If Cade’s boss got wind that he’d let Stone sit at the table with Amber, there would be hell to pay. But Stone was his best friend.
    As soon as the door closed, Amber seemed to shrink before his eyes. Fuck me , but rules were rules. She inhaled and straightened her back. He admired her fortitude.
    “Regarding where I was the afternoon of Chris’s death, speak with Becky Andrews. She saw me come in a little after one in the afternoon. I rushed to Chris’s room, saw he was asleep, and left. I didn’t even enter the room. A minute later, I met with Stone. Becky should remember, because I had a cooler with me that I’d forgotten to leave in the car.”
    He made another note. “I will.”
    “Dr. Almaguire told me the timeline, too. Could I have killed Chris? Yes.” Her face turned red. “I couldn’t personally kill him, but the timing would fit. I never would have harmed him. I loved him too much.”
    “All the more reason not to want to see him suffer.”
    She grit her teeth. “You’re a shit. No offense.”
    “I’ve been called worse.”
    She stilled. “Oh, my God. Did Chris have Ativan in his system, too?”
    The shocked look on her face made him take pause. He saw no reason not to tell her the truth and judge her reaction. “Yes.”
    “A lot?”
    “Yes.”
    She dropped her face in her hands. Amber admitted to giving one milligram of Ativan to Emma. The rest, she claimed must have come from the killer. Chris wasn’t prescribed that drug, so the killer would have given him enough to calm him before possibly injecting him with succinylcholine to make him stop breathing.
    She looked up. “What else did he have in his system?”
    He wondered when she’d ask. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
    “Besides having two people I know die, having access to Ativan, and me being in my brother’s room minutes before the killer, what physical evidence do you have against me?”
    She had guts. He had to hand it to her. “You’re free to go.” He wasn’t willing to show his hand.
    Her gaze bounced around the room. “Tell me this, Mr. Detective. Was my signature on the Ativan dose for Chris, too?”
    “No, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t have someone get it for you.” He had checked the logs and all vials had been accounted for. How the killer procured the drugs for Chris remained a mystery.
    She pushed back her chair and stalked out.
    Crap . Now he’d be on Stone’s shit list, all because he needed to solve this case. But just because he didn’t have proof Amber Delacroix killed two people didn’t mean she wasn’t guilty.
    Do you really believe that ? He wasn’t ready to answer.
    Cade had looked deep into the eyes of many killers and his gut told him she wasn’t one. Shit . It didn’t matter. Cade wasn’t going to stop until the killer was brought to justice.

Chapter Seven
     
    Amber felt dirty and degraded. Add in hungry and tired, and she wasn’t fit company for anyone. The problem was that as soon as she and Stone walked out of the station, she remembered he’d driven.
    Stone slid her hand into his and guided her to his truck. He acted like her father used to when he wanted her to do as he said. She didn’t know if she should be pissed that Stone thought she needed the help or be appreciative.
    The latter required less effort. Stone had stood up to his roommate for her and insisted being with her during the interrogation. For someone who’d only met her recently, he’d been wonderful.
    “In you go,” he said, as he guided her onto the seat and once more secured her seatbelt.
    She’d been about to swat away his hand, tired of people telling her what to do, but then refrained. It was clear her threshold for politeness had evaporated as soon as she found the detective waiting for her.
    Stone climbed into